Lily S. May–Life with Art
Here's my most recent work. Following the work I showed in my previous post, I looked through some linocuts I'd made in the early 1970's. The one you see below is part of a larger print I made by carving free style with only two shapes in mind--the round and the long ones. I have… Continue reading Old and New
This is another of the series of small heart paintings I'm doing. I only completed this one after The Heart Show opened at Gerrard Art Space, so it has its debut here. It's another acryl gouache on 5" x 7" gesso board. And I worked on it, as I did the others, without a planned… Continue reading Landscape of the Heart
I've entered another show, The Heart Show, at Gerrard Art Space in Toronto. I decided to do a series of small paintings in acryl gouache (a type of water-based paint that is permanent when dry) for the show. After working on four 5" x 7" gesso boards, I completed two of them. I'm still working on… Continue reading Heart Show
After doing black ink line drawings daily since last summer I felt drawn to working in colour again. I wanted to try using acryl gouache paints which I've never used before. I usually don't buy prepackaged sets of paints, but I did this time so that I could experiment with small amounts of a range… Continue reading Return to Colour
Years ago in 1991, someone I knew told me an arresting dream they'd had. I don't totally remember it, but it was about terrible suffering and catastrophe. Most of the people in the dream were in trance like states with one or two raising the alarm. The dream impressed me as apocalyptic and I made… Continue reading Dystopia and a Key
Here's what I'm working on now--a variation of the piece I showed in Learning. This time, I've used only the watercolour crayons, both wet and dry. I'm slowly building up colour and texture and paying attention to shapes. I believe the piece is a work in progress--the more I contemplate it, the more aspects I see… Continue reading Learning 2
This week, I happily received the copy of Clive Hicks-Jenkins' book, Hansel and Gretel. In it, he has brilliantly reimagined the fairy tale. I ordered it last week from the U.K. and it arrived faster than some packages from other parts of Canada! Clive Hicks-Jenkins is one of my favourite artists. He shows a wide array… Continue reading Hansel and Gretel
Last week, while I was home with a cold, I began experimenting with an old water soluble crayon set I have. I find painting/drawing on an easel a lot easier physically than printmaking with the pain of repetitive strain I've acquired from lino and woodcutting. So, I'll return to the latest print after a break.… Continue reading Learning
In honour of summer and the Pride Parades here in Toronto and around the world, here's a hot pink and rainbow coloured gouache painting I made several years ago. It's called The Swimmer.
I have kept journals--diaries--on and off for the past 40 or more years. In the 1990s and early 00s, I hand wrote a huge amount in dozens and dozens of lined notebooks--mostly recording my dreams and feelings but also world events and my activities. I've been working on a big project, going through my journals… Continue reading The Nature of Making Art
Arts of May 