Something Even Older

There was a time that I never painted. I worked strictly with ink and pencil crayon. I really should reconsider doing this again. I love how the pieces turn out, the only problem  though is you can not paint over your mistakes like an acrylic painting. :)

None of these pieces have titles, and I do not recall the dates I drew these. Although I do remember the time in my life when I created them. At that time I honestly could not afford paint. This was a time i was in university, and  was a "Starving" student. To this day I refuse to eat perogies, and I sure do not have to get creative with food from the food bank, or pawn my only means of transportation (i sure miss my old Kona, and Dekerf mountain bikes) . My university days, are days i never want to relive again.  I was 93 pounds of starving stress and alcoholism. During the summers I had been known to  work three jobs. One summer I biked from one end of Saskatoon to the other, 3 times a day, just to get from one job to another. I would work in the morning at a coffee house, and bike to the other side of town to either work at a Pub till close, or  the Macs convenience store in the Exhibition  til Mid night. If your from Saskatoon you would know what Macs I am talking about. It was under a freeway,  at one the busiest four way stops in the city, and directly across from the fair grounds. This Macs gets slammed during the Ex, and has a high susceptibility of armed robbery because of its convenient dark and easy getaway location. (thank fully it was never robbed while I worked there)
Any how back on track.............where was I going with this? Oh yes, can not afford paint.... Well, as mentioned university was stressful for me. And when I could not afford to drink my worries away, hence why I worked at a bar! TAB IT!. Speaking of tabs, my three jobs, I was able to support all my awful addictions ... THe Bar-- I could tab booze, Macs' I could Tab cigarettes, (p.s smoke free for three years 6 months!)  and The coffee house cheap cheap wonderful coffee.  I would affectionately refer to all three as Vitamin A,N & C. I did not need to live off of much, mind you after I tabbed everything I did not have much of a pay cheque. But these were staples of my everyday being. Add a bit of art, or creative indulgence and I was styling!

Ok, where am I again?.......I am so losing track of where I am going with this. Ok, in a nutshell, University sucked, I was poor, I am an escapist, found solace in working and getting lost in drawing these.

I made several of this style of work, but I gave most away as gifts to people who had helped me in my time of need. I think I kept this Eagle cause I was not very happy with how it turned out. It did not speak to me the way others had, and I was not happy with the shape of the eagles head or the composition, but hey, I love the colour and the idea.

The water and rock woman, I love how much is going on in it. I gave this away as a Christmas gift to my brother and sister in law, we could not afford to buy gifts for anyone, so I gave away art to my closest family. And guess what everyone still has their gift, unlike other gifts from that past I am not certain what happened to, with good reason not everyone keeps every gift ever given to them.


The eagle women, I kept also cause I was not happy with the eagle head but, I love the rest. I wanted it around to look at and possibly make another but better.  I also think that the composition is really good in this one.

This final one, I also gave as a Christmas gift the same year to my mother. It is titled grand daughters prayer, I did this in high school art class, and had it displayed at Wanaskawin. I held on to it for years and years. I had intention of giving it away, I was even offered $200.00 for it, but I was stubborn and wanted it to go to a good home where it would be loved. When I gave it to my mother years after I made it.  Her reaction was one that I will never forget, at that moment I knew I gave it to the right person.

Before I ever attempted to mix ink with pencil crayon, as a teen  I would sit  alone for hours in a coffee shop and write and doodle in black ink. I would just create lines and swirls and just get caught up in the moment of filling in the space with the smoothest, curviest line I could. It would take me back to my childhood, remembering sitting on my dads lap, watching him draw in the same style. Watch out world I just may take on this style again sooner then you think