{"id":22147,"date":"2016-12-02T00:52:02","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T08:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=22147"},"modified":"2016-12-01T13:16:16","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T21:16:16","slug":"landscapes-alive-with-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/12\/02\/landscapes-alive-with-color\/","title":{"rendered":"Landscapes alive with color"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sandy Blass\u2019 solo exhibit No Other Country is at Zack Gallery until Dec. 12. (photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Artist Sandy Blass\u2019 first solo show in Canada \u2013 No Other Country, a series of landscapes \u2013 opened last week at Zack Gallery.<\/p>\n

Blass has always liked painting, and received her fine arts degree from the University of Calgary in 1984. She worked an office job full-time, raised her family in Calgary and painted as a hobby. Only after her children grew up could she allow herself the joy of following her heart into the arts. Although she still works \u2013 part-time at the Jewish Family Service Agency in Vancouver \u2013 she now considers herself a full-time artist.<\/p>\n

Two important events contributed to her recent emergence as a full-time artist: first, she visited Israel for the first time in 2012; second, she moved to British Columbia in 2014.<\/p>\n

Her show\u2019s title, No Other Country, comes from the Hebrew song \u201cI Have No Other Country,\u201d about Israel, although, for Blass, a Jewish Canadian born and raised in Calgary, the sense of belonging is broader. \u201cI belong in both places,\u201d she said in an interview with the Independent<\/em>, \u201cCanada and Israel.\u201d Her painting \u201cUnder the Same Sky,\u201d an abstract play of lines and colors shaped like clouds, feels like the artist\u2019s manifesto, reflecting her love for both countries.<\/p>\n

Blass\u2019 discovery of Israel and all things connected to Judaism came late in life. \u201cMy parents were Holocaust survivors. We didn\u2019t talk about anything Jewish or about the war,\u201d she explained. \u201cSometimes, my parents whispered about it but they never talked to me. Our home was secular and full of anxiety. My father always told me not to let anyone know that I was a Jew. Of course, after his concentration camp experience as a young boy, his fear was justified. I never questioned it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older she grew, the more she wanted to learn about her roots and her family history. \u201cI felt that I was missing something,\u201d she said. \u201cMy father didn\u2019t want to talk about the past, but my aunt did. She told me some of my family story when I was in my 20s. Later, I started painting with regard to my family history, exploring it through my imagery. I started going to shul. And, finally, I went to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time \u2013 I traveled there in 2012 \u2013 I felt like I came full circle. I have family there, those who survived the war in Europe and immigrated to Israel afterwards. Since then, I\u2019ve visited every year. I have even been thinking about aliyah, but not yet. I don\u2019t feel that it is the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image
“Akko Beach” by Sandy Blass.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After that first visit, Israel found a permanent place in the artist\u2019s heart and in her paintings. \u201cSince I reconnected with my Jewish identity, I paint both Canadian and Israeli landscapes,\u201d she said. \u201cI traveled to Europe, too, but I never painted there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blass\u2019 bright, vibrant compositions are half real and half abstract, although they are always linked to a particular place. \u201cThe sky is always imaginary though,\u201d she said with a smile. \u201cI love painting sky and water. Blue and green are my favorite colors. I love painting reflections, whether in the ocean, a mountain lake, a sea, or just a puddle. This way, water and sky come together, and the best medium to express their coupling is watercolors.\u201d<\/p>\n

She paints her landscapes exclusively in watercolor, her favorite medium. \u201cI fell in love with watercolor in high school,\u201d she said. \u201cI love its flow, the transparency of colors. I tried other media over the years \u2013 oils and acrylic \u2013 but nothing worked for me, while I flourish in watercolors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although watercolor is not the most popular type of paint for professional artists \u2013 the majority throughout the centuries has preferred oils \u2013 she is in good company. \u201cWatercolors have a respectable place in art history. Joseph Turner, one of the foremost British landscape painters, worked in watercolors,\u201d she said, listing well-known artists who used the same medium she does. \u201cToni Onley, one of the few Canadian artists represented at the Tate Gallery in London, worked in watercolors. I also want to make inroads into contemporary art in watercolors.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the reasons for her love of watercolor, surprisingly, is that the paintings are not finished when the artist puts down her brush. \u201cI don\u2019t have complete control. The painting is only done when the water stops flowing, dries thoroughly,\u201d she explained. \u201cI experiment with the water flow sometimes. I have a special art table where I paint, and I might change the angle of the surface to affect the water flow. The results could be interesting. Also, the time it takes to dry could be important. Vancouver is more humid than Calgary, so it takes more time for the paintings to dry here. I like the end results better.\u201d<\/p>\n

No Other Country continues until Dec 12. To learn more about Blass\u2019 work, visit blassart.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sandy Blass\u2019 solo exhibit No Other Country is at Zack Gallery until Dec. 12. (photo by Olga Livshin) Artist Sandy Blass\u2019 first solo show in Canada \u2013 No Other Country, a series of landscapes \u2013 opened last week at Zack Gallery. Blass has always liked painting, and received her fine arts degree from the University […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[2466,3157,4330,6570,6571],"class_list":["post-22147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-art","tag-canada","tag-israel","tag-landscapes","tag-watercolors"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}