November

November 24, 2014
by Karen Phillips Curran
acrylic, acrylic nature, acrylic paintings on canvas, architecture, art, Uncategorized
0
Its November and the darkening sky speaks to me of weight. No more basking in the sun, it is the dark time. Moods are affected by this time of transition, for it is only a period between the dark and the coming light. We who live in the northern latitudes are subject to it, regardless. Regardless of anything….Nature is a force. I start my day slowly for a change. The past few months have been full of large painting. Two sets for the stage are produced, ready for entertaining, teaching us about ourselves, reiterating well-loved stories to those who will listen willingly. I relish my part in it, I take the vision of another and manifest it with as much gusto as I can manage, it keeps bread on my table.    All that industry and joy of production are done now and I am left feeling empty…until opening night where the manifestation is then complete.    It’s not about recognition, I know how good or bad a job I have done, where I could have worked better faster cleaner sharper brighter smoother…but in the end, it is what it is and no more, then, equally magically, it is gone, poof!
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Mothers Day

May 11, 2014
by Karen Phillips Curran
abstract art, acrylic, acrylic paintings on canvas, art, Uncategorized
0
mothers day Its a warm sunny spring day perfect, daffodils and soon there will be trilliums. It is the nature of an unpredictable force of nature that decrees what is blooming on Mothers day each year. Alone this morning I prepare my best breakfast yesterday’s oatmeal with a cinnamon stick, almond milk to make it creamy, plump raisins and a whole apple cut up. All warmed together in the little orange iron pot I have used for years, just like the one I used for years before it….. My thoughts turn to the gentle wonder of my life. Just coming off 6 weeks of physical labour at the NAC to a stupendous finale that is the Governor General Awards Gala, black tie and all but I didn’t go..not sure exactly why I didn’t, but I didn’t, so there is no remedy for that. This is the brass scumbled back wall of the orchestra risers for the Governor General Awards for the Performing Arts held at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa May 10th 2014. So spring has sprung and outside work has begun. I should go out and pick up sticks this morning before the grass gets too high, and […]
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Spring Breakup

April 6, 2014
by Karen Phillips Curran
acrylic, acrylic nature, acrylic paintings on canvas, art, Uncategorized
0
  Spring is late this year. But today it is raining. The trees are dark, wet; stark against the remaining snow. They are burgeoning, their sap is running, silently. Signs of spring will soon become apparent, but not quite yet. Silence reigns. The rain reveals patches of grass at the ditch. Those blades rise up like a morning yawn and stretch. Finally they are being released from the burden of months of heavy snow. The fields remain covered, still asleep, waiting for their time. It won’t be long now. This rain will help. Soon the water will be rushing to find the river. Its well worn path familiar , changeable, and soon to be surging with life, action, release, towards the flow. I cross the bridge and the river below shows signs of breakup. A dark, meandering streak insinuates itself down the river’s centre. It wandering from side to side, like a drunk. Spring breakup is on its way. Patterns in the ice will emerge like maps of our frozen country, intricate and full of promise. winter dusk 12×24″
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Still Waiting

March 24, 2014
by Karen Phillips Curran
acrylic, landscape, landscapes, riverstones gallery, Uncategorized
0
We Canadians are a weather hardy lot, for the most part…but we are all, each of us, wailing, where is spring, when will it get here…despondent voices of otherwise hardy friends wail at the end of the phone line. I am in my bright warm studio for the day, I scamper about in it moving things from one place to another, pen to paper, paint to canvas…..idea from spark to notation
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New Studio Space

March 20, 2014
by Karen Phillips Curran
creativity, life, light, museum, music, NAC, National Arts Centre, Nature, Ottawa Canada, paint, painting, painting watercolours bermuda, paintings, People, piano keyboard, piano keys, riverstones gallery, scenic, scenic art, selling art, set painting, shadows, sky, snow, spring, Springtown, stream, studio, theatre, trees landscapes paintings, trees landscapes paintings canvas acrylic nature sunlight, undulating, water, watercolour, watercolours, watercolours bermuda
0
                                                                                                         Wherever I am I paint, draw and see….I am setting a new studio space in a place far from home. Love drives me there, is my motivation, that, and a thirst for new experiences, new visions, new warmth, new trust, new work….
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A True Artist Eats Her Oatmeal

January 7, 2014
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
I eat my oatmeal from a chinese bowl, with the spoon I made it with…..  
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Xmas Crack

January 5, 2014
by Karen Phillips Curran
art, Uncategorized
0
  Fall has come and gone. Amusing myself is no problem, especially if there is paint anywhere nearby. This is a four foot by four foot floorcloth I finished a few days ago, I call it the Xmas Crack… I am in the studio these days, watching the world move past my window.
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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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11 Brydges Rd., Springtown, Ontario K0J 1G0
Tel: 613-433-2758
karen@phillipscurran.ca