The Story Behind the Painting – Page 3

15Sep 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

New Painting: Idealized Figures

Earthly Delights, The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?

Idealized Figures, 8"x10" O/C, $450 Unframed Meet Idealized Figures, one of the newest paintings in my series exploring the relationship between a little pink pear and a cake plate of jelly doughnuts. I was working on correcting and straightening some of the lines in the painting, when it occurred to me that this is what we do in life too; with our diet practices we attempt to correct nature and idealize our own forms. With this insight I decided to emphasize my correction lines in the painting.

01Sep 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

I Painted A Serene Lake Scene On My Garage Door!

Commissions, The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?, Working Artist

Sawmill Lake, 8'x16', exterior mural on wood garage door, 2022. Early this summer I painted this exterior mural on the new garage door my husband built and installed last year. It was his idea to do a mural on what looked like a big blank canvas to both of us, and with that sort of faith in my abilities, how could I decline the opportunity right? The image we chose was from a recent visit to the lake country around my husbands childhood home. This was a small local swim and camping spot walking distance from his home. You can see our grown up kids in the picture, but I opted not to include any figures in the painting. Neighbourhood response was so positive to this mural that I have…

04Aug 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Collaborating with Kitchen Feminism: Not Enough Cubicles Here

Covid-19 Art, Events & Announcements, Introduction, The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?

Starting from the observations of writers that women's roles have been in some ways rolled back to the expectations of an earlier era due to the effects of pandemic lockdowns and school closures, the Kitchen Feminism project asked a diverse group of women to reflect on the ways they perceived their own lives to have been sent back in time by the pandemic: Mom I need this space for my zoom meeting! From the Kitchen Feminism Project, courtesy producer Dawn Van de Schoot, photographer Shannon Smith and stylists Nicole Does Makeup. Below are sketches of some of my ideas for this collaborative project which brings the individual stories of women’s experiences of Covid-19 to life in a series of photographs and short videos produced by Dawn van de Schoot. My…

29Jul 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

New painting: Set In Stone

Earthly Delights, The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?

Set In Stone, 24" x 18", O/C, CAN$ 1600 Finally completed after 3 months on the easel, give a warm welcome to Set In Stone. As part of my Cravings series exploring food obsession, Set in Stone features returning characters Pink Pear and the Jelly Doughnuts. While I Only See You focused on the exclusive relationship between Pink Pear and Jelly Doughnut, this painting also features an art history guest appearance by the OG stone cold mama of the paleo world, the Venus of Willendorf, reigning atop her divan of doughnuts. Containing Desire, 10" x 8" O/C CAN$ 495 framed Following on Containing Desire (above), which addressed the futility of trying to contain the seductive influence of our favourite foods, I introduced the idea of the deep biological or evolutionary basis for…

21Jul 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Abstract Art Canada Interview

Art Sales, The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?

The Artist painting the artist. Abstract Art Canada is a uniquely supportive online art gallery promoting the work of Canadian artists who work with abstraction. Founded by and for Canadian artists, I am happy to be working with them to share the Fun Money series. Recently they asked if they could interview me about my work. Of course I said yes! https://abstractartcanada.com/in-conversation-with-debbielee-miszaniec/ Aimee Coles recently interviewed me about my work for Abstract Art Canada’s Blog. Follow the link to read the article. Current Work In The Gallery: Decorative 18"x18"Peacock 18"x18"Up Flow 18"x18"Down Flow 18"x18"Guilty Pleasures 18"x18"Wiggle 2 8"x8"Wiggle 1 8"x8"Pop 6"x6"Works from the Fun Money, Currents Series available to purchase from Abstract Art Canada Online

14Jul 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

New Painting: I Only See You

Earthly Delights, The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?

I Only See You, 9" x 12", O/C, CAN$550 I recently finished I Only See You, a new oil painting in my Cravings series of still life paintings exploring food obsession. I Only See You focuses on the exclusionary relationship between Pink Pear and Jelly Doughnut as Sisyphus' warnings of the doomed nature of the task fade into the background. My inspiration for keeping the composition relatively spare in this painting came, as per Tempting Fruit, from the background colour of Terre Vert and white that I initially laid down. I loved the way colour gave an empty pining feel to the composition, so I chose to emphasize that. I loved working with this soft complementary colour scheme so much, I think I will be using that again at some…

23Jun 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

New Painting: Tempting Fruit

Earthly Delights, The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?

Tempting Fruit, 9" x 12" O/C, CAN$ 550 I recently finished Tempting Fruit, a fresh new oil painting in my Cravings series exploring food obsession. It features returning characters Pink Pear and the Jelly Doughnuts, as well as an art history guest appearance by a couple (or pair) from the right hand side of the central panel of Bosch’s masterpiece The Garden of Earthly Delights (c.1515) (below). By <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Hieronymus_Bosch" class="extiw" title="w:en:Hieronymus Bosch"><span title="Dutch painter (c.1450-1516)">Hieronymus Bosch</span></a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://boschproject.org/dzi/00MCPVIS.dzi">http://boschproject.org/dzi/00MCPVIS.dzi</a> (downloaded with <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://lovasoa.github.io/dezoomify-rs/">dezoomify-rs</a>), Public Domain, Link The inspiration for bringing Bosch into the picture began with the viridian green background in the early stages of the painting, along with the way the towel seemed to be leading the pear into the temptation of engaging…

09Jun 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

New Drawings: Investigating Clara Peeters

The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?

Recently I have become fascinated with the paintings of 17th century Flemish still life painter Clara Peeters. Known as one of the originators of the ‘breakfast piece’ genre of still life painting, as well as the practice of including self portraits in the reflective surfaces of objects, I have become more than a little obsessed with understanding the Dutch Golden Age fascination with depictions of food and how that might connect with health and diet culture, wealth disparity, economics, the role of women, and depictions of the self. These two drawings are a way for me to find a new perspective on a familiar looking subject. Kitchen Feminism and After Clara Peeters (Still Life with Cheeses, Artichoke & Cherries)14” x 10.5” paper, Ink on PaperCAN$ 395 each In Kitchen Feminism the team…

03Mar 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Repeating Art History: Influence and Allegory

The Story Behind the Painting, Uncategorized, What's the Big Idea?

Sisyphus Jelly Doughnuts, 24" x 20" O/C, $1600 CAD Although the image above is of my most recently completed painting, Sisyphus Jelly Doughnuts, this is not a blog post that comes to any conclusions or announces any new events. Actually this one is just about some of the research and influences I am looking at as I journey through my current direction in the studio. Obviously some of my research involves baking or buying delicious treats to use as still life props. Definitely a bit of a conflict of interest going on here. However for the most part, being an artist and talking about the psychological effects of long term caloric restriction through art means I am doing a lot more research into art history than into recipes. To begin…

02Feb 2022 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Resolutions 2022: Of Art and Health.

The Story Behind the Painting, What's the Big Idea?, Working Artist

It is February so by now most of us have made our New Year's diet/health resolutions and have either made strides toward fitness or given up until the threat of swimsuit season looms. Not yet titled. 8" x 10" oil on canvas. 2021. Debbie.lee Miszaniec Amoung my resolutions, maintain a healthy weight, make more art. The first is an ongoing struggle for me, having lost nearly 38% of my body weight to reach the top end of my healthy weight range. I know I have sustained metabolic damage, because it should not be such a struggle to stay in that range. However, since we are talking about my health, rather than merely my vanity, I feel the reward to be worth the unceasing effort. I'm a big believer in having…

Category: The Story Behind the Painting