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lack of room to paint

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August 12, 2010 11:09 pm

Wedding Reception in Wolfville

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by Sharon    in art,canada,commentary,fog,lack of room to paint,live painting,low light,music,nova scotia,painting in the dark,reception,sharon hodgson,wedding,wolfville


“Wedding Reception in Wolfville” – Live painting in 3 hours on a 3×4′ canvas. 2010

Now this was an adventure. Not only was it the third live painting of the day…

Somewhere in between Halifax and Wolfville I managed to get myself lost. I panicked a moment, then got back in that car and found my way to the party.

I set up a giant 3×4′ canvas with no real genuine room to paint, but I made do. (I always do – if the Powers That Be for any given space will let me in…)

It was at a private home under a tent in the yard. There was a fireworks show outside the tent while I was setting up, so I painted those in early in the piece creation. There was a live band moments after that. People were just starting to dance! Soon there was wild happy dancing in front of me. The day had a thirties gangster theme, so everyone was dressed in fedoras and vintage attire. Fun.

The floor was bouncing up and down from people’s dance steps, and the mist of the night threatening to spoil my live painting fun (like it tried to do at the Halifax Jazz Festival.) It’s moments like that where the experience of painting in different settings and locations throws unexpected challenges into the process of creating the art… and it makes me feel just a little nuts for doing it. But I think secretly (or not so secretly) I cherish those moments.

I tried to capture the dance party that happened on one side of the tent vs the quiet of the wedding tables and settings left from earlier on. I think that the guests were overwhelmingly having a grand time. I hope that the wedding couple enjoy the resulting artwork.

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June 16, 2010 7:20 pm

Back to Cohen – Cliff Le Jeune

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by Sharon    in back to cohen,blue engine string quartet,canadian,cliff le jeune,color,colour,commentary,company house,lack of room to paint,leonard cohen,lisa st. clair,live painting,low light,new paintings,sharon hodgson,the company house

“Back to Cohen -- Cliff Le Jeune and the Blue Engine String Quartet, arranged by Lisa St. Clair.” June 12, 2010. 3x4′ canvas in 3 hrs.

“Back to Cohen -- Cliff Le Jeune and the Blue Engine String Quartet, arranged by Lisa St. Clair.” June 13, 2010. 3x4′ canvas in 3 hrs.

Two nights of Cohen. Two canvases, each 3x4′ in size. I sat in the same spot both nights. These works were each completed in around three hours.

I hadn’t painted in the Company House for a month, and there was a Leonard Cohen tribute there on the weekend. I couldn’t miss that. The show featured vocals by Cliff Le Jeune, with musical accompaniment by the Blue Engine String Quartet, arranged by Lisa St. Clair. (Two videos of their combined work below…)

Cliff Le Jeune + the quartet performing Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen

Cliff Le Jeune + the quartet performing Take This Waltz by Leonard Cohen

On the first night, I sold the completed work to a sailor in the port from Denmark. That painting will be traveling a long way to get home from Nova Scotia!

The next night, someone else -- a friend of Cliff’s -- bought the paintingI did for him. I presented it to him at the very end of the night. It was well-received.

I will never forget last night! When you brought your beautiful work for me to cherish I was completely speechless (and that is not easy to achieve!!!) It is as priceless as the hand written note that Leonard sent to us.
Thank you, thank you, thank you…

CLIFF xx

It was definitely a show worth seeing.

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February 9, 2010 7:09 pm

Ben Caplan Open Mic Jam

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by Sharon    in ben caplan,economy shoe shop,fiddle,friends,halifax,lack of room to paint,live painting,low light,new years eve,no cover,north end,nova scotia,open mic night,painting in the dark,people mingling,player,poetry,shake it dance,sharon hodgson,speak!,the company house

70x90cm - live painted using acrylic on stretched canvas.
“Ben Caplan Open Mic Jam” – live painted using acrylic in 4 hrs on 70x90cm canvas.

I acquainted myself with Ben Caplan after painting him and his band on New Year’s Eve 09/10 at the Economy Shoe Shop I greatly enjoyed the music and wanted to paint the Open Mic so I could illustrate for you what it’s like. It’s somewhat similar in vibe to the Open Mic events that happen at Shake It Dance now and then, or SPEAK at the Company House (Especially like when last month we had a jazz band playing behind the poets!)

This Open Mic is hosted out of someone’s living room in an older Victorian-style Halifax home. (Hence the ornate fire place and high ceilings.) The walls were decorated with cardboard signs with Maritime place names, a variety of paintings, and the ceiling was filled with cut-out stars hanging on strings. Everyone was welcoming and polite.

The night featured violin players, guitar players, singers, poets, and friendly conversation. I’d definitely attend this event again, either to create music or art. Great vibe.

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January 28, 2010 3:29 pm

Good Food Emporium – tomorrow night

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by Sharon    in cafe,coffee,commentary,good food emporium,halifax,lack of room to paint,live painting,north end,nova scotia,permaculture,sharon hodgson

I’m going to paint at the Good Food Emporium tomorrow – got the OK to do so. I’m intrigued by their desire “…to make artistic-minded events a regular fixture at the Good Food.” That sounds like the sort of thing I would get excited about… that and I like the venue name. By the posters on the wall, they seem vegetarian, vegan and environmentally-conscious. There are also hints of support for local artists on the walls.

It’s a smaller cafe but the vibe is refreshing. I had a spontaneous coffee with friends I’d never met before in this spot just yesterday, and now I want to paint it. It made me remember why I used to love going out for coffee with engaging folk on a regular basis.

I am stoked at the notion of painting this cozy North-end Halifax meeting spot. I’ll post the completed work here as per usual.

[Life's too short to NOT go out and paint the town.]

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January 25, 2010 12:50 am

Skratch Bastid at the Paragon Theatre

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by Sharon    in DJ,canadian,commentary,dance,halifax,hip hop,lack of room to paint,light,live painting,low light,movement,movement studies,new paintings,north end,nova scotia,painting in the dark,paragon theatre,sharon hodgson,skratch bastid

This work is on a 70×90 cm stretched canvas canvas, painted with acrylics between the hours of 9pm and 2am on Saturday at the Paragon Theatre in Halifax.

I ended up at the Paragon Theatre live painting Skratch Bastid at the last minute. A buddy of mine wanted to see his show and wanted me to be there painting. He’s old friends with Skratch and a fan to us both, and wanted to see me paint the show He arranged the OK for me to be there. Skratch Bastid lived up to his reputation of being very encouraging of the participation of other Canadian artists in his work. I set myself up about 10 feet from the stage behind a railing on a rise in the flooring near level with the stage itself. I wanted to try and corner myself off from the throb of the crowd and yet still have a good shot of his performance to paint it.

It’s been a couple years since I last live painted DJs. I’ve never painted hip hop before last night.

Stage hands moved the DJ table up towards the front of the stage right before he got on, which is hilarious if you’re a live painter painting things as they are happening. (Well, to me it is.) …because it means all the detail and rendering you did on the table with the turntables when it was further back on the stage has to be brushed out with a big swoop of black and then you paint things in again. These pieces evolve as the evening goes on… some nights more than others.

Man, this DJ moves around – does not stop the entire time he’s on decks! Hard to paint someone who’s always moving and mixing things on the spot… doing things that would be impossible for most. Those who do not appreciate the complexity of what he’s doing might dismiss it. He spins and scratches records as if they were a musical instrument. I tried to capture some of his common motions. Someone was always around him taking pictures. Towards the end some people got up on the stage behind him and started dancing.

The painting on the wall – with the woman with the giraffe’s head – is a work by Peter Farmer, Pargon’s own resident live painter. Visiting this venue is worth it to see his artwork on the walls as much as hearing the musical talent. If you are in Halifax, check out Peter Farmer’s work in person!

And if you have a chance to see Skratch Bastid at one of his future shows, do not pass the chance by. Incredible skills.

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December 20, 2009 2:24 am

Dining at Your Father’s Mustache

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by Sharon    in art,halifax,lack of room to paint,live painting,your fathers mustache

“Dining at Your Father’s Mustache” – 22×34″, acrylic on stretched canvas.

I was commissioned to live paint a corporate Christmas party at Your Father’s Mustache for Jessom Food Equipment a week after I painted Bust-a-Move. I set up a canvas nearly 2′x3′. There wasn’t much room for an artist to spontaneously set up art easel paints and canvas in the middle of a restaurant, so I sat my easel box on a bar stool and sat at a chair tucked behind it.

I had the Pad Thai. Not bad.

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