Some paintings on the theme of opposites attract emerge with a different perspective when they are produced in a workshop situation. Not So Easy and Should’ve Fixed the Fence were two such works started in workshops with Harald  Klunder. Who let he Dogs Out? and Baywatch were the result of classes with Peter Kolisnyk.

Mouse over the thumbnails to see enlargements.

Something I learned from Harald Klunder’s workshops was how to use a frame of reference in a painting and then make sure that both the positive and negative areas within that space are active. 

I used this approach in Not So Easy. An opposing contrast of scale created pictorial interest yet kept an overall semi-abstract design for the viewer to interpret freely.

This is part of the There Goes the Neighbourhood series and is based on large-scale charcoal drawings of urban development in the west end of Toronto. 

The foreground detail emphasizes the larger sweep of former farmland, which has become a newly fenced golf course ringed by high-density housing. As the title suggests, this is where dogs run free when they get the chance.

I created opposing forces by balancing small fragments of collaged surface treatment on one side and a small figure on the other. In between, the horizontal division of the remaining area increases a sweeping sense of space and provides a possible storyline for the viewer to interpret.

For a change, I wanted to use middle-value contrast throughout the whole painting and find opposing contrasts in other ways. So I emphasized spatial contrast by attaching small-scale foreground details, such as the broken fence, to the edge of the painting and beyond to larger-scale background areas. This also created spacious central areas for the viewer to explore.

Eileen Menzel
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