The Story Behind the Painting – Page 4

24May 2021 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Medium of Exchange Closing Reception Livestream

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

So I'd love to say the livestream gallery tour and Q&A went off without a hitch however that anyone who managed to catch it would know that was not the case. While the gallery tested it earlier in the day and it worked at that time, when the actual time of the event was upon us we were not able to stream the event from the gallery page. This necessitated about a half hour of frantic typing and texting and posting to cancel the scheduled event and create a new one on the galleries programming page and redirect viewers to the new event. I managed to post redirects for anyone coming to the event through links from my One Life Fine Art page or my personal profile, however I am…

02Sep 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Fresh Art: A Covid 19 Memento Mori

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

Happy Birthday, 2020.12" x 16", Oil & acrylic on canvas A Memento Mori is an object or image which serves to remind the viewer of the inevitability of death. Historically speaking the intent of the Memento Mori was to advise the viewer to forsake temporal pleasures and attend to the spiritual life which theoretically transcended death. For myself, the Memento Mori reminds me to appreciate the gifts of life, as life is fleeting and an after-life is far from certain. The bee in this painting is a stand in for me. My name, Debbie.lee, means bee, according to some interpretations. I painted this memento mori to celebrate my birthday and the completion of another cycle around the sun. The incorporation of the Covid-19 virus in the floral decoration on the plate…

12May 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life & Covid-19 Part 7

Art Sales, Covid-19 Art, Sketchbooks, The Story Behind the Painting, The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?

As social (physical) distancing drags on people are dreaming of getting their lives back. I have three more drawings in the Covid-19 series, this first is inspired by a study which surveyed how the pandemic was manifesting in peoples dreams. The second is about the realities of parents, grandparents and volunteer caregivers who are now juggling the responsibilities of full time child care and full time remote work. It is a blessing of communications technology that many are able to do this and maintain income security. Some telecommuters are able to help family members who are considered front line essential services, but without child care, to maintain their income security by pulling double duty. However it needs to be recognized that of necessity neither job is going to get the…

04May 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life & Covid-19 Part 6

Art Sales, Covid-19 Art, Sketchbooks, The Story Behind the Painting, The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?, Working Artist, Youtube Channel

So I feel like we have settled into a little routine or a new normal, as they are saying now, although we are all looking forward to (if not quite certain about) plans to ease restrictions and re-open businesses. There was a lot of questions about herd immunity, and whether this can be relied upon to protect us as we start going out in public again. How many would need to be immune and how long does immunity last? My thoughts are that if you are in a high risk category you should probably play it safe for a while yet, while if you are healthy you can probably have a little more faith in the ability of the medical system to take care of you should your case be…

13Apr 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Studio Life During Covid-19 Part 3

Sketchbooks, The Story Behind the Painting, The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?, Youtube Channel

We finally started getting some projections on the severity and length of the pandemic this week and have had to think about the idea that this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. With that in mind, I moved to a schedule of doing the Covid-19 Sketchbook drawings three days per week and posting them on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. I was interviewed on the CBC Homestretch April 2nd about the drawings however I don't see any links on their website for the segment so unfortunately I can't share that with you. However CBC Calgary shared 8 more images on their instagram account. And Ellie McIntosh also featured one of the images in her latest Vlog post on the importance of creativity in times like these. https://youtu.be/Dz0cVGRl3zQ…

01Feb 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

A Better Butter Tart (painting).

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

https://youtu.be/845smnDVeqE So This is what happens when an initial idea doesn't pan out on a canvas. Originally I was going to do a series of small paintings with a recipe card for pancakes overlaid with agricultural and ingredient images. It just wasn't working, so I abandoned the set after the base sketches were done, and decided to re-use the canvas for these lovely little food still life paintings depicting Canadian heritage treats with tea, books and various items. So here is the first of three of these original oil paintings shown being painted directly over the original sketch. Speed-painting and time-lapse painting video's of the other two paintings will be uploaded to YouTube in March and May, so if you would like to see them as well you should definitely…

27Jan 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Finding Your Subject: Just Keep Making Stuff

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

Butter Tart Finding your style, your subject, as an artist is something artists are encouraged to do, but most are resistant to, though many hope to arrive at something naturally. Why is that? Branding mainly I suppose. It is easier to be known for something, and to build a market for something, if that something has a consistent look to it. As creative types who are trained to push boundaries and break norms, settling in to one style or subject is like choosing to encase yourself in a plastic suit that looks like you but can't move, or grow, or express all the interesting weird parts of yourself. I was once told that based on the range of my work (I had brought three paintings to a critique), I came…

17Jan 2020 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

One Life Fine Art Studio Channel UP NOW:

100 Rejections, Events & Announcements, The Story Behind the Painting, The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?, Working Artist, Youtube Channel

https://youtu.be/g0RPwdQIA2o My Youtube Channel is up and I have a favour to ask: I have polls on each of my first 3 video's to ask what you would like to see in future videos? Please go to the channel, watch a video and answer the poll when it pops up. If you don't have a youtube account that's Ok, you can leave your comments here for me instead. Thanks a bunch for helping! Here is a "time lapse" from the Sunflower Project:

15May 2019 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Sunflower Project: Community Collaborations

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

So last week I told you about the new painted utility box I contributed to the Marlborough community. I also mentioned the references to the sunflower project that I included in the design. Here would now be a good place to include some images of a couple of the other boxes from the project. These artists agreed to let me contribute a sunflower seed to the designs of their boxes, symbolically taking part in the project and growing it further to take root in the Marlborough community. Thanks Sharon Fortowsky and Ashley Oshiro for hosting the Sunflower Project in your projects. Hopefully we can collaborate again soon! [caption id="attachment_361" align="aligncenter" width="225"] City of Calgary Painted Utility BoxAshley Oshiro(Detail with Sunflower seed by Debbie.lee Miszaniec)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_362" align="aligncenter" width="142"] City of…

08May 2019 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Did I Mention? New Painted City Utility Box.

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

Hi, It appears I am so behind on keeping the blog up to date! SO last spring I was given the opportunity to participate in a program bringing a suite of new painted utility boxes to the Marlborough Community in Calgary. I jumped at the chance, having spent nearly a decade of my formative years in the neighbourhood. Each artist created a design concept responding to the overall theme of home, and to information gathered during an extensive phase of community engagement. Here was my contribution to the Curb appeal in the Marlborough Community: [caption id="attachment_355" align="aligncenter" width="161"] HomePainted Utility BoxCity of CalgaryMarlborough CommunityDebbie.lee Miszaniec[/caption] [caption id="attachment_356" align="aligncenter" width="127"] HomePainted Utility BoxCity of CalgaryMarlborough CommunityDebbie.lee Miszaniec[/caption] [caption id="attachment_357" align="aligncenter" width="169"] HomePainted Utility BoxCity of CalgaryMarlborough CommunityDebbie.lee Miszaniec[/caption] [caption id="attachment_358" align="aligncenter"…

Category: The Story Behind the Painting