Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Road Trippin'



Hello Halifax! A thick fog muted much of the city noise while we were visiting. Halifax is the next province over, Nova Scotia. It's on the ocean and we enjoyed walking the harbour, looking at the ships, listening to lapping waves, and smelling the tar and salt water from city docks. There was a violinist playing and we just sat and relaxed, listening and in no hurry. I find going slow hard to do in a city, but the violinist was very good so 'being in the moment,' as they say, was easy.
















The trip was to see The Dark Knight Returns on Imax with friends. This movie is convincing a lot of people to take the art form of comic books more seriously, which Jace and I find pretty exciting. It's a medium that receives a lot of prejudice, just like any 'new' art form and like all kinds of art there's some that's good and some that's not so good. Our Wednesday ritual is comic book night. We get our weekly deliveries, race home, set up munchies and then read our issue. The rest of the night is for analysing, debating and chewing over the material with each other. Then Jason goes off to write a review. It's amazing how an evening's entertainment can cost less than a movie rental and gives us so much to talk about. Ivory Madison just finished her first series, Huntress: Year One, that I quite enjoyed. Like any good art form she has several layers in her writing so you can choose to read it superficially, or go deeper. The artwork just kept getting better and better as the series progressed. Twilight Guardian by Eisner nominee Troy Hickman is another of those books that topple pre-conceived notions of comics. Some comics have even won Pulitzers and I know of at least one graphic novel that snatched up the prestigious Hugo award.







The next day was for exploring and gallery hopping, of course. The Argyle gallery shown above is in the Historic section. They have such a great attitude. The owner's main goal is to make art accessible to those who wouldn't normally go into a gallery. She's not overbearing, but is happy to explain and chat if you desire. This vibe is working for them. Their last art opening had over two hundred people.
I've been re-reading "Finding Your Visual Voice." For awhile I snubbed it, thinking I'd already developed my visual voice, but I still need to trust my intuition and the exercises are quite helpful with that. The pastel work-in-progress above was from an exercise that encourages you to recall a dream and to capture the emotion of it. This is based on a dream I'd had about Jason returning from a war.

I'm going on holiday for the next two weeks and may not be around a computer very often. Hope you're having a great summer!



14 comments:

MiKa Art said...

"The pastel work-in-progress" is very haunting and beautiful...

I hope you are having happy holiday!!

kate said...

Thanks for those little snippets of Halifax. I lived there for a few years while attending NSCAD and I really miss it! Halifax is a great city! Hope you have fun on your vacation. Look forward to hearing more about it upon your return.

Unknown said...

Eat lots, stay safe and enjoy to the max. Tks for the insight on Halifax. take care :)

Juggling Jason said...

Huzzah for comics!

Shayla said...

Kate, they now have a NSCAD gallery for students and alumni. That was a stop for sure! I used to live in the area too, only in the country. Porters Lake, Musquodoboit Harbour, Jedore- so Halifax has some nice memories. That's where I learned to love rain, Historic Properties and of course that tar smell on the docks.

ArtPropelled said...

I'm going to miss you Shayla, but the good thing is you will return refreshed and brimming with inspiration.

Tracy said...

Wishing you safe and very happy holiday travels, Shayla! Thanks for taking us to Halifax with you! :o) I've always wanted to see Nova Scotia and PEI...Hopefully someday! Hope your reading and art keep you inspired...Look forward to talking and seeing you here when you get back. Thanks so much for stopping by and joining in on my gift giveaway fun! Happy Days ((HUGS))

Gwen Buchanan said...

Shayla, The texture and muted colors combination of this pastel is fantastic...
My partner John lived in halifax for a while too...

kate said...

Shayla, thought you meant the Anna Leonowens Gallery but then I checked and found the new Seeds Gallery. Very interesting! Thanks for the heads up on that one. By the way, my sister lives in your old neck of the woods...Mooseland near Tangier, Lake Charlotte, Sheet Harour?

Fifi Flowers said...

Love the tugboat it reminds me of an old story about a big ship being saved by a little tiny tugboat... thanks for the memory!

Shayla said...

Kate, I lived there before having a driver's liscence so I don't remember Mooseland or Lake Charlotte, but I do remember Sheet Harbour a bit.

Fifi- yes! they built the tugboat after that story

Troy Hickman said...

Thanks much for the mention of Twilight Guardian, Shayla. It really made my day!

Leah said...

wow, what a powerful piece you've created here! dreams are such fantastic material for artwork. the book sounds interesting!

Anonymous said...

J'aime beaucoup vos photos et votre blog. Merci d'être passée me voir et bonnes vacances. Amitiés de Fine