Monday, March 27, 2017

Thank-you Big Brothers Big Sisters

Rire a la Blague Cosmique (Laughing at the Cosmic Joke)
Mar 27 at 3:08pm
Rire_a_la_Blague_Cosmique_48_x_36_by_Marina_Malvada_web.jpg

This 48 x 36 splash of colour sold for 1,000.00 last Saturday evening at the Big Brothers, Big Sisters fundraiser. It feels so good to use the power of art to help others!


The idea, and feelings in this piece are about imagining what it would be like if you were in a small boat at sea, in the midst of a hurricane. Pretty terrifying, right? I mean it would be absolutely stunningly beautiful, but you'd likely be way too terrified to appreciate it. So, this painting allows us to enjoy the beauty without the fear. We can laugh at the danger and our own mortality, at least in symbolic form.

¬Marina
http://bigartcomeback.wixsite.com/2016/gallery

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

The Artist Project 2017 Chapter 4 - NASA's Announcement.

 Interacting with thousands of art appreciators over the course of a few days can be daunting. Fortunately, we had much to talk about regarding Trappist-1 and the "first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star."
 NASA's announcement of the discovery of these rocky worlds could not have come at a better time, and it was on the lips of a majority of people who visited my booth. The Belgian operated Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (Trappist) and the Spitzer Space Telescope with the assistance of ground-based telescopes have given us the intriguing data and the average art-lover is definitely on board. Most of the comments I heard were well informed; 'Three of the seven planets are in the habitable zone' was a constant and welcome refrain. Quite a few folks expressed eager anticipation regarding the James Webb Space Telescope, to be launched in 2018.
 It's never been easier for me to engage in fascinating conversations with so many total strangers, and to connect my art practice with something so huge. "The subject matter is practically infinite", I joked.
 Sometimes the subject of these chats would morph into philosophical topics like the illusory nature of perception and / or cybernetics and the theory of knowledge. Unlike (or perhaps very much like) the data, collected through sophisticated equipment, which we then look at in symbolic form on a screen, all that we can ever directly know of our immediate surroundings, is actually a reorganization of our own flesh. When the exhibition is over, and all the people have left the building, does any of it exist? I'd say, "No. The particles, waves and atoms continue to exist as before, Heisenberg's famous principle notwithstanding, but without the organizing organs of perception, their forms as we perceive them, do not."
 Interesting concepts. I wish I could have leveraged them so as to reduce the exorbitant cost of art shipping!

Thursday, March 2, 2017

The Artist Project 2017 Chapter 3 - The Gala.

Thursday, February 23, 2017. 3:30 p.m. I arrive back at The Better Living Centre on the grounds of the 'CNE' (Canadian National Exhibition). There's a quick artists reception with pizza and pleasant pep-talk from the event organizers. It also provides the opportunity to socialize with other creators, some of whom I hadn't seen in a while, such as Adi ZurLori Mirabelli, and my new aquaintance, Anne Marie Giroux. After that, most of us conducted a quick check to make sure our booths were ship shape, then scurried into the washrooms to change clothes etc for the opening festivities.

As usual, I'm wearing the same colours as my paintings. :)
Enough about me. This was an evening to people-watch. While they were strolling around, wine in hand, looking at the wonderful artwork, I was enjoying the steady stream of incredibly good-looking and well-dressed Torontonians.

There were also some *small* snacks and gourmet samples to try; I had a paper cup containing 3 tortilla chips with a fiery hot sauce and an organic cookie the size of an overcoat button. Fortunately, some more generous folks walked by and gave me three bottles of spring water, and my pals Clara and Laurie brought me a really yummy twelve-dollar burrito. Très cher, n'est pas? I also had a refreshing glass of good ol' Steam Whistle. The name alone evokes shades of my former life, before I became what I like to call an 'urban ex-pat'.


It was a fun, festive night with lots of inspiring art and art lovers.


Next Post: The visitors.