Making art accessible to everyone

 Isn't this a great way to make art affordable and accessible to everyone? Would you like to see your  city's art gallery do this? I sure would. A great  way to  foster community!

60s Style Re-purposed Dresser Drawers into Garden Boxes. Groovy Baby! Yea!

Once again  I have to say it: One man's junk is another man's, or in this case woman's treasure! 

And now these  old dresser drawers thrown out by a neighbour,will be taking their place in a little piece of my garden. In a few short weeks, weather permitting they'll be filled with Lavender and red and white Geraniums.

I used spray paint for everything. Took about one hour total!  I have been using Montana spray paint for years but just tried Plutonium  spray paint that I picked up at our  fabulous new DeSerres Art Supply store on King George  near 76th Ave. in Surrey.

 Love it!

 Love the juicy colours!

What can I say? I'm a child of the 60s and early 70s !

April Showers.....

 Quick Sunday post.

Looking around  outside and everything is SOOOO green!

 It's so gorgeous and lush! But it really would be nice to have the rain stop so we can get back outdoors.

Here's a shot taken  during a hike through the woods  at  the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver

Moss covered tree- Capilano Suspension Bridge  North Vancouver, BC

Seeing Red

If I had to choose only one artist as my favourite it would without hesitation be Mark Rothko

Red One

Many of Rothko's canvases were monumental in size in the late 1950s and early 1960s. 

He was quoted as saying that he wanted to express "basic human emotions - tragedy, ecstasy, doom...
The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them."

 To see a  huge Rothko painting in person is extraordinary. It's one of my  favourite things to do while in New York City.   Any art lover needs to experience it at least once. It will take your breath away. And that, is what art is all about. It's definitely not  "a pretty picture".

The above piece  was painted on raw canvas soaking, staining and applying layer after layer of paint.
  Not by Rothko. 
It's my tribute to an artist who  subconsciously influenced me in my teens before I had even heard his name.  

What is Art ?

So many people still think that "Art" is a pretty picture.

 I maintain that  art  can be absolutely anything.

 At its best art should make you think. It's all about how you feel inside when you view it. 

What  emotions and thoughts run through your mind? 

Does  the work make you  feel happy, sad, uneasy, perplexed? 

Do you want to laugh, cry, walk away?

I want to have some understanding of  the artist's emotions at the time they were creating the piece. 

To me, that is art.

'Clay'
Mixed Media on Panel
12x24
Private Collection

prints available-contact me for more info

The world's worst blogger

Really need to  get back to posting more frequently! Yikes!
Just looked at the last post and it was early January. Bad Jude!!!

Have just  been painting, writing and doing all the things that take up one's life while we are  busy making other plans.

Katherine Isaac Penner with guitar

 Have completed painting half my living room and now comes the hard part----putting the artwork back up.  This photo is one of my favourites and deserves a special place in our home.

 This is  my maternal grandmother  on the right with her guitar and, I think, her cousin. 

It was taken in southern Russia around 100 years ago before things got very nasty for my family  after the communist revolution in 1918 and they decided to immigrate to Canada. They left everything behind and  in 1923 travelled by wagon and  train to England and boarded the Empress of France, bound for a new life  on the Saskatchewan prairie. My  grandmother was 5 months pregnant with my mother when they arrived , so my mother was the first one of the family born in the new country. 

And my father's saga is similar but makes this one look like a cake walk. What a rich history we have. 

All for now, 

Peace Love and Joy to you.

Happy New Year!

Well, I guess I'm back! I hope your holiday was a happy one  spent with all your favourite people. 
Ours was very quiet which was perfect!

I have decided that my New Year's resolution is to read more poetry. 
 Ummm... maybe make that just read poetry- period. I rarely do, but when I read a really good poem I always say,   "Hey Jude! Why don't you read  more poetry??? "
My dad was a  high school English teacher many many years ago and  one of the poems he taught his students  was Leisure by  W.H. Davies known as the Supertramp poet.  
Even 50 years later Dad could still recite it from memory. After my father died I  made a promise to memorize it  so I could read it at his graveside service. 
Click here to read the poem

Mama's Birthday & Memories of Nov 22, 1963

 November 22 marks the birthday of my beautiful mother, now living in a complex care residence. She is the loveliest woman I know.

Her birthday always brings up my first really  clear childhood  memory.

Her 40th birthday was Nov 22, 1963. I was just 4 years old but I recall  everyone being so sad and shocked as they gathered at our home on that Friday evening for what was supposed to be  a joyful celebration. JFK had been shot .
 I  remember asking my mommy why, if  this was her birthday, were all these people so unhappy? She explained what happened in a simple way appropriate for a young child .
 I remember it as if it happened yesterday.
JFK's death, and my mother's birthday will forever be intertwined.
JFK are also my father's initials which made it even more strange.

Dumpster Dive Desk- Trash to Treasure!

A neighbour had  kicked this desk  to the curb and I grabbed it immediately!

 I've been  wanting  to try Annie Sloan Chalk Paint so this was a good way to become familiar with this very popular new type of paint. 

It's NOT chalkboard paint. It has chalk in it and it gives you that vintage French look which is so hot right now.

A little distressing and voila! There she is in my dining room!

Desk before- No priming needed -Woot woot!

Desk detail  after painting  and distressing

How it looks in my dining room- Love this !

Back to the Studio!

Still feels like summer here on the west coast even though here we are more than half way through  September.   I am looking forward to getting back into my small studio and TOTALLY re organizing it. Stay tuned for the before and after shots! It's a disaster in there!

One new project after the Studio Re-Do is getting back to designing jewelry, something I was doing 15 years ago under the Turtle Bay Creations label. This was a line of hand-painted paper and fabric earrings and pendants  which was a side business for me while I was raising my son.

Enjoy this fabulous weather while it lasts! The Vancouver rains are on their way soon!

Barefoot Driver is on Vacation- Check back in September!

Summer Begins!

Last weekend we were at my sister-in law's place on the lake in the Okanagan Valley. Beautiful location. It was a bit rainy but the sun came out for one day so managed to get in a swim in the chilly water.
 My sister-in-law has great taste and  always has an artsy project on the go.
 I love her  bright red Adirondack chairs and against the waves of lavender they really pop!

Summer of Love ! ( is it REALLY summer now?)

Summer Of Love
16x16
Mixed Media
Private Collection

Summer officially begins tomorrow!
 Yippee! 
It's been a long time coming 

I'd love to hear what your favourite  childhood summers were like!

Add a little drama and fun to your plain old fence!

Just had to share this brilliant and simple way to add a little whimsy to a ho-hum backyard fence . The full directions are on the link below . Best to place the marbles on a  fence that gets the late afternoon western sun. So  pretty. Now how do I do this without having my husband freak out. He hates me using power tools!

http://gardendrama.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/garden-art-on-the-cheap-diy-glass-marbles-in-your-fence/

Out of Chaos, a new Piece of Art Emerges.......

Decided to tackle my vast collection of scarves  last night.

Scarves.The middle aged woman's best friend. 

Started grouping  them  on three wall hooks according to colour families, earth tones, greens and blues, and reds and  oranges  and because I ran out of room, a  deep purple one got into the oranges.
It looked so luscious and juicy I had to take a photo.
I love  the way the colours flow  together.

Life  is full of  creative and  serendipitous moments like this.
 One only has to be open to recognizing when they're happening to you!
Enjoy today. And pay attention. You never know what will happen next.

Titanic centennial, the Empress of France and my grandparents' voyage to a new world.

April 14 marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. So many  passengers were looking forward to a new life in a country most of them had never even visited.

My 88 year old mother and I spent today reading about her own family's journey across the ocean from Southampton 11 years after the Titanic.

My grandparents and their children ( my grandma 5 months pregnant with my mom) were fleeing Southern Russia  after revolution and famine.

They were on their way to Canada.
After 2 weeks travel  through Europe on  wagons and trains they finally set sail on the Empress of France. Everyone was seasick except for my Uncle who was 9 years old.  He wrote about the trip and what a wondrous experience it was for such a young person. He even described seeing the icebergs as the ship neared the gulf of St Lawrence. That gave me a chill as I thought about the Titanic's fate.

 My grandfather recited this poem as he, my grandmother and my uncle watched the mountains of ice floating  in the distance

Dem Schnee, dem Regan
Dem Wind entgegen


(Towards the snow and the rain
Into the wind)
Then he paused and my grandmother continued Goethe's poem
Gluck ohne Ruh
Liebe bist du!
( Bliss [happiness] without rest
is love)
Then she smiled and said ' you have to know the whole poem to understand that the poet is talking about the restlessness of love and not about icebergs"  
  
So glad they made the trip. So thankful they made it safely.

These Things Happen....

A couple of months ago my husband and I decided  that it was a fairly safe bet to begin transitioning my son's bedroom into a guestroom. After all, he had moved into his own apartment in Vancouver in the summer of 2010.  But still... it was hard.    This had been  his room for over 20 years, the place where I fed him and rocked him to sleep. So many nights as a solo parent reading to him , I mean reading WITH him- I really don't recall a time when he couldn't read!
When M was about  4 or 5  we stuck those glow- in- the- dark stars and planets on the ceiling of  his bedroom. We spent many hours lying on our backs  with the lights off , pondering the mysteries of the universe while looking up at the ' night sky'.
Those stickers had to come down  a few weeks ago  before the ceiling was painted . I shed a couple of tears that day. Good tears. I am so glad and grateful that I had the experience of raising a child. I only did it once but it's been the best thing ever.

P.S. And I still have the glow-in-the-dark stars in my own bedroom to remind my of those precious times.

Life is What Happens While You're Busy Making Other Plans...

Lately have been thinking a lot about this quote, one of my favourites by John Lennon.
I  created a  community facebook group ReNewton after becoming frustrated with a neglected street corner in my neighbourhood. Didn't really think it would get much attention. WRONG!

 Social media has changed the way people get involved! Many media interviews, stories and mentions on Twitter 
Good stuff for sure, but has taken me away from my 'day job'. Need some balance here folks! Really have to get back to my little studio and my passion.
I have been so encouraged by the community support my neighbours have shown to support and revitalize our community. To quote Margaret Mead...

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has !!l
Enjoy your day. Create something wonderful!

Last To Fall....

Painted this last year.
 It's my one and only 9-11 inspired piece. I painted this upside down which seemed appropriate to me. I don't work in a representational style, but this one kind of turned out that way. After it was done, I saw the twin towers clear as day.

In a galaxy far far away... Happy Birthday Grandma...

November 18 marks the birthday of my beautiful maternal grandmother who died when I was just 11 years old. She was born in  Southern Russia in the late 1800s, and grew up in a world filled with music, poetry and laughter. 
Then came the revolution of 1917 and soon the world she knew was over. With her husband , three children and one on the way ( my mother) she immigrated to the Canadian prairie and started a different kind of life.  
I am so thankful that I had the chance to know her. 


  Grandma is the one with the guitar. I believe this photo was taken around 1906 when she would have been around 18-19 years old.

Untitled 19

As I look out my kitchen window this  autumn morning I see the ever changing colours of a small maple tree. Reminds me of the tones in this painting created a few years ago. 

Untitled

Mixed Media on panel

20x24

520.

” ACT As If “- Walk Across America, a story of depression and success.

” ACT As If “- Walk Across America, a story of depression and success.

Scratch 'N Win

Haven't posted  in a long time. Here's just a little sample from  a series I've been working on titled

Scratch 'n Win.

Barefoot Driver Studio on Facebook!

Please join me on Jude Hannah and Barefoot Driver Studio on Facebook!

Newer Work

This past summer I experimented with some new materials and paints, one of them being airbrush  paint. This piece is 16 x20 on panel. As yet untitled, but it kind of reminds me of puddles in the rain.