My family.
My friends.
Meeting new friends who share some of my interests. I really enjoy that, big time.
My artistic side (nurturing it as much as possible in the midst of a fairly busy life and schedule).
Building stuff eg: home improvements.
Walkin' the dog.
Mama Nature.
Breathing fresh air.
Eating healthy food...love those garden veggies, yum, yum.
Being independent.
Working in my studio.
Building, stretching and priming my own canvasses.
Enjoying the year-round view from my loft (up in the treetops I feel like a bird...or a monkey. Maybe a feathered monkey with a prehensile tail, or a flying monkey with a feathery crown. But, God forbid, NOT those ghastly flying monkeys that creeped us ALL out from the Wizard of Oz. Not like that. A nice (underline "nice") flying monkey who is not the minion of the Wicked Witch of the West:o)
Hiking.
Traveling to new places.
Listening to tunes while I work.
Listening to tunes while I play.
Running around like a little kid playing outside.
J-j-jamming with my buds on the beach.
Floating in the Healing Waters of Little Manitou Lake. (wait a minute I think this one should be up quite a bit higher on the list).
Building hoop drums...and the whole process that leads up to it, including scraping the hide even.
Soaking up the colors of the leaves, the sky, the landscape.
Checkin' out the colors and shapes of the waters here at Manitou Beach.
Hangin' out on the beach.
Did I mention I love living at the beach?
Noodling around with my computer.
Writing.
As in creative.
Tinkering in my shop...making things I can toss around...
and hopefully keep up in the air awhile...
Staring off into space (that's when I get most of my best ideas).
About me: As promised, I am going to start posting pictures of my latest paintings as they come hot off the easel...and here's the first one of this spring:
The working title is "Languid Sunset" but that might change.
As predicted, I have cleared away a few projects out of my studio so now I can work on more of my own artwork. Here's a picture of one that I have just finished ...tentatively called "Bug Pad". Again, this is just a working title and might change.
I've been quite busy lately with logo design and website development for a few different clients...so I thought I would give you a sneak preview of my latest:
This design is for our "Eat Local Food Association" that is being initiated by Jason Heit, our friendly neighborhood Agricultural Development Officer w. Long Lake Regional Economic Development Office. What do you think? Now that I have this basically wrapped up, it's time to hit the brushes in my studio (aka getting away from this computer!)to fire up some new paintings. Yay! Am I ever looking forward to that! So stay posted peeps and I will be happy to share pictures of the works-in-progress as they come hot off my easel.
GREAT NEWS!...This coming July, a group of artists and artisans from this area (Watrous-Manitou) in Saskatchewan are putting together our very first Studio Trail, where the public is invited to tour a variety of studios and meet the host artist(s). We have formed a group called "SPIRIT of MANITOU Studio Trail" and you can check us all out at www.SpiritofManitou.ca
Our most recent gathering in Watrous. Shown Left to Right: Helen Herr, Janice Schlosser, Toni Ambrose, Michael Gaudet, Linda Leslie, Edie Marshall, Shaun Macomber, Frank Wilson, Jean Shantz. Missing: Dave and Loa Titman, Maureen Inviarity, Who New Creations, June Jacobs.
We had a little design competition to choose an official logo and I was pleased that the majority chose my design. Wow. I never win things like that. The world must be shifting a bit in my favor. Maybe my time is coming? I've included a link on that site to my "ArtistShmartist" MySpace page so I thought I had better post a notice here and start grooming this site a bit to welcome visitors. And to tell you a bit more about the Studio Trail.
My (first) design for the logo actually got voted in and approved in the heat of the moment...here's what it looks like:
Looks pretty cool, eh? The problem is, as it was pointed out at our last meeting, it's not that easy to read. Legibility is rather critical in the case of logo design We discussed the idea of making the "S" and the "M" look more like an "S" and an "M" by noodling around with it a bit.
After I started working a bit on it I realized that I wasn't 100% happy with it. Seeing as how we are a very new group, and made up of very creative people, I thought we could all stand the strain of scrapping the 1st logo and coming up with a brand-new approach. So that's exactly what I did! After a few more rough sketches and a flurry of e-mails to the membership, this is what I came up with:
There! That looks MUCH better! Now you can see, if you look carefully, just the slightest hint of a "Thunder-Bird" in the 'negative space" (the golden yellow) on the left-hand side. Now that works for me. Kinda echoes the theme of "Spirit of Manitou" quite nicely. It's amazing what you can do when you're a bit sleep-deprived!
Please note: just as soon as I clear my studio of the next few projects, I will be hitting the brushes to create a whole brand spankin' new batch of paintings. I'll post sneak previews of these new works here so you can keep abreast of what's NEW at Gallery Gaudet
Remember, I do live at The Resort Village of Manitou Beach. As the name would imply, we are only a stone's throw from the...beach. The above image is, as you can imagine, gleaned from what my eyeballs actually gazed upon, not that long ago.
Seeing as how the leaves are turning and the garden is almost in (we leave the carrots in the ground till after the first heavy frost to sweeten them up...) I thought it would be appropriate to post a seasonal painting called "Pumpkins in a Pick-up".
Kinda folksy, eh?
I better stick one of my latest paintings on top of the page. Sort of showcase it. Called "I am the Owl-Man" AKA "Who gives a hoot?" this painting is really a portrait of the Northern Sawhet Owl that dropped in for a three-day pit stop last fall on a holdover. He was flying south. He was a fierce little bird, only 7" high and stood his ground against birds twice his size. He wasn't going anywhere until it suited him! I admired his plucky attitude considering his size.
He agreed to pose for some great close-ups so I was able to create quite a detailed rendition. But see for yourself:
"I am the Owl-Man" AKA "Who gives a hoot?"
Slowly but surely I am developing this page...I have gone ahead and built a new slide show that shows the touching-up and UV-blocker varnish-ing of my latest big mural project at Nipawin SK. Called "Nipawin CPR Station c. 1948" (What an exciting title, eh?) This mural was a lot of work but major fun to paint. Here's the slide show:
I guess I will go ahead and post pictures of some other murals just to give you a taste. I have painted over 60 actual murals all across Canada over the years so I will share a few more selected works as we go.
Here's a photo of a detail of the Railway Station mural that shows four of the 4' x 8' panels set up temporarily in the Nipawin Liquor Board warehouse. Shown from left to right are Ken, Mngr of the store, myself and Sandy, president of 'Murals of Nipawin Inc.', who commissioned the project:
The Town of Maple Creek in South-western Saskatchewan contracted a mural to show a "sweeping panorama" of the famous Cypress Hills with various portraits overlayed in a sort of montage:
"ESPortrait"
The idea of working together with other creative people on collaborations has always interested me. I have designed and painted this picture to symbolize this process in action:
"Convergence of Wills" Michael R. Gaudet 2002, re-visited 7-7-07
Believe it or not it is still possible in this day and age to be successful as a full-time professional artist. At least that's what my eternal optimism tells me.
I imagine there are a lot of artists out there who would really love and appreciate their 15 minutes of fame. Especially now with how huge it can be with the web. You know, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Blogging,. et al.
It's funny, I never really considered putting together a website that focuses exclusively on my more artistic side.
It's probably a good idea, seeing as how I have spent a huge chunk of my time here on Earth thinking of myself as an 'artist'.
A few years ago, I got quite sick and ended up pretty much confined to bed for about three months. Not only did I start to go a bit stir-crazy after I shook off the daily morphine habit, I also started to re-evaluate my commitment to being an artist. I realized that my time here (just like everyone else's) is rather limited. You could say that I had a close encounter with my own mortality that shook me up a bit. As well, I realized that I had better start making my own art more of a priority.
The old expression "Do or Die" suddenly took on a more intensely personal meaning.
"Burning to Paint"
I decided that I would start painting for my own personal pleasure, or follow my muse. The thing is, up to that point I had fallen into the habit of allowing the vast majority of my creative time to be taken up with commissioned work. Not that there's anything wrong with that, other than I felt that I had better get things into a more healthy balance.
You might even say that I went into a little period of mourning over all of the lost paintings that I DID NOT DO. I guess this sounds a bit silly now, but once you see all of the work that I have done in the meantime you will perhaps understand how I felt.
Who I'd like to meet: Anybody with an artistic bone in his or her body.
If you are interested in developing your own creativity in whatever form that takes then I would like to get to know you. It is always a hoot to interact with people who are on their own creative journey. It's not the easiest path though probably the most fulfilling of all. Money isn't always the greatest reward if you spend most of your life chasing after it at the expense of sacrificing your natural instinct to follow your creative urges. There has to be a way to have a healthy balance.
CALLING ALL ART LOVERS! All art lovers are cordially invited to spend a few minutes with me here looking at my artwork. Just remember, a lot of this stuff is created unapologetically to please my own aesthetic sense. Ya like it or not. Get it or no. It's all up to you, your eyes, your heart and your spirit...
"In the Zone"
Just listening to Hinkel's songs and want to promote their site:
Wow. Can't believe the big 5-oh is upon me. Does not feel like it. Oh yeah, maybe I do have a few creaks in the places where I once played...Thanks you guys for the bday wishes...it was a fabulously great year and the next year is already shaping up to be a milestone.
LOVE THIS!! How bout "Landing Strip" Is it possible you are still getting better and better in your work? DUDE! You sure do have it! I am getting back into it - I have some blank canvass just waiting for me! Now I'm inspired!
Hey!!! I LOVE the boats! It stinks when life gets in the way of creativity - but I'm so glad you're back in the studio :) I hope all is great with you and your family!!
just dropping in to catch up, sorry mate just so busy these days. How are things with you my friend? Im nearly finnished the works for an upcoming group show which is good, apart from that Ive just been caught up in the work a day world.
Well Hello there handsome! I am assuming that is a painting of lovely Manitou!Very inviting!Yaayyyy,i cant wait to splash and float around,we will have to have a potluck beach party!!Bisou Meshell
How ya goin' Arty Shmarty? This is your friend Ken in another guise. I like this better, I feel my future is in the stars somewhere. Hope your well mate? Ram.
Brother Michael, I've been inspired by you since the first moment we met! Your optimism and beautiful spirit soars in you and throughout your work (in more ways than one) Fly High! Love, Cheryl
Hello to you Michael! It's raining here in Virginia today, but I am inspired despite the bad rap it gets! Hoping you have an inspired week...take care, E.
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