LETTING IT HAPPEN

   ~ by Beverly Koski

Waiting at the ferry terminal in Crofton, Beverlee McLeod and I enjoyed a few rays of sunshine on an otherwise cool May day. Enroute to Vesuvius Bay to a Nick Bantock week-end workshop, we anticipated joining eleven others from as far away as Nashville Tennesee. Nick, after all, is considered by many to be the guru of collage artworks. If a guru can be defined as a master of his art, we already believed this to be true. Bantock has been working his "landscape of the psyche" for 37 years, beginning in England drawing covers for books. The author of the Griffin and Sabine series of illustrated highly imaginative novels, Nick teaches and works from his studio and gallery: The Forgetting Room on Upper Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island.

Apart from its enchanting name, the studio itself is a step into magic. Well conceived with many sky lights cut into its high ceilings, the walls are hung with the artist’s paintings, both large and small. Each draws the viewer to spend considerable time discovering a myriad of images well integrated throughout the surface treatment.

The process we learned, begins with the random placement of ephemera collected from any source an artist deems worthy of attention. Our teacher invited us to dig into a large box of stamps and a pile of map books. He even gave us tearing rights to a 1920s hard bound Punch and Judy cartoon collection from the 1920s. Having poured liquid acrylic medium onto a ground, I found myself sticking torn stamps and maps with wild abandon. Just as I began to become attached to my precious droppings, the command came to pass the piece onto the artist on my left. Let go, let go is the message. After four distributions, my original work was back in my hands - unrecognizably, amusingly different. What an easy way to step away; yet to come back later to work once more with a fresh approach. Isn’t that what an artist does when wrestling with the development of a finished work?

Perhaps, the important thought which has stayed with me since the end of a workshop week-end of frenetic activity is to address one’s demons and angels, who dwell secretly in our souls. To make powerful art our individual passions must become visible in our work. One needs to leave safety behind. Too often our art is following the dictates of the careful consumer; who, more often than not, leans towards the decorative and reassuring. Consider Goya whose depictions of the violence of war could not have been executed for the average consumer – either then or now.

The 5 PM ferry on Sunday evening sailed back to Crofton with our wet pieces carefully laying on the floor in the trunk of the car. A few days later, I looked again at one of them and then allowed myself to change it. Powdered silver flakes fell randomly onto matte medium. No way to plan this; the technique does not allow for much thought. What will it tell me when it is dry?

  ~ Beverly J. Koski, Duncan, B.C. June, 2008