STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Doing Art

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Doing Art: I want to create art. If possible every evening, but feel not always inspired. As I was having lunch with a friend of mine, he suggested get...

Doing Art

I want to create art. If possible every evening, but feel not always inspired. As I was having lunch with a friend of mine, he suggested getting an old book

and using it a bit like a visual journal of words, collages, thoughts, drawings, prints, whatever comes to mind.
I started yesterday and I am excited about it. It feels my inspiration can flow, it doesn't have to take long, there is no pressure.
Yesterday's entry

Today's entry

What a great idea to make use of old books, and get creative.

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Study of Cup monotype print 6" x 14"Funk Move...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Study of Cup monotype print 6" x 14"




Funk Move...: Study of Cup monotype print 6" x 14" Funk Move On   Still nursing a sore extraction of a back molar.     However, I ...

Study of Cup monotype print 6" x 14"

Funk Move On

 

Still nursing a sore extraction of a back molar.    

However, I am moving out of my funk.

How hard this is. Music helps, close to my ear, I am wear headphones, blasting it directly into the pleasure center of my brain.

 

Played around with some paint today. I like the result. I used the monotype printing technique with watercolour. I added a little more paint after the printing process was completed. I like the texture, the unpredictability of how the painted surface acts with how long I have allowed the paper to soak.

I feel a little clumsy while applying the paint, however, it is a start.

 

 

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Are All Eggs coming Out of One Basket?Have been ...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ:
Are All Eggs coming Out of One Basket?
Have been ...: Are All Eggs coming Out of One Basket? Have been thinking about connection to family members in the last little while, since I am prep...

Are All Eggs coming Out of One Basket?

Have been thinking about connection to family members in the last little while, since I am preparing to travel to my country of birth.

Is blood thicker then water?

My family in Germany has been missing milestones I have achieved here in Canada.
Where have we lost the connection, or did we ever have one?
Connection is created through memories.
I am a product of my experiences and memories.
My experiences and memories with my family are limited to the time I have spent with them.

What is family?
The definition of family is, a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not. Nothing speaks of love, and support.

I have been exploring through some of my artwork a connection to my parents. When thinking of my parents, I see two people who suffer. A reflection, is this what family will do, reflect. Reflect the mortality, the fear that it provokes in me. The questions about my life. Am I living life to it's fullest or am I holding back and are waiting... waiting, for what? To make up my mind to enjoy life? I am scared I am missing the boat of life. 
Why?
Have I moved myself into the future or am I stuck in the past and are forgetting to smell the roses?

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: 10" x 8" monotype print by Archan KnotzEnjoying st...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: 10" x 8" monotype print by Archan KnotzEnjoying st...: 10" x 8" monotype print by Archan Knotz Enjoying still electricity and therefore the connection to the web is wonderful on a s...

10" x 8" monotype print by Archan Knotz

Enjoying still electricity and therefore the connection to the web is wonderful on a stormy, blustery day in rural Nova Scotia. Time to create some art. I have been experimenting with monotype printing as you know and feel I have been somewhat successful. However, there are so many variables. Sometimes, the paper is not wet enough or to wet, or I have not applied enough watercolour on the plexiglass.

plexiglass of monotype print

This is the plexiglass before I transferred the image. Looks to me as if I have enough paint on it. However, as I transferred the image the paper lost some of it's fibers which never happened before. Maybe, I had the paper to long in the water. Well, anyway I had fun producing this monoprint, loving the texture.   

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: 13" x 9" monotype print by Archan Knotz Emotio...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: 13" x 9" monotype print by Archan Knotz  


Emotio...: 13" x 9" monotype print by Archan Knotz     Emotional Overload Having a hard day today accepting winter. Yesterday, we wen...

13" x 9" monotype print by Archan Knotz

 

 

Emotional Overload

Having a hard day today accepting winter. Yesterday, we went up on the roof to remove the huge amount of snow in preparation of today's mild weather.  Well, today the roof still leaked. I feel emotionally stretched. I thought I am going to do some art. This is the result. Dark, but kind of interesting. I rolled the ink onto the plexiglass and worked on removing the ink to establish the shape of the face. When I transferred the image the ink had already tried on some places so I added some watercolour to it. I kind of like it. Intense! This is how I am feeling today. Intense!   

 

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Photo of Mom when she was around 22 years of age. ...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Photo of Mom when she was around 22 years of age. ...: Photo of Mom when she was around 22 years of age. Watercolour monotype print 5"x4" Mom A Call Home to Sing Happ...

Photo of Mom when she was around 22 years of age.

Watercolour monotype print 5"x4" Mom

A Call Home to Sing Happy Birthday!

Today is my mom's birthday! 88 years old, well done mom!

She is looking after my father, who has a diagnosis of dementia. A couple of years ago, we reacted to an incident with my father's health and moved my parents out of their home of over 40 years into assistant living. Not an easy task for them.

My mom, who as always relayed on my dad is choosing to look after my dad on her own. A survivor! Having survived a 3 year labour camp in Russia when she was only 17 years old, burring her father while in the camp, and coming home to Hungary where her mother had been deported to Germany. Fending for herself to follow her mom after the war to Germany. Yes, she is a survivor! 

Today, Mary and I called and we were singing full of joy "Happy Birthday!" to her. She did not know who I was. It didn't click. We were talking, I felt her brain trying to put me somewhere. I asked again, if she knew who I was, "not really", she said. I felt like a stranger invading a private party. So, we said our goodbyes, with the promise that I will call next Saturday again, as usual. 

Let it be a day of  celebration, for the people we have in our lives, so we will not forget them so quickly!

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: The Positivity on Cold Winter DaysA while back...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ:


The Positivity on Cold Winter Days
A while back...: The Positivity on Cold Winter Days A while back I painted this watercolour. As I am looking at it today, I felt it could have bee...

The Positivity on Cold Winter Days

A while back I painted this watercolour. As I am looking at it today, I felt it could have been painted during this cold spell this January. Even though, I used fall like colours. Is it that easy to change perception? A beautiful fall day or a bitter cold January day - just the colour dots will make me feel differently about this moment. 

What is positivity, I ask? Is it an external action? How big or how small does it have to be? Or is it the feeling I am taking away with me? The other day, I was sitting down with Mary http://Marypurdyevolutionary.blogspot.ca/  to ask her, what positivity is? I was to journal according to my therapist about positive moments during my day. I could not think of any, till I started to explore the question, what is positivity? Wow, positive moments are small moments that make me feel good inside. To feel positive moments, I need to slow down to feel them, to make them big, to let this moment grow. It seems like it is like learning how to draw, the eye has to be trained to see. The observer has to be trained to see the positive moments and cherish them. Take time to smell the roses!

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: ...and all this Jazz!The hours are counting down ...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: ...and all this Jazz!
The hours are counting down ...: ...and all this Jazz! The hours are counting down to the first work day in the new year. Wanting to stretch the hours longer but time ...

...and all this Jazz!

The hours are counting down to the first work day in the new year. Wanting to stretch the hours longer but time as its own way of moving. Nevertheless, I go back not just a bid more relaxed but also with a plan of spreading compassion. 

Yesterday, we had a wonderful meeting at our house. Like minded people got together and we talked about what a compassionate circle could look like for us. Like Mary said, we are in Nova Scotia, therefore, we needed something to eat and to drink, all was provided for, the fire in the wood-stove was warming us, as we allowed us to be vulnerable, honest, and filled with hope. Brave people we are!

Nevertheless, I feel irritated and have the Sunday blues, therefore, the lino-cut ...and all this Jazz. The ink is still wet as I took the photo, struggling with the background, however, I started to explore, I moved a step ahead.

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Let it Flow!Happy New Year to all of you! May ...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ:  Let it Flow!

Happy New Year to all of you! 
May ...:  Let it Flow! Happy New Year to all of you!  May 2015 bring you happiness, bring less suffering, and lets you live with joy and ease! I ...

 Let it Flow!

Happy New Year to all of you! 
May 2015 bring you happiness, bring less suffering, and lets you live with joy and ease!
I have been busy creating woodcuts over the holidays. However, I am feeling stuck. I am stuck on developing the backgrounds. Woodcuts can be somewhat flat. Mary, my partner, says that they are flat. So, I am looking for backgrounds which are adding depth to my woodcuts.
This has evoked an internal conversation in me about my artwork or how my artwork reflects my life. I always thought of myself as an emotional painter, but have currently chosen a medium that expresses itself very flat. What is happening with me? I have been looking at my anxiety, anxiety I have never felt before in my life. Like a frog sitting on the rim of a boiling pot. Will I jump off? In which direction? Is there a need for being flat at this moment? I have not yet brought the courage up to experiment with different backgrounds. Fear, what kind of fear is holding me back. Mary has giving my for 2015 the word- flow-. Staying in the flow, letting it flow, letting myself flow.

 I  have been using my left hand to cut the woodcuts which has been rather interesting. I have hurt my right should and are not able to cut woodcuts for a while with my right hand. The left hand makes the process slower, more intense. I wonder what kind of affect it will have on my brain? So, you see the holiday session has been a bid of a struggle for me. Let it flow!!