Through the Dark

"Will I ever be able to find rubber work boots in my size?"

The yearly approach of autumn is signalled by such dilemmas. Suddenly, the faithful duct-tape of summer fails to measure up to the promise of torrential rains. This is the Wet Coast of British Columbia. We must be prepared.

A blanket of a different wool, the first signs of autumn are unmistakable. Hesitant mornings, a midday light that is low and forgiving, and a faint detection of decomposing leaves. If one listens very carefully and quietly, the slow retreat of chlorophyll from the leaves can be heard. Quiet as silk flowing over an open hand.

With half-hearted anticipation, I find myself counting the impending winter months over and over on the fingers of my hand, absentmindedly losing track.

 One. Two. Three. Four. Three. Four. One.



















Equally repetitive, the challenging work of autumn has a delayed result. Up to our knees and elbows with mud, we plant thousands of bulbs, placing  them deep into the ground so that they, too, can emerge from the dark.


One. Two. Three. Four. Three. Four. One.

Little Worlds

Drip...drip........drip. 

Every time the clouds open, little worlds pour down. The garden, quiet after the sudden exodus of fair-weather tourists, is reclaimed by the imagination.

The science of art: the power of observation and a curious mind

An apple falls on the head of a man. A glass splits. Some would run. Some would not.

Violet

Meet my hero and universal scientific icon, Sir Isaac Newton: a man with insatiable curiosity who was always in the right place at the right time.

The brilliant insight of Sir Isaac Newton transformed everyday occurrences into scientific and mathematical theories. Simple observations processed through the curious mind of this genius have given the rest of us a better understanding of the physical workings of the world around us. Gravity. Light. Motion. Little wonder he is considered one of the most influential scientists in human history.

Blue

What does science have to do with art?

Everything.

Green

By dividing white rays of light into colored wavelengths and configuring them on a colour wheel, he was the first person to reveal colour relationships. As all artists know, colour, more than any of the elements of design, is all about relationships. By moving away from linear orderings, the connection between adjacent hues and value differentiation became apparent.

Colour my world, baby....but make it balance.

Yellow

Just as Sir Isaac transformed the practical into the theoretical, the artist must translate theory into practice.  From my experience, this switch can be equally problematic. Shifting information from the verbal to the visual center of our brain can best be described as a partial shift of consciousness. Can the theoretical aspect of colour ‘overpower’ and suppress creative intuition? I hope not!  As colour relationships are processed in the visual centre of the brain, the resulting activities of reflection, analysis and articulation are left to the domain of the verbal brain processes.

 Orange

Violet. Blue. Green. Yellow. Orange. Red. And all combinations in between.

.....and, if you haven't already gathered, I have a lust for colour......

red