Hot summer day - step II... Dripping over a boring area!

With this second pass, I'm still testing the ground on refraction...

I wiped out the drips hoping to bring some dirt over the white boards from the pier. The third step will reveal if I can max out on "blurriness" or not with this one!

Hot summer day - step I... Diverging but still in the same type of exploration!

Early this week, I played catch up with some minor house repairs to be performed before the fall. This year, it looks like we may go from summer to winter with no season in-between...

Experiencing withdrawal symptoms from lack of painting, I started this new one today...

...with the objective of leveraging the "refraction" phenomenon based on my previous experiments.

Note: I liked this pose from the "muse" as it reminded me of a famous Andrew Wyeth painting.

Still trying to digest "ultimate fighter VI"!

This week was a busy week responding to a health emergency involving my mother (thank God everything is OK with her) and helping the Muse with the grand kids. During the little free time I had, I took the opportunity to do some more research in the area of transparency and refraction. Funnily enough, I found my answers in a magazine dedicated to pastel painting. My main objective was to better understand what made the "ultimate fighter VI" painting different from anything that I had done before. Intuitively, I had already figured out some of the answers... but learning how an artist could make pastel layers look transparent was a definite eye opener for me!

More than ever, I want to forge ahead in this new direction for me... cultivating the elusive and blurry!

Ultimate fighter VII - final... Attracted by what's elusive!

Although I've been thinking too much for my liking while producing this one, the "elusive" image is definitely an avenue that I want to further explore...

These images can be made much more abstract by changing the point of view. I want to reintroduce bold textures in the future, but in doing so, I want to be selective and use them as "props" to detach the observer from the reality that I'm depicting...

Note to self: "My recent objective is likely to take more than a few paintings to achieve... so I'd better brace myself!"

Ultimate fighter VII -step II... a total wipe out!

I'm still experimenting with paint application with this second step, strategically wiping out paint here and there after each application...

 I lost some valuable darks as I got carried away with this new technique (for me!)... but I realize that each application adds character!

Through my experiments over the last few months, I'm really looking at developing a distinctive style and a painting process that excites me while providing me with even more freedom than before. Ultimately, I want to stop thinking while I'm painting! The plain rendering of values at the underpainting stage is a step in that direction. Applying fluid paint or fluid textures over a "grisaille" underpainting becomes a "no brainer". Dripping and splattering introduce an element of chance which also falls in line with this kind of thinking. Hey, I'm still thinking!

Ultimate fighter VII -step I... going for a mish mash of body parts!

Wanting to add another one to this series, I opt once again for the confusion resulting from interlocking bodies and body parts...

I hope to create further confusion with the rendering. I don't go all out with these black and white underpaintings, preferring to use them as the  foundation for a blurry picture.

Note: The cross bars from the frame are showing through... perhaps something that may add to the design!

Taking a slant on the wild side part II... enjoying nature North of Lachute!

Playing catch up with the last days of summer, this weekend I went along the Muse's memory lane, the road leading to a lot near a lake shared by 5 members of Nicole's family (including her brother Michel) North of Lachute, Québec ...

Nicole hadn't been there for more than 30 years (this is where she spent all her summers as a kid). This is also Tex Lecor's country, and I can understand how this area could have been a source of inspiration for this renowned Québec artist.

Merci Francine et Michel pour cette visite guidée!!!

Taking a slant on the wild side... enjoying nature in the Stowe area!

Yesterday, we took another day trip, but this time in the Stowe area (Vermont, USA) not much more than an hour from my hometown near the US border...

... this was like an attempt to pack some more memories... of a summer now on borrowed time! We took advantage of my cousin's knowledge of the area. Merci Robert et un bonjour à Monique!

I was flabbergasted by the art galleries and the works of local artists in the area. Many plein air painters and contemporary artists caught my attention and gave me food for thought! The Trapp family estate (the Sound of Music movie told their story) was quiet impressive and definitely reminiscent of Austria.

Close encounter with a flying object - final... Wanting to explore the "blur"!

I used this final step to increase color saturation here and there, leaving this painting relatively unfinished...

This one was another candidate for a mat varnish after I made slight corrections in the curvature of both arms. I photographed it in the bright sunshine...

Although I favour close-ups since they make figurative abstraction easier to achieve, I still feel the need to further explore the full figure with the ultimate objective of tipping the scale towards abstraction a little. Eventually, whatever my point of view, the general look of my works should remain the same... but to do that, I need to subjugate my rational mind... it's been on my "to do" list for a while!

Note to self: "All of a sudden I want to explore free-flowing textures and flowing paint... real bad!"

Sub-note to self: "I think my new direction stems from wanting to deconstruct from pure realism rather than from impressionistic realism. I think it's a question of maximizing the impact of deconstruction for me..."

Close encounter with a flying object - step II... Not exactly knowing where I'm going!

I applied a first color layer on this one this morning...

... to test the grounds for a potential color scheme. At this stage, I already knew that I wanted more colors while keeping the "blurry" style of the previous two paintings...

 Note: I decided to apply a silly title to this one...one that relates to the observer rather than the painting!

Note to self: "I've opened up the path of the less defined, of free-flowing colors... the attraction is irresistible!"

Sub-note to self: "I think that from there, I want to slowly build back the highly textural environment I came from (Yoga series last year)... without losing the new look. This is likely to take a few paintings!"

Odds and sods... Taking a break from painting!

Despite the hot weather these days, we're starting to get signs that "Summer 2011" is coming to an end. It's the time of the year where I seem to be getting frantic... trying to catch the sun whenever possible... in an attempt to hold on tight to a constant state of sheer euphoria! Going back to my roots (the region where I was born) is what the doctor ordered...

I pay frequent visits to my elderly parents... and thank God they seem to be doing well these days.

A few days ago, we took the opportunity to visit two art exhibitions in Montreal:

• Armand Vaillantcourt's "On n'a pas de printemps à perdre", he's a Quebec legend in sculpture and visual arts
• "Parce que c'est lui" an homage to Gilles Carle, legendary Quebec cinematographer who died from Parkinson's disease in 2009

Eighty two years "young" Vaillancourt really cracked the whip with this exhibition... as many of his paintings were done... with a whip! As for the exhibition of Gilles Carle' drawings and photographs of Chloé Ste-Marie (renowned Quebec actress, singer, activist), it was a monument raise to the power of LOVE. Very touching and unforgettable!

Close encounter with a flying object - step I... Keeping the momentum going!

Working on a backlog of images to experiment with, I went for this one this morning...

I'd like to keep the same spirit as previously... but with more of a contemporary look...

Note to self: "I seem to be getting the knack of it... going directly on canvas with the brush with soot and brou de noix with no preliminary drawing. This watercolor-like process excites me and I don't feel the need to really push it... being contented with going only half way!"