A Bouquet of Awesome

Ok, I should never say never (because you just NEVER know) but I think I can kind of, sort of, safely say that winter is behind us. I know this because John Miller has put out his annual flowers, and that’s a true sign of warmer weather. They guy knows his plants and he knows his weather! So it’s time to hit the greenhouses, and if you’re like me, you already have. I have vowed that I’m not buying any annuals this year because we are going to be building in our yard and I just won’t have the opportunity to spend my time dead heading. Plus, I’m Ukrainian and I like to eat, so I’m more likely to grow plants that I can graze on while roaming around in my yard.  But at least I can share some thoughts with you about annuals and how you can play with colour theory from an artist’s perspective to help come up with ideas on making arrangements for your outdoor flower pots.

 Colour is probably one of the most powerful elements of art there is. It has the power to capture your attention and leave you staring at one thing in a painting like a deer in headlights. I like to call this “punch you in the face colour emphasis”. You are left shocked by the colour that you’ve been assaulted with. Colour can also stir up a variety of emotions. Sit is a Pepto Bismal pink room for a good amount of time and see how you feel. Get my drift? Colour has impact and you can play with colour theory when composing your flower pot arrangements to get different desired effects and “curb side appeal”.

Let’s start with the basics; our primary colours. You can’t go wrong with a brilliant shot of red, blue and yellow in a flower pot. Just keep in mind that the eye will go to the yellow flowers first, (because our eyes tend to look at warm colours first) so either evenly place them throughout the flower pot, or put them as the highest or most central flowers. I am picturing a cluster of yellow marigolds in the center of a pot, surrounded by red million bells and finished with trailing blue lobelia to soften everything. It’s like Ernie’s (from Sesame Street) shirt transformed into a bouquet of flowers!

If you want your planter to have a unique edge, then go with the secondary colours, that being orange, green, and purple. The colours will vibrate like a Norval Morrisseau painting! Stick with lime greens such as Creeping Jenny vines, for extra “pop”.

If you want your flower pots to be a bit more subtle, and focus more on the form and texture of the flower, then think monochromatically. Monochromatic colour is based on selecting one colour and tints and shades of that same colour. So, if you pick red flowers, then you can also add deep red flowers and different shades of pink flowers as well, remembering that pink is just red with white added to it. This really makes your planter look unified.

For colours that just look like they were meant to be together, think of complementary colour theory. Complementary colours are made of one primary and one secondary colour that are opposite each other on the colour wheel. So team up any red flowers with green, team up orange flowers with blue, and team up yellow flowers with purple. Now when I say blue, it’s actually really difficult to find a true blue flower, but there are some that are pretty close. The bluest flower I’ve ever seen was in Phil Vinet’s garden. He’s the only person in the whole world that has been able to actually grow a Tibetan blue poppy from seed, and they are a marvel to look at. The thought of blue poppies beside wild, orange tiger lilies is quite the vision!

Finally, if you really don’t care, then go for the Crayola crayon box effect, (which by the way is called polychromatic colour theory) and just throw a mish-mash of flowers of different colours, textures and sizes together. After all, they’re flowers and you really can’t mess up a pot of flowers because, well….it’s a pot of flowers! And who doesn’t love flowers!? But if you want to be fancy-shmancy then think about your arrangements from an artist’s perspective, and play with the amazing colours that Mother Nature has shared with you. I would love to see pictures of your planters! Feel free to email me at funkydoodad@hotmail.com

Originally posted in the Northern Sun News on May 28th, 2014. 

Trashy Treasures

This wedding dress was found at the reclaim station. It will make an awesome Halloween costume. 

Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a dump DIVA! I think it stems back to a childhood trip that we took to the abandoned Pickle Crow mine and town site back in 1977 or so. What an adventurous day! We had to break through tough roads in a Suburban just to get there. Dad pulled out the metal detector and we were sent free to pick through the trashed buildings to explore and scavenge. I recall finding a doll’s brush and thinking that was a really weird thing to find at a mine site.

My dad “oohed and aahed” over everything we found, turning our discoveries into instant treasures. It’s in my blood.And aren’t I a lucky woman to be married to a man that has just as much zest for the trash as I do, and can completely appreciate that many things in our home were found directly at the dump. And now he works there. It’s the circle of life. Hahaha

So before we go any further, let’s break the stigma that is connected to bringing home the trash. Many people turn up their nose to the thought of having something from a second hand store in their home, let alone something that has been pooped on by seagulls and had a bear’s greasy ol’ butt brushing against it. 

Yeah, I’m not cool with that either, but there’s things like bleach or vinegar that can get rid of pretty well anything, including your fingerprints. (Did you know that most of the stuff that you buy at stores has had rats running across it too? That’s because these products are in storage containers and sometimes there are pesky animals there as well…just like at the dump.)  But most of the time, people are throwing things away that are STILL IN THEIR ORIGINAL PACKAGING. And I mean, people are throwing them away, in garbage bags….not even considering the reclaim station that we have at the dump or setting it to the side for others to take. 

I posted a bunch of free stuff on my Facebook status last week and stuck it in front of my yard and within the hour it was all gone. Yahoo for not filling up our maxed out landfill! And I just put a bug in Brad’s ear asking if perhaps they could “red tag” big ticket items that come in to the dump such as kitchen cabinets, or wooden furniture and have a special spot for them at the dump so that people know it is good for the picking. This stuff isn’t GROSS! IT’S AWESOME! Stop being a poopy pants and get with the recycling, reclaiming program. Can I say poopy pants in a blog?  I just did. 

So what does this have to do with art? Everything!!! Artist around the world are using reclaimed objects in new, inventive ways to show you how to think outside the box and not only break your notions about the conventions of art making, but also make you aware of the despicable amount of mass consumption that is happening and the affluence of waste that is connected to it. I can’t help but think of the fantastic website “Inhabitat” whose slogan is “design that will save the world”. Just to give you an idea, this is the kind of headlines that you’ll find at this website;

• ·         Michelle McKinney Creates Delicate and Ethereal Artwork from Industrial Metals
• ·         250 Colorful Pringles Cans Make Up This Working Pipe Organ
• ·         Giant Buddha Statue Made of Recycled Materials Pops Up on Brooklyn Waterfront

Most working artists are working with reclaimed, found materials for a plethora of reasons ranging from the typical cost reductions (Hey, we aren’t called “starving artists” for nothing! Art supplies are NOT cheap!) to the statement it creates, to the exhilarating design challenge that we are given when an object is put before our eyes to manipulate into something new. It is this genuine out-of-the-box thinking that makes what is created unique and desired.  And if you’re really into “keeping up with the Jones” then not only is it practical to buy reclaimed art, but it’s also really “in”.  It’s called shabby chic. La-dee-da.  So, basically, the bottom line is; it’s really cool to not waste, and it’s even cooler to go and get more stuff from the dump and make it into something new again. Then you’ll be the talk to the town. ;)

Creative STERBing

About a month ago it was Canada’s annual Mental Health Week. For some of you, it may have gone by uneventfully. For others it may have been a time of much contemplation. For me, it is a time of reflection; not only on my own mental health, but as an artist and a teacher, on the mental health of others as well. I feel lucky that as an artist, I have a variety of ways to express myself when I’m having a crappy day. Those can be interesting days.....ahem.

  And then I wonder how others that don’t feel comfortable with the idea of a creative outlet “vent”. Hey, trust me. Just because I’m in a bad mood, it doesn’t mean I always pull out the paint pallet and voila, an emotionally laden masterpiece is created that solves all of my problems. (Man, that would be nice though!) Over the years, I have learned the term “STERB” which is an acronym for short term energy releasing behaviour. STERBing is a way of distraction oneself from the reality of a situation, a way of soothing ourselves from something that may be causing stress or anxiety. Some people grab for a beer, some people grab a whole tub of Nutella, some people run 5 miles in the rain so the tears can’t be seen, and some people pet their dog hairless. Everyone has some kind of STERBing going on when things get a bit rough. I think I’ve done all of the above, and then some.

But the dealio is that there is definitely ways to STERB positively, or perhaps more healthily so that STERBing doesn’t turn into an unhealthy habit or addiction, or at the very least, owning a very strange looking dog. And before we go any further, wash away the idea that you have to be an artist in order to vent creatively. There are no rules when it comes to venting, so the first thing you have to do is not worry about what others think of you when you are letting your imaginative freak flag fly. And also eliminate the idea that you have to have a special place to be artistic, or you have to have certain supplies. All of that is baloney. 

Here’s what I suggest;

1.       Find a quiet place for yourself. If you can’t find a quiet place, make a quiet place in your head. Put on your headphones with some music that matches your emotions at that time. Or stuff your ears with Kleenex or Silly Putty. (Just not the ear canals…I can imagine that that’s not a very good idea.) If everyone is wondering what you’re doing and you’re feeling pestered, then go to your bathroom and lock the door. Or go for a walk and sit in the bushes for a while. (I bet every single one of you that is reading this is literally a 5 minute drive away from complete silence in the wilderness. We live in North-West Ontario!) Just find some time and a place to be alone with your own thoughts.

2.       Listen to those thoughts and use what you see and hear in that silence as a catalyst for expression. Our mind is so overstimulated with beeps and bloops from our smartphones, and radios, and people talking to us and refrigerators buzzing that we don’t really get very much time in silence unless we create that for ourselves. When we close out those distractions, we are left alone with pure thought. For some, that might be the reason why you’re STERBing in the first place! You don’t like those thoughts, but if you give yourself the opportunity to quietly act on them on your own, perhaps they can actually be dealt with in a positive way.

3.       Then allow yourself the freedom to act on those thoughts in ways that may be very different then how you’re used to acting on them. It might make you feel silly that you’re standing in the middle of your bathroom dancing to “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” all by yourself. It may seem ridiculous that you have this urge to write a poem or song about your love for Nutella. It may be frustrating that you want to draw out the visions that are in your head and won’t come through on to paper.  But just give it a try. It might actually lead you further into creative exploration. For example, this year I decided to post a photo a day on Facebook that represents something that I am grateful for every day. It’s a way of getting me to refocus my energy in a positive way instead of sweating the small stuff, and it’s creative and keeps me away from ice cream….sometimes.

 Finally, remember that your thoughts are your own, and your creative STERBing does not need to be shared with anyone if you’re not comfortable doing so. Just use it as a tool for expression and be happy with that. Enjoy the freedom that expression can give you.