Rick Janson Art Studio

When I was young I briefly toyed with the idea of as a career as an architect. Then I laughed when someone told me about the level of math I would need. I never knew if that was true or not, especially when I look at the scribbling of somebody like the late Frank Gehry. I sometimes think I am way too undisciplined anyway to bring the order a career in architecture requires. But it doesn’t mean I don’t know a good building when I see one.

This commercial building on Portland Street in Troon, Scotland, looks like it has seen some better days. It doesn’t help when the tide goes out on the economy and some stores and services shut down.

Curiously, I did check out a real estate listing for one of the upstairs offices. Inside you would have no idea that this was a turn of the century (20th) building. The offices were all efficiently drywalled, all the interesting stuff smoothed out. That was a bit of a surprise given the building is listed (C-designation), which is supposed to afford a degree of heritage protection. To read the full heritage designation, click here.

The red sandstone building is circa 1905 (hence my title) done in an Edwardian Baroque Art Nouveau style. Of special note are the decorative cast iron shopfronts, which was tricky to capture on the small canvas.

I was happy with both the level of detail and the loose rendering on this painting. Working small, surprisingly, has given me the opportunity to be much more free with my brushstrokes — not what I would have anticipated. Maybe I should be working with bigger brushes on my larger canvases? I also liked how the light catches the building and the warm tones from the sandstone exterior.

I posted this recently on the Landscape Artist of the Year Facebook page and it appears to be generating both controversy (is it really a landscape?) and “likes” and “hearts”. A lot of people seem to find beauty in it even if it doesn’t depict an idealized sylvan forest or a rolling farm field or handsome looking coos.

The painting is another of the “smalls” that I have been prepping for the Scugog Studio Tour, which is about six weeks out.

With the studio tour approaching, and a call for entry in the Annual Oshawa Art Association show at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, it has been a bit hectic lately. And on top of it all, we had the grandchildren out for part of March Break. I am tired.

Somehow All This Pertains To Me

One of my objectives is to have my first Monograph of my work complete in time for the tour. Yesterday I shipped the files off to a printer in Montreal minus its ISBN number. When I applied for the number February 7, I got a quick email reply telling me to expect it within the next 30 days. Um, its March 19 and no ISBN yet. I do wonder if all the layoffs in the federal public service may be impacting this function? Funny how that works when you layoff people? After asking about it, I did get another form email that said they are still processing ISBN requests from January. Oh-Oh! The printer is supposed to send me a draft copy of the assembled book within about a week, so there is a bit of time to add the ISBN. If the ISBN is still lost in the process by then, I may have to add it as a sticker later on (at my own time and expense). The best laid plans… For those who are unfamiliar, an ISBN is an International Standard Book Number. Every edition of a book has a unique number, so a softcover and hardcover editions could have different ISBN numbers. If I revise this book for a second edition, it too would need its own ISBN. The ISBN is usually found on the barcode at the back of the book. The code helps retailers scan your item and price it.

The book is called “Somehow This All Pertains To Me.” It is softcover, 144 pages, trimmed to A5-paper size (a bit smaller than a typical coffee table book), and has 93 colour images, most of them of my painting and drawing work. For those already familiar with my work, they will likely see new art that has never been displayed before, including one piece that has never left my studio. At present the book is priced at $35.99 (CDN), but I will be offering a very good deal on it for those who show up in person during the studio tour. I will likely eat some of the retail profit on delivery costs too, but until I get my draft copy, I won’t be able to calculate shipping. Stay tuned. My hope is to break even, or at least come close.

Worst Marketing Plan Ever

Meanwhile I also ordered a retractable banner for the studio tour. I calculated that if people are walking in to the shared studio space (I am a guest in another artist’s studio) they may want to know who I am. Who is that old scruffy guy? I went to VistaPrint, given I have been happy with the quality of the work in the past. Their turnover is also very fast. However, the day I ordered the banner I got an email saying that I forgot something. The email had a link that took me back to the website, of which there was a message that I hadn’t completed my transaction. I thought that odd given they had already sent me an email with the receipt for the job. As the day went on the notification kept popping up again, but when I did return to the site I could find nothing I had left undone. Eventually I went to the chat function, and they confirmed that my banner was already in production (it has already shipped as of this writing). So why the emails? The person on the other end of the chat asked if I wanted to opt out from further marketing emails? WHAT! I had spent at least an hour searching for what I had done wrong, and all this was is more marketing. Basically, it was a lie to their customers to try and get them back and order something else. I was furious. Given the relationship with the printers I have engaged with is typically one of trust, I found this very disturbing. The marketing team at VistaPrint should understand that blowing up that trust is not helpful in generating more business. I have already started looking at other companies for materials I may need in the future. Sorry Vista, that was really dumb.

As usual, if you want to avoid the palaver and just look at pictures, click here.