Lily S. May–Life with Art
This past week, as I was pondering what my next post would be, I came upon a file folder I had filled with some old drawings. I made these sometime in the mid to late 1990s. They're line drawings of fantasy worlds that I added photocopies of lace and feathers to. These are the original… Continue reading Lace, Feathers & Pen
The weeks before and after Christmas were hard ones, what with much cloudy wet weather in Toronto and the fear inducing news about Omicron. I found that walking in the neighbourhood helped. The appearance of a flock of birds was a welcome surprise and rescue. The occasional hawk or two gliding above the ravines was… Continue reading Birds, The Sun and a Collage
This week I completed the Day of the Angel mixed media piece that I showed in its initial stage in my previous post. I began it as a collage of early wood and linocuts. Over the week I added drawing with pigment markers and water soluble pencils. The Day of the Angel, Mixed Media, by… Continue reading Day of the Angel 2
In 2013 I wrote a poem that I've made a few changes to this year. Among the additions, I've changed the reference to passing years to bring it up to date. The setting for the poem that I see in my mind's eye is a place my husband and I visited in Cypress Hills Park… Continue reading The Day of the Angel
Part of my afternoon was spent tacking some of my favourite artworks and other items to a brand new cork board in my work room--a collage of admiration. I now have inspiration from Naoko Matsubara, Munakata Shiko, Sandro Botticelli, Sarah Mangle, Bread and Puppet, Gary Larson, Antoni Gaudi, Lemon Bucket Orchestra, Kevork Mourad, three friends,… Continue reading The Joy of a New Cork Board
This is the work I showed a detail of in my last post. It has gone through extreme changes and finally developed into this image that I am now going to stop working on and let be. In some ways it's an awkward piece and I felt it was trying to tell me something, so… Continue reading Raw
This is another one of the recent pieces I've done, again combining part of an old linocut with stamps and gouache paint. This is the first work in which I included stamps that I printed right on the board. It took me a long time to see what might be emerging in the work. I… Continue reading Fish
I've been looking for a new direction in my work over the past few months and have posted some of my ideas on the blog. Yet none of them have stayed with me as a path to follow--not the ideas for a dystopian card deck, nor the series on the heart. One thing I have… Continue reading Gouache Woodcut Collage
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
Arts of May 