Sunday, September 17, 2017

Sunday Salon: The Astounding Work of Contemporary Canadian Painter Judy Garfin






























Judy Garfin is an extraordinary Canadian painter whose majority of work reveals the close-up entanglement and odd scattered beauty of nature, often mixed with a kind of hard-edged fantastical twitch - as when she adds birds to the mix. She specializes in dense detail and texture and elusive hints of mysterious forces at work.

To my mind, she seems the perfect painter for those of us who enjoy reading mysteries.

"In 1990, I returned to canvas for large works and painted on panel for the smaller ones. I painted images of dried and living plant forms to describe an interior world rather than to represent external nature. These gardens, in their concrete description and diversity of forms, textures and patterns, are fictions that tell stories about living things....

My method of working is fused to the content of my painting. I work on a white surface, finishing each element before moving on to the next. There is no underpainting or sketch. Each work grows into its own presence, element by element, on an undifferentiated field." 

Judy Garfin


I discovered Garfin's paintings online (as I have done with many other artists whose work had remained unknown to me until recently) which is why I say, thank goodness for the internet (is it still called that?). If it were good for nothing else but helping us find hidden works of art by brilliant artists, the thing would have been worth all the other angst attached to it. Almost without my consciously knowing it, I also seem to have widened my knowledge and experience of art and find that the most thrilling things of all.

25 comments:

  1. what a gift! G has the very rare ability to capture what is actually there, but almost all never notice... it's sort of like reality in technicolor!

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  2. It's amazing art, a bit of surrealism with nature. Very gifted artist, so glad you found her and then shows us her work.

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    1. I'm glad too, I should be doing more of these art posts, maybe from here on I'll try a little harder.

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  3. "Astounding" is right, Yvette. Amazing detailing and colouring work.

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    1. And to think that according to her quote, she does one item at a time with no underpainting. Amazing.

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  4. Wow! We know far too little about Canadian culture and arts and I live 20 minutes from Canada.

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    1. There are many superb Canadian painters and artists. They have their own varied history. Worth exploring.

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  5. What gorgeous, lush, detailed paintings! How does one even do that?! I love the rich colors and the subjects. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You're welcome, Joan. It all depends on how the painter views the world. If they have a view that's close, then it facilitates this sort of work. I love it too.

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  6. I think so too, Mystica. That was my initial reaction.

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  7. And then there's Inuit and other Indigenous art, sculptures, culture. I have a beautiful marble statue that's Inuit.

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    1. Lots to learn about our neighbors to the north.

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  8. Those are beautiful paintings, Yvette. Based on her description, I would love to watch her work.

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    1. Tracy, you might be able to find a video. You know how all sorts of things are available these days.

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  9. I am in awe of these works. Thank you.

    You are so right about the internet. The good is vastly superior to the anger I hear about.

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    1. Yes, I'm learning so much - almost without actually meaning to. It's an osmosis kind of thing. I love these paintings - glad you enjoyed them, Pat.

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  10. Amazing Yvette - can you tell us the titles of the pieces?

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    1. I've looked around and can't find the actual titles. Even on Garfin's own online site. Some artists name their pieces and some don't. Maybe she doesn't. I can't tell at this point. But if I do find out at some later point, I'll add them to the post.

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  11. Well, this is adding to my art education, which I appreciate.

    I grew up with a mother who loved art, art books and museums. And I miss this.

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed the post, Kathy. I'm hoping to get back to doing more art blogging in the future.

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  12. Thank you for the introduction to this enticing work of Judy Garfin - I would be very happy to own a piece myself. I love the way her work is so detailed - correct, and yet slightly other worldly - gorgeous.

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    1. I agree, Rosemary. She does other work, of course, if you check her website you'll see the variety. But my favorites are her detailed nature inventions. :)

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