Lila Lewis Irving

I first saw a Lila painting in the '90s called "I Thought I'd Paint The Electric Bill".  An oil portrait.  From that I figured she must be an interesting lady.  She is.  I painted under her direction at the Haliburton School of Fine Art.  Abstract.  What a week!  Energy, intuition, and scads of paint.

Lila has her first retrospective "Appassionata" at the Art Gallery of Mississauga.  It runs through April 29 2012.  See it if you can.  It covers her most recent work with a smattering of the wood cuts, oil portraits, seascapes, and prints.  Quite the journey.  "I can never ever, ever, ever, ever master this one."

"Good starts are easy, good finishings are hard."  Lila

Calligraphy 280

"The subject does not pre exist.  It emerges out of the interaction between the artist and the medium."  Robert Motherwell

Canvas

"Everything should have one controlling gesture."  Robert Henri

Song of the Moon II

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift."  Albert Einstein

Thumbs

After the walk and talk I chatted with Lila.  She was quick to remind me that "you don't just start painting the abstract.  You have to know shape, value, colour, edges, and texture.  I have many years of that background and it remains a kernel in the back of my mind when I paint without thinking."