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June 17, 2008

Dear Artist,

Over there,<br>Robert Genn painting at Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba.<br> The chair and table were found around the fish-camp.
Robert Genn painting at Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba.
The chair and table were found around the fish-camp.
a couple of guys in an aluminum boat have been in the same spot since early this morning. They were there yesterday as well. I'm laptopping you from a sunny point of sleek Precambrian boulders and blown pines on the west shore of Eaglenest Lake in eastern Manitoba. Those guys are after Walleye--I'm into another kind of fishing.

The mayflies here are pretty well finished and the mosquitoes haven't yet appeared. Except for an occasional yelp from the Walleye-bangers and the calls of two resident loons, this place is as silent and as still as a Kodachrome in a National Geographic. A bit of heaven, I'm thinking, is a mindset of concentration, a place for immersion.

In casting for<br>Crow Duck Falls, Green Lake, Manitoba
Crow Duck Falls, Green Lake, Manitoba
paintings, one looks to stirring them up from the depths and hitting them on the surface. Prior catches give clues where to cast next. From this one spot there have been four, mostly based on foreground variations and the lure of Indian-red pine needles. Backgrounds anchor foregrounds and often take care of themselves.

These areCrow Duck Falls, Green Lake<br>acrylic painting<br>11 x 14 inches<br>by Robert Genn
Crow Duck Falls, Green Lake
acrylic painting
11 x 14 inches
by Robert Genn
modest trophies, mere minnows of the painterly world, but there's something beguiling about dragging the little fellows in. For one thing, small works have a kind of understatement and lack of pretension the big ones sometimes miss out on. They're the panfish of painting, caught and even consumed in the bush. Works-in-progress, some of them might be thrown back, released to the mystery that first had them surface.

More thanSpring in the Whiteshell<br>acrylic painting<br>11 x 14 inches<br>by Robert Genn
Spring in the Whiteshell
acrylic painting
11 x 14 inches
by Robert Genn
anything, plein air is an event. It's an event where a sporting mind can sort things out--free of town-clutter and obligation, where judgment can take as long as it takes--look three times, think twice, paint once. Leave your strokes alone. Fix that colour. Level that horizon. Stop now, stupid, she's on the hook, pull 'er in, put 'er in the creel. You will live to cast again.

This place is really remote and my laptop battery is running low. Tonight, I'll get this letter out to you on a satellite phone. In the meantime, I'm recommending the sport. Be a fisher of art. I have the feeling this sort of immersion is good for the soul.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "My life flows when I'm in my art." (Jean De Muzio)

Esoterica: ImmersionPassage, Eagle Nest Lake<br>acrylic painting<br>11 x 14 inches<br>by Robert Genn
Passage, Eagle Nest Lake
acrylic painting
11 x 14 inches
by Robert Genn
means inhaling a total environment. With time and persistent observation the artist gains an understanding of the anatomy of a place. Often, the idea is not to copy scenes or tableau, but rather to put down in paint the spirit one finds there. It helps if subject matter is new to the artist, as motifs are more freshly analyzed without the stigma of prior knowledge. Also, a useful habit is to keep repeating the mantra: "Don't labour, be artistic."

You can see some of the techniques mentioned in the next letter More Immersion by going to our free short videos .

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Plein air - a bit like short poems
by Paul deMarrais, TN, USA


I did plein air in Pam's Refuge<br>pastel painting by Paul deMarrais Pam's Refuge
pastel painting
pastel for over twenty years with a religious devotion to being on site. Then I was given a digital camera and I have strayed for five years now. Lately I have had an itch to do plein air again and got myself a nice portable easel setup. I am enjoying it. It seems to me like plein air paintings are a bit like short poems. These poems are not deep and heavy but more light and breezy. A good poet might write a bunch of them and throw away more than a few. A plein air painting is rough and reveals a good deal more about the artist than a studio job. I usually spend an hour and a half on a painting and the time whizzes by. When I quit it is as if I am awakened from an intense daydream. Where did the time go? The effort is very tiring but not unpleasantly so. If I can get away with it, a nice nap tops off the experience.



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Anticipation
by George Perdue, Georgetown, ON, Canada


Today's letter is so timely. Donna's Point<br>11 x 14 inches<br>oil painting by George Perdue Donna's Point
11 x 14 inches
oil painting
We are off plein air "fishing" in 20 minutes. Our fishing spot today is at the confluence of two small rivers near Orangeville, Ontario. The black flies are out in full force, but somehow the task at hand renders them to the background. We are on the property of a new owner who wants to join us to begin the painting journey. For us there are no laptops and no satellite phones. We can anticipate a quiet calm at the end of the day, a satisfied tiredness that will distort the review of the day's catch. There will be laughter and the eye will be trained unknowingly to see just a little better so the next outing will benefit yet again. I can't send you a picture that has not yet been caught. Hope you enjoyed your pickerel.



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Engrossed in the moment
by Brad Greek, Mary Esther, FL, USA


I can't say enough Seascape<br>20 x 16 inches<br>oil painting by Brad Greek Seascape
20 x 16 inches
oil painting
great things about the experiences from Plein-air painting. It has been my stance, when asked what is the focal point of my paintings, that the entire painting is the focal point. When I'm on location searching the horizon for that motif that will grab my eye, hence the focal point of that location, hence my painting. Recently I've found that when I'm immersed into a painting I forget about how the climate is getting. A storm has rolled up on me several times and the heat climbs into the 90's and I'm out in the middle of it without shade for hours. Not even realizing how hot it is as I feel unaffected. Just as we forget to eat and sleep when we are wrapped up in the moment. A fellow artist walked up on me the other day to see what I was painting, and picked up a $5 bill that was laying 3 feet behind me that I had never seen. I'm afraid I wouldn't survive in bear country.



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Finding the perfect location
by Terry Mason, Sarasota, FL, USA


Immersion is exactly the beauty of plein air. The world drops away. There is nothing else but the decisions of value, hue, line and all the rest of it. In Florida, in the summer, you try to paint near the shore. You try to paint with someone so at least one of you is conscious a little bit as it is better to be aware of what might be harmful in our environment. The other day a huge snake crossed our paths as we went scouting a view of a little church too packed in the near tropical flora to get a good view. The snake reminded us that maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to stand back in the brush to paint. No, it surely would not be a good idea we said as we watched the snake slither up a tree. But there is the gulf, there are breezes and there is shade. And then it is fine to slip into immersion and paint away the summer day. And once again there is nothing but the decisions and the glory of being able to paint another time.



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Taking time out to appreciate
by Winston Seeney, Havelock, ON, Canada


Strange isn't it, how at times we see such 'real life' metaphors surrounding us. We need to be sensitive to this and learn to be able to read and interpret them; and even more so, to interpret these moments in our art. I think that, as artists, we continuously find ourselves surrounded by people who cannot see the fullness of the forest, because of the emptiness of their personal creels. It is an illuminating moment when we see someone break through this experience. When a cop, for instance, looks in the window of our car, and says, "It's a beautiful day, and I am sure you weren't thinking of the implications of speed. Slow down, and be more aware of life."

The strokes we make across our landscapes are reflections of life's timeless beauty, of its connectivity and of its spiritual essence. Isn't this what separates us from those who spend their lives caught in the frozen moment of time, wondering if there will ever be enough fish to fill their void creels?



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Thinking big
by Tom Jones


While I have North Carolina<br>watercolour painting by Tom Jones North Carolina
watercolour painting
no patience for angling, I can sit for hours sketching. Living in Winnipeg, I can reach countless lakes and other paint-able sites within an hour or two on paved highways. I enjoy the outcropping rocks clothed in lichens of infinite colours. Many of my paintings are of these close-up subjects usually on canvas of 8x10 inches.

I have recently discovered that thinking BIG while working on a small canvas produces results that I have never achieved before. By thinking BIG I mean imagining that I have a canvas of perhaps 20 x 24 while working on a 10 x 12 and using a larger brush loaded with as much paint as I would normally use for a large "swipe." I have found that the resulting painting has a more spontaneous look to it. Certainly a more impasto look. People have commented "That doesn't look like your work." I don't know whether they are complimenting me or not!



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Taking in the surroundings
by Roger Mordhorst, Boulder, CO, USA


Yesterday morning we painted In the garden<br>16 x 20 inches<br>oil painting by Roger Mordhorst In the garden
16 x 20 inches
oil painting
a model in a friend's backyard and it was remarkable. She has a secluded acre of trees, shrubs and flowers. What a mood elevator it is- it is hard to be grumpy after a morning like that. It's the meditative aspect I suppose. While sitting there quietly painting, you become aware of the noises in her neighborhood. The sound of a distant train rumbling to some unknown destination. The grackles twittering. A lawnmower in the distance is revved up. A screen door slams in the distance. A lone deer wanders into her yard. Cloudy, her cat is pawing at some unseen insect in the grass. She stalks it. The dappled light, which is always changing, suddenly illuminates the model's arm and it is thrilling. The air is fresh after the rain. Everything you might otherwise miss takes on a wonderful importance. It is good to be alive and in the moment. Afterwards I am drained but ebullient.



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Summer hiatus from larger works
by Gaye Adams, Sorrento, BC, Canada


I will be doing Grinrod Cows II<br>18 x 24 inches<br>pastel painting by Gaye Adams Grinrod Cows II
18 x 24 inches
pastel painting
a move into a new house this summer, and it looks like the relocation will figure me right out of a studio for over a month or two. Today I am packing up things, and I've been trying not to pack things I am going to need to get my hands on to do my art business over the summer. I am collapsing easels and storing supports.

In the end, I am left with my 12x16 inch painting box. We will be companions over the summer, as larger pieces will not endure the chaos that is construction. I am excited about spending most of the summer outdoors painting, even though I have gallery deadlines for the fall. I know larger pieces will spawn out of the small ones, and I will reenter the studio feeling very light on my artistic feet, and will start the next series of larger pieces with bravura, and with the greater efficiency, and sharper eyes, which invariably are the gift granted to those that regularly engage in plein air painting.



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Short and sweet
by Jill Klaehn


What a timely letter! Yesterday my husband returned from his yearly spring fishing trip. This year both of our adult children joined him and his nephew for fresh air, a break from routine and some quality "Dad" time. They were catching lake trout, not walleye, in an Ontario lake. I always like the smaller ones - tastier, sweeter, more tender - whether cooked over a fire in the bush or barbecued at home. However, it is the big one that gets photographed with a proud fisher holding it high and smiling broadly. While they camp and fish I stay home in Toronto and paint. Oddly enough it is the small ones I enjoy most - they are sweeter, fresher and more "me." The big ones get praise from others and I enjoy painting them but I still feel that in painting, as in fishing, bigger isn't always better.



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Buyers' comfort level
by Catherine Stock, France


I recently launched a <br>original painting by Catherine Stock
original painting
small gallery below my studio. I had three sections: book illustration and portraits - my "day job," Quercy life-sketches I have done with my workshop students in the area of France where I live, and what I call my Boudoir Haiku - more personal and intimate life drawing sketches from models. Everyone agrees that the latter paintings are my strongest work, and people spent the most time in front of them, but they don't sell. People, whatever they said to me, bought landscapes and even illustrations. My theory is that people prefer to spend money on work they feel comfortable about hanging in "public" rooms in their homes, but some people say that nudes are just currently out of fashion. It's disappointing as drawing and painting the human form is the area that I want to pursue.

On another note, I currently have a young Russian painter from Prague in my barn/studio. I think he found me through your website. When it is not in use, I offer the barn to serious painters for 350 euros a week. It is self-sufficient with a simple kitchen, outdoor "loggia" or living area, bathroom, and large light and airy studio with beds and a wood burning stove upstairs.



There is 1 comment for Buyers' comfort level by Catherine Stock

From: Karen Gillmore -- Jun 20, 2008

I too found that while people praised my nudes, they said they could never hang one in their house. However, these same people had no qualms about buying one of my little fairy paintings or a mermaid, none of which had any clothes on! It reminds me of those fairy painters of the Victorian era (this was an entire genre, really!) who painted lush tableaux full of voluptuous nudes in an era when people hid their piano legs, uh limbs - but since they were only legends, and not quite human, it was OK!


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Artist with words
by Russ Henshall, Norfolk, England


I am writing to you from the depths of our Norfolk garden. I am surrounded by beauty. There are fantastic roses, fresh plums just poking out from between the leaves. Runner beans are good this year although it may well be end of July before we can enjoy bean pie. Our small pond with its clear bubbling water issuing from the little waterfall chatters away as it falls on a number of small frogs who are perched on the stony ledge. There are occasional plops as one or more leap into the water. The baby blue tits, having been fed by mum and dad for around nineteen days, perch precariously on the edge of their titbox door ready to launch out into the unknown world. Immersed in all of this, I start to write a picture. I do recall that when I started to receive your excellent and fascinating letters, you mentioned writing as an important art form. Oddly enough, your comments each week do often inspire short story ideas in me. So what about a few comments of support for us poor amateur and professional authors then? I think we are artists too who also look for inspiration.



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World of Art Featured artist Rose-Marie Goodwin, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Premium Artists

The above is a selection of the 15 most recently added or updated Premium Artists. Use the arrows to scroll through. Click any thumbnail image to enlarge and click any name to view the artist's Premium Art Listing.


Please feel free to comment. We will include your email address and illustrate your work if we can. If you wish to write incognito we will honor that too. All unused letters are carefully archived for possible future use. We generally include ten or so letters in each "clickback" so you can expect about the same amount of reading. Readers appreciate knowing where you are located and what your work looks like. We edit most letters for clarity and brevity and are able to translate from other languages. Please address your letters to rgenn@saraphina.com. If your comments miss out being included, you can get instant gratification by submitting to Live comments directly below. Live comments, unfortunately, cannot be illustrated at the present time.

You may be interested to know that artists from every state in the USA, every province in Canada, and at least 115 countries worldwide have visited these pages since January 1, 2008.

That includes John Larner of Lake City, FL, USA who wrote: "Sometimes you get a big one hooked and he breaks the line, but most of the time you can land the small ones."

And also Paul Wolf of The Pas, MB, Canada who wrote: "You are fishing in my part of the country! We in North Manitoba just had a very successful juried art show, with more than 150 works by some 60 to 70 participants. The theme for this year was 'Art Shaped by the Land That Shapes Us.' Quite appropriate, n'est-ce-pas?"

And also Joan Brumley who wrote: "You mentioned walleye - my favorite fish from Lake Erie when I was growing up in Toledo, Ohio."

And also Joanne Colman of Eliot Lake, ON, Canada who wrote: "I know the beauty of eastern Manitoba and it painted a stunning memory of my time there - a good thing on a dull cold Elliot Lake day."

And also Mona Hearne of Matthews, NC, USA who wrote: "Love your style... paintin' and wordsmithin'."


If you think a friend or fellow artist may find value in this material please feel free to forward it. This does not mean that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about it by reading our Welcome Letter.



Live Comments

You are invited to add your opinions or further information to Immersion...

From: Rose van Staden -- Jun 19, 2008

I am thrilled and excited to see those wonderful videos! Thank you Robert for sharing all this with us! The lovely music, the paintings and locations, the adorable dog!

From: Lyn Cherry -- Jun 20, 2008

I also enjoyed those pleasant and informative videos. Up to early for no apparent reason, I was pleased to see your Letter waiting for me. Thank you for continuing to share your travels, your work, and your words with us, Robert!

From: Wanda Shelton -- Jun 20, 2008

The point of Robert's letter is that periods of concentration and focused dedication are necessary to create reasonable art. Rampant dilletantism and occasional painting are the bain of art these days, resulting in an abundance of amateur art. Those who would do well in any pursuit must learn to take the time to develop the skills necessary to overcome this slippage.

From: Frannie C Wallace -- Jun 20, 2008

There is a wealth of information in these short videos. How come I did not hear of them before? Even the nude one which was only a minute long gives an understanding useful to all painters without being preachy. I think that without verbal input and with only cute music the ideas come through better. I've forwarded the video page onto some friends who can definitely use them. Thank you to Michelle for taking the time to make them of Robert.

From: L. L. Blaise (France) -- Jun 20, 2008

Your letters are a miracle in a sea of commercial dross and rotten values. I open them twice a week with such great expectation. Please don't ever stop sending me these gems.

From: Kurt Klinger -- Jun 20, 2008

It's not just the letters but the comments that arise from them that makes this site worthwhile. I think we also need to thank the wise ones who take part in this forum and contribute on a regular basis. A trip back through previous clickbacks, particularly when you look at recent submissions, gives an idea of the insight and often elevated understanding available from this community.

From: Colleen -- Jun 20, 2008

I was especially touched by there Loons!

From: Peter Derriman -- Jun 20, 2008

You spend a fabulous day under the trees in one of your favourite haunts, doing what you love best (painting!!) and then as a bonus you get praised and rewarded: life doesn't get too much sweeter than this!

From: Mabel Crooks -- Jun 20, 2008

Wonderful reminder of the gift of solitude. Have just returned from Gimbel Clinic.... both eyes have been treated for cataracts. I am amazed at what I now see.... colours so vivid... must wet a brush and get busy.

From: Steve Kuzma -- Jun 20, 2008

You have validated my own uniqueness as an artist and soul searching paintings emotions and beginnings created in various awkward precarious locations. My mind often forgets the real inspiration and meaning of living close to this later in the studio.

We as artists can only be in gratitude and appreciation for this!

From: Anne Kyle -- Jun 20, 2008

You are an inspiration to say the least. I feel like a swallowed sunshine when I read your words.

From: Sonja Billard -- Jun 20, 2008

You are really living in art. Reading your letter surfaced a yearning for the days when I used to do mostly plein air landscape. The energy and peaceful joy of simply being where there is no pressure to create only choices. The energy from the trees and water is what I recall most. Energy that becomes part of ones painting. I would go with a few like minded friends who didn't mind mosquitoes, flies,perhaps a bit of wind but loved the scents, sounds and endless color. A picnic with a bit of wine, solitude (we seldom conversed while capturing what we loved). I would paint till near dark, greedy for just one more. Thanks for sharing your piece of Heaven. I think I'll revisit.

From: Carol Acquilano -- Jun 20, 2008

This was a very fine letter and with perfect timing. I have just returned from the 1000 Islands where I was able to make 4 paintings and a drawing. It is a place for immersion.. the kind of thing I crave.

Who is Jean De Muzio?

From: Pauline Korol -- Jun 20, 2008

I have been painting for six years now, and even though at times it's a real struggle, I'm happiest with a brush in my hand.

From: Todd Bank -- Jun 20, 2008

The writing is nice. Pictures of your art would be nice too!

From: Annette Bush -- Jun 20, 2008

There's nothing to add to "Immersion." It's one of your best.

From: Jeanne Rhea -- Jun 20, 2008

This letter is sheer poetry--almost music.

From: Terrie -- Jun 20, 2008

Thanks for getting my morning off to a good start! Going Fishing.

From: Nikki Coulombe -- Jun 20, 2008

I enjoyed the fishing analogies and your helpful insights about keeping work fresh -- this last letter was so poetic and beautiful with descriptions of where you were when you wrote.

Mentioned in Esoterica: Immersion means inhaling a total environment. 'Environment' can be anywhere, any time, any place. Immersion is not solely an external experience. Wherever, however you're immersed, expression and initiative are found within. Personally, I do a lot of Plein Air Memorization; it's quite portable!

From: Helen Opie -- Jun 20, 2008

What a beautiful and well-drawn-out analogy! Or is it an allegory? Whatever, it struck fine chords resonating in me!

From: Charles Peck -- Jun 20, 2008

Your writing is getting very compelling. Part of it might be that I have spent some years as a boat rat/art bum hanging out with momma nature... sort of an urban-ex pat, so it was easy to become immersed in the word play. It was a fine way to illustrate your point about total immersion in the moment/place/activity.

From: Jeri Hardy -- Jun 20, 2008

That was beautiful and something we all need to do and be aware of.

From: Virginia Paul -- Jun 20, 2008

Lovely... I could feel the air about you as you wrote. It makes me all the more eager to go to Maine soon.

From: Linda -- Jun 20, 2008

I particularly appreciated this weeks newsletter because I could relate so well, being an Artist (PA many times) and fly-fishing person ! A delight to read and a wonderful way of life.

From: Paul Alex Bennett -- Jun 20, 2008

Great god alive Robert, you're a poet as well as a painter. We wait eagerly for your twice-weekly musings. All of them contain large nuggets of wisdom. Now, if we could only put them into play.

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