A Selection of Poempaintings' Art Show up at Q Space in Toronto until June 15th

'A Selection of Poempaintings' Art Show is still up at Q Space in Toronto until June 15th. Two people have shown interest in purchasing two of the paintings, which is nice whether anything crystallizes or not. Otherwise, I have received many wonderful compliments and overheard people saying, 'I really like these paintings,' without them knowing I am the artist, kind of lovely to then introduce myself. People have been taking cell phone pics, and sitting to read the 14 page Gallery Guide I created, which, again, is a bit overwhelming. I'm not used to such attention!

An artist who came to my Gallery Opening party said every piece "had integrity." He went on to explain that many artists discover a style and then keep doing it and that you can recognize their paintings because they are all very similar. He pointed to the walls, "Yours are all distinct, different from each other." I, who am not good with accepting compliments, especially ones like this, countered, "But they're all of a single figure, well, except that one, and that..." "Yes," he said, "But they are not virtually carbon copies of each other." And, you know, I worked very hard to ensure my show would have that variety, and yes, it was gratifying to encounter someone who remarked on it.

It's a beautiful Spring here in Toronto...

[If you would like to enquire about prices or purchase prints, please check out my Poempaintings Gallery at FineArt America.]

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Not sure what is going on with this blog, but I find I cannot post any poetry here anymore or even talk about the process of writing poetry. I dearly wish my work hadn't become raw fodder for a certain group of may I say rather arrogant poets because it hurt me to see what was happening and has subsequently caused me to encrypt my poetry in this blog, this dear blog of 9 years, my on-line home.

For sincere and honest readers who may reference or borrow but who always cite their sources, I do apologize.

For those who believe stealing is permissible because Oscar Wilde said so (he made a joke, he was good at that, but his writing is original, his own, he did not, himself, steal from other writers), a hex on ye!

encrypted text

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Notes on My Mother's Death (from my Moleskine)

[from my Moleskine, dated March 27th, 2013]

encrypted poem

[I have not posted poetry here in ages because of some problems with some of my 'hidden' readers. To them: Do *not steal away my images *or their intent without crediting me or else I will stop posting poetry publicly on this site for good - those of you who do this likely think I don't know but you are wrong - even if it's 6 months later, I know exactly what you are doing, so stop it]

Postscript: Sorry, I am not able to post my poetry here anymore due to [these] people who think Oscar Wilde himself stole, when he merely made a joke

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'Three Poets, Three Chapbooks, Three Visions' video is finally live!

direct link: Three Poets, Three Chapbooks, Three Visions

Simply cannot believe that this video is finally live! Wow, what I've been through with buggy FCP X! The video is simply done: Lisa Young reads two poems from her forthcoming chapbook; I read a prose poem; and Pat Connors reads two poems. Then animated blurbs on our chapbooks with the cover photos. And finally the three chapbooks with the website of the publisher, LyricalMyrical Press. And credits, thanking Luciano Iacobelli, the publisher. I only played a wee bit with colour (Lisa and Pat are, um, rather bright and I'm more black and white) and some, uh, sidelights. :) ::laughing delightedly:: Enjoy a lovely poetry reading in the comfort of where you are. And, if you're in, or near, Toronto on June 13th, come to Q Space at 382 College for the launch!

Also, I put the launch date and so on in a few YouTube "Annotated Notes." Quite fun, I tell you. But I can remove them after June 13th, and then the video will remain to float around YouTube in the years to come, itself launched. :)

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Final Cut Pro X continues to cause migraines

Final Cut Pro X is freezing again as I attempt to re-do one clip, which I have thus far been unable to match to what I had achieved in the prior version. My editing is an unfollowable path. I get so deep into it, I couldn't tell you how I got to where I get in the end. Hopefully re-doing this particular clip (even if I can't get to where I got before the trouble started) from scratch, the one that seems to be causing all the problems, will work and I can save it out to a file recognizable by YouTube. The clip I copied in to compare it to just froze the whole project, though. And I had to 'force quit' FCP X once again. So fatigued with all this, days and days of it.

And the worst of it is that I went on-line with the 'error code' (which I do not remember now), and found advice in the Apple Support Communities to delete all the render files associated with the project that refuses to share its video to a .mov file. I downloaded the QuickTime codecs recommended. Deleted FCP X. Re-installed it. Re-opened my project. All was there, except when I go into the files with Finder, all my files, the text, the images, everything is gone. It's pretty much a total disaster.

Then I ran out of batteries - I'm using my 46" TV screen as a monitor - for the wireless trackpad, so used the ones from the wireless keyboard and plugged that into some contraption I got from BestBuy with some of their BestBuy money that is a dock that re-charges the re-chargeable battery pack it comes with, using up the usb port that I could plug the original ext HDD into that I began the project on to see if all the original files still exist there, or if they, too, have been trashed in my attempt to get this sorry program, FCP X, to do its job properly. And I can't find the USB hub I got at a small computer store that even my old and dear iMac didn't like and wouldn't read serious programs from.

I used FCE for nearly 5 years, and never had a whisper of a problem with it. But it won't open these FCP X 10.0.8 files. I think FCP X a colossal waste of money at this point. I have never in all the years I've used Apple products experienced anything like this.

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'Dance of the Solar Wind' (3min) video poem

direct link: Dance of the Solar Wind

'Dance of the Solar Wind,' a poem from my forthcoming chapbook, "the luminist poems."'

for my daughter

who liked this video, and asked it remain without filters, untouched

'the luminist poems' will be published by LyricalMyrical Press on June 13, 2013.Two fantastic poets will also launch their LyricalMyrical chapbooks that night: 'The Cabin' by Lisa Young, and 'Scarborough Songs' by Pat Connors. Please come to the launch of our chapbooks if you are in or near Toronto. Q Space, 382 College St., Toronto. 7:30pm - 10pm. Refreshments and desserts available at Q Space.



Yesterday I put in a 15 hour day trying to save the video with the three of us reading poems from our forthcoming chapbooks. I began copying different clips out and trying to save them as .mov files in the hopes that I could patch it back together. The clip in the vid above was weird, it was there, in a 'project file' but when I went back to the main Projects Library it disappeared completely. The "undo" button worked. So I decided to save it, added bits, cover, our 3 book covers, etc. and uploaded to YT. I've captioned in the launch.

Tomorrow I am going to do my damnest to retrieve the 7 min video of all of us - Lisa and Patrick both look great, and they each read two poems in the video - and get it uploaded to YouTube, even if I have to start from scratch. This has never happened before. I even moved all the files to another ext HDD, to no avail. The video plays fine in Final Cut, just won't save out to an upload-able version. It should have been ready to go early yesterday morning. I'm doing what I can.

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FCP X buggy as all get out

It's been a huge headache of a day - Final Cut Pro X has been crashing constantly, probably hundreds of times by now, as I've tried to finish editing the video. And it won't save a watchable version, either. Stalls at 28%. Because I am virtually finished this project, and don't want to lose my work, I haven't deleted FCP X and re-installed it. Not sure what the problem is, but it's been a futile frustrating day of watching the program repeatedly freeze and re-booting it. Currently I'm trying to export the video file through Compressor to a format YouTube can read and it's telling me 6 hrs and the time keeps going up! Video is messed. No idea what caused the problems when I've been saving drafts and uploading them to YouTube for nearly a week. At least there's HOWL tomorrow. Do come and cheer me up!

Howl, poetry, spoken word and music

Sunday 7:00pm until 10:00pm

Quattro Books at Q Space, 382 College St, Toronto

Media Personality Nik Beat hosts another Howl at Q Space. Featuring singe/rsongwriter Deanna Fae, He and She Clothing store owner and writer Lou Lou, visual artist and poet Brenda Clews(her art exhibit a is at the same location as Howl at Q Space) and poet Jacqueline Valencia! open mic sign up and no cover but pass the hat.
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Mock-up for the video I'm working on...

These aren't published yet. They're not even made yet! I created a sort of mock-up of how they likely look for the video I'm working on - Luciano Iacobelli's actual hand-made chapbooks will be brighter and more beautiful.  I own a stack of LyricalMyrical chapbooks, so I scanned and digitally pasted and played until the wee hours! :-)

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The video drafts are piling up, nearing completion...

Peeps, oh jeeps, it's coming. Been working on it relentlessly. FCP X (which I now know for sure I don't like - among other issues, it doesn't save prior project versions, boo!) began crashing every few minutes today, and stubborn peep that I am, I kept re-starting it. I wasn't finished! (That's not the thumbnail, but one good ole YouTube offered, sort of cute.) When I do finalize and post, exhausted without sleep for days (daze), you will give it a gander, I hope!

Now I have to change the backdrop for the text sequences, and probably make background a little more pink here. Also the very back of a metal chair is evident in two of the poet clips, which I'll have to remove by pasting some other wall over it. Details!

But the process of video editing is in the details.

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PDF Booklet to Accompany My POEMPAINTINGS Art Show @ Q Space

The Art Party/Poetry Salon at Q Space was lovely, warm, intimate, loving. We did a number of poetry readings, chatted, a truly wonderful evening that was convivial and special in all the ways that are most meaningful to me. Thank to everyone who came! You made it a spectacular evening! (I'll add more photos later.)

https://sites.google.com/site/brendaclewspoetry/Poempaintings-BrendaClews2013.pdf

Attached is a free .pdf download of the paintings in the show, the poems associated with them, and groan, the prices. While I believe, given the quality of the work and their size, the prices are fair, I have not posted them in the information cards on the walls. For those who need to know how I generally calculated the cost, the paintings are priced around $1.50 - $1.75 per square inch (the general rule of thumb with this method for pricing is to charge $5.00/square inch and up).

As an example, Charcoal Poems, which took 5 months to paint, and considerable dredging of my inner life, is 60" x 60" = 3600 square inches. At the lower price of $1.50 per square inch, the cost would be $5,400. I have listed that particular painting at $5,000. Many of the paintings are 24" x 30", or 720"sq. At $1.75 per square inch, these would be $1,260. I have listed most of them for $1,200. I only mention this so that you can have some idea of how these paintings are priced.

I have also provided options for various prints on paper or canvas through FineArt America if you love one or more of my paintings but aren't at a point where you can or wish to purchase the original.

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Slap dash video clip of Installing the art show @ Q Space on May 15 2013

direct link: Installing art show @ Q Space on May 15 2013

(...this is just a little snippet that I spent far too long on this morning. I have to learn FCP X! Like seriously and quickly.)

Installing paintings @Q Space. Jacques Albert and Nik Beat, two friends who helped me install the show, went beyond the call of duty to help. The 5' sq painting wouldn't fit in the van cab and so they walked it to Q Space! I can't tell you how grateful I am! Thank you guys! You'll see them in the video when they've just arrived with the painting. Lol.

All in all, rather a slap dash clip. The motion stabilizer in FCP X both cropped images and sometimes just blacked out the surroundings - it's interesting, and it does work. A way-too-fancy title - FCP X remains a challenge to learn - and I forgot to ask someone to hold camera to include me in the vid, but the paintings are there, and it's fun, and come to the party tomorrow night if you're in Toronto. Q Space, 382 College St., Toronto. From 8pm onwards.

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Paintings installed @ Q Space

Installed at Q Space! I rented a van cab and wouldn't you know it, the 5' sq painting wouldn't fit! So Jacques and Nik, bless them, walked the painting to Q Space. It was a beautiful warm sunny day, so that part was ok, just the high wind made it at times like a sail. I love those guys!!!! When they arrived, we hung everything. This little iPhone pic doesn't get the last one on that wall, and you can see the blankets I brought so we could take the cardboard corners off (protectors) and make any adjustments in the hanging wire. All the poetry coffee shop patrons working on their laptops writing their masterpieces moved to the back while we hung the paintings, and re-hung. It's all done, and I took a bit of video so will grab some better pics from that later on. Whew! On, whew. xoxoxo

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Framing finished!

All the paintings are safely cradled in their frames now, and the 5'sq one re-stretched tight across a stretcher. Working without stopping, it still took us 3 hours to complete this job! I'll post a better pic when they're installed at Q Space tomorrow. ::smiling::

This photo is of the last 4 that I just painted like 3 or so weeks ago! The (water-soluble) oil washes dried and then I finished them in ink. My focus was on the back, and I chose to not use any 'flesh' tones at all. But, also after I painted them, I realized, a series of paintings on the derrière...

Also today I'm thinking the FineArt America images I did maybe look a bit crass because commercial, and it's not meant to be. Why post the gallery at FineArt America? Who knows, ask the birds or flowers or the wind. Just did. Seems a safe enough place to post, and besides, they do sell reproductions of your work and you can even make a little from those sales (ie if you buy a card for $6.50 I make under $2.00, so it's not lucrative at all, just a nice offering for people who love your art). I hope posting a gallery there hasn't offended anyone.

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Gallery of Paintings On Show @ Q Space May 15- June 15

This is an experiment. Once I get the html figured out, I will post to the new gallery-style website I set up because of this show at brendaclews.com.

I have been working 24/7 taking photographs, finding 'descriptions' buried in the archives of this blog - thank gawddess I keep everything here! - and uploading to FineArt America. Why did I pick that site? Who knows, ask the birds or flowers or the wind. Just did. Seems a safe enough place to post, and besides, they do sell reproductions of your work and you can even make a little from those sales, and people who might wish to purchase the actual paintings can see the price and contact you directly.

There are 12 paintings in all. I don't know if they will all fit at Q Space. Whatever doesn't, will come home again. Luciano recently re-arranged Q Space so that the bookshelves are no longer in the front of the cafe but in the back where the poetry readings are, leaving a smaller but brighter and more friendly space for art in the front where the storefront windows are. I had originally chosen and prepared new pieces for the previous space, which was darker, more closed in, but larger. Anyway... let me start pasting and posting in the html from FAA.

When you click on the first painting, you'll go to FAA where you can see all of the paintings by clicking "Next"..... enjoy!

A Selection Of Poempaintings

                                                               

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