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EIGHTH ANNUAL BLAB SHOW

OCTOBER 15, 2013
Last year I wrote Monte about being included into the Blab show. He told me they were all pretty much closed out at the time but we kept in touch and when it rolled around again it seemed a perfect place to try some of the little gouache paintings I had been experimenting with. They're a blend of digital and traditional medium, like the first series. The difference was really trying to do a lot more of the painting before it was scanned in and added to.  Some of the pieces changed dramatically after they were scanned in, some of them more subtly. It has been a rewarding experiment and Blab offered an excuse to churn out a dozen candidates.  This summer we took a trip up to Nova Scotia. I think the harshness and beauty of the land had a profound influence on these paintings. What a beautiful place full of haunting stories and tales of disasters.

Monte picked these four to be in the show, So thrilled to be included.
The Industrialist II
"The Industrialist II" was the first piece I started on. I loved the monochomatic kind of edwardian creepshow so I was trying to see what it would be like to sink it all below the surface. I loved the strange shapes, the fish skelitons add to the creepy feeling. The circle like a portal into this dreamlike world.
Smoke and Bones
"Smoke and Bones" I always loved old ship paintings and I thought it would be fun to twist one into a kind of dark time traveler. I kept the palette limited and added the clock hands and face to the steam ship. The bones in the smoke added a little more of a conceptual element that was needed.
Blackwater Fiddler
 "Black Water Fiddler"
This summer air has been filled with the sounds of Cicadas. Across the lake at the cottage we could hear coyotes, Bull Frogs, Great Horned Owls, "Camping bugs" all loudly singing to the return of the warm summer sun. I always loved beetles. I wanted to create a surreal dreamlike scene on the edge of a lake of a huge Acadian party with all of the bugs dancing to a reel.
Lapin Noir
"Lapin Noir"
While we were in Cape Breton this summer we went through Grand Pre. Being there in that beautiful place made the stories of Evangeline and the Acadians even more poignant. This painting was one I thought of when we were there. I think about how different it must have been for early settlers and how different it is now. seems like humans reproduce as fast as rabbits.
All Art © Bill Mayer 2013
© 2024 Bill Mayer