How a canoe is traditionally built reflects the form human so perfectly as well. There is a bone structure to it - a rigidity but yet flexible structure that underpins the function and provides form. The skin - a canvas in many cases for the older canoes or actual skins of trees or animals with earlier indigenous canoes, the vessel itself becomes this humanistic art form for me.
Tanton retires the Undercurrents:: Red Canoe Series for 2011 in honour of the passing of Algonquin Elder William Commanda.
It's that time of year again when Canada's arts and culture philanthropists gather to support the arts and wonderful programming at The Banff Centre by attending the Midsummer Ball. I've donated one of my works again this year (listed above) for the Midsummer Ball Auction at The Banff Centre to support a woman artist or arts administrator enrolled in an Aboriginal Leadership program. Check it out and bid!
As summer approaches, I've been out tire-kicking ...or "paddle-kicking".....for a new red canoe of our own. For now, since it's still pretty cold and the rivers are high in the mountains.... I'll be content to craft them with a brush, one by one....in my studio, remembering fondly the warm lakes of the east that wait for us.
Tanton's Red Canoe Series is all about perfection, movement and change which forever surround us so it seems quite apropos that these are her first finished works for 2011. For thousands of years, the canoe has been the perfect model of perfect design, where form and function cannot be improved upon and relate directly to the intended use. Aboriginal people all across Canada and in other countries around the world, understood the value and intrinsic spirituality of this vessel. In it's original form, regionally refined, the canoe is the most perfect design in all respects. It allowed for survival and transportation in harsh conditions using indigenous natural materials in a sustainable way.
Works in Progress - Red Canoe Series, 2011.
A sneek peak at the underpaintings for two new large red canoe pieces on belgian linen that are on my easel.
A video installation piece by Canadian artist Janice Tanton for the exhibition, "Yours, Mine, The Other" at Elevation Gallery, Canmore AB.
