new painitng for TOAE - progress

Some progress on a new ‪‎painting‬ I'm working on for the upcoming Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition coming up soon -July 8-10 (just over a month away)!

Drawing for new painting for TOAE

Here is the rough ‪drawing‬ to a new ‪#‎painting‬ I'm working on for the upcoming Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition coming up July 8-10. I haven't decided on a title for the painting yet, I'm open to suggestions if you have any. (The painting is about seeing shapes in spilled ink.)

New website!

I did a BIG - and very necessary - revamp of my website recently. I would love to know what you think. You can check it out here: http://www.jonodoiron.com/

Thanks!

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition - Artist Directory

The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition has now released the list of all the artists involved this year on their website. You can see who else is exhibiting here. (You can find me in booth #119 at the event.) 

Confection - all done!

Here is the final painting called 'Confection'. It is one of the new pieces I created for the upcoming Toronto Outdoor Art Fair.

 

Easter passed not too long ago and while some people think of colorful eggs, chocolate bunnies, or a revived holy figure, the primary connotation in my mind is always Easter Island (Rapa Nui). It is a mysterious place and among the list of places I would love to visit before I die. I think what attracts me there is Easter Island is an environmental parable on a small scale. While the island's statues are heavily admired today, it's counterbalanced by its sordid past. An obsession was built upon making large statues, called Moai (the exact number still unknown - somewhere between 900-1000 - and the exact reason still unknown) which removed natural resources from the island at a rate exceeding it's replenishment.  I also wonder what it would feel like to exist on one of the most remote places on the planet - over 2000 miles to the next nearest landmass.  The original descendants of Rap Nui continued production on the Moai uninterrupted for 1000 years prior to contact from the modern world (the island was 'discovered' by Europeans in 1722, on Easter day - hence, the name).

The word confection means:

-a sweet preparation of fruit or the like, as a preserve or candy. 

-the process of compounding, preparing, or making something.

-something, as a garment or decorative object, that is very delicate, elaborate, or luxurious and usually nonutilitarian

When I was a child, I saw the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Or, saw some of the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. To this day, I've never seen the full movie. The movie is decidedly dark. What I did see when I was a child terrified me - children being sucked into machinery and being physically deformed. How could the production of candy be so perilous? 

In the painting Confection, an Oompa Loompa islander looks onward to what has been the fruit of his labor, creating large chocolate Easter bunny statues. Perhaps to worship some lagomorphic deity. 

                                                               (Did you spot the UFO?)

decorating the sides

I finished up my painting 'Confection' yesterday. It's one of the new pieces I created for the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. (I'll post the final painting tomorrow.)
I remembered I had some designer paper I picked up when I worked at an art store several years ago. I thought it would be appropriate to apply it to the sides of the painting and decorate it like an Easter egg. Here's the result.

 I unrolled the paper and sprayed it with some green and yellow spray paint.

I cut out what I thought were the most interesting sections to use for the sides of the painting.

 I gave a coat of purple to the sides so the color of the wood wouldn't peak through.

 All done! I pasted and glazed the sides with some Mod Podge glue. It came out a little darker than I expected, but I'm still happy with it.