I have been younger in october

Hello, friend. How are you? I’m writing this with a bit of a head cold (we are past the uh-oh-is-it-COVID panic now, I got tested just to be safe and was negative). I also have a strange feeling of pre-nostalgia, having arrived at the end of another month and keenly assessing the shape of it; the same way a painter steps back from their canvas after being so close to it for too long and then realizes it looks far better than they thought it did. I’m drinking NeoCitran and listening to Phoebe Bridgers as a pair of my brain cells seated in the far back corner of my brain discuss what kind of soup I should make tonight.

A lot happened this month! I met the Mayor, I did an Instagram Takeover for Beyond Monet, I met hundreds of butterflies, I painted an excessive amount of tote bags and the exhibit officially announced an extension until February 6th!

Let’s start with the Mayor, shall we? Mayor John Tory and Consul General of France, Tudor Alexis attended the exhibit to celebrate and announce that Beyond Monet will extend its run in Toronto to February 6, 2022. After meeting him at the key address, John Tory took the time to check out my little exhibit in the gift shop, and talk with me about art and children’s literature. The painting that he pointed out as his favourite of mine is (intentionally) stylistically reminiscent of illustrations in children’s books. I have this dream of writing and illustrating a children’s book someday — but ONE DREAM AT A TIME. Anyway, he offered some encouragement on the subject and said that it’ll all come together when it’s meant to.

Mid-month I took on the challenge of taking over Beyond Monet’s Instagram account for the day. If you missed the takeover, you can view it here as a Highlight on their IG page. I have never created so much content in one day. What a time.

I was also whisked away for a weekend getaway to Niagara with my partner to celebrate our anniversary, and we went on a little excursion to a Butterfly Conservatory. I hadn’t been to one in a long time and felt completely enchanted by the whole experience — specifically the elusive Blue Morpho really gained my affection. I ended up taking home a real framed pair of butterflies as a souvenir, and I am properly obsessed with them as a piece of artwork for our home.

The universe has since been putting all kinds of butterfly-related images in front of me since then. Including the Kaleidoscope paintings of Damien Hirst. Especially ‘The Wonder of You’, ‘Magisterium’, and any of the ones that look like stained glass windows or doors. These are REAL butterflies, people!!! He has arranged their wings into these psychedelic patterns, much like kaleidoscopes, and even turned them into stained glass windows for cathedral prints. This sent me down a rabbit hole of researching his career and I found out that when he was my age (26), he pulled off a career-defining exhibition called “In and Out of Love” (1991). To showcase the insects’ short lifespan, Hirst invited viewers to watch butterflies emerge from their cocoons, fly around the gallery space, and die before the show’s end. I suppose that’s when his fascination with butterflies began, because his work in the following decades still carries those early influences heavily. I wonder if there are things inspiring me now at this stage in my career as an artist that will continue to do so for decades to come.

I’m finding continuing inspiration from a few of my favourite fairy tales (Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan chiefly), and other works of children’s literature which are just beginning to inform my work I think.

I created a mini collection of small paintings inspired by things that have always fascinated humans; the stars, the moon, the sun, stories, light, art, time, fashion, clouds… those timeless, often intangible things that we have never stopped revering or thinking about. I was also stylistically inspired by Tarot cards and the board game Dixit (if you know, you know). I painted them on 10”x10” wood boards and listed them at the exhibit for $40 each. I still have a few available and there will also be more of them to come.

Ah, yes! The long awaited tote bag restock arrived with fresh, new designs! I introduced 2 new designs: let’s call them ‘Large Square’ and ‘Polaroid’. Each tote is hand-painted using fabric medium and heat-set for durability. Washing instructions: hand-wash and hang-dry. Each one is unique and is inspired by one of Monet’s paintings. I love them all. They are $40, and shipping anywhere in Canada is available for just $2 extra.

What else is new? I of course painted more paintings and jackets. I’m definitely getting better at palette knife painting and I’m really loving the fairy tale-esque quality that is emerging on my canvases. I also have really enjoyed having Marryl and Monique by my side throughout this residency. Besides having their invigorating work to inspire me, it’s just nice to have people who understand the creative process in all of its ups and downs. Here’s a rare sighting of all three of us on site.

Ooh! I forgot to mention the exhibit I saw at the AGO: Blue View by Matthew Wong. In his first posthumous exhibition, the AGO has selected around 40 paintings from his Blue Series, created from 2017-2019. There is something so unpretentious and mystical about his style. I also love that he was able to play with outdoor scenes just as vividly as his indoor still life paintings. His interiors were so intriguing to me. He would often imply recent human presence with a piece of half-eaten food or a smoking candle that has clearly been burning for many hours but we can’t see a person in the composition. But we understand how they felt, or at least project our own feelings of contemplation or melancholy on the brushstrokes he left behind. Autumn Nocturne and (predictably) Blue Smoke were my favourites. You have until April to view his exhibit at the AGO, I really hope you get to see it.

That’s all from me for now. I hope you have a really lovely November. I do have some exciting updates coming (some related to the exhibit and some not) that I can’t wait to share with you soon! Until then, I will leave you with this poem I penned earlier this month.

I remember years
that left me winded
when the world around me felt colourless
now I watch as the light floods in
and colour splashes on everything I touch
a kaleidoscope of technicolour light
to make sense of those years
to turn and look at where I’ve been
and revel where I am
with the lightness I wanted
the sway in my hips
a bouquet of paintbrushes
the garden in my mind
forever chasing it on canvas
the world at my fingertips

More soon,

Clarice