Rubies in Crystal

Thursday, March 02, 2017

Tidal Fury Features this Year

Lovely to see Tidal Fury on the shelves at Indigo (Bloor and Bay)! I signed them. A bunch of features are lined up in Toronto this Spring and I am gearing up to perform from Tidal Fury for you and, I hope, to entertain, elevate and inspire you all!

January 18th @ A literary ménage à trois of poetry, 7:30-9:30pm, Bar Italia, 582 College St

February 23rd @ Urban Folk Art Salon, 6-8pm, Mount Pleasant Library, 599 Mt. Pleasant Rd

March 7th (my birthday) @ The Art Bar Poetry Series, 8-10:30pm, Free Times Cafe, 320 College St

March 21 @ Hot-Sauced Words, 7:30-10:00pm, The Supermarket, 268 Augusta Ave., Kensington Market

April 29 @ Poetry and Music Salons, a longer, more intense set, 2-4pm, Palmerston Library Theatre, 260 Palmerston Ave

September 2nd @ Words and Music Salon, 1:30-4:30pm, location TBA.

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Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The Process: Close Up Portraits of Three Women

direct link: Close Up Portraits of Three Women: the process

During the months working on these small portraits, I took photos, and one video, along the way. Thought it would be fun to collect them in a single slideshow video.

From the sketches to the finished paintings, portraits I painted of Bänoo Zan (poet), Isabel Fryszberg (musician/painter) & a Self-Portrait. Each is 20"x16”x1.5”, oil on canvas. ©Brenda Clews 2017.

Music: Lena Selyanina.

Sidenote: I found this interesting. It is from Sep 20th, 2016, showing a photo of an early Autumn leaf by Dave Bonta and my portrait of Bänoo, which was almost finished. Bänoo is a fiery poet and the colours that arose in the shadows of her face echo a leaf on fire (these photographs a co-incidental pairing on Tweetdeck, the Twitter app I use).
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Monday, January 16, 2017

View from Robarts Library

The literary world has its own intrigues, passions, blasts and blessings. There's always a story, and there is one with my novella, Fugue in Green, which was languishing and now, suddenly, is slated for publication this Fall 2017. I have 6 weeks to do edits and revisions. I haven't read the ms since I submitted it in 2015. Hit Robarts Library yesterday and finished reading it and making some changes by closing time. It goes for a literary edit in a few weeks, so I have to work on the changes and additions I think it needs now, and then, after it's edited, I will work madly on it again. Here is my lovely view from the library at sunset. Note Hart House down there. (This post about the view, not the panicked lady behind it! Lol!)
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Friday, January 13, 2017

Pen & ink drawing of Luciano Iacobelli

A rather raw pen and ink sketch of Luciano Iacobelli in preparation for a portrait painting. ©Brenda Clews, 9"x12", pen and ink on Strathmore 140lb watercolour paper.

Luciano, Rocco and I are doing a triple book launch on Wednesday, January 18th:

A literary ménage à trois of poetry: Luciano Iacobelli, The Examined Life; Rocco De Giacomo, Every Night of Our Lives; and Brenda Clews, Tidal Fury. It'll be a fantastic evening, first at Bar Italia, where we will each read while you drink and eat and enjoy and of course, buy books and then the evening will continue as a party at a nearby location. Do join us for an evening of fine and sometimes raucous poetry.

Hosted by Dominic Capilongo. Live music by Ian Burgham and friends.

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Monday, January 09, 2017

'The Child is Father of the Man' (Wordsworth)

'The Child is Father of the Man,' (Wordsworth), ©Brenda Clews, 9"x12", pen and ink on Strathmore 140lb watercolour paper.

Last night's drawing.

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Friday, January 06, 2017

Which one is the real one?

Which one is the real one? A too-fast sketch of Geraldine James in Jewel of India (1984), though she looks obliquely Frida somehow. With the somewhat crude tool I am using, a $2.75 bamboo reed that I love that blots and dabs, that you struggle with to draw, makes the attempt at, approach to, discovery of a more expressionist figuration in the depths, deliberate.
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Thursday, January 05, 2017

'the attraction' - pen & ink sketch

'the attraction seems not so much at the heart of it but wheeling outside it' (Larkin), ©Brenda Clews, 9"x12", pen and ink on Fabriano 140lb 100% cotton watercolour paper.

Original note at 1am a few nights ago: Loosely drawn. The sketch, fairly quick. The figures from different time zones. And yet, how strikingly real this seems.