Birch

September 4, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, birch tree, decoration, faux, National Arts Centre, paintings, Peter Hinton, studio
0
A few years ago now, I painted the set for King Lear at our National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The director, Peter Hinton, had set the play in Canada at the appropriate time period. It was a wonderful rendition of the classic. It was a simple set and included a large faux birch tree. When the production was finished the tree was destined for the dump. With the help of  a few friends I managed to get it out to my property in Springtown. A few days ago it finally found its resting place, alongside my studio! Here it is……it is made of sona tube, foam, and paint, and a little theatrical ingenuity….. 21 feet long/high…      
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Excellent Canadians!

August 13, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
A little while ago I got to paint a wall at Rideau Hall…our Governor General’s residence….it was my pleasure. The exhibit speaks of our excellent award winning Canadians!      
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summer at last

June 25, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
First oficial day of summer…daisies dot the yard, long grasses sway in the breeze, bird song iterates morning. I find myself in the studio these days actively searching for inspiration,…working, in series, on undulating keys right now, for the upcoming show in Toronto, TOAE I will be in Booth 136 quite close to Bay Street….I hope a bit of that money rubs off on me….. At this point in the studio there are 22 paintings in various stages of growth. Music pushes the process like a steam engine. I move from place to place, dancing with the canvasses. Its the good news that counts in life.                
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a studio

March 11, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
  Its morning, even before I open my eyes I can tell by the sound of the crows bellowing nearby. A crisp morning greets me, my arms outside the covers are tingling with a chill. I bring them in to comfort them, I sigh. Then I open my eyes. A gentle morning light greets me. I blink, wanting to clear the sandman’s deposits and gain some focus. “What day is it” I think, Saturday is the answer. Another Saturday, a break in my daily stumble, one of the only days with a regular agenda, I make coffee, read emails, do yoga then trundle down to the Neat cafe to meet with friends from the area. Its been a tradition since the early days of the cafe, all of us wanting to show some kind of support to the new business on the block Burnstown is a tiny village, just a hamlet really. It doesn’t qualify as a village; not enough residents. But the town is full of energy, or it was. It had a community of people who had worked together to make art and life happen in the only way artist can, wild parties, art of many sorts being […]
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snowshoes

March 9, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
acrylic, art, blue, cold, ice, on its way, paint, shadows, snow, spring, watercolour, winter
0
  snowshoes I like snowshoes, because given enough snow, you can go anywhere in the woods. My woods are quiet this time of year, no birds, no bugs, no beasts. All are at rest, or have left the vicinity, only to return shortly. Yes, spring is on its way. I cannot smell it yet out here, but I can feel its approach. The sun says its on its way. The light is stronger, richer, and a bit warmer. I follow the deer tracks in circles. Their pathways are well marked in the cedars behind my cabin. Dappled light in every direction draws my attention. Ice blue shadows surround me. Warm yellow light kisses the bark near me. I cannot look up without a tear coming to my eye. I am out here to feel it feel winter without spring. So I can paint it later in the studio. I fill up my senses with it, breathe it while I am in it so I can bring it back later with a paint brush in my hand, and a will to re-create that feeling.
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the Alone Days

February 18, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
  Yet again, morning comes. These are the alone days, not many come to visit, and I spend my time pecking away at the things needing doing, for the sake of progress. I move back and forth between the buildings carrying things from one place to another. My water pitcher can be seen in my hand, a few times a day, fetching and carrying warm water to the cabin. I shut off the water several weeks ago, it can’t be kept from freezing, so, off it goes. I work around the things I cannot do alone. Step over them, or around them, reminders of the question, who and how will that get done. Questions; so many of them these days, I question everything, not like my youth when I questioned nothing and went on faith that others would know, help, be there. It kinda stopped working out that way, when childhood ended. Others don’t ‘know’, well, not any more than I do. We are all fumbling along. Some are more confident, in some areas, they have life paths that bring them to mainly familiar places and so, they ‘know’. Life becomes a stream of integrated beliefs and understandings that propel […]
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H2O

February 11, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
I’m working on a show for next summer in Almonte….”H2O”…. Water is one of my specialties I think. I love the sun in my studio…..especially in February!
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in words

January 23, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
Metamorphoses, at the National Arts Centre in February! A must see…click on the pic to see it clearly….  
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water

January 12, 2013
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
Until recently I was busy in the  studio…the days marched onward and forward in a unit of measure that felt good. Some days are endless, some flash by quickly. Being in the studio is just like that. Now I am at the theatre working on a technically challenging set for the upcoming production of Metamorphoses. Water is  everywhere on this set….steel must be protected and wood has to be well covered.  
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let the games begin

November 17, 2012
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
My studio is a more workable space now, it took some doing…some input and some muscle power….now I can spread out my tools and do some work….here is the table full of some new, small, pastel work. Some of these will be studies for larger images in acrylic, later….. On another table I am busy preparing the drawings for the next set of doors for the O’brien Theatre in Renfrew.
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11 Brydges Rd., Springtown, Ontario K0J 1G0
Tel: 613-433-2758
karen@phillipscurran.ca