Art Archives - Page 5 of 6 - The Aging Artist

It’s Not too Late

Age is Only a Number

The joy of creating art can start even very late in life. I was in my 60’s when I made a commitment to make art my avocation. My father was a small business owner who worked long hours until he retired at 75. He developed a jack-of-all-trades capability to keep store and home in working order and had little time for hobbies or art. After his late retirement, dad started bird carving lessons. Over the next 10 to 15 years he carved and painted many birds- mostly song birds with the occasional hawk or owl. These birds provided many satisfying hours of labour and creativity.

Art After Four Score Years

As the years passed, my parents moved to an assisted living home. They no longer were able to cook or do yardwork or household chores.

The Garrison Green Seniors’ Home in Calgary is a wonderful place to spend the later years of life. The many in-house concerts by musicians of all genres, provided cultural enrichment of the residents.

This facility had a fully equipped art studio which was open to all residents. The studio provided art instruction on drawing, painting, collage and ceramics. The studio provided paper, canvas, brushes, paint, art books, tables and easels to anyone (residents and guests) who wanted to try art. It was open all day, 7 days a week. An amazing variety of artwork, created by the residents, were displayed in the halls and public areas. The art studio became a vibrant community, alive with inspiration and creative energy.

To learn more about the Garrison Green art studio: https://unitedactiveliving.com/communities/garrison-green/?utm_medium=adwords&utm_campaign=google&utm_source=gmb-listing#t1)

My mother had been a busy housewife and charity volunteer. She was a sewer, but she never showed an inclination to draw or paint. In her 90th year she discovered a new passion in the art studio. She went to the art studio almost every day and created many beautiful paintings. Her landscapes featured the mountains, trees and flowers which she loved. My father, after he stopped carving, also took up painting and continued to make art well after he turned 100.

Some of my most enjoyable visits with my parents were in the art studio, painting together.

Satisfying hours in the Garrison Green art studio.

Legacy

Art doesn’t have to be professional to be meaningful. Art satisfies the creator, and if the work is heartfelt, it provides meaning and value to the viewer.

Sadly mum and dad passed away during (but not due to) the COVID pandemic. It is a comfort that I have a few artworks that remind me of their creative spirits.

Courage to Paint

Fear and Anxiety

Making art can be discouraging. Very discouraging. Maybe it has to do with expectations. I have been drawing and painting for decades now but I still feel many moments of fear and anxiety.

The wonderful and discouraging thing about art is that it is so open ended. As one improves, one realizes there is so much more to learn. This applies to almost any endeavour- sports, gardening, cooking, writing or music.

Anyone who draws or paints will encounter fear to some degree. We all seek approval, even if the viewers are just friends or family. I feel some fear when I show my art to my wife. She is candid and speaks her truth about her preferences. What I create is usually a mismatch with her likes, so I may feel discouraged by her comments.

Showing work to the viewing public may create a fear of rejection, a fear of criticism or fear of mockery. Showing work in a gallery is hard too. I fear that no one will buy my paintings, especially if I am trying a new subject or technique. Some viewers may be amused by my work and gaze a few moments before moving on. Is anyone willing to pay money to purchase the painting to view it frequently?

There are many artists in Nova Scotia who do wonderful work. Does my work compare favourably with other artists? Are other artists competitors or rivals? Will they approve or will they criticize?

Courage

I have discovered that it takes courage to be an artist, much more than I had anticipated. Its one thing to paint in the solitude of the studio. Its quite another to put the artwork out for public scrutiny, even on a wall in you own home.

Expressing oneself is not easy. I feel empathetic to the courage of people who perform before an audience- musicians, professional athletes, theatre actors or authors. They face rejection but overcome it to express themselves and their beliefs, feelings and ideas.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
― E.E. Cummings

Rewards

On the other hand there are tangible rewards for taking the risk of rejection and making art. Few years ago a gallery sold one of my landscapes but I had forgotten to sign it. The new owners wanted my signature on the painting. I felt somewhat embarressed by the oversight and arranged to quietly correct the omission. When I arrived at their home, I was greeting with great fanfare. They were so happy to meet me. I was ushered into their dining room where the painting was the centrepiece. After I added my signature they took photos of me with the painting. They told me they love to look at the painting and find new things.

I was truly surprised that paintings grow new lives with their new owners and are often treasured. Knowing this is reason enough to keep painting.

Landscape painting missing my signature 30″ x 40″

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston S. Churchill

Offence or Defence?

My Scientific Career in the Cold War

The war in Ukraine is bringing up difficult financial, political and ethical questions for Canadians as we respond to the Russian invasion.

When I completed my PhD in physics in 1971, the Cold War was still a dominating concern. I was looking for a career in science and wanted a job that brought adventure and travel as well as research. I felt very fortunate to get a job with the Canadian Department of National Defence at their Victoria laboratory.

One of the top missions of the laboratory concerned the defence of Canada from Soviet nuclear attack. I joined a team of scientists making field trips to the Canadian Arctic to develop new sensors for detecting Soviet missile submarines infiltrating Canadian waters. The classified research was added to Canada’s inventory of defence capability.

By the 1980’s the Cold War thawed when the USSR dissolved and imminent threat of nuclear war seemed to disappear. I moved on to do research in other areas of defence concern.

In retrospect the Cold War seemed like ‘paranoia’ and an over reaction to political rhetoric. But nuclear weapons are real. I would never want to go back to the fear and sense of impending doom that coloured politics during those decades.

Ethical Issues

To be honest I have an ethical unease with my career as a defence scientist. I was contributing to the arsenal of military systems. I justified my work by saying I was developing sensors not weapons. They were for defence and not offence. But I have no control over what our leaders do with the military systems that are stockpiled.

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”
from the Bhagavad Gita quoted by the physicist Robert Oppenheimer on the first test of the Atomic Bomb ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer)

Inevitably when war comes, it’s the innocent people who suffer the most. Even though my family were mainly not involved in the fighting of WW2, there were long lasting consequences that are being felt for decades. That is another story.

The Ukraine conflict is giving Canadians difficult choices.

Are we going to risk escalation and wideing of warfare to support Ukraine?
How do we contain or stop aggression?
When do we stand by or when do we intervene?

In the background is the threat of nuclear war. We would all lose.

“We had to destroy the town in order to save it”.

What motivates us to want war? For some, belief trumps all. “Better dead than red”. Give me liberty or give me death”. Is war justified in certain instances? Is it analogous to saying we bombarded your body with radiation to kill off the cancer? The cure justifies the collateral damage. Fighting may seem justified, if we are struggling for our own survival, but its not so clear when other lives are at stake. Isn’t love of humankind a higher calling?

I have no answers for myself on these ethical problems. They are no longer just abstract questions, they will demand a response and action. Even inaction is an action that will have consequences.

Leadership

I hope we have picked leaders who are people with moral courage and compassion. Leaders who see a bigger picture, willing to make difficult choices on our behalf and share in the challenges that arise.

Sonar image of a shipwreck: science can create magical imagery

March Ahead

Discouraged by Snow

It’s mid March and Nova Scotia is once again enveloped with snow. Yesterday was sunny and glimpses of tiny green shoots could be seen in the bare brown garden. Now it is all buried in snow and the sky is a dull weary grey. My winter of discontent is prolonged awhile longer.

How I wish it were May with the warmth of spring well in hand and the garden full of colour and new growth. Just 2 more months from now I will feel so much better. But will I?

I can’t waste those 2 months waiting for happiness. As each year passes I hear the clock ticking too fast already. I really want time to slow down, or stop.

My step mother-in-law has been in the hospital for several weeks awaiting tests. She’s not much older than me. Only a few weeks ago she was enjoying life, and now her life is on hold, with possibly an uncertain future. How quickly circumstances can change.

A friend departed to a Caribbean island for an escape to sun and warmth. I feel a certain envy, but I am still here.

I need to take today for what it is, not for what I want. My disappointment with the weather slowly changed during my morning walk. I felt content in the muffled silence of a snowy day.

Painting Snow Scenes

Snow creates interesting painting opportunities. The trees are transformed into rhythmicly beautiful shapes. White is such a pure and special colour that can unify a composition.

Contentment

I have my health, and I have my sanity. I can be content to be who I am today, right now. Today is a good as it is ever going to be, if I make it so. So I will.

Too Much!

Over-abundant Rarity

I am in my studio working on a new painting, a portrait of my son who is now a young man. I realize that my studio is cramed with paintings. In this large room there is a storage area stacked to the brim with large 30″ x 40″ and larger canvases. There are half a dozen large landscape abstracts in shipping bags stacked by the wall. There are 30 or more 16″x 20″ figure paintings and equally as many plein aire landscape paintings balanced above the storage cupboards. I have drawers full of pastel and charcoal figure drawings, sorted and labelled. I have computer files full of images of paintings and drawing that have sold and photos of paintings that were painted over when the canvas was reused. Almost every wall in our house has a painting or drawing framed and displayed.

There was a time when a painting was treasured because of its rarity. So few of the works I started were worrthy of keeping. Most of my so-called artworks were destined for the waste basket or recycling bin. It seemed so fortuitous that I could produce something worthy of display.

Over the years slowly but surely, my technique improved and my success rate increased. I learned to evaluate the work in progress and to find ways to repair and change the ugly parts. I could recover and transform bad works into better ones. I don’t throw so many works away anymore, but my inventory is starting to overwhelm me.

Despite the wonderfull array of past works, I am compelled to get in the studio and create more. It’s addictive and compulsive. The most important art for me is the one I am working on now. The full experience of painting is so fulfilling it cannot be thwarted. There is joy, frustration, comtemplation, “ah ha”,perserverance, discouragement. Ultimately there is a often a deep satisfaction that comes from all the struggling, puzzling and energy required to fill a canvas.

Even after the completion there is the desire to improve. I want to create that elusive image that is closer to perfection than currently possible. I want to paint another one. That is the addiction.

Here is my portrait of a young man, the newest work on my easel.