Inkblot Landscapes

Here are my ATC cards for this month. We trade today at 2:15 p.m. in Dunvegan, Ontario......so they are fresh from the artist's oven. Which card would you pick?

Method: I dropped some orange, blue and black ink onto one long side of an ATC-sized piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. Then, I folded the paper in half, lengthwise. Presto! When I turned the card so that the fold was horizontal, there was my inspiration for a landscape reflected in the water. With a few dashes of colored pencil, markers and my favorite reflecting acrylic paint, my landscapes were complete. I glued the mini-artworks onto ATC-sized pieces of sketching paper, cut from a drawing I wanted to recycle.

My inspiration for these ATCs came from the famous Rorschach Test inkblot. Psychoanalysts used certain inkblots in determining unconscious associations. I only saw landscapes this time..............

Sunset

Tomorrow I will bring in my submission for this year's Art Fayre in Dunvegan, Ontario.

My painting is titled "Sunset". It is 48" wide and 24" high, acrylic on canvas.

The inspiration for this painting came partly from my regular trips to the Carillon dam to see the sun setting over the water. Another element of inspiration is my regular drives though the Eastern Ontario landscape, cruising over hills to discover new views. Finally, my imagination played a large role in designing my artwork.

"Sunset" is about the time of transition.....from the activity and structure of daylight time to the mysterious and restful darkness of night. Also in life we have these transitions: the glow and extroversion of public life gives way to our private and inexplicable nightlife. It is a force of Nature that we need rest, that we must dream, that we return to where we came from, over and over again. So it is in my painting that the sun sets between the sky and earth and between the wild and secretive interim periods.