Erickka

Patmore

I’ve been busy with a few different projects recently, and I’m really excited to have stuff on the go with more stuff to look forward to. I want to quickly jot a few of these things down, if for nothing else than so that I can remember later.

For example, I’m ecstatic to be involved in a group show this August, and I’ve been chipping away at 6 paintings to have ready for it. This show is with two other artists, Madison Pascal and Nathan White, and we are gonna have a crazy variety of stuff!

It will be held from August 3rd-28th in Regina, SK, at The Woods Art Space. I’m trying to make art that really helps me expand my comfort zone. For example, I really like painting big, but I’m always so nervous: the canvas is expensive, it uses at LOT of materials, and what do you do with it when you’re done? Soooo, I got 2 of the biggest canvases I’ve worked on yet for this show-one of them is definitely still blank, but I’ll conquer it soon.

I’ve also been led out of my comfort zone regarding subject matter. For one of the larger pieces (2 by 3 feet) I’ve been working on, I decided to venture into the realm of surreal abstraction. This features a large cliff, night and day skies, a rough-ish sea, and a forest section. That’s A LOT, and I’m not very confident in my landscape skills, to be honest with you. However, I get really excited when I look at it on my wall, and the challenge of painting something that has nothing to do with portraits make me think this piece will probably end up making me a better artist. I have a feeling I should keep going with it, so that’s what I'm gonna do.

I’m generally trying to focus on my intuition as I’m painting more, and it’s led me to re-do another (smaller) painting like, at least 5 different times. This one is a bit of a mix between abstract and portraiture, but I haven’t tried combining these elements in the way I have before. Wish me luck!

Other than that, I’ve been asked to help on a longer-term project for an illustrated book of short stories, and I’m really excited. (I’ll get more into my drawing practice in a writing piece soon, if you’re interested in that.)

Lastly, I’m gonna focus on scheduling and being consistent with both my art practice and my online content for the next few weeks, so you might see some more stuff from me. I hope you guys have a great week!