The Art of Economics
This blog discusses the debt crisis in the US and the impacts of this crisis on Canada. As this is an artist’s blog, it includes a few samples of my artworks that have investigated the […]
Marion-Lea Jamieson
Running Man
I’m coming back to this blog about the Running Man theme, 14 years after I wrote it, because of the recent events that bring the hollow guy to mind. The new US President is threatening […]
This Is Happiness
This is Happiness, by Niall Williams, is a gorgeously written book in a self-described Baroque style. Many reviewers have simply said, “this is happiness”, to read an author who weaves us into an intricately colourful […]
Behind the Times
This blog explores ideas around art and the times in which an artwork is created. It questions whether art must somehow, or for some reason, “keep up with the times” in order not to be […]
The Gift by Lewis Hyde: With Thanks
In her forward to The Gift by Lewis Hyde, Margaret Atwood says: “If you want to write, paint, sing, compose, act, or make films, read The Gift. It will help keep you sane.” This is […]
Bird Watching: A Love Affair
For many years i have been an amateur, yet ardent, birdwatcher and this blog, Bird Watching: A Love Affair, describes how & why birds have formed an important theme in my artwork. Yesterday I spent […]
Good, Evil, Transcendence & The Divine
As an artist I depend on writers to put into words their thoughts on some of the issues that philosophers perennially grapple with: Good, Evil, Transcendence & The Divine. A work of art is sometimes […]
Love and Life
First Comes Love/ Then comes marriage/ Then comes Marion-Lea/ With a baby carriage. It was 1974, I was pregnant and suffused with the peace & contentment that I suspect is The Great Creator’s way of […]
Transcendence
The concept of transcendence has been explored in other posts and this one traces how the concept has fared in the shift from the dominant art paradigm of modernism to post-modernism. Modernisms & Postmodernisms The […]
This is not an Essay
This blog is part of an ongoing investigation into the visual arts, primarily painting, and with a side interest in why important public galleries feel obliged to exhibit work that alienates all but those initiated […]
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur: A Best Seller
The goal of The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, by Alka Joshi, was clearly to provide a window into India’s complicated politics and culture. Though the novel provided a wealth of information about the area in […]
The Keeper of Lost Things: A Heartwarming Escape
I am writing this review because I feel obliged to understand why I abandoned the The Keeper of Lost Things after the first couple of chapters. I usually try to plow through any book I […]
On Time: It’s All Relative
Now that I am once again living on an island, Island Time is a real phenomenon. It feels like there is more time but the priorities for how to use it have shifted. It is […]
A Superior Substitute for Life
Julian Barnes, one of my favourite writers, poses the question – “is art a depiction of reality, a concentration of it, a superior substitute for it, or just a beguiling irrelevance?” (excerpt from the novel, […]
Backing into the Future
I am currently re-visiting past work because I can’t remember why I stopped doing it. Why not do landscapes? For years I accepted the imperative that a serious artist must avoid sinking into prettiness. But […]
Art for Art’s Sake
Now that I live in semi-rural area, I am relying more and more on books to provide the assurance that making art is relevant. My new home is one of natural beauty, is visually inspiring and […]
Fail, Fail again and then Fail Better
Authors often like to use painters as protagonists because they illustrate some of the issues and concerns that are relevant to all artists. Sometimes these works reflect the reality of life for most painters but […]
Exploring my Inner Woman
For many years, I explored a theme called Running Man that revealed to me that I too was a running man, neglecting the important parts of life by chasing success and worldly concerns. As they […]
Art & Anarchy
This blog investigates art & anarchy: what anarchy means to me as an artist, its philosophical underpinnings, and its use in political protests. It wraps up by looking at proposed solutions for the global ills […]