Susan Fahrni emerges from the Columbia Valley: The Planning

Artist Statement

I love nature and I love to try to capture it on canvas. Everything I paint means something special to me, whether it’s a scene I’ve tried to capture before it disappears, a view that holds special memories, or a glimpse of a part of our valley that I want to share with others who might not otherwise have access to it. The places I paint are real and as I paint I am ‘there’ be it perched on a mountain ridge, sitting by a lakeshore or standing upon a tussock of grass in the wetlands.
I generally work from photos, however, for me, capturing the images in paint on canvas gives them an importance, value, and even permanence that I feel photography can not.
I begin a piece by drawing key shapes on the canvas then washing a thin layer of paint on to block in the major features. I then start working from the background making my way forward envisioning what is behind and hidden by each slope, tree, etc. before I paint it. For me this working in layers gives each scene its veracity and depth.
Sunlight and its effects fascinate me. I have always admired the stained glass of medieval Europe and I love the way the sun illuminates it and shares the coloured glow with the world below. It is a man-made tribute to God and the world He created. However, His work cannot be surpassed as sunlight gives life and purpose to the colours of the real world giving them an “unearthly” glow.
When my work is going well, I feel a sense of awe and wonder and a thankfulness that I have been allowed to capture and recreate our beautiful world. Having said that, I am not certain how it happens and feel that I’ve been witness to magic as the work paints itself having merely allowed me to mix the colours and hold the paintbrush.
As I work, in my mind I see the birds and insects, feel the warmth of the sun, the caress of a breeze, and hear the rustle of leaves, the buzz of insects, the chirp and call of birds. I am transported to whatever scene I am trying to capture.
I have come to realize that my art represents who I am: passionate, realistic, yet orderly and a stickler for detail, and very ‘down-to-earth’.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Planning

I've made templates of the components of the mural in order to work on the scale. I really want things to look balanced and connected. I also want to incorporate some native style figures to celebrate the native members of the school community.

The next step involves creating the native style figures out of board, getting students to sand them, and then get them primed. I will then sketch out the design during Spring Break so that some of the older students can paint them in April.

I also need to figure out how to draw/sketch the scene on the three pieces of the heart. Working on the floor is extremely difficult. I am hoping that my husband can help me figure out how to connect the three pieces and perhaps hang them from my easel. My plan is to also get the pond scene drawn onto the wood so that after the Break some of the students can help with the underpainting.

Everything takes so much longer when it has to be worked around school schedules and teaching the students how to do their parts but it will be worth it if they feel ownership of the finished project. Despite moments of feeling overwhelmed by the scale and timeline of the project, I remain excited and eager to pull it all together!

Susan Fahrni emerges from the Columbia Valley

Contributors

Artist Statement

Art Galleries in the Columbia Valley

Purchasing

Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Planning

No comments:

Followers