What’s the Big Idea? – Page 8 – One Life Fine Art Blog

09Feb 2018 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Dime Novel 1907: Revisited

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

[caption id="attachment_289" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Belle of the Brawl(formerly Dime Novel 1907)12 x 16 O/CDebbie.lee Miszaniec[/caption] Last week I talked about my reasons for revisiting a painting, so I won't go into that much here. What I will talk about, are the changes I made to this one, and why. Amoung the many funny things I could be entertained by in this antique image of the west, one of the things that kept happening as I looked at it, was my increasing identification with the contested object of the narrative. The bull is trussed up and appears to be at risk of being re-branded by cattle rustlers. Our hero and heroine have happened upon this scene and have rushed in to defend the bull from the cattle rustlers. But they are…

02Feb 2018 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Dime Novel 1903: Revisited

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

[caption id="attachment_286" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Oh Zee, What Did You See?(formerly Dime Novel 1903)16 x 20 O/CDebbie.lee Miszaniec[/caption] This painting might look familiar. It was Dime Novel 1903. The funny thing is, I often paint something because it is a longer form of thinking about the thing. There is something there that I need to get to the heart of, so I need to chase that thought down through the act of painting it. Sometimes the thought keeps circling after the painting is 'finished,' and I need to revisit it. That is the case with both of the Dime Novel Paintings. I will talk a little about Dime Novel 1907 next week. So what was it about 1903 that brought me back? I was fascinated then as now by the conflicting…

26Jan 2018 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Sunflower Seed Paintings 31 – 36

The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?

These six sunflower seed paintings are the first for 2018, and the first of thirty I was able to purchase materials for, thanks to the honorarium from Taking It Global's Wish 150 Mosaic project. Thanks Taking It Global! In honour of the new year, I decided to take these six back to basics with black and white, and to explore active words which might give us thought about how we want to be in the new year. Root has already gone to a good home. I am sure the rest would also like to find their homes! Go here to learn about the project and sign up to receive one free, or donate to ensure we keep this project going!

19Jan 2018 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Sunflower Project 2017 Review

The Sunflower Project, What's the Big Idea?

[caption id="attachment_269" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Wish150 Alberta MosaicDetailAcrylic on Panel[/caption] One year since I started the Sunflower Project, to encourage lovers of art and of life to share their gifts with the world. This has resulted in 30 paintings completed for the project, 18 of them with the assistance of donated funds from supporters. 25 paintings have been mailed, my gift, to people who have signed up on the web site to participate in the Sunflower Project. And then, the project grew: Taking It Global and Wish 150 invited me to contribute a piece to the Alberta Mosaic. The detail above is from the panel I contributed to the mosaic, and is based on the Sunflower Project. The Mosaic was unveiled in Edmonton at the end of October, and there are…

16Jan 2018 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Event Announcement: Journey of a Lifetime

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

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="242"] The New Homeland16 x 20 O/C[/caption] I am pleased to announce that the seven paintings in my Canada West series, which centre on themes relevant to immigration, will be on display in conjunction with the exhibit The Journey Of A Lifetime. The Exhibit is on display from January 23rd - April 22nd 2018 at Heritage Park Historical Village. It is built around the last surviving colonist railway car in Canada and is partially sponsored by BMO. I have included my Artist Statement relating to the Canada West series below: ARTIST STATEMENT To judge the past by it’s advertising literature, one would assume that immigrants to Canada were a fairly homogenous, and privileged, bunch. The Canada West series explore that assumption. The Canada West series are paintings…

12Jan 2018 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

100 Rejections 2017 Review

100 Rejections, What's the Big Idea?

I aimed high early last year when I decided to work through my fear of rejection by taking inspiration from Jia Jiang. My goal was to accumulate 100 (art related) rejections over 2017. So how did that work out? First off, I would like to say that I only got 1/3 of the way to my goal this year, sending out 34 applications. Of those, 6 were accepted, which works out to a 16 or 17 % acceptance rate. So I actually accumulated 28 rejections in 2017. Having got a slow start during the first half of the year I had to apply myself from the last half of the summer by applying to 5 opportunities a week for the rest of the year to meet my goal. That proved…

05Jan 2018 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

New Year, New Blog

Events & Announcements, Introduction, The Story Behind the Painting

Hi all. For my first post of 2018, and my first post in a while, I wanted to start with a recap of the past year, and then introduce a few changes for the next year, specifically involving this blog: I started this blog November 4th of 2016, a little over a year ago. In the past year I have learned that regularly posting articles to a blog in a journalistic fashion is really not for me. When I have the time, I am stretching for things to talk about. When I have a lot going on to talk about, I don't have much time for blogging, or for going through reams of spam searching for legit comments before I write anything. I debated scrapping the blog altogether, however I…

02Oct 2017 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

100 Rejections Update: Just Say No, or Not Quite?

100 Rejections, What's the Big Idea?

I am going to go into this topic because I think it may be something a few others out there may have issues with too: Recently with my quest to amass 100 rejections I have been faced with a quandry. Some of my rejections have been coming through as acceptances. Best possible project outcome, right? Well, yes, but... some applications are not necessarily best fits. Some projects have red flags, but as the goal is rejections I have been less concerned with the potential con side of the pro/con list. So when they are accepted I feel the pressure to jump at the acceptance. After all, I applied for this, didn't I? Obviously I want the position or project or opportunity. When the project has a number of draw backs, I…

25Aug 2017 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Coming to VASA! Mystical Magical Fantasy.

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

Upcoming Show: I am happy to announce that I will have three artworks in an upcoming group show, Mystical Magical Fantasy, at the Visual Arts Studio Association in St. Albert Alberta. The show runs Tuesday October 3rd to Saturday October 28th 2017. Opening reception Thursday October 5th, 6-9pm. Visit the VASA website for address and other details as they become available. Artist Statement: The Fun Money Series of paintings are part of an exploration of the cultural significance of money and the ways that we learn in childhood to think about money through fantasy, play, and story. I incorporate coin shaped foil candy wrappers into the paintings to create fantasy worlds in which the main actors, represented by plastic figurines, interact with the coins in different ways. Much like the…

21Aug 2017 by DebbieleeMiszaniec

Final week to see I AM CANADIAN !

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

Hi All! It is the final week to see I am Canadian at the Edge Gallery in Calgary's historic Inglewood neighbourhood. Make sure you check out all the fantastic work on display, and remember, it IS for sale! Gallery hours are 10 - 5:30 Tuesday through Friday and 10 - 5:00 on Saturdays. Below I am posting my artist statement with images of the pieces in the show: [caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="241"] Finding a Dance Partner16 x 20 O/C[/caption] [caption id="attachment_223" align="aligncenter" width="240"] Salvation16 x 20 O/C[/caption] [caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="242"] The New Homeland16 x 20 O/C[/caption] [caption id="attachment_225" align="aligncenter" width="242"] A Level Playing Field16 x 20 O/C[/caption] [caption id="attachment_226" align="aligncenter" width="241"] Spirit Wrestlers16 x 20 O/C[/caption] [caption id="attachment_227" align="aligncenter" width="236"] Land of Fairytale Abundance16 x 20 O/C[/caption] [caption id="attachment_228"…

Category: What’s the Big Idea?