Michelle (Basic) Hendry - Fine Art

Happy New Year!

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Late Afternoon Light
Late Afternoon Light © Michelle Basic Hendry

My very first post that had me set goals instead of resolutions was published on January 1st, 2008. I said some things in that post that I think may have gotten lost along the way. So instead of a boring list of my personal goals – which many of you who follow the blog are already aware – I think a re-publishing of my 2008 New Year’s post might be the best thing I can offer to all of you this new year:

For the first time in a few years, we had an ‘almost’ party here for New Year’s. My sister and my husband’s best friend dropped by and we ended up having a wonderful meal, a great laugh and celebrated what we all hope to be a bright new beginning in each of our lives.

Many people begin with resolutions, but, few make it to the end of January before they break them for any number of reasons. My sister had a wonderful suggestion for a better way of looking at our hopes for this new year. While tying her boot laces for a walk outside – she said:

Set goals instead of expectations.

I have been guilty of setting expectations instead of goals for years.

A friend and visitor commenting on my last post asked me if I ever felt like a pebble on the ocean. I had to sit and think about this for a while. The events of recent days had me tied up in thoughts about how we construct our lives. However, how we view our lives might be more important than what is in them and just as important as who is in them. When we see things with a new attitude, we can often find there are things in our lives that need changing or that we need to ‘clean house’.

Change is a process. It is inevitable, like the passage of time. We can flow with the tide or fight it – Be who were are or try to please others. Being true to yourself is not always easy. Change can be painful. Our ‘truths’ must be sought inwards and the only voice inside is ours and ours alone. The more we listen and trust it, the louder it gets – the easier it is to hear. The solitude we cultivate to hear that voice is a gift. There is both a melancholy and a freedom in solitude. Sometimes, it is cherished; at other times, it can be lonely. Each part of that is necessary. It is a balance.

Everyone uses their solitude differently and for different reasons. I need solitude in order to be creative. It can be isolating and I can feel like a pebble on the ocean; however, staying true and keeping my eye on the goal can feel like flying above the clouds… But, in order to take that flight, I need to let go of all my expectations.

I begin this new year with a new strength and hope for the future. I will spend some time setting some realistic goals and enjoy the journey. I think I may have said too much and this post could end up feeling like a flood of clichés! I am just so filled with energy and excitement – I want – I need to share it.

Here is to enjoying life to its fullest – to enjoy ourselves and each other…

Here is to reaching for the stars and grabbing them – only to discover we had them all along….

HAPPY 2011!

Snowshoeing into History

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Snow
Snowy © 2010 Michelle Basic Hendry

I woke up this morning in a foul mood. Everything irritated me. It was that kind of feeling that had way too much destructive energy behind it. OK. (Close your eyes gentlemen) It was PMS.

I struggled through my day wondering how I and every other human being on the planet had somehow made it through the last one when I decided I needed to take a very long and serious walk to clear my head. Well, anyone living in North America today noted that it was -27C with the windchill and snowing up a storm. PERFECT! It suited the mood.

Now with over a foot of snow on the ground, one cannot hike in the bush without assistance. So I strapped on my snowshoes and stomped off into the trees, much to the relief of my long suffering husband. Did I mention I am NOT in very good shape?

It didn’t take very long before the burn in my muscles and the sweat – yes even in this cold – slowed me down long enough to step back into the beauty that a cold winter day can bring.

The trees cracked and swayed with gusts of wind and the snow that had been captured high up in their branches crashed to the ground making the forest temporarily invisible. I had not an ounce of the power in my mood that Nature was tossing playfully about while she lay down her snowy cloak.

Peace had returned and the creative urge began to slowly shift out the destructive mood like dawn pushes out the darkness. And as I walked deeper into the forest, each step brought me back to myself and back into the moment. I turned around, briefly, to see my snowshoe prints. Each step further left another to history. And then the wind began to wash them away.

Losing Special Places

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Cottage
A corner of Paradise © 2010 Michelle Basic Hendry

I have been spending a lot of the last couple of years painting the lost homes of others. I spent a lot of time wondering why people could ever part with such special places. The circumstances are many, I have learned, and now I get to experience them first hand.

The family cottage of over 45 years is being put up for sale.

It is one of those things where my history is inextricably linked, and yet, I have no control over the outcome and must watch it go. Its loss is reawakening the losses of family connected to it and the shared history whose life is somehow dimmed by a kind of vanishing. It is a difficult change to accept.

The view from the highest point on the property – one of the highest points on the bay – is so spectacular it has been the subject of previous paintings that have remained, fortunately, in the family. It is a place I spent many hours with my Grandfather. I felt so big being able to climb the steep rocks.

Now, I must go, collect what I can carry, and soon abandon the place of my best childhood memories.

Cottage
Half way up the rock © 2008 Michelle Basic Hendry

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I am planning to take a formal hiatus from the blog and give myself a chance to sort some things out, go inside, and do a little bit of learning. I have 3 paintings at the easel along with Crystal’s Room – a Livingstone/Stephen’s, a Cooper and St. Stephen’s. I want these to be the best I have ever done. I want all of the emotion I am experiencing to be reflected in them and, perhaps, one or two of my own when I am ready. Many of you have commented on the depth of emotion in my paintings. I need the time to gather the energy to inject that. It takes a lot out of me, I have discovered. I have also discovered that I would rather show only a few paintings than many of lesser depth. I need some time to focus away from what has been my obstacle and rediscover the joy I draw from my art and from creativity in general.

Cottage
A view from the deck © 2010 Michelle Basic Hendry

So, to gather that energy, I am going to formally take a 6 – 8 week break from the blog and most of my other on-line projects. I will return with paintings, stories, an idea of where I plan to go from here, what will change and what I have learned – maybe even some new and interesting things I have tried. Either way, I know that what I come back with will be the things I best love to share and, perhaps, less of a plan and more of a Life.

Cottage
Sunrise © 1991 Michelle Basic Hendry

Landscape in Glass

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River Guardian
“River Guardian”, Stained Glass © 2003 Michelle Basic Hendry

While still working full-time as a graphic designer early in the last decade, I took some classes in stained glass, copper foil method. Being a designer, I was quick to start creating my own patterns. Within a couple of years I was asked to participate in and curate a show in stained glass. A few of the pieces I made for that show were heavily influenced by Emily Carr‘s style of painting. Emily’s paintings made the forest feel alive and dynamic, much how it ‘feels’ to be in the trees. The variety of colours from the yellow-green to the blue-green, oranges, browns and golds showed the forest in its richest cloak. I wanted to try and capture that with Light.

The model for “River Guardian” was a tree on the side of the Muskoka River at High Falls. It was one of those trees that leaned toward the rushing river and held the bank in place. It was early Spring and there was a light mist coming off the fast moving water. The coppers and bronzes of fallen needles contrasted sharply with the evergreens.

Emily's Forest
“Emily’s Forest”, Stained Glass, 24×36 © 2001 Michelle Basic Hendry

I won an award for stained glass in 2002 for “Emily’s Forest” a design inspired by Emily Carr’s painting, “Wood Interior”. It is a design that has inspired other artists to translate this painting in glass.

Winter Moon
“Winter Moon”, Stained Glass, 8×10 © 2005 Michelle Basic Hendry

“Winter Moon” was one of the last pieces I executed before turning to painting. It was completely imaginary, with a full moon made from pearlescent glass and solid metal tree trunks of textured zinc.

Stylistically, my glass is a million miles away from my painting. It is a difference I cannot begin to explain other than the media spoke to me in such different ways. In the coming posts, I’ll introduce some more of my early paintings. For me, this is a way to look back over where I have come to perhaps help me see where I might want to go. I am hoping you will join me on the journey!

I have returned to the Small Paintings blog I had started last year and re-purposed it. It is now called “Explorations“.  It will have some less formal posts on inspiration, stories and events that get into my head, as well as sketches and other creative work outside the scope of “Artscapes”. Feel free to join me there from time to time!

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All text and images © 2001-2018 Michelle Hendry. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission is strictly prohibited.