Polar Bear, work in progress. Scratchboard, 24 x 18 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
And I’m back. Last week was a whirl-wind of overtime at the day job, trips out of town, kid’s homework (ah, the joys of French verb conjucation) and being sick. Actually I’m still sick, but I was anxious to get back into the swing of art-related things.
One of the out-of-town trips involved me helping to chaperone my daughter’s school field trip. Six adults and 42 grade eight kids aged 13 – 14 on a two-day winter outdoor education trip. It was fun, no seriously, I really enjoyed myself. Although my throat was so messed up from this cold/flu that I sounded a lot more like one of the boys than the girls: my voice periodically wavering between squeaking and gravelly grumbling.
As you can see, I’m made some progress with the Polar Bear. I thought this time around I’d give you a shot of the whole board – gives you a better idea of how the bear fits into the composition. I think I’m going to start working on some of the background before I get too much farther with the bear. It occurs to me that I’ve got just a month before the Regina Federation of Artists Spring Show (March 28 – 30). Yikes!
I will admit, I did have some worries about working at this size: would I lose the sense of intimacy for the subject I feel when I work at smaller sizes? But if anything, working this large has made me feel closer to the subject because I feel like I’ve been combing over this Polar Bear as I go. I’d love to travel to Churchill, Manitoba some November when the bears gather to venture out onto the sea ice. And hey, if any of my readers happen to be independently wealthy art lovers who’ve dreamed about becoming a patron of the arts…
