Colours For Tree Trunks
March 23, 2012
Painting often involves pushing into something without fully knowing why. Blind response perhaps. Thoughts from somewhere, being prone to listening in a given moment and things transpire.
While painting tree trunks, the colour red connected with me. Not any red: a really bright red. I wasn’t sure but I listened and things evolved.
Is there a colour you would paint the tree trunks? I’m interested. There is no right or wrong answer. Something will suggest itself and it is about allowing this to have expression. What colour would you paint the tree trunks if you were painting them?
Would you paint them the colour that reaches out to you? Would you paint them that colour knowing that others would see?
Hoping you will.
In A Yellow Wood
March 13, 2012
Love to experience of a place like this whether during a hike or on a path within my thoughts. Colours, lights and smells rolled up in sensations as I pass through, carefully, not to disturb the essense of things.
People write about experiences like this. I paint them.
American poet, Robert Frost, wrote “two roads diverge in a yellow wood” and somehow touches me as I paint. The spectre and foreshadowing all dwell within the trees as he continues reflecting.
“And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden back.“
Wondering about trees in your world and what transpires for you.
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Jim Pescott is an international contemporary artist who lives and works in Calgary Alberta. To contact Jim directly about his paintings, or a project you think about, please phone 403-870-0591 or email him at paintwithdots@shaw.ca. His website is http://www.jimpescott.com
Have You Seen This Place?
March 2, 2012
I paint on location and sometimes from photo sources. Often I paint from within.
The canvas was painted over a few hours while this Calgary artist listened to Blues through earbuds connected to Slacker Radio playing on my BlackBerry. I never look up: there is no question of what goes where or how something should be. Colours reached out from the palette. Everything unfolds in layers and layers.
The place feels familiar but it is no where I know exactly. I can show you where it is but it isn’t the same place.
When I paint from within it is very much connected to somewhere I’ve seen either in this lifetime, or perhaps, in another lifetime. Not sure.
Have you seen this place?
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Jim Pescott is an international contemporary artist who lives and creates in Calgary, Alberta. To contact Jim directly about his paintings, or a project you think about, please phone 403-870-0591 or email him at paintwithdots@shaw.ca. His website is http://www.jimpescott.com
How Large Is Large?
February 28, 2012
“I love this! But can you paint it for me on a much larger canvas?”
And the response is “How large is large?”
Imagine yourself in this moment. You feel a deep personal connection with a cityscape painting on a 10″ x 12″ canvas. And you know you’d love it even more if the painting is larger. The happy ending, of course, is you decide on a 48″x 48″ canvas and this Calgary artist created a similar cityscape just for you (see the image below).
Paintings do this. They help us feel things. Paintings bring something into our life that never before exisited. And we have an oppotunity everyday to respond to this nourishing experience.
As an artist, a painter, I love bringing things into existance.
So tell me, “What would you like painted?”
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Jim Pescott is an international contemporary artist who lives and creates in Calgary, Alberta. To contact Jim directly about his paintings, or a project you think about, please phone 403-870-0591 or email him at paintwithdots@shaw.ca. Jim’s website is http://www.jimpescott.com
Old Cookie Jar
February 21, 2012
“I have this picture of a boy and his dog I really like. Can you paint it on an old clay cookie jar?”
While I wasn’t sure what my approach would be, I knew immediately I was excited about the project.
First, the opportunity to paint a boy and his dog felt so personal: I’ve been this “boy and his dog” many, many times in my life. And as I looked at the picture I remembered the soft looks of all those dogs who shared their lives with me.
Then, there was the old cookie jar. It was made by Medalta, an Alberta pottery maker located in what is now the Historic Clay District in Medicine Hat. Back in the 1940′s my grandfather worked at Medalta: who knows, maybe he handled this very jar. And as I held the old cookie jar, it seemed I could hear his voice.
There were many departures in my creative process as I painted the image on the clay surface. The experience held many blessings for this Calgary artist.
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Jim Pescott is an international contemporary artist who lives and works in Calgary, Alberta. To contact Jim directly about his paintings, or a project you thik about, please phone 403-870-0591 or email him at paintwithdots@shaw.ca. His website is http:www.jimpescott.com
Image Junkie !!!
February 16, 2012
I’m basically an image junkie!
I paint on canvas, I take photographs: there’s always, always an image meditation in my thoughts.
The sunrise photo with this blog post was a quick shot taken with my BlackBerry camera a couple mornings ago. And now the photo is saved with a few thousand other images on my mobile phone. Actually the satisfaction is in getting the photo: I might t see the image again except this time I sought it out to share with you.
This is a lot like what happens when I paint from in my thoughts except I don’t go back looking for the photo in my archives for a reference. I simply source an impression of something in my thoughts and the rest happens from there. When the memory impression fades away the meditation of the painting is finished.
If this Calgary artist were to paint such a sunrise image for you, the impression on the canvas would be from my thoughts and the echoes of the sunrise would be felt vibrantly.
What images tempt you?
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Jim Pescott is an international contemporary artist who lives and works in Calgary, Alberta. Jim paints with dotsI a contemporary pointillist style. To contact Jim directly about his paintings, or about a commision project you have in mind, please phone 403-870-0591, or email him at paintwithdots@shaw.ca. His website is at http://www.jimpescott.com
If You Step On A Crack . . .
February 13, 2012
Remember the children’s rhyme about sidewalks, “If you step on a crack . . .”?
Recently, I overheard two youngsters share about stepping on shadows to see if the tree would howl. They were walking on a snowy trail under a bright sunny midday sky. Each shadow they approached was a gleeful opportunity to test what they knew must be true.
Did they really hear the tree howl?
This Calgary artist has painted many winter landscapes filled with light and shadows but I’ve never heard the trees howl. But next time I’m out painting in Fish Creek Provincial Park I will listen closely just to be sure.
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Jim Pescott is an international contemporary artist who lives and works in Calgary, Alberta. To contact Jim directly about his paintings, or a project you think about, please phone 403-870-0591 or email him at paintwithdots@shaw.ca His website is http://www.jimpescott.com
Cafe Painting
February 11, 2012
The photo is a painting in process. It is about eighty percent done but I never really know until I get that point with a painting. The canvas is resting against the lid of a wooden paint box that serves as an easel. In this photo I’m not painting in my studio: the setting is the London Fog Cafe in Calgary, Alberta.
Painting at this cafe is a tradition in a random way as I try to be there once a week but it never happens on the same day of the week and then some weeks I’m not in town. Seems all about going wth the flow as best as I can tell.
About ten years ago, the then owner of London Fog Cafe asked me to display my paintings on the walls for a month. It actually turned out to be my first show ever and I sold seven paintings during the 30 days. The rest as the say is history: last December I had work at the Carrousel du Louvre, in Paris.
I still display paintings at London Fog Cafe (see third photo of cafe images). This Calgary artist has known four London Fog owners over the years: the current owners, Pat and Len make some great soup and sandwiches. And I personally love the butterscotch cookies!
If you are in Calgary, and close by, I hope you can drop by the London Fog Cafe. Catching me there is always possible but not for sure.
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To contact Jim Pescott call him direct at 403-870-0591 or email paintwithdots@shaw.ca
Most Recognized Painting In Italy?
February 7, 2012
Something very cool happened back in December when my paintings were in Florence for the “Symphony of Color” exhibition.
First, the VF Agenda section of Vanity Fair magazine, the Italian issue, listed the “Symphony of Colour” exhibition in Florence as one of the top things to do in Italy during September. The organizers of “Symphony of Color” were not aware VF Agenda was listing the exhibition until the mention appeared in the Vanity Fair issue.
Then, the other very cool something that happened is VF Agenda used an image of my painting “Red Trunks” to illustrate their mention of “Symphony of Color”. At the time, this Calgary Artist was in Paris, France, attending the Salon 2011 for the Societe Nationale des Beaux-arts at the Carrosel du Louvre when I learned VF Agenda had used “Red Trunks”. The message I received was through a through a Facebook message that shared the image from the magazine. This is the same image you see with this post so the quality could be better but currently it is the only copy I have.
Arguably, “Red Trunks” was one of the most recognized paintings in Italy last December.
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Jim Pescott is an international contemporary artist, living and working in Calgary, Alberta. He has participated in exhibitions in Italy, France, Spain, USA and Canada including Paris, Florence, Cannes, Barcelona, Ferrara, Montreal and New York City. For information on paintings, Jim may be contacted at 403-870-0591 as well as by email at paintwithdots@shaw.ca
Just A Few Hours Ago
February 2, 2012
Finally home after travelling in January. Spent some time in New York City with my paintings at an international exhibition in Chelsea. The paintings found a new home as this Calgary artist met lots of people and connected with a gallery in Soho. I walked everywhere and must say that no one walks against signal lights like Manhattan pedestrians who simply go with the flow.
The trip home to Calgary was a long flight. And I arrived back in the early morning to sit in my studio to witness a breathtaking sunrise. It seemed impossible to believe I’d been on the Avenue of the Americas just a few hours ago.
