Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Regional · 21st May 2009
Dwayne Rourke & Teresa Wild
Cumberland couple celebrates artistic co-creativity.
It was inevitable that we would paint together. We met as artists. We were attracted to each other’s creative energy.
In the excitement of our early days together and seeking a novel way to celebrate New Year’s Eve, we chose to stay home and paint together on the same canvas. Abandoning all preconceptions about what to paint, we invited a painting to manifest itself spontaneously through us.
Like most artists, we had a history of working solo; therefore, we found it extremely refreshing, sometimes daunting, to work so closely with another who painted so differently. Nonetheless, the result of our New Year’s Eve collaboration was an image we both loved. We called it “Primordial One.” Inspired by what we felt was a successful result, we pledged to paint together in this manner, at least once a month.
One by one, over the course of the next year, the paintings appeared. Each one was mysterious to us, often revealing its deeper meanings only well after completion. Highly symbolic, often containing elements of events occurring on the world stage, each painting spoke of more than just our two individual lives uniting. We were discovering the concept of synergy first hand: one plus one equals much more than two!
As the months went by, we encountered moments in our painting process that were very challenging. Co-creative spontaneity is all well and good, but what happens when one’s artistic judgement gets overruled by another?
The process of painting together demands a great deal of patience and mutual respect. We began our co-creative painting sessions by taking turns. The basic ground rule was that if it was your turn, you had complete freedom to do what you wanted on the canvas. As a result, one of us would paint something we quite liked, only to have the other alter it when it was their turn. Inevitably, this caused friction between us. To minimize conflict and to honor difference as artistic opportunity, we decided that changes would only be made after consultation with the other, rather than unilaterally. Eventually we arrived at a simple and conclusive agreement about our process: a painting is not complete until both of us love it!
During our eleventh painting encounter, we unexpectedly began co-creating music to interpret our painting. We recorded a song directly inspired by our painting process. Encouraged by the result, we moved on to compose soundscapes for all the previous paintings. The result was a collaborative series of paintings and music we call The Symphony of 13 Moons.
Because we had assembled numerous digital assets regarding both our painting process and its product, we decided to extend our reach into yet another co-creative realm, that of digital video. The music for each song became a soundtrack for a visual journey into each painting. Finally, we wrapped it all up into a 3 disc CD/DVD compilation.
_____________________________
The Symphony of 13 Moons by Teresa Wild and Dwayne Rourke will hang in Tarbell’s Cafe Gallery in Cumberland for the month of June. A reception and opening for the show will be held at Tarbell’s on Saturday June 6 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM with artist’s in attendance. (All paintings are for sale and creative financing is available.)
Please call Tarbell’s at 250 336 8863 or Dwayne and Teresa at 250 336 2070 for more information. See also: www.lightningpath.net
It was inevitable that we would paint together. We met as artists. We were attracted to each other’s creative energy.
In the excitement of our early days together and seeking a novel way to celebrate New Year’s Eve, we chose to stay home and paint together on the same canvas. Abandoning all preconceptions about what to paint, we invited a painting to manifest itself spontaneously through us.
Like most artists, we had a history of working solo; therefore, we found it extremely refreshing, sometimes daunting, to work so closely with another who painted so differently. Nonetheless, the result of our New Year’s Eve collaboration was an image we both loved. We called it “Primordial One.” Inspired by what we felt was a successful result, we pledged to paint together in this manner, at least once a month.
One by one, over the course of the next year, the paintings appeared. Each one was mysterious to us, often revealing its deeper meanings only well after completion. Highly symbolic, often containing elements of events occurring on the world stage, each painting spoke of more than just our two individual lives uniting. We were discovering the concept of synergy first hand: one plus one equals much more than two!
As the months went by, we encountered moments in our painting process that were very challenging. Co-creative spontaneity is all well and good, but what happens when one’s artistic judgement gets overruled by another?
The process of painting together demands a great deal of patience and mutual respect. We began our co-creative painting sessions by taking turns. The basic ground rule was that if it was your turn, you had complete freedom to do what you wanted on the canvas. As a result, one of us would paint something we quite liked, only to have the other alter it when it was their turn. Inevitably, this caused friction between us. To minimize conflict and to honor difference as artistic opportunity, we decided that changes would only be made after consultation with the other, rather than unilaterally. Eventually we arrived at a simple and conclusive agreement about our process: a painting is not complete until both of us love it!
During our eleventh painting encounter, we unexpectedly began co-creating music to interpret our painting. We recorded a song directly inspired by our painting process. Encouraged by the result, we moved on to compose soundscapes for all the previous paintings. The result was a collaborative series of paintings and music we call The Symphony of 13 Moons.
Because we had assembled numerous digital assets regarding both our painting process and its product, we decided to extend our reach into yet another co-creative realm, that of digital video. The music for each song became a soundtrack for a visual journey into each painting. Finally, we wrapped it all up into a 3 disc CD/DVD compilation.
_____________________________
The Symphony of 13 Moons by Teresa Wild and Dwayne Rourke will hang in Tarbell’s Cafe Gallery in Cumberland for the month of June. A reception and opening for the show will be held at Tarbell’s on Saturday June 6 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM with artist’s in attendance. (All paintings are for sale and creative financing is available.)
Please call Tarbell’s at 250 336 8863 or Dwayne and Teresa at 250 336 2070 for more information. See also: www.lightningpath.net
Primordial One
You are invited to attend our opening!