Notes from The Bell Jar..

"Who could refrain that had a heart to love and in that heart courage to make love known?"

~William Shakespeare

I hope that your May has been fabulous, that you have created work that means a lot to you, loved your friends and family more than ever and maintained good health :)

Some very exciting things have been happening around the studio lately!

First of all, I am going to hold off posting new paintings for my solo exhibition in November until the show arrives...it's all about the surprise! That is why there is only a little section of the above painting visible. I will post the paintings as soon as possible. You can contact Abbozzo Gallery at any time to see the paintings. Some pieces have pre-sold already!

The body of work for this exhibition is developing steadily and has been growing over the past year and a half. It is another very personal body of work. I can hardly wait to share it with you:)

My painting "Clothesline" is featured on the cover of a book being published in the Netherlands. It is a theological book dealing with the relationship of the everyday with the sacred. The publishers thought that my painting looked like Tibetan prayer flags flapping in the wind. I was touched that they wanted it for their cover. Apparently the title for the book is "Alledaags en buitengewoon: Spiritualiteit in vrouwendomeinen" which means, roughly, "Ordinary and Extraordinary: Spirituality In Women's Domains". 

Speaking of book covers, my painting "David's Studio, Sunset" will be on the cover of a new e-book "Sonnets From The Labrador" by esteemed poet Samuel Peralta. "Sonnets From The Labrador" is poetry that Samuel wrote based on his response to the incredible artwork of David Blackwood. You will be able to acquire the e-book on Amazon. I will post details about this as they develop. Please check out his blog. His poetry makes my heart ache with its sensitivity, lyricism and beauty. I am honoured to have my work on this cover...

The cover of "Sonnets From The Labrador" 

Big news! Parks Canada Newfoundland has accepted my painting "Bonnie, Gros Morne" for donation.  The painting will reside in Gros Morne National Park. I will let you know exactly where when I find out. I am elated to know that my art will be in that magnificent park!

"Bonnie, Gros Morne"...on its way to Newfoundland! 

Finally, my little painting "Self-Portrait, After", oil on panel, 8"x10", will be in the Ontario Society Of Artists upcoming exhibition "The Ontario Society Of Artists Celebrates 140 Years". This exhibition will be held at the Aurora Cultural Centre and run through to July 14th. The OSA is the oldest art society in Canada and I am proud to be an active member of the society. The opening reception is from 1-4pm. I hope to see you there!

Thanks for reading! I appreciate it. I also have a newsletter sign up form on my website now. Simply visit HeatherHorton.com and add your info to the newsletter sign up. I will send out periodic updates regarding shows and exhibitions. Thanks for signing up if you do!

Have a beautiful day from Sasha and I here in The Bell Jar to you!

"The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart."~Buddha

"Clothesline"

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.

~Henry David Thoreau

"Clothesline", oil on canvas, 20"x20"

You may or may not have seen those commercials on television encouraging you to visit Newfoundland and Labrador. You know the ones...crashing waves, miles of pristine coastlines, and always a blowing clothesline or two? Well, let me tell you, that's EXACTLY what you find on The Rock. 360 degrees of unfiltered beauty.

As I explored the northeastern, north and northwestern areas of Newfoundland from Wesleyville to Rocky Harbour, I repeatedly came across clotheslines blowing fiercely in the wind. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the wind is always blowing there. Always. It is with you every step you take. I remember having to walk headlong into the gales in Gros Morne National Park...my coat flapping furiously. I swear they were 80km/h gusts. But this wind keeps the air so fresh, right off of the ocean, that you appreciate it as an intrinsic component of that special place, as necessary to its identity as partridgeberry jam.

After seeing a few clotheslines I became inspired to paint one. Yet I didn't want to approach the subject matter with a traditional composition of coastline and the clothes above. No I wanted to create almost an abstract piece. The shapes created by the clothes flying on the line intrigued me. I thought, what if I used the clothes as a horizon line? Perhaps people would look at this painting and not know what it was at first. Or perhaps they would. It didn't matter, because the fun is in not knowing how people will see a piece.

I can tell before I even start painting if I will like it. The composition is SO important, as important as any colour that you mix or how you apply the paint. Usually when we see clotheslines they are above our line of sight. Yet here I wanted to lower the subject, and thus emphasize the vast spaces of fresh wind and sky above. The skies are tumultuous and ever changing in Newfoundland, probably partially due to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Yet on this day the sky was robin's egg blue, pale and constant with no clouds at all. I love painting chunky, threatening clouds, but clouds were not the subject here. The billow of the clothes, the play of fabrics as they whipped on the line was the focus. I loved that the wind filled the towels and clothes like invisible bodies, shapeless until they encountered one another, and just as quickly were gone, replaced by other gusts.

If you do visit Newfoundland and Labrador, you will undoubtedly come across clotheslines such as these. I can also guarantee that you will encounter gorgeous coastlines, purple-blue water, and perhaps a part of yourself that you never knew existed. You will certainly meet beautiful, authentic, windblown people who inhabit this truly unique corner of Canada. That's a promise.

The Canadians of those days, at least, possessed a roving spirit of adventure which carried them further, in exposure to hardship and danger, than ever the New England colonist went, and led them, though not to clear and colonize the wilderness, yet to range over it as coureurs de bois, or runners of the woods, or, as Hontan prefers to call them, coureurs de risques, runners of risks.
~Henry David Thoreau

"Bonnie, Gros Morne"

“I know now that most people are so closely concerned with themselves that they are not aware of their own individuality. I can see myself, and it has helped me to say what I want to say 

... in paint.” ~Georgia O'Keefe

And what is there to say with the paint? Well, take "Bonnie, Gros Morne" for example. This painting, 24"x48", oil on canvas, is another one of the group I have completed for my upcoming show on portraits of Newfoundland in November here in Ontario. I will provide details at the bottom of this entry.  

I traveled to Newfoundland with the intent of opening myself up to the land and those that live there, in all of their facets and permutations, ready to store away whatever impressions it made. I did not want to limit myself to the figure. Conversely, I did not want to become myopic in looking at rugged coastline after rugged coastline. It is ironic that even panoramas can illicit tunnel vision sometimes. I sought to find a bridge between the people and the place, because, as I have mentioned before, the two are inextricably bound to one another. In fact, it stands to reason that there is no separation at all; that the inhabitants of any land are OF that land: spiritually, physically, emotionally. Why else do so many feel the tug of their homeland, despite being away from it for years, decades, a lifetime? It is because it is in our bones, whether we like it or not. It is a small voice that stays within us and nowhere that we travel can replace it.  

Newfoundlanders, and East Coasters in general,  are like the sea. They are faithful, open, generous, powerful, unforgettable. When I traveled across the top of the island to visit Gros Morne National Park, I opened my mind to all of the possibilities that might become paintings.  Gros Morne is sublime, truly. It is just as people describe it. Long stretches of winding road that bisect towering cliffs, gales to knock you off your feet, mountains, beaches, nature all around you, pure and unfiltered. I had my little map to explain where the various trails and areas of the park were located, and, after heading up the road in Rocky Harbour, I came to Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse, where a large lighthouse sits atop a rocky cliff. As I approached the lighthouse I was greeted by a lovely red-haired park employee named Bonnie. I asked a bit about the history, the topography and where there might be trails to hike along in the vicinity, and all the while I was thinking. In my my mind while I asked the questions I thought "she is a perfect representation of the park itself", I must paint her. Thus I summoned some courage and gave her my spiel: I was a painter, I would like to take some shots of her to make into a painting and would she mind posing for a few? I could tell she was rather shy but quite amenable to my suggestion and so she stood where she was, in the doorway, a wonderful thing to paint, with the flagpole and the sea out behind her. I asked her to be natural, to stand as she would normally stand. Artifice is quickly spotted in paintings I find. I like models to be themselves, and no one else. I don't fuss or primp and minimally rearrange (unless there is an odd shape created by clothing or whatnot).

I wanted this painting to be horizontal yet have many vertical lines that it would cut across. I saw this orientation in my mind as I shot the reference and saw the completed painting that very day. It was just a matter of completing it. The multi-coloured flags that you can see on the flagpole in the background are used to send messages to sailors out at sea, a visual morse code if you will. 

My objective with this piece was to show that people, no matter their job, are connected with where they live. Bonnie is just as much a part of Newfoundland as any fisherman out on the waves...she is not what you would probably first think of when you think of people in Newfoundland...but that is precisely why I wanted to capture her there. Every person's life is a story, and I was compelled to capture a piece of hers for a brief time. 

"I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art

 that anybody could ever want to own."~Andy Warhol

My solo exhibition of Newfoundland paintings is fast approaching! I hope you can make it out to the show. Here are the details:

Portraits Of Newfoundland

November 5-22nd, 2009

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario

Opening Reception November 6th, 7-10pm

Glorious Gros Morne: Musings on Newfoundland, Part 4

"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence." ~Ansel Adams

This is my fourth entry about the powerful and gorgeous province of Newfoundland in Canada. I am not surprised. After taking over 900 pictures in two weeks, after being swept up in its magic, how could I not write about it over the course of a month and a half?

By the way, here is the official Newfoundland and Labrador website. Just like everyone must get to the Grand Canyon once in their lifetime, everyone should experience Newfoundland and Labrador as well.

When I last wrote about Newfoundland, we were exploring Gros Morne National Park. After our hike on the Green Gardens trail in the park we decided to book a boat tour of Western Brook Pond. We had heard that the boat tour of the fjord was breathtaking and thus trekked out to jump on board.

It was cold and foggy as we hiked out along a meandering boardwalk that cut a line through unique marshland and bog, wetland that is ubiquitous in Newfoundland. We soon realized that the low lying clouds would prevent a full view of the splendor of the cliffs in the fjord and decided to abandon our boat tour in hopes that the following day would have clearer skies.

Here is the view from our walk along the 3km trail to the base of the pond where the boats leave from. Each boat holds about 70 people so we knew that we would have to arrive early the next day to assure ourselves a spot on board.

The clouds dissipated as we took another hike along one of the coastal trails of the park. We were impressed with the lack of refuse, lack of people and lack of intrusive, every day thoughts that pervade the mind on a day to day basis. It was as though the wind swept out all of our stress and cares about life back in Ontario for a brief time.

On our return visit we were met with a spectacular view of the fjord beyond the dock where the boats embarked from. While we waited little whiskey jacks landed on my hand as I held out some crumbs for them. They entertained those of us waiting, many Ontarians were there, along with some British Columbians and a smattering of American folk too. We knew we were in for a special experience. The tour we took was via Bon Tours.

The entire tour took about an hour and a half. Our tour guide grew up scaling the hills and cliffs of Western Brook Pond and thus had a particular attachment and knowledge of its unique history. The lake is 16kms long with an average depth of 165 m! Apparently as high as the cliffs tower above the lake they correspondingly sink to that depth below the water level.

One of the handful of waterfalls that we saw as we traveled further down the lake.

This shot gives you a good idea of the scale of the cliffs. That small dot is the sister boat to ours that toured the lake. I had never seen cliffs rise so immediately out of water before. It is a very unique place as well from a geological perspective. These cliffs are estimated to be over 1 billion years old!

Almost at the terminus of the lake at this point. We passed Pissing Mare Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in North America!

At the end of the lake two hikers jumped out quickly with lots of gear, big smiles and waved to us as they quickly left the tiny dock and headed out into the bush. These hikers have special permits given to them as they embark on a 9 day traverse of the peaks and valleys of the park. I was envious!!

On our way back to the dock clouds settled in and provided a very moody atmosphere for the remainder of the voyage.

We were so thankful to have been able to see Western Brook Pond. I will never forget it.

We did another side trip up to Norris Point, another charming little village in Gros Morne. Everywhere we went the rocks seemed to be looming down on us, petrified and forever peering at us.

As we prepared to leave Rocky Harbour I shot this picture of another quirky sign. I loved the signs in Newfoundland..many blank, many with makeshift letters. It was as special as any mountain. It is a part of that place that makes it singularly unforgettable.

I love Wesleyville's sign with its coat of arms. I believe all of the villages in New-Wes-Valley had the same coat of arms.

Back in Wesleyville and before our departure for Twillingate in the Northern area of Newfoundland another storm was rolling in. I loved the threatening clouds that made for some great reference shots.

I plan on doing a self-portrait from my time in Newfoundland. This shot will not be the basis of the painting, but something along the same lines. By this time I was feeling as though the roots of the province were settling into my bones, the quietness everywhere was seeping into my heart and mind, freeing it from worry. I knew that although I paint people usually, that the paintings to come from Newfoundland would be special, each one. I knew that each painting would be a portrait in its own right, whether it be a kind local or the house up the hill. Besides, it is the mood, the message, the impression that one can glean for oneself that makes each painting unique.

I have heard that as an artist you should not spread yourself too thin by painting too many different types of subject matter, that people should recognize your work by what you paint. I disagree. I think it is HOW you paint that distinguishes an artist's work. It is the technique and the original impetus behind the piece, the emotion and composition that frame the subject matter that distinguish it as your own.

Stay tuned. I will be writing about Twillingate and posting pictures from Twillingate and Fogo Island next week. Thank-you for reading and feel free to email me with any questions you might have about my work or anything else for that matter. Be well and have a wonderful day!

"Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind."~Seneca

Here is some information on my solo exhibition in November 2009. If you have any questions please contact Abbozzo Gallery.

Newfoundland Portraits

November 5-22nd, 2009

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario

Opening Reception November 6th, 7-10pm

Have a wonderful day and take good care,

Heather

Glorious Gros Morne: Musings on Newfoundland, Part 3

Sitting on the beach at Green Gardens, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

"Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart 

give yourself to it."~Buddha

After a six hour drive across the top of Newfoundland we made it to Gros Morne National Park. It had a topography unlike anywhere else I had traveled in Newfoundland. Large cliffs rose almost vertically out of the grey waters, the wind continued to blow me about and of course I loved every minute of it.

Flags at Lobster Cove Head in Gros Morne National Park

The eastern portion of Newfoundland had a different feel to it and possessed different landscapes than we had encountered previously. Here in Gros Morne the land rose up to meet you, it had trails that beckoned you to follow them, and we followed many of them. 

Looking out across Bonne Bay Towards Lookout Hills

Sitting for a moment at Lobster Cove Head

Gros Morne is a geologist's paradise. There are all sorts of rare rock formations there, some found nowhere else on earth. 

We were giddy to explore the park and stayed a total of five days in the park hiking and taking it all in. The weather held up very well for us. The wind of course was ever-present but we had a lovely, moody grey atmosphere for most of our time there, which suited me fine. The mood in and around Gros Morne seemed almost primordial to me...like nature had shrouded the land in secrets, good secrets, secrets that when discovered opened up my eyes to this wild corner of Canada that is simply, Newfoundland.

There was a small trail that wound around Lobster Cove Head where we found an assortment of unique rock formations and these beautifully coloured fronds of kelp and other marine vegetation.

On our way to Green Gardens across the park. This is the little village of Shoal Brook

I loved seeing the far off hills that seemed to be propping up the clouds

For one of our longer hikes we headed to the south side of the park to Green Gardens. The hike is about 16 km in a loop but there had been some flooding so it was impossible to do the entire loop. Thus we went as far as we could and then doubled back. The wind!!! We were almost parallel to the ground as we fought our way across the bleak landscape towards the refuge of the valleys in front of us. It was such a gale in fact that we debated doing the hike...it was then that we saw some other intrepid hikers donning their gear and starting the hike that we thought..."If they can do it...so can we!" There were not many people around which was nice...we basically had the whole trail to ourselves except for the intrepid hikers in front of us and some lovely people from the Gaspé area that we met on the beach. The picture below doesn't capture it well but the winds were the fiercest I had ever encountered. I had to tie my gear to myself lest it and I both be blown down the mountain.

Soon our car was a tiny dot as we ascended the trail.

The sun emerged as the clouds dissipated and the view was marvelous

The hiking was great. Lots of mud and fun slipping around whilst grabbing onto trees for stability. We really did not know what to expect ahead of us as we weaved our way through the trees and spongy earth underneath our feet. And then, suddenly...there was the water through a break in the trees.

This scene reminded me of Cornwall in England...lots of craggy beauty and clear blue water.

This is a tuckamore...they are spruce trees that have a stunted growth habit as a result of constantly being sprayed with salt water from the ocean. 

We couldn't wait to get down to the water and walk around the beach. All the while during my time in Newfoundland I was trying to do a few things: enjoy the experience unfettered by any expectations of what I would paint following the journey, seek interesting reference for paintings and to simply interact as authentically as possible with this exquisite coastal province.

I tried to assuage any feelings of expectation within myself to do only portraits of people. Instead, I approached people when I found them but I simply took every day as it came...if I met people, wonderful. If not, that was fine. You can paint a portrait of a landscape. It has just as much character and just as many stories to tell as any lines on a person's face. Every painting is a portrait when you think about it. A mountain has just as many expressions as a loved one's face...its just a matter of looking at it differently and removing preconceived notions of what constitutes a countenance. 

The beach at Green Gardens

The water was frigid so we poked around on the beach for awhile and then made our way back up the muddy slopes through the spruce trees to where we found a gaggle of park workers taking a quick break from maintaining the trail that we had scrambled up. I give those guys a lot of credit...that would be hard work. They were full of happiness and good natured. They even let me snap a quick shot of them.

I love the ubiquitous galoshes that you see all over Newfoundland. 

With the sun out you can really see the lovely ochre colour of the land in this area of the park. We did not hike the Tablelands but will save that trek for another adventure to the park. I loved the rolling hills and blue blue water....almost purple at times. 

The road away from Green Gardens and back towards Rocky Harbour, our home base during our stay in Gros Morne

We hiked back to the car and set back out on the road towards Western Brook Pond where we had heard that the boat tour of the fjord there is unsurpassed. I will blog about our adventures at Western Brook Pond and the rest of Newfoundland  in a couple of days. 

I know that so much of our planet has been explored....some argue that all but some of the deepest abysses in the ocean have been poked and prodded by human beings. Even so, in times and places such as here in Newfoundland and up in Alaska it gladdens my heart to see few footsteps, and those that I have seen are carefully placed for the most part; they are conscientious and respectful. These paths are walked by the inquisitive, the peripatetic, the patient and above all the Present. 

"One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life and there is nothing better."~Blaise Pascal

Here is some information on my solo exhibition in November 2009. If you have any questions please contact Abbozzo Gallery. You can read about some of the paintings that I have created for the Newfoundland exhibition on my other blog, Heather Horton Artwork. 

Newfoundland Portraits

November 5-22nd, 2009

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario

Opening Reception November 6th, 7-10pm

Have a wonderful day and take good care,

Heather

Musings from "The Rock": Exploring Newfoundland, Part 2

"O lands! O all so dear to me-what you are, I become part of that, whatever it is."

~Walt Whitman

On the first Sunday that we were in Newfoundland Robert and I decided to drive across the entire province to Gros Morne National Park. Initially it wasn't on our itinerary but we were compelled to go from what we had seen and heard about it. We knew that there was a remarkable tour of the fjord as well as hiking the many trails accessible within the park. We also planned to loop back along the northern coast of Newfoundland to visit Twillingate and Fogo Island as well.
Sunset over Wesleyville. Another day in paradise.

Newfoundland has hardly any police or traffic in general. We saw not one police cruiser checking for speeders or driving around IN TWO WEEKS. It was quite unbelievable. We did see one though so we knew that they were in the province somewhere! Plentiful was the wind, clean air and unspoiled views. 

Before we went to Gros Morne however we spent a few days exploring the nearby towns of Greenspond and Newtown. 

We saw many flag poles like this flapping furiously in the wind. This is at Greenspond

We took an amazing hike in Greenspond which has been hiked for over a century if memory serves. Greenspond takes its name from two of the original families to live in the area, the Greens and the Ponds. We took to its quaint charm immediately. Our hike took us over rocks to a boardwalk which petered out to a well trodden path that formed a big loop. Similar to Alaska, the lack of pollution provides a crisp view of what is on the horizon. Rob thought something was wrong with his eyes as he was not accustomed to seeing so far, so well.

I was struck with the beautiful colours in Newfoundland. Perhaps it was the light hitting or simply psychosomatic but whatever the reason I found the clarity and colours of everything around me richer, more acute, and this resonated deeply with me as an artist in particular. I kept a detailed list of potential paintings that I would do as we traveled; meticulously went through all of my photographs each night to determine potentially viable images and noted them accordingly. By the time we left I had about 27 ideas that I was satisfied with. From those I aim to do at least 15 good paintings. 

The beginning of the great walking/hiking trail in Greenspond

Our attention was captured just as much by the smallest beauty as any grand ocean swell.

It was lovely to look out and see simply beauty and no large buildings anywhere!

We saw many people picking berries to make cloudberry, partridgeberry, blueberry and marshberry jam. It was great to snack and hike at the same time!

The lighthouse which stands atop Bennett's High Island. We watched its beacon every evening from the studio across the bay.

Back in Wesleyville, Jim and Cyril, two of David's childhood friends gave us a tour of the small island that dot the bay around Wesleyville. I instantly adored these two guys. They were the salt of the earth and only too happy to show us around in Cyril's hardy Sea Runner. It was wonderful to see the studio and shoreline from the water and to amble around Bennett's High Island and Swain's Island nearby. 

Swain's Island. Once populated by 400 of the most resolute souls imaginable, now it is is quiet, with a small cemetery that documents the often too short lives of the people who once lived there. 

Worlds colliding: Cyril on his cellphone. 

As soon as I met Cyril I knew I had to paint him. That hat! You simply cannot meet someone with a great hat like that and not paint them. Cyril was benevolent, humble and so kind to us. Jim too was so thoughtful, informative about the local history and gave us the best jar of  homemade blueberry jam we had ever had! Look for portraits of these two extraordinary guys at my exhibition next autumn at Abbozzo Gallery.

Robert and I took a walk up through Wesleyville as the sun went down, always on the lookout for shots for paintings. Everywhere you turned there was a picture waiting to be taken. Above, the view towards one end of town across the cemetery. We were standing up near the large watertower in Wesleyville that can be seen from miles away.

The water tower in Wesleyville

New-Wes-Valley is a relatively recent name that encompasses about four small towns in this area of Newfoundland. I believe Brookfield, Greenspond, Wesleyville are among those considered a part of New-Wes-Valley.

I think that I will stretch my experience in Newfoundland into four posts so that I can share even more pictures with you. 

As the sun set on another beautiful day on The Rock we were excited to begin our journey to Gros Morne, all the while appreciating the unique character and geology of the little towns dotting the Northeastern side of the island. Wherever you are in Newfoundland, you are where you need to be, away from the hustle and bustle, re-examining your mind and motivations for why and how you live. I was at peace in Newfoundland, of that I am sure. At peace and motivated to recapture a bit of the magic that I felt there with my work. Stay tuned.

Sunset over Wesleyville after another idyllic day.

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks"

~John Muir

Here is some information on my solo exhibition in November 2009. If you have any questions please contact Abbozzo Gallery. You can read about some of the paintings I have created for this exhibition on my other blot, here. 

Newfoundland Portraits

November 5-22nd, 2009

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario

Opening Reception November 6th, 7-10pm

Have a wonderful day and take good care,

Heather