Tree Time
May 4, 2024 – May 25, 2024Studio SH242, The Cotton Factory
May 2024. A show of pieces made with natural inks, most of which are from trees.
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KMcArthur_Buckthorn_Moon_May2024
2024, 24” x 18.25” Acrylic gel, titanium and zinc white, inks made from natural sources (buckthorn, logwood), filter from ink-making, vine charcoal, water, gravity
More than any other ink I've made from scratch, Buckthorn has taught me chemistry and humility. It responds beautifully to an alkaline or an acidic 'push' and can become a strong yellow, a lovely magenta or a rich green. It can also 'eat' other less powerful inks and destroy paintings - I learned this through experience. This ink was made from berries I harvested at my cabin on Georgian Bay.
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West&NorthWalls_TreeTime_May 2024
Buckthorn Moon, Dance and Ukraine on the Brick. On the left (north side) is Cochineal Moon - a piece that is unfinished for Tree Time, but will lead the way into the next show...
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TreeTime_MyKitchenWindow_InkCharts
Colour chart comparisons to show shifts in chroma over time, My Kitchen Window, Ink Book with swatches and a little dyed paper book.
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TreeTime_EastGalleryWall
East Gallery Wall for Tree Time, May 2024
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My-view-from-the-Sylvia-Restaurant
View from the Sylvia Hotel Restaurant at English Bay, Vancouver. I was there in March 2022, inspired by the Crimean Lindens that grow along the beach.
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KMcArthur_TreeTime_WestWall_wCello
West gallery wall, with cello
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Ink_Colour_Wheels_Lightfastness_Comparison
Natural inks change over time, like fall leaves do, but more slowly. I wanted to know how they would change over 2 years, so I could plan the paintings accordingly.
I made a colour wheel in October 2022 when the inks were fresh, and took a photo of it. The lower wheel shows the original piece and how the colours have changed in the light over 20 months.
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KMcArthur_My_Kitchen_Window_May2024
2022, 24” x 18.25” A painting of my kitchen window using only inks I made with kitchen things
I used ink I made from yellow onion skins , cochineal bugs (which is where red food dye #1 comes from), chickory, black rice, and a copper penny (the blue-green). Some acrylic titanium white for the sheers - a slight cheat there.
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KMcArthur_Dancer_View_Three_May2024
2024, 18” x 48” Acrylic gel, titanium and zinc white, inks made from natural sources (brazilwood, lac insects, logwood, osage, gum arabic), vine charcoal, washi paper, water, gravity
Check out the photo of trees through the windows of the Sylvia Hotel Restaurant. She's the one on the right, the one who started me thinking about trees and time. So gestural!
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KMcArthur_Dance_May_2024
2024, 42”x42” Acrylic gel, titanium and zinc white, inks made from natural sources (black rice, buckthorn berries [LH figure], brazilwood, chestnut, cutch, gum arabic, logwood [RH figure]), filter from ink making, cello C string, vine charcoal, water, gravity
I think of my parents when I look at this piece. Dancing together in the brilliant life they shared. Both have passed in the past five years, and this show is in large part an exploration of my respect and love for them.
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KMcArthur_English_Bay_May2024
2024, 30” x 36” Acrylic gel, titanium and zinc white, inks (logwood, marigold, brazilwood, osage, gum arabic), vine charcoal, washi paper, water, gravity
A view of English Bay, with Vancouver Island in the background. The walking man is headed to Stanley Park. I imagine the Dancing Tree as a thought form in this one
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KMcArthur_Eclipse_May2024_TreeTime
Hamilton was on the path of the April 2024 total Solar Eclipse. About 20 of us climbed on to the roof of the Cotton Factory and watched it together with a bottle of wine. I'll never ever forget the magic of that day as we watched the City grow dark and cold, with colours dancing all around us.
2024, 24” x 24” Acrylic gel, titanium and zinc white, collage (ink filters, washi paper, vellum), inks made from natural sources (brazilwood, buckthorn, cochineal insects, osage, fustic, logwood), water, gravity
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KMcArthur_White_Tree_May2024
2024, 36” x 36” Acrylic gel, titanium and zinc white, inks made from natural sources (brazilwood, fustic, marigold, osage, pomegranate iron gall), washi paper, water, gravity
The pink in this piece comes from Brazilwood, an endangered tree that grows in Central and South America. I source my extract from an ethical Vancouver company called MAIWA.
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KMcArthur_Ukraine_May2024
I arrived in Vancouver and the Sylvia Hotel two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. The trees that so fascinated me through the restaurant windows are Crimean Lindens (Vancouver identifies their city trees on a website). This piece is a lament for Ukraine, and also Palestine, Sudan, The Congo and anywhere in the world where a people are being repressed. It is a prayer that we learn how to stop killing and oppressing each other.
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KMcArthur_TreeTime_Title_wide_May-2025
Found wood, light, wall, title