Mark Johnson Art Blog Wonder & Whimsy
I posted my thoughts elsewhere, but I’ll put them here as well.
I admit I was much more taken with the discovery of the Air France Flight 447 black box in the uncharted depths of the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere in the Mid-Atlantic (in more than 13,000 feet of water, no less), than I was with the death at the hands of the USA’s special forces of Osama Bin Laden in his walled suburban enclave in Pakistan.
The former was a wonder of technical expertise and exploration of the depths of the ocean.
… Read more The Human Spectrum – Air France 447 vs Osama Bin Laden
The Don Valley Art Club is holding it’s annual Spring Show at the Paper Mill Gallery at Todmorden Mills on Pottery Road in Toronto.
The show is running May 7 & 8, and May 14 from 12 pm to 5 pm, and Sunday May 15 from 12 pm to 3 pm. The address is 67 Pottery Road, Toronto Ontario.
The show always has a wide range of work and you will see some beautiful pieces. Please come out and have a look.
… Read more Don Valley Art Club Spring Show
The Dignam Gallery run by the Women’s Art Association of Canada has invited me to take part in this show. There are 6 artists showing the results of their own experience with the 6th Sense, which the curator Deniz Ergun-Seker feels is a key element in the artistic conversation. I was thrilled to be asked to share my own explorations and imaginings at the gallery. It would be great if people came by and saw the work.
The show runs from May 19 –
… Read more 6th Sense – Imagination & the Artist Show
I remember a man describing the colours of songs. For him all songs had a unique colour arrangement – every compositon had a retina print, so to speak.
I wondered if that was similar to the way conversations and concepts swim in my mind as an ever-flowing imagery – a flow that is both important and difficult for me to express in visual art.
I think we all swim in seas of sensory overlap. We have congenital or experiential differences in how our various senses feed our inner understanding.
… Read more Synaesthesia is another word for Experience
Best invention – I have to go with the wrap. Using the hide of a kill to gather up the important parts you separate out to take back to your shelter was such an enormous step. Imagine the divide before that meme. The efficiency in that discovery – being able to expend only the energy needed to carry the best parts instead of whatever you could sling over your naked back or in your hands is enormous. You could keep those hands free for emergencies or for clambering into hard to reach places.
… Read more Best and Worst Inventions of All Time
I almost forgot to post this! The Don Valley Art Club is having it’s annual Large & Small Picture Show at Todmorden Mills Museum and Art Centre, 67 Pottery Road Toronto. (http://www.donvalleyartclub.com/) I’ve submitted some drawings – my Tree Dancer 13″ x 19″ series.
Tree Dancer 3 sold, so I’ve dropped the rest of the series with the gallery people. Apparently a couple of artists have sold work and didn’t have replacement work ready, which opens up an opportunity for me to get another piece on the wall.
… Read more DVAC Large & Small Show
Once again the Bayview Art Tour is happening in our neighbourhood. Local artists and artisans open their homes/studios for a show & sale on the second last weekend of October. The Manor will be open, and now that I have moved my studio down to the main floor I will feel more like I’m going to be participating as a working artist in the community.
Look for signs with yellow balloons. We will have maps available of the different venues –
… Read more Bayview Art Tour
Local artist Sharron Katz has organized a Leaside Davisville Nuit Blanche and invited me to take part. So I am setting up in the Tremblett ValuMart at 1500 Bayview here in Toronto Central.
Rob Tremblett has kindly offered the use of his entrance and will even clear out the displays and shopping carts so I can set up my artwork in a nice cozy indoor area. Thank you Rob! There will be a complimentary bbq at my location at 10 pm. My step-son Jamie Graham will be performing some of his covers and original songs,
… Read more Leaside Davisville Nuit Blanche
11″ x 14″ Pencil
We tend to live our lives unaware of the alternative spaces which are knit with our own. The world around us contains us as we contain the particulars which make up our minds and bodies. There is existence beyond and above us. Eventually, we all have to deal with this great unknown. A vantage of time may tell us what defined our moments of truth. The moment itself is without definition. There is only realizing we are in the same place as always .
… Read more In The Same Place
AWOL: I have 3 pieces hanging at AWOL Gallery’s 8th Annual Square Foot show. The number of pieces the gallery has put on display means that the show is now held at 2 different locations – the original AWOL Gallery at 76/78 Ossington, and a large space at 100A Ossington on the 2nd floor.
The artwork runs from sketchy through to wonderful. I saw a lot of light humour along with a staggering array of imaginings and possibilities,
… Read more AWOL Square Foot Show and the Distillery Fall Show
