It's Still Summer

Happy September and it’s still summer!!!  We had a very productive summer and hope you got to enjoy yours in every and any way you wanted to.  Last July, my husband and I travelled to Scotland, where we went to discover the country and fell in love with the culture – it’s people – and lifestyle.  We took buses, trains and drove, not to mention we walked, walked and walked some more.  I have been so inspired by the landscape  that I painted 4 smaller paintings already!!  More in the works and it can very well get piled high on my to-do list.

This brings me on to August, where I painted new material and tried to finish a few projects started in the spring.  Some of which are on display at the Oshawa Art Fall Show, which is on-going this weekend – Sept. 9-10-11.

As September pushes through, I know I will be busy once more teaching in various locations.  Among them, at the Visual Arts Centre in Bowmanville, where I continue to teach Acrylic Abstract painting every Thursdays starting Sept. 22^nd.  Likewise, all my classes get started again both in senior’s community centres in Oshawa and Whitby.

I am going to be having a semi-private workshop at my home on Sept. 24-25, called Abstracted Landscapes.  We will go through 2 different styles of taking a landscape and abstracting it and you will learn many different approaches and techniques. I only take 4-6 people – so if you are interested please email me right away!! marissa@marissasweet.com  I do not run many workshops from my home studio, so now is the time to grab it and register.  $130.00/pp from 10-4 both days.

I cannot wait to see all of you again as the fall term starts up again.

"Songs of Time" Oil 12" x 12"

En Plein Air

So what is Plein Air? En plein air is a French term that translates literally as “in the open air.” The term “plein-air painting,” as it is currently used, usually refers to paintings that are completed on location.

Over the past 20 years, interest in plein-air painting has exploded in the West. Once considered revolutionary, when French Impressionists in the late 1800s, ventured out to investigate and capture the light of a given subject during different times of the day or season. Plein-air painters often contend that something is lost when a painting originates from a photograph as the sole reference material—that it just doesn’t convey the experience of actually being there.

Being a studio artist, going out into the open air seemed daunting, inspiring and adventurous all at the same time.  Ever since I was 10 years old, I loved the French impressionists most particularly Monet and Renoir, so I gave it a shot.  I sketched outdoors and tried to paint every now and then while in school and during summer vacation. 

Years after, I painted whenever we went camping and somehow managed to finish a few paintings here and there.  It was a challenge.  With no training but pure intuition - just set up my easel and go!  I realised I carried too much and after walking to find a particular site that interested me, I was bogged down with my gear.  People were naturally curious with what I was doing and most stopped by to talk to me.  It was nice, but could also be a huge distraction. Bug spray is important to bring as well as sunscreen!  Bringing a bottled water was handy, primarily to quench your thirst and secondly to clean up brushes because at the time I was using acrylics.   Having a camera records the scene and time of day.  The sunlight of course changes in the day, so I realised that I had to paint fast.

Marissa Sweet (June 2016)

Two years ago I joined East Central Ontario Art Association which is an art organization that promotes paint outs with a huge membership that spans Eastern Ontario, including artists  from Metropolitan Toronto to the Quebec border and north past Algonquin Park, as well as some from as far west as the Niagara Peninsula.  The largest concentration are residents of Scarborough, Belleville, Peterborough and surrounding areas. 

This group opened up the flood gates to opportunities to paint out and learn new things!  The opportunity to paint with fellow artists and learn more about managing your skills in the open air was exciting.  I switched back to oils as my medium and I continue to learn more and more from every experience.  I paint outside every opportunity now that it is summer and suddenly, I realised…  I am addicted. 

Marissa

Finding YOU

I love abstract art!  I also enjoy creating, teaching and painting abstract paintings.  Yet, I have come to realise that I am a landscape artist, leaning towards semi-abstraction.  For me, I feel an emotional connection to the landscape whether it is an abstracted one or not.  I need to feel even just a hint of representation to produce my best.

This came to me after years of experimentation.  And after many years of searching for what I love to paint which gives me comfort and happiness, I came to realise that I am a landscape artist.

My paintings starts of like an abstract, but something happens and it get's morphed into what looks like land, then water, then trees emerge as the sun sets.  Voila... a landscape!  I work on three to five paintings at the same time, sometimes with different colour palettes, usually starting with dabs of paint slathered with ink, alcohol, water, sometimes manipulated roughly, with nowhere to go.  Working with some sort of guide, a sketch or a photograph, but usually at this stage, I am not sure where I am heading to.

Classical music helps me to connect with my soul... helps me also to keep calm during the screaming stages when things go into the blur between logical reasoning and abandonment.  As a painter, you just have to learn to trust yourself.  Trust your experimentation and to not be afraid of destroying what you created.  Arthur Bernard quoted; " A painting is destroying and building, destroying and building, over and over again. A good painter must be able to do this and not be afraid of this."

Cheers,
Marissa

"Summer of Sixty Nine" 10" x 10" Mixed Media