Wallace Koopmans Artlog

A friend recently asked me where I get all my images from.  My reply was that I almost always have a camera with me.  I’ve been known to turn around and go back home to get one if I find myself so impoverished.  Today I didn’t get out of the driveway before going back inside to grab my older DLSR, and I was only going to get our Christmas tree chipped.  I certainly believe that this compulsion is a gift of my upbringing, where if I was found to be bored or without an activity it was strongly suggested that I  “do something constructive”.  I’m not complaining but where one person might enjoy laying at the beach I would be the individual digging a hole.  Right enough of that, on with the manifestation of my childhood.

That’s a very broad statement and perhaps I am slightly overstating it, but it seems to be the conclusion to draw after reading “The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa” and watching Andy Goldsworthy’s “Rivers and Tides”.  Go ahead and think of an artist and decide if the term obsessive could be applied to them.  OK for those of you that didn’t think of Van Gogh you likely didn’t have any problems coming up with a different one.  You can call it passion, dedication or obsession but it is a large part of what we celebrate about an artist and there work.  Take for instance the concept of a painting a day, where an artist tries to create a finished painting every day and provide it for sale on the Internet.  You could argue that this is really about working as an artist but as consumers of that art it is the purchaser who has helped decide that the process  augments the value.  I’m sure there have been artists who have attempted a painting a day but have fallen be the wayside likely because they lacked what may be truly required, obsession.

I’ve had these pencil crayons for nearly twenty years now.  By all rights they should be little nubs or have been completely consumed in the process of creating art.  I can’t completely explain the pleasure I derive from just having them.  I love the colours and the softness of the mark they make on paper, but mostly I cherish them because they were a gift.  Not just the gift of them as an object but what they symbolize, the support of my parents whatever I choose to do.  Perhaps I took this for granted at the time but I can always pull these out to remind me of their wonderful gift.

While taking pictures yesterday I came across a beautiful organic hazelnut grove.  I spoke to the owners who’s family had planted the trees in 1977 and they kindly allowed me to wander through the grove.   The shadows cast be the trees created interesting patterns and it was only later that I realized I should have spent more time emphasizing them.  Amongst the photo’s, I have  several that have the potential to be made into a relief print however I think that I would prefer to add figures in the grove.

The plate is now ready for proofing, agian when time allows.

In order to become accustomed to writing about my art, I thought I would post about the work I have just started. I am going to use drypoint, an intaglio method that I haven’t used before to create this print. The initial sketch shows some of my thoughts about the composition. These are all separate details that I saw while cross country skiing on the Trans Canada trail over the holiday’s and I have brought them together to create an image that for me evokes a sense of the cold and the interaction of the horse and the man in the vast field. The next step will be to lay the composition out on the zinc plate and then to do the drawing. (Of course the layout will be a mirror image.)

I decided that to begin my artlog I would take a look back at several of what were artistic highlights for me during 2008.  I managed to see two great gallery shows last year, the Monet to Dali exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch painting at the Portland Art Museum.  Both shows allowed me an opportunity to see incredible historic works of art.   I also visited the Glenbow Museum in Calgary but unfortunately only really had time to go into the shop to pick up “Images of the Land: Canadian Block Prints 1919-1945”  a great book they produced in 1985.

On a more personal level I had an opportunity to present a proposal for the new Reach Gallery and Museum, and although I didn’t receive further funding, the process was interesting and educational.  And with all the positive feedback I hope to continue the photo mosaic as a community art project.

I created a print of Murrayville elementary in Langley which was closing down and donated number one in the edition of ten for their auction.  I was very pleased to hear that the last principal of the school had won the bidding.

I had a showing at the Kariton Gallery in Abbotsford where I was able to sell almost half of the works I presented.

And I also participated in the Arts in Mill Lake Park event where I produced prints on site and gave them away.  http://www.abbotsfordartscouncil.org/TheArtsOnMillLake.aspx

I had a wonderful year and am very grateful to all those people that have been a part of it.