August 10th, 2018

What kind of artist am I? I think about making art constantly. When projects get in the way that I must finish before moving on. My head filled with thoughts I cannot escape from. Pull me here, then push me there. Start something with no motivation to finish. Constantly on my mind. Resolve the issue, tackle the challenge. It feels like a manic idea, yet staying in limbo despite all of the plans. July came and went. With a wonderful, frustrating, defeated, elation, and at times euphoric feelings that came with each day. Sometimes all of those emotions in one day.
I wasn't painting the landscape of Writing On Stone. Not as an artist paints a landscape, but as a plastic surgeon repairs a scar. Graffiti removal and camouflage in Writing on Stone Provincial Park. An art project that gets me out of a comfort zone and tests everything I know about color. The project observed nature directly, with every kind of emotion. The sandstone cliffs can communicate. They are bathed in light, engulfed in air, living and breathing despite their static nature. This is the magic they have expressed to me while I worked so closely with them throughout the month of July.
The Archaeological preserve of Writing On Stone has been in process of cleaning graffiti from the rock art sites. Previously found, traced and photographed by archaeologists, rock art panels are everywhere, and so is graffiti.  The Graffiti removal project was started in 2012, of which I volunteered. July's project, I revisited  those panels, cleaned of graffiti by abrasion. Through abrasion comes rock scaring, as it took layers of the sandstone crust off of the surface. Therefore as a surgeon camouflaging a scar, an artist uses hue, value and chroma to camouflage it back to the rocks' original crust color.
​As an artist, one is always experimenting with different mediums. To be an effective artist you must know your medium. Hence my adventure in learning about working with a living breathing creature called sandstone.