Hello all blog followers!
Lots of new things happening in my life.
Firstly, this is my new BLOG. Tumblr! Hope you enjoy.
Also, I'm going to be releasing a new monthly newsletter beginning in September. Sign up for it HERE.
And, as always, my official website is all redone and located HERE.
The Guelph Art Hub title for my life drawing sessions and urban sketching and painting in the summer is being phased out and instead, please like the ArtStory facebook page HERE. Everything will be updated on there now.
Lastly, I'm passively promoting my crowdfunding campaign through Patreon, an awesome site that let's you donate a little per product released. My goal is to create short animation videos to make nutrition and health information accessible to everyone. See my Patreon campaign HERE.
Whew. That's all the networks and campaigns for now!
If you'd like to connect, give me a shout. Artstoryguelph@gmail.com.
Cheers, and thanks for all the blog support over the years.
Consider Your Perspective
Different Perspectives. © Garth Laidlaw 2014.
Gouache on Illustration board.
Which perspective do you take?
Anima Healthi Video #2 - Vitamin A
I've completed the second animation for my Anima Healthi web series under my ArtStory platform.
For those who are hearing about this for the first time, this is a personal project of mine to fuse together my two passions of art and food/nutrition.
Anima Healthi comes from the term Anima Mundi which means the 'world soul' in several belief systems.
I hope you enjoy this video, and if you do, I'd love if you could support my Patreon campaign here so I can make more.
For those who are hearing about this for the first time, this is a personal project of mine to fuse together my two passions of art and food/nutrition.
Anima Healthi comes from the term Anima Mundi which means the 'world soul' in several belief systems.
I hope you enjoy this video, and if you do, I'd love if you could support my Patreon campaign here so I can make more.
Here is the previous video I did on Vitamin D:
The Laidlaw House Gallery - Friday May 23rd
I was so grateful to have the artwork of some of the members of the Guelph Art Hub put up around the studio. Really enjoyed having everyone over. Here are some pictures.
Masters of ceremonies!
Never loved our comfortable studio room so much!
Some of my dad's recent work. Love that he's getting into painting birds.
Some of the artists exhibited here: Paul Chartrand - left prints (website), Shannon Renolds - oil portrait middle (website), Gord Hines - pencil sketches right, and Mary Murphy - middle top farm frield, and right on corner
Foods were finally dwindling away. We got so much.
Some great discussions.
A couple of sketches
Need more animal / reptile reference oh wow. This was so hard to think up.
Been in some self-reflective states lately.
Let go of the Oil, Let go of Nature, Let go of Control
Ink and Gouache.
Some have asked me about the meaning behind this, so I'll dive a little deeper than what the poster represents. One thing that this also brought to light:
If there is ever anything in my work that isn't understood or communicated clearly, ask.
I absolutely don't want anything I do to remain behind some exclusive vale. I think this is a large part of the problem with contemporary art. I feel art should be universally understood. This is what clear storytelling is, and art is our most effective way to communicate information to all.
So anyway, what I really intended for this piece was to express how I feel about most of our 'environmental efforts' so far. It seems that we are stuck in mindset that in order to heal our environment and planet, we need to keep manipulating it, or help heal it, ourselves, instead of letting nature take of herself. I've been reading a fair bit about the idea of 'rewilding' in both a human and animal sense.
Rewilding is basically the idea that we need to allow the wild back into our lives in whatever way we feel best appropriate. For some it might mean simply getting out into nature more - more wilderness trips. For other it may mean depending more on our local landscape as a means of sustenance. For the hardcore, it might mean living completely off the grid in nature. It's the idea of letting go of control of some of the aspects of our lives.
So breaking it down into these images and text:
Let go of the oil
Well, it's pretty clear at this point that our culture's consumption of oil will need to be swapped out for a renewable energy source, which there seem to be plenty of these days. Check out this hilarious video describing the potential of solar roadways. Who knows. The point is - we're going to need an alternative, so we best be letting go of our dependence on oil. Disclaimer: This will be a vastly different world as we transition away from this energy source. We will depend on oil for a while more, but it's pretty clear at this point that it really should just be left in the ground.
Let go of nature
This one can be interpreted in many ways. I think I primarily meant to propose the idea (gathered from my own reading) that in order for nature to heal from the impacts of humanity, it might involve us taking a step back. I really feel that we need to give up some of the luxuries of our lives and get used to living of our local landscapes - IF possible - at all costs. Humans seem to have departed from the natural processes that have been occurring on the planet for a long time. We've created technology to overwrite some of the previous 'laws of nature' such as the fact that we can't eat kiwis in Canada. We have global trade among other things which allows us to really have anything we want. This is both incredible and dangerous, as it's allowed us to live completely independently of the land around us. I'm not convinced this is for the better on all accounts. So this is what I meant by this statement. Conversely, I think we need to hold on to nature in how it originally meant - to provide us with food, shelter, and other basic necessities. Again, as much as possible. Some things are still necessary to get from elsewhere, but again, we should be developing renewable energy systems to allow for the lowest possible environmental impact.
Let go of control
This one is really meant to tie the previous two together, as they're so intermittently linked. Throughout the past while of human history, it seems as though we've come to believe that the human being is the primary importance of the planet - we've won the nature game, and are now sitting comfortably on top to be able to do as we will. The ecological sciences have been providing data for some time now, that our wasteful patterns actually aren't at all supported by nature. It seems as though we're almost like two opposing forces, both trying to move in different directions. I feel that part of moving to a world that both works to create equanimity among the plants and the people living amidst them, we need to stop imposing our sense of power and control to try and dominate others. We need to begin listening to each other more. I was talking with my roommate the other day who suggested how important it is to be moving towards a singular goal as a planet, such as the above mentioned equanimity. If there is anything contrary to this larger, planetary goal, we should immediately question its validity.
Anyway, I thought I'd just share some thoughts about the creation of this piece.
Thanks for the input and I'd love for you to share this around. :)
Some have asked me about the meaning behind this, so I'll dive a little deeper than what the poster represents. One thing that this also brought to light:
If there is ever anything in my work that isn't understood or communicated clearly, ask.
I absolutely don't want anything I do to remain behind some exclusive vale. I think this is a large part of the problem with contemporary art. I feel art should be universally understood. This is what clear storytelling is, and art is our most effective way to communicate information to all.
So anyway, what I really intended for this piece was to express how I feel about most of our 'environmental efforts' so far. It seems that we are stuck in mindset that in order to heal our environment and planet, we need to keep manipulating it, or help heal it, ourselves, instead of letting nature take of herself. I've been reading a fair bit about the idea of 'rewilding' in both a human and animal sense.
Rewilding is basically the idea that we need to allow the wild back into our lives in whatever way we feel best appropriate. For some it might mean simply getting out into nature more - more wilderness trips. For other it may mean depending more on our local landscape as a means of sustenance. For the hardcore, it might mean living completely off the grid in nature. It's the idea of letting go of control of some of the aspects of our lives.
So breaking it down into these images and text:
Let go of the oil
Well, it's pretty clear at this point that our culture's consumption of oil will need to be swapped out for a renewable energy source, which there seem to be plenty of these days. Check out this hilarious video describing the potential of solar roadways. Who knows. The point is - we're going to need an alternative, so we best be letting go of our dependence on oil. Disclaimer: This will be a vastly different world as we transition away from this energy source. We will depend on oil for a while more, but it's pretty clear at this point that it really should just be left in the ground.
Let go of nature
This one can be interpreted in many ways. I think I primarily meant to propose the idea (gathered from my own reading) that in order for nature to heal from the impacts of humanity, it might involve us taking a step back. I really feel that we need to give up some of the luxuries of our lives and get used to living of our local landscapes - IF possible - at all costs. Humans seem to have departed from the natural processes that have been occurring on the planet for a long time. We've created technology to overwrite some of the previous 'laws of nature' such as the fact that we can't eat kiwis in Canada. We have global trade among other things which allows us to really have anything we want. This is both incredible and dangerous, as it's allowed us to live completely independently of the land around us. I'm not convinced this is for the better on all accounts. So this is what I meant by this statement. Conversely, I think we need to hold on to nature in how it originally meant - to provide us with food, shelter, and other basic necessities. Again, as much as possible. Some things are still necessary to get from elsewhere, but again, we should be developing renewable energy systems to allow for the lowest possible environmental impact.
Let go of control
This one is really meant to tie the previous two together, as they're so intermittently linked. Throughout the past while of human history, it seems as though we've come to believe that the human being is the primary importance of the planet - we've won the nature game, and are now sitting comfortably on top to be able to do as we will. The ecological sciences have been providing data for some time now, that our wasteful patterns actually aren't at all supported by nature. It seems as though we're almost like two opposing forces, both trying to move in different directions. I feel that part of moving to a world that both works to create equanimity among the plants and the people living amidst them, we need to stop imposing our sense of power and control to try and dominate others. We need to begin listening to each other more. I was talking with my roommate the other day who suggested how important it is to be moving towards a singular goal as a planet, such as the above mentioned equanimity. If there is anything contrary to this larger, planetary goal, we should immediately question its validity.
Anyway, I thought I'd just share some thoughts about the creation of this piece.
Thanks for the input and I'd love for you to share this around. :)
3 hour pose inside while it's warm and sunny outside!
Great session today! And some new people came too. Always makes me happy. Love figure drawing.
First Urban Sketch of the Summer
So great to get out and paint today! Approximately 3 hours - Gouache on Arches watercolour paper.
This was in the downtown Guelph core, looking across at the fountain sculpture and some of the beautiful architecture on the buildings behind.
Will post soon for the House Gallery I hosted last night.
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