So,
here we are. The world didn’t end as many thought that it would with the end of
the Mayan calendar. Rather the Mayan calendar simply calibrated itself much
like the odometer of a car. The previous cycle of the Mayan calendar began on Aug. 13, 3114 B.C., by our calendar, and came
to an end on December 21, 2012, the winter solstice. December 22, 2012 was to be for the Mayans the
beginning of Year One, the beginning of a new cycle of time.
Year One,
think about what it infers, an opportunity to revisit the past and to start
anew. Not unlike many others who aspired to become an artist I jumped right
into the fire and began to make marks. I suffered the influence of past and
present artists, and shaped my art into product hoping to survive. I produced
much art, but in retrospect there are moments when I feel that I ignored the
very thoughts and feelings that drove me to making art. To begin
again. To actually embrace the concept of Year One. Enticing, but is it
possible to leave all of the baggage behind, and do what one intended to do
when we took that leap of faith?
Probably not! And, would one really want to go back and begin anew?
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The Copeland Forest from the Top of the Valley Pencil Sketch 1980
In 1979 at the ripe old age of 39 years I left a well paying career to return to study art with the hopes of becoming an artist. Some thought that I was completely crazy as I hadn't done any art for going on 20 years. To be fair, in the next few years there were moments when I felt like they were right, but I continued on learning how to make art and 32 years later, here I am. Still trying to become an artist.
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Barn on the Hill Watercolour Sketch 1980
By the summer of 1980, with a year at art school behind me, I found myself encouraged but with
little confidence in my ability to produce art, real art that is. Whenever I had the chance I'd pack up my sketching supplies and go off sketching in places where I hoped no one would see what I was doing. A favourite sketching haunt was what is called the Copeland Forest, and the nearby ski hills of Horseshoe Valley Ski Resort.
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Copeland Forest from the Top Of The Valley II Watercolour Sketch 1980 |
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Tree Study Watercolour Sketch 1980 |
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Old Birch Copeland Forest Watercolour Sketch 1980 |
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Sumac Watercolour Sketch 1980
I have sketchbooks full of pencil and watercolour sketches, as well as drawers of loose sketches and paintings representing decades of learning how to make art. As I look at them I quite realize that there really is no going back. I did what I did and good, bad, or indifferent, I'm quite proud of the result, and intend to carry on building on my very early experience. It's not possible to repeat Year One when, with making art, every day is Year One.
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Mountain Scene Graphite Sketch 2011 |
