|
MONIKA WRIGHT creates abstract art in Nova Scotia where she has lived since 2005. Winner of several awards, including the prestigious Mary Pratt Crystal award, her distinctive style of painting has lead to recognition, first locally and then internationally.
In this monthly newsletter I will share my creative journey, the hills and valleys that I travel to create my abstract paintings, seascapes and wearable art fashion line. If you'd like to receive these musings, please enter your email on the form above. Thanks for all your interest, support and the inspiration you give me every day to be courageous and kind. Painting With The 'Other Hand', Or
|
|
|
I live in paradise, on a lake with views that take my breath away every single day, no matter the season or the weather. The fog rolls in and then lifts slowly to reveal layers of islands against a wide expanse of sky and water. Or the faintest whisper of a cloud streaks the perfect cerulean sky, reflecting like a mirror at my doorstep. I enjoy it all year long, but mostly, I anticipate those warm and sunny days when I can kayak and swim and be the water nymph I dream of being on the cold and dreary days of which we have far too many in Nova Scotia.
So when summer comes along, I want to make the most of it and be outside whenever possible. That means that studio time is a little less, but I promise you, I make up for it during the rest of the year. From Autumn to Summer, early mornings can turn into late evenings in the studio with barely a break.
Oh, did I say ‘break’? Wel, that takes me to the gist of this little article. I was heading to the lake for a swim after a few hours in the steamy studio working on some representational style paintings for‘Deeply Rooted’, a group show at the beautiful Lunenburg Art Gallery, opening August 27th and running to September 29th. One minute I was walking upright down the steps to the lake, and the next I was tumbling like a bowling ball down the stairs. So the good news is that it was just my clavicle, and it will heal. It could have been worse. I didn’t break my arm or smash my head. The bad news is, that’s my painting side and there’s no moving this shoulder away from my body any time soon.
Drum roll for the invincible artist who finds a way: Painting with my left hand was much more fun and interesting than I imagined it would be. My brush strokes aren’t tight and controlled. They are loose, but still intentional and energetic, maybe even more energetic than the paintings I’ve been making lately with my right hand. There was a certain ‘Come what may’ fearlessness in applying paint to canvas with my ‘other hand’. There were no expectations of ‘perfection’, no self-imposed pressure to conform to a style. There was just curiosity to see if I could actually do it. And then I realized something else, those loose wild brush strokes were a lot like the ones I made a few years ago, before I planned for exhibitions and painted to expectations (mostly my own). I like what I created and even more so, I enjoyed the process tremendously. I surprised myself, and that doesn't happen every day!
I’ve had a glimpse into the past and into the future simultaneously. I’ve been wondering where my art would take me, how my style would evolve. I still wish I were swimming, but in the meantime, painting with wild abandon is a lot of fun.
Here are a couple of the small paintings I did with my left hand, and the big triptych which I completed with my left hand. They’ll be amongst others included in the ‘Deeply Rooted’show featuring paintings by Helen and Alan Spinney, sculptures by Franz Fraitzland paintings by myself, of course.
"Deeply Rooted" opens at The Lunenburg Art GalleryonAugust 27th and runs to September 29th. Opening hours are 11-5 pm, with an evening Opening Reception on Friday August 30th, from 5-7 pm. We look forward to meeting you there!
So when summer comes along, I want to make the most of it and be outside whenever possible. That means that studio time is a little less, but I promise you, I make up for it during the rest of the year. From Autumn to Summer, early mornings can turn into late evenings in the studio with barely a break.
Oh, did I say ‘break’? Wel, that takes me to the gist of this little article. I was heading to the lake for a swim after a few hours in the steamy studio working on some representational style paintings for‘Deeply Rooted’, a group show at the beautiful Lunenburg Art Gallery, opening August 27th and running to September 29th. One minute I was walking upright down the steps to the lake, and the next I was tumbling like a bowling ball down the stairs. So the good news is that it was just my clavicle, and it will heal. It could have been worse. I didn’t break my arm or smash my head. The bad news is, that’s my painting side and there’s no moving this shoulder away from my body any time soon.
Drum roll for the invincible artist who finds a way: Painting with my left hand was much more fun and interesting than I imagined it would be. My brush strokes aren’t tight and controlled. They are loose, but still intentional and energetic, maybe even more energetic than the paintings I’ve been making lately with my right hand. There was a certain ‘Come what may’ fearlessness in applying paint to canvas with my ‘other hand’. There were no expectations of ‘perfection’, no self-imposed pressure to conform to a style. There was just curiosity to see if I could actually do it. And then I realized something else, those loose wild brush strokes were a lot like the ones I made a few years ago, before I planned for exhibitions and painted to expectations (mostly my own). I like what I created and even more so, I enjoyed the process tremendously. I surprised myself, and that doesn't happen every day!
I’ve had a glimpse into the past and into the future simultaneously. I’ve been wondering where my art would take me, how my style would evolve. I still wish I were swimming, but in the meantime, painting with wild abandon is a lot of fun.
Here are a couple of the small paintings I did with my left hand, and the big triptych which I completed with my left hand. They’ll be amongst others included in the ‘Deeply Rooted’show featuring paintings by Helen and Alan Spinney, sculptures by Franz Fraitzland paintings by myself, of course.
"Deeply Rooted" opens at The Lunenburg Art GalleryonAugust 27th and runs to September 29th. Opening hours are 11-5 pm, with an evening Opening Reception on Friday August 30th, from 5-7 pm. We look forward to meeting you there!
Fitted scuba knit dress featuring artwork by Monika Wright available in a variety of sizes and designs.
Also available are palazzo pants, reversible dresses, tunics, tops, scarves and shawls. |
This painting, "Set Your Course", incorporates my digital art in the painting...and then is further transformed into this super flattering fitted dress made of 50% recycled materials, in Canada!
|
|
|
|
EVOLUTION OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION July 2019
Monika Wright Recently, while preparing for an Open House weekend in my Studio, I opened the ‘vault’ and surrounded myself with some of the artwork from my early days as an artist, to the most recent works still in progress. It was a fascinating and somewhat emotional journey to see the evolution of my art, and to experience the memories that were tied to those periods in my life. There was certainly a common stylistic thread amongst the artworks, even dating back to the times of ‘jewellery making’ and abstract photography, and yet it was clear that transitions had occurred. The similarities across the mediums I explored were most noticeable in the shapes I created. There were always fluid, organic shapes and lines, a sense of irrepressible movement, a flow of energy. And there were a lot of circles and lines, especially in the earlier works, dissipating into more ethereal splashes of colour, as if the restraint and the control of the past had been released and a new freedom and confidence were emerging. Another thread that continues to find its way into my works is the angled line, often a curved approximation of 45 degrees, sometimes reaching into the corners of the canvas. Even brush strokes and palette knife marks are prominent at these angles. It’s not intentional. It just happens to be the way my hand moves and my eyes perceive balance in composition. When I try to introduce a horizontal or vertical line, it feels somehow unnatural to me, with the exception of my seascapes, although even there, that horizon line is not always present! But there we go, one of my mantras for life: “There are no straight lines in nature”, and neither are there any perfectly straight paths in life. Surprises happen. It’s how we deal with what we’re given, that determines the life we’ll lead – or the art we make. Can we talk about neutrals? Not so much (smile). It’s all about colour in my world; deeply saturated, vibrant colour: blue, magenta, yellow. Dark against light, the differences are celebrated. I’ve seen the colours explode all around me, in places near and far. I’ve travelled the world exploring, experiencing the fact that all of this beauty and messiness is part of the human experience. That involvement in the full spectrum of life gives me fuel to reorganize the chaos into something new on the canvas. I am the Universe, the Universe is within me, and it will spill out onto the canvas in new ways again and again. There is such immense joy in distilling the experience of one's life in a subconscious way, seeing it make sense only once it's fully expressed. I surprise myself in the process of making art. At the moment, I find myself at yet another crossroad, wondering what evolution will occur next in my work. I've just completed a series of water paintings and I don't feel like I'm done with those. There's more to experiment with on that front. But I also feel something new brewing; a sense of openness, even eagerness for change. Adaptability has always been a part of my nature. Experimentation in the studio will, undoubtedly, bring forth both frustrations and excitement. Ultimately, what happens in the studio will bring about another transition, but one borne out of who I have become, not only who I was. The future version of my artistic journey lies waiting. I hope to see you on the journey! And here, for your interest, are a few examples of work from the past to the present. |
Years ago, when photography was my favoured medium, I began abstracting the images I created. That opened the door to seeing other mediums in an abstract way. My first abstract art used mixed media: foil, acrylic paint and epoxy resin over the entire surface.
From there I moved into watery washes that I still work with today, but there were a lot of circles, or bubbles and distinct shapes appearing for a period. Much later, my paintings became more complex and yet also looser, required layering colour over colour as if creating the future meant building on the past. These paintings, done with a palette knife, as well as a brush, giving sharper edges, but still they share a sense of similar movement and composition.They were painted a couple of years apart!
The first diptych was created a few years ago. It was the beginning of the ethereal mode, something that is much harder to create effectively than it looks! I realized, sometimes less really is more effective. The two water inspired paintings are most recent. Today, I combine different techniques and let the painting tell me what it wants to be. In my studio, I now have the freedom to create both playfully and earnestly, but always with passion to share my heart and soul with you.
|
Wearable Art - Fashionable and Comfortable Designs for Your Lifestyle
New Limited Edition 'Chiffon' Kimono
|
|
"THRIVE" - 30" X 40" - $1800
THE ART OF LETTING GO June 2019
Monika Wright
There is one question that I get asked more than any other: “How long does it take you to make a painting”. It’s a tricky one to answer and most artists have practiced the standard reply, something like: “I’ve been at some version of this painting for 15 years; I just keep improving it.”
If a painting works out well in just a day, does that mean I haven’t put enough effort into it, or does it mean that the skills I’ve developed over many years and many paintings, after practice and patience - and impatience - have come together in a sweet moment of joy in this painting? Has my intuition and skill merged in perfect synchronicity?
Still some paintings tease me with the challenges. The first touchstone is always my intuitive response, whether I feel the artwork conveying passion. Only when it fails to do so, do I examine the work for issues of balance, tension, light or composition. I question every inch of the canvas seeking to discover the solution to the uneasiness I feel about the work, that sense that something is not quite right. I rely on intuition first, technical or intellectual analysis secondly. I turn it around and around. I live with it. I try brush strokes and colours and glazes, until, eventually – and sometimes in the middle of the night – the image appears and I know what will complete the painting, give me a sense of wonder, a sense that the work is ready for the world to see it.
This much I’ve learned, whether the magic happens in one stroke or hundreds, it won’t flow to the canvas at all if I have blocked it with fear, frustration or intellectualized structure. When I encounter those obstacles to creative flow, I have to step away from the canvas, breathe deeply and ‘Let Go’, so that something new can move into the space and come alive inside me. It’s when I allow that light to shine that I will create an artwork that vibrates with emotional energy. Letting go of the need to control the outcome, allows the beauty of life to spill out in vivid colour and form.
Now ask me how long it’s taken me to learn the lesson that we can’t always control the outcome, nor is it in our own best interests to do so. As it is in life, so it is in Art-making. Wisdom and skill take time to develop. A wise decision can be made in seconds once we’ve learned and lived. A painting may take tiny bit longer, though (smile!).
Monika Wright
There is one question that I get asked more than any other: “How long does it take you to make a painting”. It’s a tricky one to answer and most artists have practiced the standard reply, something like: “I’ve been at some version of this painting for 15 years; I just keep improving it.”
If a painting works out well in just a day, does that mean I haven’t put enough effort into it, or does it mean that the skills I’ve developed over many years and many paintings, after practice and patience - and impatience - have come together in a sweet moment of joy in this painting? Has my intuition and skill merged in perfect synchronicity?
Still some paintings tease me with the challenges. The first touchstone is always my intuitive response, whether I feel the artwork conveying passion. Only when it fails to do so, do I examine the work for issues of balance, tension, light or composition. I question every inch of the canvas seeking to discover the solution to the uneasiness I feel about the work, that sense that something is not quite right. I rely on intuition first, technical or intellectual analysis secondly. I turn it around and around. I live with it. I try brush strokes and colours and glazes, until, eventually – and sometimes in the middle of the night – the image appears and I know what will complete the painting, give me a sense of wonder, a sense that the work is ready for the world to see it.
This much I’ve learned, whether the magic happens in one stroke or hundreds, it won’t flow to the canvas at all if I have blocked it with fear, frustration or intellectualized structure. When I encounter those obstacles to creative flow, I have to step away from the canvas, breathe deeply and ‘Let Go’, so that something new can move into the space and come alive inside me. It’s when I allow that light to shine that I will create an artwork that vibrates with emotional energy. Letting go of the need to control the outcome, allows the beauty of life to spill out in vivid colour and form.
Now ask me how long it’s taken me to learn the lesson that we can’t always control the outcome, nor is it in our own best interests to do so. As it is in life, so it is in Art-making. Wisdom and skill take time to develop. A wise decision can be made in seconds once we’ve learned and lived. A painting may take tiny bit longer, though (smile!).
|
STUDIO TOUR 2019 DATES: JULY 5, 6 & 7
MY NEW STUDIO IS OPEN AND I WANT YOU TO SEE IT! 25 WATERBURY LANE, UPPER TANTALLON Now in its 9th year, this open studio tour celebrates art and artists in the St. Margaret’s Bay area. During the three-day event, studios, group showings, and galleries are open between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm to welcome visitors and showcase the works of diverse talented artists.
Find locations using the Studio Tour Guide Book (including map and GPS coordinates) available at visitor information centers and kiosks in the spring. To view a PDF version of the 2019 Studio Tour Guide, use this link: 2019 Studio Tour Guide BookDownload Follow the blue lighthouse signs around the Bay. We’ll be expecting you! 
Wishing you kindness in your daily lives, the circular kind where you receive it in abundance and pay it forward, where the attitude and gratitude spread like lupins in Springtime in Nova Scotia, endless kindness like the waves that crash upon the shore. Those are the images that surround me where I live and create my art. It is this place where I am grounded and the world I explore that inspires me. It is your love and support of my art that gives me strength. Making art can be a lonely journey, but you have invited me into your imagination and your hearts. Thank you for all you do to share your thoughts and feelings about my art, to those of you who have brought my creations into your own homes and lives. May you have an inspired year filled with peace, kindness and love.
"Transcendence" - 24"x24" - $1175
Gift Certificates AvailableIs it time for a unique gift, from your heart to your loved one's? Original art is one way to let someone know that they are too special for an ordinary gift. And if you're not sure which piece would strike their fancy, there's always the Gift Certificate option. Birthdays, holidays, weddings...any time is the right time for a gift of original art. Questions? Just send me a note: monika@monikawright.com I look forward to helping you inspire someone special with one of my artworks.
|
The Blank Canvas and the Paradox of Inspiration
May 2019 The blank canvas stares back at me. Will I treat it as a challenge fraught with trepidation, or an invitation to be brave and explore the emotions of this moment? That’s what I do, I paint emotions, not scenes you’d recognize, so I rely on what’s built up inside me, or what I allow to enter into my soul when I open myself to the universal energy, the magic that is waiting for expression. My paintings are intuitive interpretations that develop into series organically. With this series, though, I’ll be creating with intent: an exhibition inspired by water, the oceans, lakes and clouds that sustain us and demand that we pay more careful attention. "Our Water, Our World" will open at Art Lab Studios in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia on June 1stand will show until June 20th. I realize now that I have to paint to an expectation, so there is a certain amount of apprehension. Since my process is usually more spontaneous, less focussed on theme, I need a different approach. As with all obstacles we surmount, it is also rewarding find a way to express this theme with passion, so that it will stir a visceral response immediately. It’s my version of the 5-second rule. What does it make you feel when your eyes first catch sight of the painting? I stand with the challenge for a moment, and then take the leap. I’ll choose the colours first, which will inspire the mood. Payne’s grey, silver, gold and white evoke an enchanted feeling, that magical time of day when the sun goes down and colours fade after sunset. Creating movement with the reach of my arms; how far will I spread the paint out across the canvas, how wide or small will my brush move across the waves, that will be the next step. Now I have it. I am swimming in the ocean itself and feel the painting creating itself. This is the sweetest time of creation, when the painting tells me where it wants to go and I merely jump in and swim and play until it lets me know that it’s time to get back on shore. The hardest part of creating a painting is getting started, but without taking that leap of faith and beginning with that very first stroke of colour, the painting has no where to go. So, it’s up to me, not the muse, to say I’m ready to get started. It’s not about waiting for the image to appear fully formed in my mind, for ‘inspiration’ to come knocking at the door; it’s about having the courage to begin anew, each and every time. 
| New Designs in Wearable Art Fashions
|
|
|
|
Art from the Heart
April 2019
I create abstract art. It’s confusing for some people, challenging on a level that makes them feel uncomfortable, perhaps even unsure about their ability to “get it”. And in great part, that is probably because they’ve heard so much ‘art-speak’ describing the work and the artist’s intention in a way that simply doesn’t make sense or doesn’t resonate with them. They feel they should recognize what they are looking at, or at least be able to communicate their reaction to the work of art with the same kind of language. But I’d like to propose another approach to viewing my art; one that allows you to just see, be in the moment, and let come what may. No pressure to ‘get it’.
You see (pun intended!), it’s completely natural for humans to have a need to recognize something real in the artwork. It’s how we’ve been programmed by evolution for a fight-or-flight response: ‘is it dangerous, or welcoming?’ We look at clouds, or rock formations and see faces and animals. But we can also just look out across the expanse of mountains and valleys, across the miles of ocean or dessert, and enjoy the view. There’s a sense of freedom in that. And it’s what I’m suggesting you do with abstract art. Let it affect you the way a sunny day with gentle breezes and swaying trees touches you.
When I create my abstract art, I’m hoping to convert my emotions and ideas into colours, shapes and textures that transcend reality, transcend vowels and consonants. I want to make art that is accessible to everyone on a visceral level. There is no need to understand what the painting is saying, no requirement to explain the message. When you look, just feel, just breathe and rest, and let the painting envelope you. I paint emotion. I paint the energy that flows through me, and back out into the universe. When you look at my art, we have collaborated. And it is precisely because you have added your own imagination and emotion to the work, that we are connected.
I think there is something else unique to abstract art: it has the potential to reach across boundaries, to break through barriers and create connections in a non-confrontational way. With abstraction, we have much more opportunity to experience the painting than we would be able to do with realistic depictions that tell us what we should be seeing. Abstraction can affect us on a level that doesn’t require clarification
Abstract art leaves space for beauty and the message to be interpreted on a personal level. What I create with my artworks is merely one step in the process. When you look at the canvas, what you see, and more importantly, what you feel, is personal to your experience of the world. There are no dictates, no right or wrong ways to respond to the work. If the artwork speaks to you, if it takes your breath away, even for a moment, it has affected you. That is how art can be transformative; how it can rearrange our vision of the world and create connections we never thought were possible.
April 2019
I create abstract art. It’s confusing for some people, challenging on a level that makes them feel uncomfortable, perhaps even unsure about their ability to “get it”. And in great part, that is probably because they’ve heard so much ‘art-speak’ describing the work and the artist’s intention in a way that simply doesn’t make sense or doesn’t resonate with them. They feel they should recognize what they are looking at, or at least be able to communicate their reaction to the work of art with the same kind of language. But I’d like to propose another approach to viewing my art; one that allows you to just see, be in the moment, and let come what may. No pressure to ‘get it’.
You see (pun intended!), it’s completely natural for humans to have a need to recognize something real in the artwork. It’s how we’ve been programmed by evolution for a fight-or-flight response: ‘is it dangerous, or welcoming?’ We look at clouds, or rock formations and see faces and animals. But we can also just look out across the expanse of mountains and valleys, across the miles of ocean or dessert, and enjoy the view. There’s a sense of freedom in that. And it’s what I’m suggesting you do with abstract art. Let it affect you the way a sunny day with gentle breezes and swaying trees touches you.
When I create my abstract art, I’m hoping to convert my emotions and ideas into colours, shapes and textures that transcend reality, transcend vowels and consonants. I want to make art that is accessible to everyone on a visceral level. There is no need to understand what the painting is saying, no requirement to explain the message. When you look, just feel, just breathe and rest, and let the painting envelope you. I paint emotion. I paint the energy that flows through me, and back out into the universe. When you look at my art, we have collaborated. And it is precisely because you have added your own imagination and emotion to the work, that we are connected.
I think there is something else unique to abstract art: it has the potential to reach across boundaries, to break through barriers and create connections in a non-confrontational way. With abstraction, we have much more opportunity to experience the painting than we would be able to do with realistic depictions that tell us what we should be seeing. Abstraction can affect us on a level that doesn’t require clarification
Abstract art leaves space for beauty and the message to be interpreted on a personal level. What I create with my artworks is merely one step in the process. When you look at the canvas, what you see, and more importantly, what you feel, is personal to your experience of the world. There are no dictates, no right or wrong ways to respond to the work. If the artwork speaks to you, if it takes your breath away, even for a moment, it has affected you. That is how art can be transformative; how it can rearrange our vision of the world and create connections we never thought were possible.