IIdentitMargo Blackell
Identity: ARTIST, and a lifelong search to find out what that means .
Look deep, deep into nature, and you will understand everything better. - A. Einstein
The woven threads of artistic endeavors have been persistent in my life. Many times as my life went on,
roadblocks would be thrown in the way which would make me seriously question the wisdom of this
path. I often questioned the lofty handle of ‘artist’ being applied to myself, and wondered if I was
suffering a case of mistaken identity.
If that was so, the mistaken identity got started when I was two years old. My mother had discovered
that the best way to keep me quiet was to place paper and crayons in front of me. I was prolific without
realizing what I was doing. I drew everything, but especially the neighbouring houses outside the porch
window. The family physician was very excited by these drawings and emphatically stated that I was
drawing the houses in proper perspective. Mother assumed that she had a two year old genius on her
hands and kept all the work for posterity. Maybe she thought I could have a show of them in a big city
gallery, not realizing elephants, gorillas and dogs would be having exhibitions, glowing write-ups and be
considered to have much more natural talent. When I had a look at these drawings later I saw houses
diminishing in size and placed behind hills to give the illusion of distance. This is the way the Japanese
print makers used the illusion of distance and not at all the European method of using vanishing points.
Later in life I studied silk screen printing with Alex Colville and the interest in Japanese prints continues
today.
Growing up in Sackville, N.B. meant that I could attend many summer lessons. Surrounded by artists
like Lauren Harris Jr., Alex Colville and Ted Pulford, as well as many visiting artists coming to teach at
the art school, my fate as ‘artist’ was sealed. I graduated from Mount Allison University with a BFA in
1962.
I haunted the library stack at Mt. Allison, and read everything that I could find. Reading about the
difficult lives of all the artists throughout history should have made me run away from the field
altogether. It did not. Maybe I was becoming too comfortable with the toxic smells of oil paints and
solvents. Later in life this was to present serious health issues. Eventually I had to give up oils and
switched to Alkyd oils which did not smell as bad. Watercolours became my viable option as well. If I
had continued with my addiction to the fumes of oil paint I may have felt the urge to cut off my ear or
eat the paint. Fortunately I did not go that far, but I have been known to refer to oil paintings that I love
as if they were gastronomic delights.
The library was a true sanctuary for me and my dreams. The grandeur of the high vaulted ceilings with
their beautiful wooden beams as well as the whole Ivy League atmosphere made me feel at home. One
day I looked up at the ceiling and had a moment of clarity. I knew that I would be working in Libraries. A
few years later I was working in the Toronto library and yes, spent several years there. My sanctuary at
the Mt Allison library was taken over by the student body a few years after I left. They painted the whole
ceiling purple and pink. This was in the mid-sixties and the signs of change were coming.
I spent the summer of 1960 at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta. The visiting artist teaching that
summer was William Townsend, head of the Slade School of Fine Arts in London, England. I remember
his bold, slashing style, the overbearing proximities of the mountains and friendly encounters with
bears.
The Art Students League in Woodstock, New York had the abstract expressionist Hans Hoffman
teaching in the summer of 1962. I learned from him what the art of the 60s was all about, but I still
enjoyed the intensity of life drawing while there.
After I got married and had little hippie kids, my husband and I still refused to grow up. Thinking that we
were both artists of some distinction, we thought it wise to live a Bohemian life in Europe and drag our
children to galleries, museums and outdoor concerts while travelling through several countries. We
were the ones that needed the cultural enlightenment and not the children and I hope they have
forgiven us. We met many artists in our travels. In London we met Fred Gettings and he included me
and a drawing of mine in his book which was an exploration of drawing techniques.* On the Island of
Ibiza we met a colony of Canadian artist. I think they felt that the creative juices would flow much better
in the Mediterranean climate than they would in Canada’s inclement weather.
I went with the tide of change and did abstract expressionism. There was a lot to learn about colours
and textures as well as striving for new compositions. But illusion of freedom fades fast and I needed to
do more complicated work with content that also incorporated my classical training. This eventually
developed into large panels of plexiglass. Drawings were made permanent by etching acetate ink on
the surface, and it became one with the glass. I had a large solo show at Gallery Danielli at 336 Dundas
Street; this was across the street from the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Themes that were
consistent in the work were wings, roots, and dragons, so that became the name of the show. It was
summed up in the press release in this way;
“….uses a completely new medium with a style that is classic. It floats in its own air, independent of the
world around it, self-sufficient in its own strength and energy. It is powerful and at the same time
delicate. The panels can be hung anywhere in the room, and they are subject to all the changes that
occur with the moving light of day.” A write up in the Globe and Mail by James Purdie said this; “a lifelong devotion to the turbulent visions that both afflicted and ennobled such earlier artists as William
Blake.” I was thrilled that Blake’s influence was obvious.
I had solo shows in Toronto for several years, while I was serving time in the Toronto Metropolitan
Library. This was the new reference library right in the center of the city. We went on strike in 1985.
That created an advantage for us artists working there because art shows had not been booked while
the strike was on, and there was a beautiful gallery sitting empty right on Young Street. We had two
shows there and the most popular piece of art was the guest book where outrageous comments were
made about the art. The Gallery became a public meeting place to look at the comments, and try to
figure out what it was in the art work that prompted them.
These were hard times to show any form of classical work. Many artists gave up and fiddled with
different mediums and non-subjective canvases. I actually let my well trained drawing side slip from
use. It took years to get it back again to the same proficiency that I had at art school.
I went back to Sackville in 1987, and had exhibitions at The Owen’s Art Gallery at Mount Allison, at the
Fog Forest Gallery, and at The Watermark Gallery in Amherst, N.S. The owner of the gallery in
Amherst was a wonderful inspiration to me as well as many young artists in the area. Her name was
Shirley Hallee and she is still inspiring artists within the Nova Scotia School system.
The local landscape was the most popular subject for art. I have very fond memories of this wind-swept
area where one could sense the history and struggles of the early settlers. It has a haunting sense of
mystery that is captured in Alex Colville’s magic realism. It is a presence and a sense of place that
seems to draw artists to the area.
The court jester became my motif at this time. I felt that I was a traveller just passing through another
time period and did not belong here. My jester, or fool, was caught in human circumstances that were
not of his own making. I became known as “an artist with a penchant for painting the intuitive court
jester”* and he was hidden in many of the strait landscapes that I did then.
In Ottawa the threads of my life have come together. Having a new and very supportive husband has
made a world of difference, and I am beginning to think that the identity as ‘artist’ is not a mistake after
all. I would like to give credit to the new artistic influences that I have embraced since moving here. The
first one was meeting Crystal Bashera at an art show where we were both exhibiting. She runs her own
art school, conducts travelling workshops and has creative energy to burn. She re-introduced me to an
old love of mine; painting directly from nature. By painting outdoors one paints the feeling of the
outdoors. The eye can see only what is most important. A photo is actually boring in comparison.
Painting from memory creates a naïve and dream like scene which I am also fascinated with.
MAIN WORKS is the name of a group of artists in the New Edinburgh area in Ottawa. Through their life
drawing sessions I have regained my enthusiasm for figure work. We meet one a week for a three hour
session, with live models, plenty of discussion on form and technique, and ‘bonhomie’
Z.L. Feng is a world renowned artist originally from Shanghai. He received his MFA at Radford
University and continued to be a professor of fine art in Virginia. His watercolour technique continues to
inspire me. He does amazing portraits in watercolour as well as mysterious landscapes. My goal is to
reach his level of expertise. I will have to thank Watercolor Magazine* and the world wide web for
introducing me to his work.
S.P.A.R.Q. is an acronym meaning: Subconscious Power of Art Raising Questions. This is a new group
of artists in Ottawa that wish to fill that middle ground between realism and abstraction. That would
include all contemporary art like pop realism, surrealism, fantasy, magic and visionary art.
This group is a true fit for my work that has stubbornly stayed with the classical while exploring the
imaginary and psychological components of art.
Just maybe the court jester will rise again and enjoy a renaissance.
This is the jester in the Maritimes and that was several years ago. He may feel uncomfortable wherever
he goes.
References:
*Techniques of Drawing by Fred Gettings. Published in Great Britain by Studio Vista Ltd., 1969
*A FOOL FOR FOOLS. An artist with a penchant for painting the intuitive court jester. Published in The
New Brunswick Reader on March 25th, 1995; written by Katherine Tapley.
*Watercolor Artist Magazine issue of August 2011.
This is me with one of the plexiglass panels, a winged female just passing by.
Contact:
margoblackell@bell.net
www.blackellart.ca
Tel: 613 761-9381