Cold Snap

Blue Haired Grannies

Zoe

Japanese Princess Stargazing

The first cold snap of the winter season finally hit the city this past week allowing me to complete my first ice-painting project of the season. Above are a few initial photographs from the first project. More will follow later next week.

Ice-Painting Quartet Display pt. 1

First Story

Intergalactic Observer, the multi-faced being whose gaze sees all, gives rise to Fragmentation, in the end leaving us nothing more than a Spectre.

Ice-Painting Quartet Display pt. 2

Second Story

A beautiful Moon Flower basks in the moonlight. Its fragrance is so intoxicating we find ourselves pulled Behind the Curtain where we dance and revel until the Rusty Sun rises.

Ice-Painting Quartet Display pt. 3

Third Story

A Butterfly flutters here and there. Be careful not to follow too close lest the butterfly is a faerie and you find yourself transported to the enchanted lands where The Pigtailed Girl Plays with Lipstick and the Irish Brawler battles the green faced man.

Ice-Painting Quartet Display pt. 4

Fourth Story

Behold, The Painted Man as he prepares himself for a spiritual journey of Deconstruction, Along the Orange String Road.

It is hard to believe that a month has gone by since I last posted anything on the blog. This past month has been a very eventful one to say the least. What originally began as a month that would see me get to relax and enjoy a two-week family reunion around Easter time, turned into a three-week crash course in putting together my first show.

Needless too say, I survived the process and managed to get my first show off the ground with the help of my two cousins and some close friends. Therefore, a special thank you too all of you for your help.

Shown above and in the succeeding posts are the photographs selected for my series entitled, Ice-Painting Quartet. The show will run from May through June at the Spencer Gallery in the D. B. Weldon library at the University of Western Ontario.

For inquiries please email: christo63@gmail.com

Ice Embers

Nothing ever seems to be what it appears to be ... at least on the surface. Taken at face value one would think the above photographs were of fire embers, whereas in actuality they are photographs from my third ice painting series.

Ice Painting Abstract Project #2

With spring just around the corner, I thought I would post one of the sunnier ice painting abstracts from the second project. Enjoy.

Fragmentation

Fragmentation: the disintegration, collapse, or breakdown of norms of thought, behaviour, or social relationship.

Given the state of the World, in general these days and how everything all around is beginning to break down and fragment, I thought I would present my perspective on what is going on. Most I believe, thanks in large part to the Media, focus on the negative; increased domestic violence and crime, financial collapse, wars, etc. ... The moment we turn on the television, look at a Newspaper, or log on to an online news site they inundate us with negativity upon negativity with no let up in site.

My solution is fairly simple and straightforward. I have tuned out the mainstream media, directed my attention to the positive in the World, and begun to rely on direct experience to guide my journey. Life is transient and all things must inevitably end. There is beauty everywhere we look, including in decay. It is only a matter of opening our eyes to see it.

The Great Wheel turns and every ending is a new beginning.

Painting in Ice - Layer Three

This is the third and final layer in the Ice Painting Abstracts experiment. These photographs were taken after allowing the ice block to remain outdoors on my balcony for three days, thereby allowing the colours of the second layer to slowly interact with those on the third layer as the sun slowly melted the ice block during the daylight hours and it refroze during the evenings.

All photographs are done on macro.

Painting in Ice - Layer Two

The Layer Two photographs mark a shift in how I applied the paint from that of Layer One. Whereas in Layer One I injected paint into water with syringes and eyedroppers, in Layer Two I diluted different colours of paint in small amounts of water and then poured them strategically onto the ice one at a time, slowly building up the ice block as each colour froze.

Painting in Ice - Layer One

Painting in Ice is the outcome of a weeklong experiment in using water and ice as a canvas for painting. The idea and inspiration for spawning this project stems from a post entitled, Ice Man from the blog Independentista that I follow on a regular basis. Therefore, a special thank you to Philip for providing the seeds of inspiration for this project and for getting me back into using a medium I have not worked in for many many years.