Bradford Ontario, where I live with Marian, has just had its first proper snow storm. Time for boots, scarves, wood fires, and hot cider; how the weeks have flown by over the course of this 2010 year!
It occurred to me that it would have been 40 years ago this year that I first read The Lord of the Rings at the age of 15. What a long, wonderful journey it has led me on! How many dear friends it has made me!
This year my focus in Tolkien has been on The Hobbit, galvanized admittedly by the prospect of the book being adapted to cinema within the next couple of years. (For those wondering—no, I have not been asked to work for the film, at least yet.) It’s been a singular pleasure to revisit scenes and create new sketches in a growing series of artworks meant to bring my own sensibilities, ideas, and painting style to the famous story. At last summer’s exhibition event ‘Edge of the Wild’, those who attended saw the results; Bilbo and the Eagles, A Conversation With Smaug, The Riddle Game, and Entering Mirkwood. I believe these and works yet to come will stand as some of my best, and in the months ahead I’m planning to add a Beorn scene and a depiction of the Trolls scene, two of many other possible subjects.
However, an artist and illustrator like me usually has other projects, both commissioned and non, and in September I participated in the Bradford Artist Studio Tour, displaying a range of artworks in a small scale exhibit. Notable were a number of traditional rural scenes in gouache, pencil, and pastel crayon, the latter being a medium I haven’t used for many years. Different mediums can be found in art stores or even discount office supplies can be used to spark creativity. Several pencil drawings were done on site, often with Marian nearby doing her own drawings. These are mainly inspired by a common feature of the local landscape, dilapidated sheds, barns, and shacks on abandoned farms. It seems to indicate broken dreams during tough times, but for me they are beautiful ruins, and my inspiration comes from the same melancholy that Tolkien felt (and really all poetic souls) at the inevitability of change and decline in the countryside. It’s my plan to add to this alternative genre of my art in the years to come.
As to Tolkien, most recently I produced a small commission titled Thorns and Briars in Mordor, which depicts the scene from below the bridge that Sam and Frodo jumped off of. Though at first the subject, with no figures, seemed very limited, it proved to be a delight, and I am very pleased with the result. Two other unrelated Tolkien commissions are in the pipeline in coming weeks, and I’ll keep you posted.
Musically, in October I gave a 1 hour concert with my brother Bruce of mainly songs from my CD The Hidden Door. We received great praise, some calling it a magical event. It was part of a series of concerts sponsored by the town of Uxbridge (a half hour east) held in the historic Foster Memorial Temple, a local architectural jewel built in the Great Depression to honour a former Toronto mayor’s love of his wife and his daughter. He was inspired, the lore goes, by the famous Taj Mahal in India. The polished stone interior is very acoustically resonant, making it a wonderful venue for softer music. We were immediately invited back next year, and have accepted. Following the performance a group of us gathered at a favourite local pub called The Hobby Horse—or as I dubbed it, ‘The Hobbit House’. We intend to post some of the songs on YouTube soon.
Lastly, this week I took a giant leap into the 21st century and installed Skype! Friends have been suggesting I do this for a while, but the catalyst was an invitation from musician John DiBartolo of New York, and Dr. Cory Olsen of Washington College in Maryland USA. We arranged for a 3-way virtual ‘moot’ in order to compare notes as artist, musician, and scholar. John, of The Lonely Mountain Band, has used a painting of mine on his new CD Beyond the Western Seas. We exchanged emails a few times, and out of it the idea to collaborate with Dr. Olsen came to fruition. The resulting podcast will offer the best of our discussion and our answers to submitted questions, along with music from both John and myself. We hope this initiative will grow and bring in other scholars and artists.
As always, I have much on the go, including my painting a portrait of my daughter Sharyn and her new husband Paul as a wedding gift. Now completed, it’s to be presented to them very shortly.
And finally, we’re of course approaching the holiday season, a time of year I lend my voice to Bruce’s church choir for Advent and Christmas services, plus a choir concert. On behalf of Marian and me, we’d like to wish you all a festive, safe, and peaceful holiday. Merry Yule!
Posted by Ted on December 09, 2010
