Winter Sleep

It's not the case, though some might wish it so
Who from a window watch the blizzard blow
 White riot through their branches vague and stark,
That they keep snug beneath their pelted bark.
They take affliction in until it jells
To crystal ice between their frozen cells,
 And each of them is inwardly a vault
Of jewels rigorous and free of fault,
 Unglimpsed until in May it gently bears
A sudden crop of green-pronged solitaires.

-Richard Wilbur, Orchard Trees, January 
 

 January, (winter sleep) oil on canvas, 40x48in, diptych

copyright Jan Yates 2014, available

January, milkweed, encaustic

January-detail January-detail

on found panel 50x7in copyright Jan Yates 2014  available January-detail

wise words of Emily Carr

I think that one's art is a growth inside one. I do not think one can explain growth. It is silent and subtle. One does not keep digging up a plant to see how it grows.-Emily Carr

 I  have been enjoying the rhythm of working -a lot-immersed in painted  landscapes

during the day (with two large works on the go) 

 

-and the nights are filled with encaustic. 

These small images are sections of one work.

 -because the proportions

 make it impossible to show the details of the whole image 

as one would when viewed 'live'.

January (murmur), encaustic and starling feathers on found panel,4x50in

copyright Jan Yates, 2014

2014 art workshops/ classes

Just a quick word to say I've updated a few January/February class dates including encaustic, cold wax AND Weekly Studio sessions in Drawing and Painting.

info on the website
http://www.janyates.com/teaching.html 

milkweed, sumac, encaustic

 

another work inspired by the words of  Richard Wilbur:

'White seeds are floating Out of my burst pod. What power had I Before I learned to yield? Shatter me, great wind: I shall possess the field.'

January, encaustic on panel, 10x12in

copyright Jan Yates, 2014 

Speaking of field, a land mark-from Sumac:

 

copyright Jan Yates, 2014

Words for Life

a yearly reflection

Desiderata

New Moon

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
 Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy New Year.

And there is a full moon-how cool is that??

 

 January, full wolf moon, encaustic

 copyright Jan Yates, 2013 

New Moon: January 1, 2014.

Full Wolf Moon. It appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages. It is also known as the Old Moon. To some Native American tribes, this was the Snow Moon, but most applied that name to the next full Moon, in February.

cold wax painting workshop & Ireland

                     

  

Annaghmakkerrig, oil/cold wax on canvas, 6x6in, 2012     

copyright Jan Yates, 2013

I am excited to introduce a Cold Wax painting workshop at the Burlington Art Centre,  January 12 & 19, 1 - 4 pm.

 

Black 47, oil/ cold wax  on canvas, 8x10in, 2012

                         copyright Jan Yates, 2013        

                    

for course description and to register please visit here. 

This is a really fun and versatile medium and lends itself to both abstract as well as representational painting. Featured  are some cold wax mixed media works made during my Ireland residency last year-

 

milkweed

Today was lovely, sunny, snowy-a blank canvas. I was craving  a quick fix. 

I don't know about other artists, but as much as I enjoy all that the holidays entail, I find it a wee bit disruptive when it comes to my art-making routine. i.e. there is no time to delve into sustained painting projects in the studio. 

Taking an hour a day to get outside and interact with the natural world allows for some art satisfaction until I can get back in sync when the holidays end. 

 milkweed continues to intrigue me.

I don't understand why it is considered to be a weed.

land mark

 land mark 1, milk weed, December 26, 2013

For me there is a breathless energy in working on the land that is very different from making art in a controlled studio environment. 

land mark 2, 3, December 26, 2013

Since my residency in Ireland in 2012, I have become more and more interested in land marks and their impact on those who encounter them.

 run, 2012

 I am compelled to immerse myself in the cycle of growth and decay by making marks on the land in and from the elements. 

 field portal, December 2013

Building three dimensional work intuitively and using only materials available from natural surroundings is a current driving force and I relish the possibilities.

field portal,  December 2012

I am intrigued by the processes happening in nature over time and it’s unpredictability that affects the work. 

 

 limb, 2012

The uncertainty of working with the weather, the connection between land and light, uprooting and unearthing hidden things and hidden life are all catalysts for this  body of work.

the longest night

The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light.

  – Joseph Campbell

 Solstice plays a significant role in my personal journey and I have been 'marking' the occasions over the years. 

Tonight is the longest night-and quite a moody one-this was painted from my window;

 December 21, oil on canvas, 11x14in, 2013

And to welcome the longer light, a new field portal in the works..

with gratitude

Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

I am having a happy month with lots of sales. A sincere thank-you to all who bid / purchased paintings via my auction, and to collectors that have invested/connected with it throughout the years.

Also, I am deeply appreciative to those that have taken the time to comment re my work. Unsure, searching, vulnerable on the best of days, I am always taken aback when someone articulates their response to it.

December, remains of the day, oil on canvas 24x40in, sold

copyright Jan Yates, 2013 

Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude. 

 A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

 

Christmas lasting gift

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas-in Niagara!

A lasting gift for anyone connecting with the vineyards here in wine country...

 Aluminum pigment in this painting emphasizes the movement of light-quite evocative in low light as well.

available at special auction price until tomorrow.

oil/ aluminum on canvas, 8x10in
  jy4

Value: $350

starting bid:$70

BID HERE

book lover

Do you have a book or nature lover on your Christmas list?

 'Quiet Conversations' is available for auction until this Saturday, Dec 14.

Quiet Conversations,  encaustic on panels, 9x12in

You don't even need to leave the house if you win this painting -I am happy to mail it -gift wrapped!
http://openstudiolive.blogspot.ca/

a spell before winter

After the red leaf and the gold have gone,
Brought down by the wind, then by hammering rain
Bruised and discolored, when October's flame
Goes blue to guttering in the cusp, this land
Sinks deeper into silence, darker into shade.

There is a knowledge in the look of things,
The old hills hunch before the north wind blows.  

Now I can see certain simplicities
In the darkening rust and tarnish of the time,
And say over the certain simplicities,
The running water and the standing stone,
The yellow haze of the willow and the black

Smoke of the elm, the silver, silent light
Where suddenly, readying toward nightfall,
The sumac's candelabrum darkly flames.

And I speak to you now with the land's voice,
It is the cold, wild land that says to you
A knowledge glimmers in the sleep of things:
The old hills hunch before the north wind blows.

Howard Nemerov
A Spell before Winter

 

winter sumac, encaustic on panel, 6x10in, copyright Jan Yates, 2013

available