Interview with Artist Judy Cooper

Author: Tilly Rivers

As a child from a military family, how has this added / taken away to your artistic inspiration?
The military background leads to a lot of moving for a family, usually at critical times for young children and teenagers. It was difficult to have long-term friendships. I feel that led to a lot of self-sufficiency and solitude on my part. The art obsession was always there; those conditions just allowed it to play a larger role.

Tell us the history behind your artistic growth from realistic portrayals of nature and wildlife, moving to on realism and portraiture, stained glass, only to begin the circle again with the love of painting.
I was always interested in capturing a memory or feeling with imagery. Often, the source came from books I had read or things I had experienced. Portraiture is the ultimate test, because capturing a likeness combines so many things: accuracy, rendering, yet somehow you are also adding something that isn't there - your feelings about what you are painting. Animals and places are actually individuals too, but this is a more esoteric concept for some. I feel that every artist must first develop solid drawing skills. From there anything is possible. Even abstraction becomes informed. I see my tour through various art media as an unwitting enactment of those steps. I didn't set out with any conscious plan to develop myself, but the frustration that came from not being able to capture something led naturally to it. It is an ongoing process that is never complete.

What is your role as an artist?
I feel my role as an artist is to keep the arts alive in a world that is becoming faster and more hurried by the day. Many people come into a booth where my paintings are displayed and I can see their shoulders relax as they begin to smile. Some just look peaceful. It is a great feeling. So maybe I what I do is connect them with a lost part of themselves or their past.

What special message is found in your creations?

I don't think there is a message that applies to everyone. In some pieces, like "Lucky Foot", I am trying to say something specific, but not as a rule. I have noticed that there are many different connections to the same painting. All of them seem to be about feelings or memories.

What is the challenge of revealing the “art” in Earth?
The challenge is to remind people that it is there.

Explain the statement “Earth's natural wonders. Now, more than ever, they are in need of our attention.”
Our lives are very busy, and we often forget to stop and take a breath. A lot of us are disconnected from the things that a natural environment for us, trees, fresh air, small animals. There is a need to take a look at all of it before it is all gone. I am hoping that everyone that sees my paintings will take a bit of that feeling away and apply that energy somewhere in a positive way.

Where can readers find your works?

Readers can find my works on my website at http://www.theartinearth.com/, in the homes of select collectors and at venues I attend every year, like the Buckhorn Fine Art Festival, which is one of the finest art shows in Canada. I will be updating my website regularly to announce new showings.

Can you describe the process you go through when creating a piece from start to finish?
I am an avid cyclist, so usually things begin with a ride through the countryside. This gives me the inspiration for all of my landscapes and most of my bird paintings. For the more exotic animals, I go to the zoo, or to wildlife rehabilitation centres. Then, I take all the pictures back and peruse them on the computer. Usually, I work from printouts of digital photos, combining several at a time as I go along. Sometimes, I do some editing in Photoshop to remove distracting elements and combine them there. I work on Masonite, which I cut and prepare myself, usually in large batches. (It would be terrible to have inspiration and nothing to paint it on!) I almost never do any preliminary sketches because I prefer to immerse myself immediately, although sometimes I will do a study of something in an 8x10 format to get the idea. For more complex pieces, I may build the image up in pencil first, but lately I have been forcing myself to be more painterly and work the sketch up with a brush. Once I am going on a piece, I don't usually divert my attention to anything else until it is done. Most of my larger paintings take couple of weeks to a month to complete, but lately I have been having great fun with quick 8x10 colour studies of the Southern Ontario farmland that I see from my bike.

What do you want to be remembered for?

Hmm.. That is a tough question.... I guess to answer it, I would look to people I admire. I admire people with energy and the ability to inspire others. For instance, there are some teachers I had in high school that made me want to work really hard to meet their standards. So I guess it would-be something like that. Oh and also great paintings.

How would you describe yourself?
I would describe myself as high energy with a tendency toward impatience (for some things). I appreciate fairness and honesty and hope to think I give it back. (I can also work tirelessly on a painting --mostly the ones that I secretly know will never amount to anything.)
What do you hope people think of when they view your work?
I hope that it will connect them with something good that they have misplaced in their lives -- or that they have limited access to for some reason. One of my friends has a tiny reproduction of a woman sitting by a waterside cottage at dusk. It makes her feel good to look at it when she is having a hard time. It would make me feel great if my work could do that for people.

Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about? The artist:--the woman
I am I think I will answer that with a quote (out of context) from wildlife artist George McLean, whom I really admire:
"Everything that could be said is in the painting(s)"

New Year Resolutions. Set up for Failure?

Author: Tilly Rivers
copyright 2009

So, by traditional of (okay help me here tradition of what-??) this is the day we are suppose to make resolutions. New Years Resolutions. I disagree, I think every day we should focus on the importance of what we want, and create a continuous goal plan.

Apparently the most common resolution, (which by the way means, a promise, and to me a promise should not be something without thought or done because of pressure.) are loosing weight, quit {smoking, drinking too much, a habit-of-some sort}lose weight, gain weight, get-out-of-debt, start a saving account, better job, be better at your job, get fit, eat right, exercise, get an education, get a better education, take a trip, volunteer, less stress, less grumpy, watch less TV, watch less violence, spend more time with the kids, be a better mom/dad, grandparent/etc. (Any of these on your list?)

According to statics 94% of the world write or say New Years Resolutions, 2% of that population actually keeps them. ONLY 2% keep a PROMISE made to the most important person-THEMSELVES! (If you can not keep a promise to yourself- how can you keep a promise to anyone else?)

Wow! Why do people break the promise they have made to themselves? Perhaps it is because we bend to the pressure of what is popular instead of wanting something truly in our hearts?! NO ONE can make you do ANYTHING- let alone a day on the calendar that has proclaimed it to be the day of CHANGE!

On New Year’s I count my blessings and reflect back on the last year without judgment. I am blessed my Mom is still with me, her stroke has taught me to be a better person. I am blessed that my children are safe and happy, and that be it because of me; or in spite of me; they are on the path of a good life and developing into good people. I am blessed I met many wonderful people during the time I owned a publishing company, and I am blessed that those in whom were nasty and judgmental when I closed it taught me that I could stand strong in the truth and they could say or do whatever they wanted, that some people are born to be judgment throwers, that does not mean I have to catch the balls of shit they flung and throw it back- nope- it meant I was learning that life comes with surprises, not always in pretty wrapping.

I am blessed to have my belief system, for the gift of meditation, yoga and Pict. I am blessed with the gift of my writing, I am blessed to be loved by a wonderful man, I am blessed to have a great friendship, I am blessed to have friends and I am blessed to have the opportunity to be a food critic, radio host and entertainment editor. I am blessed to have a beautiful T/F that makes me smile. I am blessed to be well enough to write this now.

Each of these blessings, and so many more, I will carry with me into this New Year, and when, or if, I am ready to make changes, I will do so knowing why I am, because when it is all said and done, you need to answer to whatever your higher power is, and yourself, and when the time comes and you are asked: “Have you been the best person you can be?” Your answer can be a strong; “YES.”

When you wake and face your reflection in the mirror can you look yourself in the eye and know that you are worthy of the best, because you do not do anything out of malice, or guilt, but that you simple did the best you could at the time with the knowledge you had? That a mistake means you have learned, and that an experience, no matter how horrible can teach, and that those around you many be professional judgment slingers, but that you are not walking into the arena of their sick game! Of course you can! Why for you too are blessed!


Happy New Year! Much love, much happiness, and many many blessings!

The Man and The Moon

What if the man and the moon wasn't a man at all but a woman? Whether you’re a hunter, fisherman, trapper, farmer, gardener, or just a nature lover, you can be affected by the moon. And the affect can be a bit different depending on if the moon is new, crescent, harvest, hunter’s, waning, waxing, or a sparkling bright full moon.

Fishermen sometimes cast their lines according to the phases of the moon; hunters find certain moon times good, others bad; and it’s always more fun to camp out under a clear, full moon.
Although the moon plays a big part of outdoor life, few know just how much it affects our earth and our outdoor activities. Throughout history the moon has inspired man’s wonder and challenged his curiosity. Why else would we have sent a man to walk on its surface.

Perhaps more than anything else, the moon has come into play with farmers and gardeners when it is time to plant, cultivate, and harvest plants and crops. Even today many people believe growth patterns are better when planting tasks are performed in the moon’s proper position -- while others follow planting times according to The Farmer’s Almanac, which also details phases of the moon.

Early Native Americans believed the position of the moon during the first half of February indicated whether the growing season would be wet or dry. If the horns of the quarter moon pointed downward, the moon was “emptying its water,” and it would be a wet spring and summer. If the horns pointed upward, it indicated just the opposite, and there would be little rain.

Still today many farmers believe the moon controls crop growth. If you want a good above-ground harvest, plant during a full moon. On the other hand, root crops are to be planted during the dark of the moon.

Many farmers maintain that early July is the best time to plant the last crop of corn, because corn planted then will produce ears that reach upward from the stalk in an attempt to reach the full moon. Whereas, if planted during the last half of the month (when the moon is larger), the ears will snug closer to the stalk because they fear late July’s larger moon.

Some old-time gardeners contend that root vegetables taste better if they are harvested in the afternoon. Silly? Well, modern research has shown that the vital life forces of all plants return to the roots during the course of the late afternoon and evening. At daybreak they rise up again to the portion of the plant that is above ground. So, it would seem that picking is best in the afternoon when the life forces are back in the root system.

The moon is also a predictor for cutting wood. During a full moon for example, it has been considered a bad time to cut wood. Instead, to get the more durable wood from deciduous trees (leaf shedding), they should be cut in the winter -- preferably in December -- under the third quarter of the moon.

Throughout history the moon figured prominently in folktales, mythology, and religious rituals. Many early cultures chose to deify the bright light in the night sky. The early Greeks and Romans worshiped Diana or Artemis as the swift and beautiful Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt.

For the Chinese a woman’s moon face predicated her desirability, while her feet were bound to shape them into moon crescents.

Later the word lunatic came to describe someone who was moon mad as a result of sleeping under the moonlight, or being overexposed to it. Nefarious deeds took place during the dark moon, yet it seems that was the best time to capture a lucky rabbit’s foot -- even better if you were cross-eyed, caught the critter in a graveyard, and whacked off the left hind foot.
If you chose to look at the moon over your shoulder, or peer up at its halo, you were in for a spat of ill fortune, as you would be if you pointed up at a new moon.

Full moon followers have believed that taking medicines and tonics during this phase was most effective, while others have urged wishing upon seeing a new moon to bring good fortune.
Books have been written about the moon’s affects on man. Even today psychiatrists and law enforcement officials say that crime increases and the mentally ill become more agitated on nights of the full moon.

So, whatever you do, there is probably some myth, lore, or legend that brings into play the causes and effects of the man in the moon.

The moon is the earth’s only satellite companion in their annual circuit around the sun. The moon revolves around the earth in an elliptical orbit, making the circuit in 27 days, seven hours, 43 minutes, 11.5 seconds (for those who want to be precise). This is the sidereal month -- the period of revolution around the earth in relation to the stars.

Now to be really confused, if you consider the synodic month -- the period of revolution around the earth in relation to the sun -- then it takes 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes.
During this regular cycle there are four basic phases of the moon (the apparent changes), with any number of variations. The phases are caused by the angles at which the moon’s lighted surface is seen from the earth, and it gives us a new moon, full moon, and different crescent moons.

A new moon is when it is on line between the sun and the earth, presenting us its dark side and therefore hardly visible. It then passes through its waxing (getting bigger) crescent phase into the first quarter, when it is a right-hand moon. It continues on through its waxing gibbous phase, reaching full moon when it is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun, and fully illuminated. The moon marches on through its waning (getting smaller) gibbous into its last quarter -- when it is a left-handed moon -- and then continues through the waning crescent phase until it is again a new moon.

Itself a dark globe, the varying amounts of light that illuminate the moon’s surface as its revolutions bring it into different positions with relation to the sun and earth give us changing perceptions.

The phases between the new moon and the first and last quarters are crescent, and the phases between the full moon and the first and last quarters are gibbous. The whole cycle takes place every 28 and a fraction days (the average each month) with all kinds of things happening along the way.

A full moon is looked upon as a climactic period of the month, and is believed to have power over the human body and mind, over the fertility of animals and crops, and, above all, over weather conditions and the tides.

Tide is the alternate rise and fall of the ocean’s surface. Twice a day it rises (flows) and falls (ebbs), caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun (but the sun having only a third of the moon’s effect).

When the line of pull of the two is the same (at the time of the new moon and the full moon), the tide rises highest (strongest) and is called a spring tide. The greatest tide in the world is at the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia -- 53 feet. When the two pull in different directions (as in the first and third quarters), the crest of the tide is lowest (weakest), and is known as a neap tide.
At a given time there are two high tides on the earth, on on the side facing the moon, and the other on the opposite side, the latter being caused by the greater pull of the moon upon the earth itself than upon the oceans which are still farther away from the moon.

With the lunar day being about 24 hours and 50 minutes, the interval between high tides is about 12 hours and 25 minutes. High tide does not always occur on a given shore when the moon is directly overhead because there is a lag caused by a variety of irregularities and other factors. Tides rise higher where the water enters a narrow estuary, or when the water volume is added to by other natural occurrences (winds, etc.) The ebb and flow of the tide causes an almost continual motion near shores, termed the tidal current or tidal stream.

The moon also is credited (or blamed) for storms, with the heaviest storms in the calendar month in the northern hemisphere being related to lunar phases. Such storms are more likely to occur from one to three days after a new moon, and from three to five days after a full moon. The beginning of hurricanes in the Caribbean have been similarly related to lunar positions.

The mean (average) distance between the center of the earth and that of the moon is calculated at 238,857 miles -- once a staggering number, but no longer now that man has walked on the moon’s surface. The moon’s diameter is 2,160 miles, somewhat more than one-fourth that of the earth. The moon’s gravity is one-sixth that of the earth, thus making a 180 pound man weigh only 30 pounds when on the surface of the moon.

In a month’s time about 59 percent of the moon’s surface comes into view, with temperatures ranging from +243 degrees F in full sunlight at noon, to -279 degrees F with no sunlight at midnight (although calculations vary). The moon shines only by reflected light from the sun, or from earthshine -- when the unlit portion of the moon facing the earth appears to glow.
An eclipse of the moon occurs when the earth obscures the sun’s rays from it, passing into such a position that the earth’s shadow lies upon it, shutting off all light from the sun. A solar eclipse occurs when the new moon takes a position between the sun and the earth, and the moon’s shadow lies on some part of the earth’s surface, obscuring the sun’s light in that region.
So it is any wonder man has been fascinated with the moon. It is mysterious; seemingly with many different powers; and controls not only tides, crop growth, and behavioral cycles, but is that thing in outer space we have romanticized in both poetry and song.

The Man In The Moon -Facts and Myths
By Tom & JoAnne O’Toole
Stress Free Living Magazine