I have not really spent a great amount of time painting over the last decades - other than sets which are large and have an immediate purpose to partner with the other aspects of theatre (lighting/costumes/complimentary imagery to the text/etc....). The immediacy of collage and the spontaneity of working with papers to paper as well as drawing with pens to paper are naturally appealing to me. I am an idea person....and often because of this trait I change my direction of mind often...all the possibilities flooding in one after the other: with collage and pen to paper I have got to stay to task and it is NOW and the concentration of what I am thinking and feeling in that moment. When I paint on canvas... the methodical layering of colour to colour gives room for thought...and room for thought brings in different thoughts....and I have been known to spend months on a single painting. With these portraits I discovered wood panel....and I can draw easily on these....and then play with the paint...which has more of an immediacy to it for me...so much fun! I am going to master the canvas one of these days...but ever so pleased to have panel to play with now.
I am not sure if this link will work for the duration (and so then I will have to remember to come back and find it in the archives and then relink) but a good friend of mine who possesses this painting told me of this interview today...and so I will share it here. Jian Ghomeshi from CBC interviews Joni:
http://www.cbc.ca/q/2013/06/11/joni-mitchell-1/
Joni is another person in her own right who creates in her own right for the sake of sharing and communicating from her life experiences because that is simply the right and natural thing to do. Her global appeal, for all the correct and justified reasons, at basis stems from the heart of a Canadian prairie girl.