Jill
Segal's Newsletter
December,
2005
Dear Friends & Visitors,
It has been a busy fall and continues
to be busy as we head towards the holiday season
and experience shorter days and more darkness,
particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.
I was thinking of this time of year
and reflecting on the fact that many cultures
and religions have some form of tradition or ritual
in which they light candles and bring light to
darkness.
I thought the following poem by
Joyce Rupp from ‘The Cosmic Dance”,
was a beautiful reflection on the way in which
each of us can shine our own light in times of
darkness, and make the world a better place.
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The
Cosmic Dance
Joyce Rupp
There is a piece of
light in all of us,
Easily seen in the wise Thomas Berry
Longing to heal the wounds of our planet,
In Dorothy Day who embraced the poor,
And Mahatma Gandhi, fighting for peace
With the weapon of nonviolence.
There is a piece of light
in all of us,
The grandmothers and grandfathers,
Children orphaned by AIDS and war,
The feeble, the lame, the disheartened,
The successful as well as the searcher.
There is a piece of light
in all of us,
Maybe hidden or buried with pain.
Perhaps pushed in the corner by shame.
It is there in the arrogant, the hateful,
racists, torturers, and abusers,
And ones who are willing to kill.
Seen or unseen, the light
is there,
Ready to kindle, eager to expand,
Refusing to be tightly contained.
As soon as the tiniest space is allowed
it quickly emerges, floods outward,
illuminating the darkest of places.
One single candle lights a
little dark space.
Many candles light a world full of people
Desperately in need of each other’s
glow
Each lone light makes
us stronger
When we all stand together.
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SHOWS
In November I participated in a group show called
FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST past and present-at
the ACA GALLERY,TORONTO. 183 Queen Street East
near Jarvis.
The participating artists were Sue Ericsson,
María Teresa Hernández , Janine
Kinch, Patricia Pidoux, George Sanders, &
myself Jill Segal. Because of our wide range of
interests and techniques there was a varied and
exciting selection of landscapes, abstracts, figurative
and still life works in different media and approaches.
I was really pleased that a percentage of the
art sales were donated to grassroots humanitarian
aid projects that ACA Gallery partners locally
and globally. In December I participated in an
inspirational event, called “Peru Inspired”,
at THE BURDETTE GALLERY(www.burdettegallery.com)
111212 11th Line, Orton Ontario (near Orangeville)
(519) 928-5547
The event included
the following:
- An exhibition of paintings, : by Janine Kinch,
Kathy Longmore, Chris Marin, Jill Segal, Cathy
Stasko inspired by their trip to The sacred
sites of Peru.
- Readings from the newly launched book “Outside
of Ordinary” an anthology of inspirational
travel stories by 32 women: One story by Chris
Marin is about the life changes she experienced
while in Peru.
- BOOK SIGNING
- SLIDE PRESENTATION OF THE JOURNEYS TO PERU
by Jill Segal, Information on the upcoming Peru
trip, October 2006, followed by the Christmas
Open House with wine, refreshments and two floors
of artwork and gifts.
- The exhibition of paintings will continue
until January 14, 2006.
_______________________________________________
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS.
 The
fall classes were well attended and we all had
a great deal of fun. (Click on the images to enlarge
them).
The fall leaves and colours supplied endless
sources of inspiration, and students experimented
with stamping paint covered leaves, using leaves
as stencils, and using tissue paper to create
interesting textures.
We talked about painting trees, and the importance
of painting the “symbol” or shape
of trees, rather than trying to paint every branch
and leaf.
 I
stressed the importance of trying to express the
essence of the landscape, rather than painting
“an inventory of nature”. When painting
trees it is important to remember that the trunk
is wider at the base, and that the branches get
narrower, as they get higher up. Also it is important
to vary the sizes and colours of the branches.
We looked at the landscapes and colours used
by “The Fauve” group of Artists (1904
-1908). These artists including Henri Matisse,
Andre Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Raoul Dufy,
Georges Braque, Henri Manguin shared a preference
for high-keyed colour and simplified forms.
 They
used intense primary and secondary colours and
large almost abstract mass of forms. Their colours
were free from tonal modeling. Colour was used
as value e.g. yellow as the lightest value and
dark purples instead of black, and was used to
convey the artists response to his subject.
We created interesting landscape and floral
textures using tissue paper, crumpled and glued
with matte medium, or gesso. When the paint is
applied thinly onto this ground the painting seems
to paint itself.
My winter classes will start again in January.
So sign up early if you are interested as the
class sizes are limited
Click
here to get more information on my
Winter 2006 Painting Classes & Workshops
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Dear Friends, I wish
you all a very happy, healthy peaceful and creative
holiday season and New Year.
I look forward to seeing you or hearing from
you in the New Year. Let me know what you think
of the newsletter, and what you would like me
to include in future editions.
I would like to end off with a few quotes on
generosity that I thought were appropriate for
this time of year.
Happy Holidays,
Jill Segal
Inspirational
Quotes
“I've learned
that you shouldn't go through life with catcher's
mitts on both hands. You need to be able to
throw something back.” (Maya Angelou”
‘The measure
of your life will not be in what you accumulate,
but in what you give away.” (Wayne Dyer”
“Love is when
you go out to eat and give somebody most of
your french fries without making them give
you any of theirs”. (Eight year old)
“There is a
wonderful mythical law of nature that the
three things we crave the most in life –
happiness, freedom and peace of mind –
are always attained by giving them to someone
else. (unknown)
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