Nurture Me

Mixed media on canvas 122cm x 152cm Working in this way has me in a state of ... bliss, fear, surprise, disbelief, awe. I suppose this is all a part of entering something new and unexpected. Bruno asked me to lead this piece. His confidence in art making is a strength I can lean on throughout doubts and hesitations while creating. I feel anxious to lead, and then I grab my brushes and favourite oils and mix in the walnut oil, thinning the ultramarine and expensive purple pigment and what I think was ochre. Blending them together so they glide even along raw canvas. Slowly, the canvas soaks it up, unforgiving. This piece began with sweeping motions, something like a dance. It is always a dance when we work together. The bold strokes that Bruno lays challenge me. They ask me what I want to see on a large surface. They ask me what my body has to lay down. They want me to move swiftly and with ease, and with peace. This piece is an embrace. It is the ocean's wave folding you in while the sun warms you, as creatures unknown sparkle the most vivid. I am humbled by this process. It is a constant discovery of what is held within, what is held outside of us perhaps, given to us by another or many others. -Alyssa I remember stretching the canvas on the wall. Alyssa and I had our studio together at this point for about a month and a half, and we had music playing when we started. Two of our friends, Chris and Tony, had come over to see the space and were hanging out playing music while we started. Tony took some photos, and began talking about a trip to Montreal, then she drew for a while with Chris. A few hours later, we all walked to the river together and sat on this really old log that overlooks the water. A lot of laughing on the way there. This work was made during a time of natural progression. We weren’t overthinking, we weren’t being pressured by anything outside of the norm, but there were conversations about friendship at the time. I think whenever we start painting that it’s like building a fire with nothing but sticks. That day ended and we had a very loud base, which felt highly emotive and energetic. It wasn’t clear what it might become, or if it would, but it was talking. We came back the next day and finished the painting quickly. I remember we both started smiling as we neared the final hour. And then we started laughing, and taking photos, that’s a really great moment every time. -Bruno