Rodney Mackay

Christmas Past 1940

2007-12-09T09:59:00.000-05:00

You are cordially invited to look in on my personal recollections as a child in war time. Sixty new illustrated pages featuring the movies I saw that year and the "literature" I read. Those were days of ascending peculiarity! Your comments and help in remembering these long ago days would be appreciated. Visit rodneymackay.com. Click link number 1 at right!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Rodney C. Mackay

The Picton Castle Tragedy Continues

2007-11-28T11:39:00.001-05:00

Ruth and I see the Picton Castle daily when she has been in port, and she has not moved from her berth since arriving home in May, 2007. As our home overlooks her Lunenburg port of call, we have an unusual advantage in taking pictures of her from an elevated place (our second storey Lunenburg Bump.

The two of us have collected a very large number of photos of her over the past years and will post some of them if there is an interest? A number of these are already online (click link to home website ar right), with Rod's personal musings about the loss of Laura Gainey from her deck during a North Atlantic storm.

Rod is quite busy just now, so you will have to e-mail him if you want to see more pictures of this craft!

http://rodneymackay.com/

Father Christmas at Mahone Bay

2007-11-27T11:23:00.001-05:00

A modern embodiment of Father Christmas greets well-wishers on Main Street. This town has less than half the population of Lunenburg but totally outdoes the larger centre when it comes to co-operative projects meant to draw out-side visitors to the town.

In addition to this living breathing representative of his kind, this Father Christmas was supplemented with seventy life-sized replicas representing the reincarnate Saint Nicholas, whose feast day is still remembered in some places on the fifth day of December. Old Saint Nick is a Teutonic Yule-tide character and a natural for Christmas promotion in Lunenburg County which was settled by German protestants in the mid eighteenth century.

Franky, the Lunenburg Christkindlmarkt or "Christ Child's Market" was more of a local food fair, and did not seem to attract hordes of visitors from outside the immediate area. That is unfortunate: From the lack of decoration on the part of nearby businesses on Lincoln and Montague Streets it may be suspected that the local merchants were ot entirely enthusiastic about this solidly amateur effort!

Waiting For Santa at a Lunenburg Wharf

2007-11-25T10:02:00.001-05:00

In our seaport town Santa Claus comes to land on a scallop dragger abd is transported by firetruck to Santa's village at the Christkindlmarkt

The Strange Season

2007-11-24T16:40:00.000-05:00

CAILLEACH BHEUR OR GEAMIR

A supernatural hag of Gaelic popular belief, supposed to have come from Lochlann (loch land, or Norway) carrying a creel full of earth and rocks withwhich she constructed Alba. Some of the contents of her wicker-basket,accidentally fell to the west creating the Western Isles. She was described as one-eyed like the Fomors, and carried a staff which perpetually shed snow and could generate lightning. She was called the "Geamir" or game-keeper as she was the ultimate goddess in charge of the
deer, sheep, and goats of Scotland. Called in English, "The Winter Hag", her special season was "geamhradh", which the Anglo-Saxons named winter. Her domain was the Scottish highlands between Ben Cruachan in Lorn and Ben Nevis in Lochaber, and from there to the remotest islands of the Western Sea. The mate of the Cailleach is given as the Bodach, and she was a shapechanger often appearing as a gigantic Grey Mare, which stepped from mountain top to mountaintop. In winter, she jealously guarded her icy control of the land unleashing her sharks-winds and the wolf-kind against the people of Scotland as her powers declined after February. Finally at the Beltane, she "threw her hammer (symbolizing thunder and lightning and storm) under the mistletoe" and was shape-changed into the Samh, or Morrigan, the youthful mistress of the "samradh" or summer. The Scottish equivalent of the god Odin, having charge like him, of the winter winds and heading the Unsely Host, which rides through the Yule-tide season picking up the spirits of those "nach maireann" (lacking divine fire, no longer alive).

Here's the rub

2007-11-22T12:44:00.001-05:00

The ceiling of that Anglican Church mentioned below "shows how the sky would have appeared at sunset to a viewer at the latitude of Lunenburg who was facing east on December 24 — Christmas Eve — two millennia ago."

This fact was discovered by science journalist Dan Falk a one time resident of Nova Scotia now living in Toronto. The full story can be found on Astronomy.com

The Night Sky At The Nativity, Lunenburg, N.S.

2007-11-22T12:33:00.001-05:00

This tiny insert photo of St. John's Anglican Church in Lunenburg was taken late Christmas Eve, 2000 A.D. In the early morning hours of November 1, 2001, Lunenburg firefighters responded to what would be their 23rd, and final call on one of the most hectic Halloween nights in the town’s history.

This one involved St. John’s Anglican Church, a hallowed hall of worship in the town for nearly 250 years and one of Canada’s National Historic Sites. It was almost totally destroyed and required $5.6 to restore.

The larger photo is a part of the rotunda in the eastern part of the church. This ceiling was originally painted in 1900 and fixed with gold-leaf stars as seen above. Thing is, the pattern of stars in not random but coincides with astronomical fact!

Rod's Expanded and revised Christmas Reading

2007-11-20T13:31:00.001-05:00

I now online and updated from 8 to 32 bit:
http://rodneymackay.com/Christmas/xmas1.html

The "Art Experts"

2007-11-17T10:02:00.000-05:00

In days long gone, a fine artist was thought of, primarily, as a painter of pictures. Secondarily, an allowance was made for sculptors and musicians. An amateur artist used to be one whose involvment in the act of painting was minimal and a professional one who busied him or herself in the business of trying to make a living.

By and large art educators and critics do not have the time to create consistent, well-considered works of art, and have to be lumped with the amateurs as a body of rather annoying "art experts." In Rod's earliest days as an aspiring artist he knew much more about this subject than is now the case. He no longer addresses art associations, since he has no training as an art educator. He does not presume to openly criticize the works of others by jurying shows. He has seen elements of favouritism in every selection process he was involved with. It is his wish that art educators and art critics would mind their own business, teaching and/or gossiping, and not presume to be professional artists.

There is, of course, nothing beyond economics to prevent any of them from moving on into the ranks of these unenviable, underpaid, working sods. Any painting is, in the end, a wall decoration, and the status of such work is more a matter of smart business moves on the part of an artist or his agent, rather than sheer outright talent rising to the surface. Sometimes recognition is serendipity! No matter how they see themselves, artists are bit players in the business world, and serfs to their patrons.

Rod has never been misused by an art critic, but having a local reputation means there is little loss or gain in any kind of professional gossip about his work. The lions of the art world are a different matter; Reviewing Colville's 1983 exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario for Art in America , Ross Skoggard noted that his work was controversial in terms of the Canadian art world and that. 'Colville has not yet been properly assessed in his own country,' Skoggard further wrote. '...He is both admired for his workmanlike technique and denounced as a provincial embarrassment by the segment of the Canadian art world that takes its cue from international art magazines.'

John Bentley Mays visited with Colville in Nova Scotia and returned to say this in the Toronto Globe and Mail (July 23, 1983), 'Its (his works) widespread popularity and potential as a crowd-pleaser apart, Colville's art is worthy of inclusion in a small, didactic group show of realists from Canada's Atlantic region; nothing more.'

In contrast, he was hailed in that same year by the British critic Terence Mullaly, as 'the most important realist in the Western world.' It was after this that Colville expressed a greater attachment for his dogs over the majority of people. He is a politically concerned conservative who did tell Mays, 'I do have a fear of chaos, and a strong sense of the fragility of civilization,' goes far toward accounting for the disquieting presentiment that invades his visions of peace, contentment, and beauty.

There you have it, another mark in favour of chaos theory! One would like to ignore such people; fortunately Colville has enough personal charisma and entrenchment or "authentication" of his work to turn his back on Mays without much effect in his pantry.

How about some honesty in advertising?

2007-11-15T13:45:00.000-05:00

Some of the folk noted below as "professional artists" certainly earn their living from association with living, breathing artists, but teachers are professional art educators, and isn't it a caution, many of these art educators are also part-time art critics. There simply isn't enough money in that latter profession to work at it full-time, probably less return than poverty-stricken artists get from there work! Having a nine-to-five job is also a good move for feathering the nest against crass commercialism. "Art for art's sake" can be easy or a very hard concept to understand and appreciate.

Since others have usurped the titles which were once reserved to working stiffs in the art community, many of the latter are now seen to describe themselves as "full-time painters." This doesn't work as well as it should, since there are "house painters" as well as dabblers on plane surfaces of paper, canvas and what-have-you. Possibly one should hold out for "professional fine artist" but that is a little cumbersome and is not a description reserved to painters. Any suggestions?

John Marin was not quite an abstract-expressionist being one of those mid-century painters who did not want to break free of the natural landscape. He noted that artists needed "Encouragement." "Though courageous himself (in the face of living without a salary) he must have, like others about him, a good living, to do good work...the art-conscious public must help to bring that about by purchasing that which they profess to love."

What do you think?

Who Steals My Good Name....

2007-11-15T13:28:00.000-05:00

The International Artists Association (IAA) defines a "professional artist" as one who fulfills at least one of the following criteria: earns a living through art making possesses a diploma in an area considered to be within the domain of the fine arts teaches art in a school of art or applied art whose work is often seen by the public or is frequently or regularly exhibited is recognized as an artist by consensus of opinion among professional artists.

CARFAC Canada has adopted the "International Artists Association (IAA)" definition of a professional artist as "one who fulfills at least one of the following criteria: earns a living through art making, possesses a diploma in an area considered to be within the domain of the fine arts: teaches art in a school of art or applied art; whose work is often seen by the public or is frequently or regularly exhibited or is is recognized as an artist by consensus of opinion among professional artists." Somehow they missed the fact that the full name of this group, based in Paris, France, is actually the "International Association of Art Critics." That is something else again, is it not.?

2007-11-15T13:23:00.000-05:00

Philip Evergood, who was a representational painter, opined that "Any art that has imagination has the "magic touch" and expresses universal truths, which man can feel and understand, is valid - is Art. Only people and time will decide what is great." Amen!
Those of us who have misspent our youth following the business of making art know that" life is short" and as Edward Hooper cynically noted of artists in general, "Ninety per cent of them are forgotten ten minutes after they are dead. We are no longer certain that "...Art is long." Evergood noted that in our atomic age, the "lasting" value of all the works of man is hardly in the hands of artists, "...only the diplomats and military leaders will decide what is to last."

Those who live by the axiom that the artist should "Make Love Not Profit!" are a fortunate few, and these are the folk who love word smithery to the exclusion of reason. Some are skilled amateurs with an education in art rather than the skills and instincts needed by an artist to survive in the art jungle. They are typically retirees from other work more congenial to their skills. A secure pension has an insulating vale, feathering the nest from a need to do business.

Order vs Chaos in the fine art world

2007-11-15T13:19:00.001-05:00

The Victorian artists were admittedly excessive in their devotion to the formal precepts of the academies of art, but twentieth century reactionaries were equally outre, going off in all directions,and sometimes tumbling into the chasm of chaos. Excess of any sort is always avant garde at the beginning but is rarely without precedent! "Art movements have a way of repeating themselves since artists are mortal and memory of the past is collectively short. "Outrageous" necessarily succumbs to "commonplace".

Scholastics have always had a desire to rule the roost, which explains why art schools are usually in turmoil concerning what should be taught and how. Commenting on this fact Willem de Kooning said, "The group instinct could be a good idea, but there is always some little dictator who wants to make his instinct the group instinct."

De Kooning was abstract expressionisms most influential painter from his first one-man exhibition in 1948. Today there is more of a divide between figurative painters and his followers, but this was not always so. In 1951 he expressed this opinion: "There is no style in painting now. There are as many naturalists among the abstract painters as there are abstract painters in the so-called subject-matter school."

Fine or Finished Art

2007-11-15T13:17:00.000-05:00

Fine Art was seen by our Victorian predecessors as the application of skill and taste following more or less rigid aesthetic principles. They knew that they liked! This variety of art aimed at the production of what those folk considered a thing of beauty. They spurned the decorative arts, noting that the tattooes of their savage ancestors were "decorative". The fine arts were were also termed design arts, The principles thought necessary successful design were considered to be: balance, contrast, dominance, gradation, harmony, repetition and unity.

The arts of design were originally: painting, drawing, architecture and sculpture. These bastions of conservatism were assaulted in Victorian times by other wanabees, and in some circles, poetry, dancing, music and theatre were admitted to the fold, but there were objections, since these arts used loose interpretations of the word design.

Wikipedia argues that "Something is not generally considered "art" when it stimulates only the senses or only the mind..." According to this same source, the ultimate source of the concept of "fine" or "finished" art derives at its base from the philosophy of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. He proposed the idea that the "Final Cause" of any work of man as the entire purpose for its existence, and hence arose the odd notion of art created "for art's sake". A related idea is that "pleasure is the final cause of beauty and thus is not a means to another end, but an end in itself." Deep!!!

Art, the all-embracing umbrella

2007-11-15T13:13:00.001-05:00

There were more literate times in English-speaking lands when the meaning of words was less mutable than is now the case. Now they evolve with ascending peculiarities in the outcome:

Gallery used to mean a long narrow hallway connecting two opposing or ajacent buildings. Quite often this place had windows on one of the wide fronts with a blank wall opposite it. This sheltered wall, limited the light, and was seen as appropriate for the showing of works of fine art, most often paintings but sometimes sculpture. Paintings in oil and watercolours are reactive in sunlight so this was a reasonable place to show them. Today, any retail space may be described as a gallery but it is as likely to houses automobiles and furniture as it is art.

Art was a Roman concept and that word equated with a skill regulated by rules of procedure. Alternately, a profession, a pursuit, or a business. In medieval times this word was understood as a skill, or ability to perform certain acts following observation, study and accumulated experience. Since artwas seen as a discipline it became engrafted onto scholastic and academic pursuits to describe various branches of book learning., hence the Liberal Arts. Any systematic application of knowledge aimed at producing a product, ie. a craft, was also regarded as an art form, thus we hear of the Industial or Mechanical Arts. Today this word is used in even wider senses and it seems that almost evberyone qualifies as an artist of one sort or other.

Looking After Business

2007-11-14T17:03:00.000-05:00

The Business of Making Art
The Art of Staying In That Business

"I always suspect the artist who is successful before he is dead."

John Murray Gibbon, Pagan Love, 1922

"I will paint for money at any time. Any subject, any size."

Winslow Homer, correpondence, October 23, 1893

"I charge ten francs and a little alcohol for each sitting."

Amadeo Modigliani, ca. 1919

"I'm not so interested in art per se. It's only an occupation."

Marcel Duchamp, 1965

"I am in a bad state of mind and I am demoralized, and that influences me."

Chaim Soutine, correspondence, 1923

"I will admit to you frankly that I want to be on the artistic band wagon..."

Willem de Kooning, 1956

(Art Experts)...cannot be ignored...as they do have considerable power in the pantry."

Herbert Katzman, 1953

"Painting is my work...There is little more to say."

Nathan Oliveria, from Art USA Now

"Artists are often excellent businessmen.... Otherwise they do not remain artists.

AY. Jackson

I do not love November

2007-11-13T14:07:00.001-05:00

In the Gaelic world October 31 marked the end of "samh" or "summer" and the beginning of winter. Every year I plan to paint in that last month before the country goes gray. This year I missed again, thanks to a protracted bout with the flu. I have rarely painted fall leaves and not just because of the fact that some of my teachers were antagonistic to this kind of natural exuberance. Colville didn't like sunsets either, although Pulford did paint them before he went bland.

An on line art instructress, Natasha Wescott (http://tashamama.livejournal.com/434382.html) reminds her students that "You don't have to have a degree to be a working artist" and "You don't have to draw or paint to be an artist." There is more than a bit of proof backing these assertions! Of course, it does help if you have a leg up in this strange art game (it is always a financial help to be connected with influential types) and the lack of drawing skills is not a help if you want to create works with some authority (unless you happen to have other things in common with folk such as Van Gogh, Gaugin or perhaps Rousseau, all somewhat mediocre delineators. with grand talents in other directions.

This got me thinking that painting the chaotic, disordered natural world is a the best bet for a person with few drawing skills! That place is filled with fractals and serendipity as opposed to straight lines and order , which are a part of the look of all town- and cityscapes. Worst of all are portraits and figure studies, which demand a lot of close observation and pedantic workmanship. I'm starting a small painting (sketch appears above) to prove this point.
The colours will cheer me!

As Leonardo says, you shouldn't stick with this kind of thing! With lots of practice one can get very good at re-executing the same subject matter, but that should not be what painting is about.

November 10, 7 am and 12 noon

2007-11-13T13:52:00.001-05:00

The first snow of the year. As you will observe , the grass is still green and the white stuff could not persist. Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, was cold and windy which is how I remember it most years!

Arylic Artist's Perpective is at

2007-11-11T11:39:00.000-05:00

http://rodchesmac.ning.com/

A new open comment social group

2007-11-09T10:39:00.001-05:00

Acrylic paint is a fine art medium which was introduced and first retailed in North America during the 20th Century. It was heralded as a non-toxic, light-resistant substitute for oil paints or as a watercolour substitut, possessing waterproof characteristic on drying. The earliest adopters, including Rod Mackay, were frustrated by the fact that its unique characteristics went largely unrecognized.

Many oil painters experimenting with the new medium criticized it for having unstable pigments and
defying subtle brushwork since it dried very rapidly. The confirmed watercolours who tried it usually railled at this same defect, and hated its tendency to darken rather than lighten upon drying. Many of these problems have been overcome in the past five decades since acrylics were introduced but the reputations of youth are a long time sloughing away!

The vibrant colours allowed by a plastic medium were especially suitable to the need of abstract expressionists who put them to good use in New York City. The Mexican muralists also found them attractive because of their non-toxic nature, resistance to sunlight and intensities of colour matching their country. In point of fact, the traditional media of oil and watercolour are better suited to the muted landscapes of Europe than those of North and South America. Any careful observer our our skies note that they can be naturally intense and best represented by this modern medium.

Interestingly, acrylics were imported from America into England and it was the Brits who first chafed at the fact that acrylics were seen as country cousins of oils and watercolours. "The National Acrylic Painters' Association evolved from the concept that acrylic paint is still largely unrecognized in its own right. Oil and watercolor paints started from the same premise, with the origin and the history of each giving them distinct characteristics and goals, as well as their own organizations and societies."

Ken Hodgson founded that group in 1985. Adrian Henri, an acclaimed international painter and poet, served as president from 1986 until 1991 and was succeeded by the present President, painter, writer and broadcaster, Alwyn Crawshaw. That particular socity spawned the International Acrylic Painters' Association, which is based in the United States. At that, there have not been many gains in the direction of anything resembling the "Royal Societies" organized on behalf of watercolourists and oil painters in times, which now seems far from the present realities of the art world.

Acrylic manufactures must have a growing market if one believes their propaganda. Winsor& Newton says that its use has "steadily increased" and that they now produce colours "specifically designed for acrylic painting." We suspect that acrylics remain under utilized EBay Canada is currently offering a lot of paintings for auction and these. Their statistics show that the medium is a little in advance of the watercolour but the oil painting medium is still king by a ratio of about 10:1. That was about the ratio for the painters in Domtar Agenda Show in Montreal and Toronto back in 1987. Twenty years ago, Rod had very little company in that horde of oil affectionados.

Art Educator David Pyle has this to say: "Early acrylics weren't without their problems. There were justifiable concerns with stabiliyty and color change. But, thanks to some very dedicated and skilled chemists in labs across the world, those issues have been all but eliminated. Modern acrylics offer great stability and clarity, and can be used with confidence that they're going to be around for the long haul."

Comment here or visit one of the links at right

A new social group

2007-11-08T09:04:00.001-05:00

Acrylics Forever

The first commercial water-based acrylic paints suitable for fine art was trademarked Liquitex. The author of this site has used these paints since their introduction in the mid 1950's. They are fast-drying, water-soluble but permanent and insoluble after drying. Although the first acrylics were manufactured in Germany in 1902 they were first marketed and made popular by North American artists.

Rod was trained in the use of watercolours and oil paints but only one of his teachers made the transition to acrylics, and that was not while he was an art student. As a result he was largely self-taught with a bit of help from a text by someone named Woody Russell and the propaganda sheets issued by acrylic paint companies.

In this past half century Rod has invented some techniques for their use, which can be seen by clicking a link to his website seen at right. On the other hand, he still has a lot to learn, and would appreciate any input on this new forum. You are invited to visit and leave comments, particularly those aimed at forwarding the work of painter's in acrylic. What works for you?

Seen just prior to the big storm.

2007-11-07T09:26:00.001-05:00

Today there are still 700 homes without power and 230 linemen still at work including volunteers from New Brunswick, Quebec and Maine.

As we understand it these are all in rural areas where the greatest damage occurred. In one case it has been mentioned that it required five truckloads of men to clear downed trees from the lines of a single Nova Scotia power client. It has, again, been promised that full services will be restored by the end of the day.

I'm going out to look at the waterfront again. Last night same a minor storm hit Lunenburg.

The wind and the frost

2007-11-07T09:24:00.001-05:00

Failed to destroy these plants which are located right at the waters edge in Lunenburg.

That does not mean

2007-11-07T09:15:00.001-05:00

that some folks did not experience a harrowing night on the water. Here on the Railway Wharf we see the remains of one of the Lady Janet's stern lines. That yellow one is pretty thick.

For a better overview of damage throughout Nova Scotia, go to this blog-site: Awesome still and video images. websitehttp://hurricane-noel-nova-scotia-damage.blogspot.com/2007_11_06_archive.html

Things worked out better this time

2007-11-07T09:13:00.000-05:00

as opposed to the situation with Huirricane Juan because a lot of small boats were pulled from the water and stationsed, like these, well up on the shore.

Fisheries Musem Fence

2007-11-07T09:10:00.000-05:00

lost to the storm. It was pretty substantial and not a solid surface.

Some folk treated Post Tropical Storm Noel

2007-11-06T15:44:00.001-05:00

as a non-event. Depends where you were and what you saw. Ruth and I would not have wanted one km/hr more wind than Lunenburg got and Rod saw signs of damage at the tide line!

People at Queensland (near Halifax) awoke to this view of their former beach and highway. At Beach Meadows, Queens County, a trout fish farm was destroyed to the tune of $1 million dollars. Lobster fisherman were very concerned that their livelihood may have been affected. Peter Duffy of the Chronicle Herald reported the storm as "a bit of a letdown..." until iit started tearing siding from his home.

At West Berlin a resident said "This is worse than Juan for sure." That community found its wharves and shore buildings littered with seaweed. "We came down and all got discouraged and went home."

The Empty Berth

2007-11-06T14:34:00.001-05:00

The "Lady Janet" and the "Spanish Gypsy" were both absent from the berth where they were exposed to Post Tropical Storm Noel a few nights back. The absence of the former is of interest since we have never seen her under power since moving to a place directly above her more than a year ago. The "Picton Castle" is still in place but aswarm with crew this afternoon. An examination of the Railway Wharf revealed frayed mooring lines still in place on the wharf.

Locally, the "Lunenburg Progress Enterprise" took note of three downed trees in Hillcrest Cemetery, at Tannery Row, Green Street and Prince Street, but entirely missed the power outage in town during the middle of the night. They did note outages in neighbouring communities, but their reporters seemed to have slept more soundly than we did, and they gave little press to the effects on the marine community. A radio interview, the day after the storm, seems to have been missed: It recounted the unpleasant night spent by a ship owner trying to hold his craft in the wind for several long hours.

2007-11-06T09:29:00.001-05:00

As late as yesterday afternoon

2007-11-06T08:41:00.000-05:00

Clouds continued to lower in Lunenburg and to the north east it continued to blow and rain.

This morning we are told that there are still 7,000 homes without power and Windsor High School is still in the dark. At the height of things, there were many, many more cancellations and no school, particularly to the east and northeast of this place. A portion of the road was washed away at Queensland and shoulders were eliminated at Peggy's Cove, Lawrencetwon and Musquodobit. Pointr Pleasant Park in Halifax was not decoimated as it was when Juan struck (70% of trees downed) but this time 200 additional trees were uprooted.

Officially, winds at Lunenburg reached a mere 109 kilometres/hour, but the storm surge had waves breaking over local wharves along their entire lengths. There was a power outage and several large trees were felled. Like Saint John and Woodstock, New Brunswick, Lunenburg maintains its own local electric power lines and repair facilities and these folk seem to have been ready.. Today there is no sign of a wood chip anywhere and the streets are certainly clean of debris

Our closest neighbour's Hallowe'en Lanterns

2007-11-05T15:04:00.001-05:00

survived this storm because they were on the north side of the house.

While some inland residents were disappointed in Noels performance "On the coast, the storm was "more dramatic than Juan." - The Daily News. Halifax.

We concur. At Indian Harbour about 4:30 am a resident noted that the wind was "so fierce it tore stairways off properties." Carole MacInnis also noted that "We definitely had higher water, so it was really quite frightening. Eben Fry, a resident of this same community said that "It looks like the ocean picked up the road and moved it a few feet." The highest gust recorded at Metro was 135 kn/hr.

At Queensland an entire beach was swept out to sea and at Dartmouth an elderly couple lost their trailer roof to the high winds. At Peggy's Cove an intoxicated man had to be rescued by the RCMP after venturing too near the surf. At the time surf was breaking as inland over the restaurant parking lot (which is far back from the coast). In the morning another adventurer had to be rescued when he fell on the rocks.

Post Tropical Storm Noel, November 5

2007-11-05T14:43:00.000-05:00

Dawn: The first day the temperature dipped below zero overnight. That is not snow on the golf course or the buildings but hoar frost. If you don't know what that is, congratulations. You are blessed.

AS for Noel: the hurricane blacked out 170,000 Nova Scotian homes. There were only 43,000 places affected in New England. Fifty thousand of these were in Halifax. Local electricians were backed by volunteers from Quebec and Maine and it is expected the lights will be on everywhere by late Tuesday. The QE II Hospital was forced to operate on backup generators and stoplights were extinguished at four places within Metro. It took 100 fire service volunteers to clear downed trees and branches in Halifax.

Mike Sutton of Halifax had his BMW damaged by Hurricane Juan and got some new dents and scratches when the same tree downloaded on his car in this storm. "It's a nice little neighbourhood except for that the trees that keep falling."

High Noon

2007-11-04T12:49:00.001-05:00

Same place, November 4, 2007. One half hour later: intense bright sunshine.

Still have not been out of the house to look at Nova Scotia, but suspect there must be some damage.

By 9 am the weather was beginning to clear

2007-11-04T12:43:00.001-05:00

in spite of weather advisories to the contrary the weather did improve. The "Lady Janet" survived as did the "Spanish Lady", but we did see a number of trucks congregating at the wharf last night.

The power went off at 4 am when a transformer ended its life in spectacular fashion to the north of our place. Understand that it was restored four hours later, but we were asleep at the time.

Still a lot of wind at this point in time. We have not been out to assess the damage. As it is Sunday, the Canadian news gathering services are largely inactive.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, ca. 4 am

2007-11-04T12:31:00.001-05:00

Looking out the back window from our "Lunenburg Bump". Things got violent starting about 9 pm, November 3.

The digital camera eye is not as acute as the human eye. We understand that New Englanders were disappointed with the effects of post tropical storm Noel, but it screamed in over Nova Scotia with gusts to 160 km/hr (hurricane force winds). Should have taken some video, but, not having slept, settled for this single grab shot from the second storey. In our province our old house shook, rattled and rolled and the mattress acted like a water bed although it consists of coiled springs.

Spray hitting the Railway Wharf climbed to 90 feet, judged by the hgeight of that ship, and the "Spanish Lady" which was within the Picton Castle enclosure was bobbing like a cork. We were amazed to find her still afloat in the morning. The Picton Castles timbers were bending in the breeze.

Three hours later, noon, AST

2007-11-03T12:07:00.000-04:00

The storm centre has not moved much since 9 o'clock, but precipitation (shades of crimson) has already moved inland over New England and Maritime Canda. Our area of Nova Scotia is not yet bothered by rain. Weathermen say the storm is advancing at about 20 kilometres an hour but is expected to accelerate in the next 24 hours.

Winds were originally predicted to top out at 100 kilometres/hour but that has been elevated to 130, with gusts to 150 kilometres/hour. Here is the official word for Lunenburg County:

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

Satellite Shot of this storm this morning.

2007-11-03T11:53:00.001-04:00

Strong winds started at dawn but so far only a few spits of rain. 1. Cape Cod; 2. Nova Scotia. Notice the broad front of this storm which has moved in more slowly than first forecast.

Here is the local word: "Basically, we're looking for it to reach the coast of Nova Scotia late Saturday evening," said Peter Bowyer, program manager of the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Darmouth.

"The winds and the rain will start moving into Nova Scotia long before that in the southwestern Maritimes (i.e. Lunenburg)... with conditions deteriorating throughout the day."

"We do expect there to be some significant ocean wave action along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, probably eight to 10 metres, meaning individual wave heights can be upwards of twice that."

Here is where Hurricane Noel was this morning.

2007-11-03T11:47:00.001-04:00

1, About 100 miles south east of Cape Cod with winds ashore in New England. Here is the official word there:












"930 AM EDT SAT NOV 3 2007
...DAMAGING WINDS EXPECTED ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHERN AND WESTERN MAINE
AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW HAMPSHIRE LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT
ALTHOUGH HURRICANE NOEL HAS LOST ITS TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS...
THE SYSTEM REMAINS VERY STRONG. THE INTENSE LOW WILL TRACK FROM
OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST...TO EAST OF CAPE COD THIS EVENING...
THEN ACROSS NOVA SCOTIA (2) TONIGHT. THIS WILL BRING DAMAGING WINDS TO
MUCH OF SOUTHERN AND WESTERN MAINE AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW HAMPSHIRE
...WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS THIS EVENING. DOWNED TREES AND NUMEROUS
POWER OUTAGES ARE POSSIBLE."

Mark Rothko, 1957

2007-11-02T15:58:00.001-04:00

What are the advantages and disadvantages of acrylic artists paints?

Exactly what is acrylic paint and how is it related to latex house paint?

On what continent did this modern medium arise, when?

On what continent was the acrylic medium first used? Where? when?

What paint company popularized this medium for use by artists?

Who is Mark Rothko?

See Rod's web site. Click link at right.

The fishing fleet comes ashore

2007-11-02T10:53:00.002-04:00

In anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Noel in Nova Scotia.

"Jack Beven, a hurricane specialist at the (National Hurricane Center, Miami) , said Friday that "we don't expect the center to cross the U.S. coast. The track would take the center of the system over Nova Scotia." But Mr. Beven also noted that the storm "is going to increase rather significantly in size"

Environment Canada weather warning for Lunenburg County

Easterly wind gusting up to 100 km/h Saturday. Post-tropical storm Noel will approach Nova Scotia Saturday and then track across the Gulf of St Lawrence on Sunday. The main threat with this system will be high winds and heavy rain. Gusty easterly winds to 90 to 100 km/h will develop Saturday afternoon over Nova Scotia. Along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia winds could gust as high as 120 km/h Saturday night. Rainfall amounts of 40 to 60 millimetres are expected especially over the western half of the province. Conditions are forecast to gradually improve on Sunday.

Visitors in Lunenburg, November 1, 2007

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As seen at one of the two French Doors loooking out on the Ocean.
A bright sunny day without much wind, but that is a state not destined to last.

The "Nirvana" five hours later

2007-11-02T09:09:00.001-04:00

This little wall decoration has been completed.

I have now been working with acrylics to the extent of 10,000+ paintings. My first set of Golden Acrylics was purchased in 1953 and I have always preferred them over other mediums.

Other artists are not as fond of them. They dry almost instantly which is both a blessing and a curse. They don't carry pigments as evenly as oils nor do they spread them as neatly as watercolours.

They do have these advantages: They form a film surface which is virtually lightproof, flexible and will not yellow. In addition they are the least expensive medium on the market and can impart a saturation of colour not seen in either oils or watercolours.

My personal notes on using acrylic colours and dealing with the production of the above painting can been seen on my website. Click address at right.

THe "Nirvana" at Chester, Nova Scotia

2007-11-01T15:10:00.001-04:00

This painting is now underway.

There is a reason why plein air painting has more adherents in the south western United States than elsewhere. In a word climate. Here is Eastern Canada we have two months of summer and the rest of the year, which includes micro temperatures some would not would not credit.

Full time painters are cagey about the use of photographs. I am not certain why having been raised in the "Coke bottle lens, b&w era of photography. They are a great visual aid especially at the pit of the year, and sometimes a chance shot, like that above, left, is almost ready for interpretation as a painting. I always try it first as a small 8x10" canvas before committing to anything of larger size.

There is no essential merit in plain air work over studio painting, except that the setting is better in terms of sunshine and fresh air and there is a much greater chance of having a conversation with someone interesting. On the other hand, California does lack those crisp, cold, beautifully overstated clear days of mid winter, which can't ordinarily be recorded on the spot. If you are a painter, take pictures, take plenty of them: work for the night is coming. In my experience three in one hundred will have some merit as the subject of a December painting.

Seen at the samhuinn

2007-10-30T16:04:00.001-04:00

Midnight, October 31, 2007, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Using our sophisticated cold detection camera. For more on this Gaelic "end of summer" celebration see Rod's "druidheachd" under "Other Worlds" on his homepage. Click http://rodneymackay.com/. Consult "samhuinn" under the above general heading or "samh" (the English Summer) or go to the Gaelic Seasons article. Or the short html version, lower down the page.

Have a nice All Hallows Evening.

Rod's wall

2007-10-05T08:57:00.000-04:00

In the left annex. There are two additional paintings in the back annex.

Rod will have a 3x5" postcard size acrylic painting in the fund-raiser for Ross Creek. For details click link at right.

This is the largest space at the MOXIE

2007-10-05T08:53:00.001-04:00

The wall seen previously is now at the left and out of view. Two small annex rooms at the rear of the building and behind the woman with the red blouse house Rod Mackay's paintings. They were far too small to show well in the largest space which is filled with proportionate works.

Moxie Wall Space

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from their web page

Ruth Brown at the Moxie opening

2007-10-05T08:35:00.001-04:00

A good turn out last night.

Drop in and see the first show at 430 King Street, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, B4V 1A9, 902 530 3060.

The splash page for their website isnow up and running at http://www.moxiethegallery.com/

Players in the little drama seen below

2007-10-04T11:41:00.001-04:00

Also appeared at the The Great Scarecrow Festival & Antique Fair which was held again this year at Mahone Bay, Friday September 28, to Sunday September 30, 2007. Residents and businesses alike take part in The Great Scarecrow Challenge. There were scary stories at The Biscuit Eater Cafe & Books on Orchard Street and 150 lighted pumpkins to grace the nights. There was also a huge assembly of antique and classic cars and a showing of modern muscle cars. Three separate antique shows, lots of live music and a wine tasting event helped to swell the population far beyond that of the 900 or so souls who ordinarily haunt these streets. A true local success story.

The scarecrows are on hand for interviews until Hallowe'en. We will eventually post some of these to our regular web site. This small format does not do them justice.

Mr Blackbeard

2007-10-04T11:37:00.001-04:00

has had to retain the services of a lawyer but has influencial friends.

Art Critics

2007-10-04T11:31:00.000-04:00

just can't keep their distance from gallery openings like that at the Moxie in Bridgewater. Most were very sweet or at least uncommunicative. This fellow proved an annoyance to some of the other guest and Blackbeard took him in hand as we see here.

At every cultural event

2007-10-04T11:28:00.001-04:00

There are individuals who turn out for the wine and cheese.

Local visitors to the Moxie Gallery

2007-10-04T11:22:00.000-04:00

Culture is not just the province of the rich and famous...Note the unsual mode of transportation?

The opening of the Moxie Gallery

2007-10-04T11:18:00.001-04:00

would have been much less a success except for the efforts of this gentleman.

There was even...

2007-10-04T11:16:00.001-04:00

an Elvis spotting....

Pavorrati

2007-10-04T11:13:00.001-04:00

quite naturally declined his invitation to entertain at the opening of the Moxie Gallery in Bridgewater

Also on hand for the Moxie opening was

2007-10-04T11:09:00.001-04:00

this crowd pleaser

Mick

2007-10-04T11:06:00.001-04:00

provided some of the music for the evening

Drinks were served by Jim Carey

2007-10-04T11:03:00.001-04:00

who is also having some trouble with disassociation

Depp was able to exchange ideas with

2007-10-04T10:59:00.001-04:00

this fellow, a gatecrasher.

Johnny Depp

2007-10-04T10:56:00.000-04:00

was much more at ease in this sophisticated surround of people.

A couple of more prominent British visitors

2007-10-04T10:52:00.001-04:00

for Carmel's opening

Peter Pan and Wendy

2007-10-04T10:46:00.001-04:00

also flew in from Britain but found the adult company a bit much.

THis fellow dropped by late in the evening

2007-10-04T10:43:00.001-04:00

but didn't stay for canapes.

Seen at the opening of Moxie

2007-10-04T10:34:00.001-04:00

the new art gallery in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Four prominent Brits managed to break away from less pressing duties to be in attendence.

Nova Scotia's Newest Art Gallery

2007-09-26T11:17:00.001-04:00

Rod Mackay is pleased to announce consignment of ten acrylic paintings completed this year to this new enterprise.

The GRAND OPENING RECEPTION is Thursday, October 4, 2007, from 3 pm until 5 pm. Those interested in attending must RSVP by calling 530-3060.

Ordinary Hours will be Wednesday through Saturday, 11:30 - 5:00 pm.

"Lunenburg Forever!"

Rod's representational paintings were last seen in a one-man show at Manuge Galleries, Halifax, 1987. Since then, he has been painting up a storm in New Brunswick; but he and his wife, Ruth Brown, moved back to these more pictorial surroundings a year and a half ago. You are cordially invited to take a look at his new work at this gallery or through our on-line gallery, which is linked at the right near his photo.

It was never all sweetness and light for Lucy Jarvis

2007-09-24T09:17:00.001-04:00

University types are always struggling for reputation and physical space so Lucy had to be protective of her Art Centre and that seems to have been a wearisome business for her. I saw her again at summer school in 1953 but the next year she took a sabbatical to study in France. She took her nephew Mark Connell with her and they were there at the time of the student uprisings in Paris. She kept a connection with the Art Centre but a Canada Council Grant allowed her to escape to Europe and avoid the day-to-day annoyances of university faculty life. When she returned to Canada she severed the university connection and began painting full time from a little cottage at Pembroke Dyke near Yarmouth. Someone at U.N.B. had the good sense to bring her back to Fredericton for a retrospective on the 45th year anniversary for the Art Centre in 1985. She never interested in self promotion so her reputation remained largely local.

She was co-owner of a fishing boat skippered by Vernon Thompson of Yarmouth and shared her life and home with Helen Wells who was also a painter of some note. Wells died in 1983 and Lucy crossed over in 1985 in her 89th year. She is buried at Saint John, New Brunswick.

Her cottage can be seen on the web at yarmouth.org and is now owned by my long-time friend, Mark Connell. He and his brother both own good collections of her work as does Mark's sister Dr. Lucy Jarvis (Connell) Dyer of Fredericton. Lucy's sketch books and letters are archived at U.N.B. but her Art Centre has not fared as well. Funding for it was cut by the university in 2003 althouigh I belkieve it struggles on.

Lucy Jarvis in her Van Gogh period

2007-09-24T09:03:00.001-04:00

I did not study under Lucy while at Teacher's College but did take a course in "Child Art" in Fredericton under Sinclair Healey then freshly graduated from Mount Allison University. In the old days Teachers' College graduated received provisional teaching certificates that could only become permanent after taking summer school course at U.N.B. I jumped directly out of "Normal School" into U.N.B. Summer School in 1952. One of the courses I took that year was also concerned with children's art and was presented by Dr. Carl Stoor a psycologist with minimal artistic skills. The interesting thing that year is the fact that I shared quarters with Fritz Brandtner in the Lady Beaverbrrok Residence. Got more out of that artistically than from the course I was taking. He suggested I sit in on some of the life drawing sessions being conducted by Lucy. I did that, free of charge but without credit.

I Love Lucy

2007-09-24T08:54:00.001-04:00

Here is another Lucy Jarvis from the Lucy Jarvis Room.

Lucy was a great supporter of other artists and while there was never anything approaching an artist in residence program at staid U.N.B. she did manage to bring in Fritz Brandtner, Goodridge Roberts and others to beef up the summer school humanities program. She also did what she could for her students and she and Madge Smith hung John Maxwell's first show fior him at the gift shop just before Christmas in 1951.

Here is a Lucy Jarvis painting

2007-09-24T08:45:00.001-04:00

My first art teacher, Thomas Acheson Junior, was an excellent instructor but decidely not a painter in his own right. Lucy's work on display at Madge Smith's place was a revelation in terms of her unstudied style. Those were of course, pre-photo days(no colour film and no cameras worthy of the name). In those prehistoric times no one would ever care to be described as a "photo-realist" In point of fact, Tom had always cautioned that the "fag-ends" were important since paintings should always leave something to the imagination.

Lucy Jarvis

2007-09-24T08:26:00.001-04:00

Lucy was a bit younger than this when I met her at Madge Smith's gallery and gift shop in downtown Fredericton in 1951 and 1952. I was in town attending Teachers' College. As a sixteen year old I had little interest in that profession, but my parents has insisted that I get out there and do something.

I learned that Lucy had worked at a number of mundane jobs in Fredericton before teaming up with another budding artist, Pegi Nicol MacLeod. The two of them conspired with Margaret MacKenzie, wife of the University of New Brunswick's President to turn the derelict university observatory building into an art centre. During the war years from 1939 until 1946 taught art here and at the Provincial Normal School (later Teachers' College) and traveled the road to self sufficiency by taking up a rural circuit distributing National Film Board productions to the outback. When the war ended the university belatedly recognized Lucy's contributions by making her a full faculty member and Director of Art. She kept this position until 1960. By the time I came into her realm scientists had reclaimed the old observatory building and the U.N.B. Art Centre was shifted into a quonset hut at the back of the campus.

The Lucy Jarvis Room

2007-09-24T08:11:00.001-04:00

The current owners of this home rescued it from the wrecker's ball and restored it as a four-and-a-half star inn. Lucy Jarvis had been born in Toronto in 1896, the eldest of the children of Edward harris and his wife Kate Agnes Harris. Iy was as a child growing up in Yarmouth that Lucy was introduced to the post-Crayola world. She fancied it very much and established a studio for herself on the second floor during her teen years. She added to her knowledge of the subject when her family shipped her off to Havergal Ladies College in Toronto. She graduated in 1914 but it was another decade before she took full formal training at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Edward William Jarvis and his wife, Kate Agnes Harris.

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came to live in this home located at the head of the water in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Educated at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton he worked as a banker In Toronto but also had postings throughout Maritime Canada. He was manager of the Yarmouth branch and raised five children in this large "cottage" overlooking the salt water.

We arrived for a one night stay in thick o' fog so suggest you look in on the following web page for a much more representative image of the place.

http://www.harboursedge.ns.ca/

I Drink Moxie

2007-09-23T19:01:00.001-04:00

A new homepage design

2007-09-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

Our virtual gallery is now simplified, stylistically and operationally. Please visit our new digs at http://rodneymackay.com/

Coming to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, October 4

2007-09-18T14:33:00.001-04:00

You'd better watch out!

MOXIE mox·ie (mŏk'sē) Derived from Moxie, a carbonated beverage, considered to be the first mass produced soft drink in America . It was invented as a patent medicine at Union, Maine in 1876 and was introduced as the cure for practically every illness. Later, sold as an invigorating drink it was said to ensure "spunk." and virility. Bartenders used to keep Moxie on hand to pass off on incautious drinkers; but the word entered popular language with good connotations. To be "full of Moxie" indicated a person who was particularly skillful or capable, or spirited, or all three, It remains the offical soft drink of the State of Maine.

The Dictionary puts it this way:

The ability to face the future with spirit and courage.
Aggressive energy; having initiative
Skill; know-how.

Maritime Canada

2007-09-18T14:24:00.001-04:00

Our new web directory is meant to help painters in this part of Canada. Not shown but included within Atlantic Canada is Newfoundland which lies in the Atlantic to the north east. The provinces shown here constitute Maritime Canada, and include New Brunswick (N.B.) and Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.)

Art Resources, News and A Blog

2007-09-18T14:17:00.001-04:00

http://rodneymackay.com/Lunenburg/Art/xpage.html

Or visit us using our web site link at right. Just commencing; your links and input welcomed.

Rod Mackay and Ruth Brown

Styles, Movements and Conceptualism

2007-09-13T08:14:00.000-04:00

The view has been expressed that everything has been accomplished in the realm of painting and that movements and mainfestos are no longer valid. 'Style' in painting, nevertheless, persists and can refer to the distinctive visual elements, techniques and methods that typify an individual artist's work or to a movement or school that an artist is associated with. Style can originate with an actual group that the artist was involved with or it can be a category in which art historians have placed the painter. The word used in this last sense has fallen out of favour among scholastics, though it continues to be used in popular contexts.

It used to be considered that art arose from dedication to learning the elements of painting, design, colour theory and the like. So-called "modern art" and "contemporary art" have moved away from the historic value of craft and documentation of nature in favour of concept. Effectively, this places the operation of painting in the hands of workmen rather than the artist. The repeated assertion of conceputalists has not prevented the majority of artists from continuing to practise in a somewhat traditional manner. Arguments over what constitutes art and its realation to craft have been forwarded by the modern and post modern schools.

Here is how Wikipedia sees the divisions of the art world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painting

The Painter's Directory

2007-09-09T10:50:00.002-04:00

...complex systems seem to strike a balance between the need for order and and the imperative to change. Complex systems tend to locate themselves at a place we call "the edge of chaos." We imagine the edge of chaos as a place where there is enough innovation to keep a living system vibrant and enough stability to keep if from collapsing into anarchy. It is a zone of conflict and upheaval, where the old and the new are constantly at war, Finding the balance point must be a delicate matter - if a living system drifts too close, it risks falling over into incoherence and dissolution; but if the system moves too far away from the edge, it becomes rigid, frozen, totalitarian. Both conditions lead to extinction. Too much change is as destructive as too little. Only at the edge of chaos can complex systems flourish,

Michael Crichton

While the above was written with respect to the evolution and pending decline of human societies it works almost as well as a model for the evolution of the so-called "arts" and the "crafts"

Here are the roses.

2007-09-04T16:41:00.001-04:00

And that is the village of Lockport (ca 900 citizens) in the background.

We finally made that summer holiday

2007-09-04T16:32:00.001-04:00

And look at that empty beach. The sand is the finest on the coast. Lockport has to be one of the least utilized tourist attractionms on the globe. There are miles like this.

At three in the afternoon

2007-09-04T16:15:00.001-04:00

We wound down at one of the "Cozy Cottages" on Crescent Beach, Lockeport, Nova Scotia. A few years back this beach was featured on the inverse of the Canadian fifty dollar bill

We haven't had a holiday in six months

2007-09-04T16:09:00.001-04:00

On Labour Day Monday we set out on a trip to nowhere. On the way we took a detour around the "Robertson Loop" and saw the Port Joli Post Office. What do you think of that?

Figuratively speaking.

2007-08-28T14:11:00.001-04:00

These are big and new and not authentic folk art. They are also for sale. Any questions.

THe Eastern Star Passes the "Bar"

2007-08-28T14:05:00.001-04:00

Ruth and I finished work at noon today and repaired to the "Ice House Bar" on the waterfront. Here we see the Eastern Star sailing close in.

We have had three warm days and nights and that makes five this summer.

2007-08-28T14:02:00.000-04:00

The daylight is less extensive, everthing getting dark now a little around eight. This hot from Duke Street.

Whatever became of my art school classmates

2007-08-28T07:48:00.001-04:00

Whatever became of the Owen's Gallery Crowd. This was the entire school for that time, lacking Pat Yerex and a couple more, who left the art school at Chritmas 1954. Sadly, I can no longer name everyone in this group photo taken from a yearbook of the time> Can anyone help?

Small sailing ships as seen from second floor

2007-08-27T10:30:00.001-04:00

Another rare sight. There were nine boats in this flotilla. Usually they sail one or two at a time, and there was no particular festival this morning

Also re-linked from the following index page

2007-08-25T11:02:00.001-04:00

an echtral

The Celtic discoveries and recoveries of North America in pdf format

See on Montague Street

2007-08-24T15:19:00.001-04:00

These are available at $9.00 each. Want one?

This free electronic book is again available

2007-08-24T09:21:00.001-04:00

I accidentally scrubbed the files from the host server about a month ago and just noticed the absence in re-checking links on my web site

This tome was commenced in 1990 and completed in 1997 but it has never been fully edited and the illustrations I prepared for it were never added. It is at http://rodneymackay.com/ . You can find it by clicking "non art items" on the homepage. On the latter page itw ill be found under "writings." Haven't had any feedback on this item in quite a few years although it has been the third most popular download.

The Bluenose II heads for the Atlantic

2007-08-23T10:24:00.001-04:00

The Railway Wharf appears in the foreground

Ruth just snapped this photo from an upper window

2007-08-23T10:18:00.001-04:00

The Bluenose II leaves port under sail, a very unusual happening as summer winds are usually contrary to making this exit with the sails set. Also a good comparison shot showing the four-rigged Picton Castle in the foreground. The Lady Janet is at left tied up at the Railway Wharf

Sir William Van Horne wrote that folk should

2007-08-23T09:22:00.002-04:00

Folk should never buy a picture that you do not fall in love with, or it will always be an incubus and a source of dissatisfaction. The purchase of a picture, like the selection of wife, can hardly be done by proxy.

Van Horne was cautioning against being led by art agents or critics. Because paintings should constitute at least a mild flirtation for the buyer if not outright love, and because beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, there are all kinds of markets for artwork. Visual artists come produce work which is so highly individualistic there is hardly much real competition for available dollars. I have gone through a number of seriously committed patrons who have been collectors of my work and little else. Locally, there is not much overlap in styles or subject matter among local artists, although they do copy one another now and then.

In selling art connections whether physical or electronic are important and it is better for the community of painters if they recognize the value in co-operation. This is particularly true when it comes to selling art from the web. Individualism is a fine trait when it comes to producing paintings. I don't like working in groups as the socializing slows the plow, and I can't afford that.
On the other hand managing a website demands links, the more the merrier. I don't mind telling you how I use links as a means of self promotion. Click my website using the major link above my photo at right. On the homepage click "Rod's related web pages" (that may take a little scrolling) . On the "Rod's painting Worlds Page click "Using The Web". If you have control over your website and would like to exchange links, let me know?

Selling paintings from the web.

2007-08-23T08:49:00.001-04:00

Moving from St. Stephen, New Brunswick to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia was a difficult but worthy venture. Lunenburg is alive with subject matter for painters. The bad news for me is that I am now almost lost in the crowd of artists craftsmen and artistes. While I have an extensive body of work at my studio (more than seventy completed works) not much of it is being seen by the local public. Currently, the Cheescake Cafe and Gallery in Mahone Bay is displaying two paintings but this is not likely to have much impact. My patrons remain in New Brunswick and I continue to sell from Serendipin' Arts and Crafts in St. Andrews.

The move to Nova Scotia spelled the end of my original website (thecaledonian.com). Someone else now uses that name. It went on line back in early 1995. There was a hiatus of a few months before we became established in new digs on Pelham Street, but in May of this year, I uploaded some of my content from the old site and started redesigning my hobby as well as commercial pages.

Already, there are some results. Four paintings have been sold through the World Wide Web this summer. Two went out by mail order and two have been picked up at the studi0. The web can work for any artist, but websites require more than casual attention to be of use. Unless some time is given over to making connections (called links in the e-world) the effect is somewhat like posting a notice on a telephone pole in Lunenburg in thick o, fog. Soeone may see your haniwork but the odds are against it.

A new painting session

2007-08-22T09:16:00.000-04:00

I've been doing this work since 1972 and I typically begin at 8 a.m. and work until noon. I like to blog as a break from the process.

These days the weather has improved so that a bit of plain air painting is possible. Unlike other artists, I see no particular virtue in painting-out-of-doors and I do hate dragging along equipment. I notice that amateur painters (and there are 10,000 of them here every summer) always have a surfeit of fancy do-dads. I have two reasons for abandoning the studio now and again: the need to wander, and the possibility of talking with strangers. Lunenburg is hardly a Group of Seven locale. Wherever I am, the painting always begins with a very rough sketch on stretched canvas
and the establishment of the dark values using a mixture of French Ultramarine Blue and either Turkey Burnt Umber or Italian Raw Sienna (that's how they used to label these colours). I use Sienna where the painting leans toward the warm side of the spectrum and Umber where the painting will end with cool values.

The CTV Television Cameraman

2007-08-20T10:13:00.001-04:00

Catches the Cachalot as she moves from the Harbour with a cargo of memorial wreaths.

The Lunenburg Seafood Festival

2007-08-20T10:09:00.001-04:00

took place this past weekend. Saturday events were flooded out, but Sunday dawned bright and clear. Here we see a scallop dragger at the annual blessing of the fleet. The wreaths are memorials to seamen lost to the Atlantic and will be cast on the water outside the Harbour.

That same day Ruth & I visit Blue Rocks

2007-08-20T10:08:00.001-04:00