DARCY LEOPOLD POLNY - Blog

There is Still Life

5/11/2023

"The Stage is Set"
After a successful show last October in Edmonton, I am excited to announce the second showing of my watercolours here in Camrose Alberta. My wife Lea and I have strong ties to the community working on wayfinding signage for the city and brand identity. We have received 10 year recognition for supporting the historic restored Bailey Theatre. Camrose is our home and proud to be having the show here.

Opening reception
Friday, Sept 22, from 5-7
Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre, camrose, alberta

The show will continue to the end of October.

The title "There is Still Life" has taken on new meaning for us personally. The watercolours depict how nature is brought into our homes through man made objects. These objects are discarded by past owners and rediscovered in antique stores. I introduce them into a setting that gives them new life.

I was fortunate to have a podcast interview by Artists in Canada. The interview is one hour in length and allowed me the opportunity to talk about the creative process and some of the concepts of my paintings. If you are interested click on this link https://youtu.be/r1xnF-wGuhM

Setting up your own show

11/4/2022

Successful Show

A great deal of work goes into setting up your own art show . We could not have done it without the incredible support from family and friends. The undying energy of everyone that helped carry, unwrap, organize, and position paintings. (Watch for foot salts at Christmas, appropriately placed in your stockings.) Thanks for the emotional support when I was overcome with details and mental fatigue. My wife and I have always looked after ourselves and accomplished life's challenges together. This time in our lives and the magnitude of effort it took could not have been accomplished without your help. My wife, daughter and my brother need special recognition. Thank you from my heart, your effort made the event successful.

There are unseen roadblocks to consider when you set up your own show. Things you do not expect can derail your success. Check details carefully. We booked rooms at a country club thinking we could have access to their 10,000 members. Turned out they have artists members and it would not fit their policies to promote our show in their news letter. People at a club are used to private functions and feel like they are crashing the event so they tend to shy away. The rooms are for weddings and personal functions so extra cost went into lighting to properly showcase the paintings. In saying this it was well worth the effort with the facility size and ambiance adding to make the show amazing.
Look for another show? Absolutely! Negotiating with the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre in Camrose for a one man show September 9 2023

Art Show

9/20/2022

There is still Life

Darcy leopold polny
Watercolours

Legs and art supports. Easel pieces are all cut and ready to drill. Yes you read that right. This must mean the the much anticipated art show is a go.

The show goes on!

After years of covid and family health issues the show title "There is Still Life", takes on new meanings. Five years in the making, the event is set! See you there with a large smile in my heart.

Oct 28th: 6 pm to 9 pm, Opening Reception
Oct 29-30: 1 pm to 6 pm
The Derrick Golf and Winter Club
3500 119 St NW in Edmonton AB

progressive steps

3/25/2022

The final image and the steps below showing the progressive steps in it's creation

Some people wait a life time for a moment like this. My wife said I should focus on the beauty of a painting not in what I don't like or could have done better. Every piece is a culmination of learned effects and mistakes that turn out to be the beauty transferred to the next work. I see the beauty and also see the progress. It is hard to separate the mind and the desire to achieve a goal from the final product. There is always the "Oh could I have done that a better way?"
I am happy with this one, "Oh but wait... I have to do another one!"

January 30th, 2022

1/30/2022

Perception

A friend of mine taught me how to walk the badlands near Drumheller and comb the hills for fossils that lay on the ground. He said you only see what you are looking at. You can be a quarter inch from a dinosaur tooth and not see it. Art has the same property I discovered. We were sitting around at a dinner and one of the people at the table asked me what I paint. Before I could answer someone blurted,"He paints flowers." that is what they saw. My still lifes do contain organics that fit that description but what I paint are settings of discarded objects in an attempt to have people see that there is still life in these objects if you look at them through fresh eyes. Every piece of art is viewed by each person differently. I had a couple over and they viewed all twenty five of my watercolours and asked if they could tell me their favourite. I said sure. They picked two that were only flower representations. She is an avid gardener and these paintings struck a cord with her. Not everyone sees and reacts to the same thing in a painting. This is why a show is important, to reach every appetite and have someone find what they look at and what there minds eye appreciates.
In saying this it is with regret that my show scheduled for April 23 will postponed until the fall. Time yet to be determined.

What's in your retina?

Work in progress

10/23/2021

It has been awhile since I have been inspired to create a new painting. I have two large watercolours started because I lost momentum in the last work. Generally I work on one piece at a time in that way mood and momentum can be kept at an honest pitch. The assembly line method has the danger of bringing the same feeling to each painting hampering the opportunity to improve with each work by creating individual flavours.
The new painting has invigorated the creative process and the renewed energy will transfer to both paintings. The included images show the transition from background to foreground.
I work on stretched 156 lb cold pressed Archers watercolour paper on 3/4" primed plywood. Unprimed wood may tint your paper from the back. I have had too many failures with taping the paper to the board so I use a power stapler and staple every inch around the wetted paper. Soaking the paper for 10 minutes does the trick for me. The paper is so heavy that when it dries the tapes snap. It takes a bit of time to get the staples out but a rubber hammer and a filed down screwdriver work very well.
All this is working toward an Art show April 23-25 in Edmonton.... more information to come
Please share this blog. Thanks.
View paintings at darcyleopoldpolny.ca

self worth

10/18/2021

Feb 14 2020 I wrote about retirement and the change in life and the feeling of identity loss. In 2021 the identity loss is affected by a new catalyst, Covid 19! It has changed me in a way I wouldn't have expected. It has isolated me from who I am. I had to cancel my art show last May, pulled away by the pandemic from friends and social events. I have always thought of myself as fully functional without the need to have a great deal of human contact but the events of the past few years tell me otherwise. Maybe I do need the occasional head rub or slap on the back. What's also missing is the giveback. Slap someone on the back and give them a head noogy.

A slap on the back and a head noogy from me to you

Take care of yourselves and know you are worth it. Don't let the events dictate who you are. A slap on the back and a head noogy from me to you.

So back at it. In the next few months I will be shamelessly promoting my art show in April, "There is Still Life"...2022AC (after covid). The next blog will deal with the details and timing.

The painting below "Crossing Over" is dedicated to my mother who crossed over in March and to all that have similar losses.

There is Still Life (2022AC, after Covid)

10/10/2021

Watercolours by international award winning artist Darcy Polny

The long awaited watercolour art show "There is Still Life", is set to take place October 28, 29, 30 2022. The Derrick Golf and Winter Club, 3500 119 St NW in Edmonton has been chosen as the event venue. The atmosphere and friendly staff make this a perfect showcase for my work. The Derrick Club provides amenities to the community that help add to the quality of life for it's members. My mother worked here as a waitress years ago providing us with the essentials of life. My show "There is Still Life" reflects these qualities.
I take discarded objects that I find in antique stores and repurpose them by placing them in settings that give them new life. With all the unpleasantness in the world as an artist I want to create a body of work that people will find some amazement, in a pleasant way.

There is a story to be seen in everything created by nature and man that takes the viewer on a personal journey

There is a story to be seen in everything created by nature and man that takes the viewer on a personal journey. Empty perfume bottles with glass birds that were lifted by a gentle hand from their perch. A fragrance released to the air that signaled an exotic person had just entered or left the room. Weary storm windows that once protected families from the elements or provided an avenue for a late night rendezvous. Complex flowing tapestries over glass reflect glimpses of busy lives. Female figures console each other in this time, or perhaps a mother and daughter reunion. Light passes through antique glass vases spilling out long colorful shadows that give them a rich new life. My paintings are more than still lifes, they say to the viewer... “There’s still life.” You just have to see things through new eyes.
The work I am doing now is the culmination of everything that I have done and everything that has made me who I am. Every illustration for clients and everything that my wife and I have done or collected in our lives all play a roll in what fuels my creative voice.
Please forward this blog to your friends to help promote the show
View the paintings at www.darcyleopoldpolny.ca

Two most common sizes are: large image 29" x 43" framed 37" x 52"
and medium image size 27" x 21" framed 37" x 30" varying horizontal or vertical.
All Paintings are framed, acid free matt, clearview non glare uv protection, museum quality glass

February 14th, 2020

2/14/2020

Retirement and the mental adjustment

9/13/2018

In our graphic design business, we have owned and operated for twenty five years, there were jobs that became very stressful. The last two years were particularly trying. The details became overwhelming and the complexity created cognitive fatigue. I could no longer take the stress and organize my thoughts. I would breakdown in tears or get angry because I could not communicate my ideas or thoughts to my partner.

It became obvious to me that it was time to retire but this created another problem. I went to art school became an art director in advertising agencies and then opened my own business and that is who I was for forty years. My identity stopped. I became depressed and lost. I needed to focus so I finished my basement, laminate floors and hung ceilings and then worked on my cabin and bought an old motorhome that had to be refurbished and...well you get the picture. This all helped distract me but there was still an underlying problem.

I had to decide what I was, who I was. I have always been an artist and produced illustrations and paintings that have sold in galleries and directly to clients. I have worked in acrylics, oils, and pastels. I needed to change things up and dove brush first into full time painting. Changing my medium to watercolours gave me new life and new inspiration. It has changed my life. I am not trying to paint for a gallery or a client. I am painting what I want and creating what makes me happy. I found who I am and who I should be.

Our daughter introduced my wife Lea and I to meditation. I am in no way a spiritual thinker but the technique of relaxing your mind and being in the moment is amazing. The past and the future exist only in your mind. Let it go. Thanks Lisa. Namaste.
Who knew that retiring would create a feeling of loss and depression but the experience helped when it was time for my wife to retire. I understood what was happening to her and we worked through it together and are still working through the problem of self worth. I am a lucky man to have the family I do and the life I live.

"I could no longer take the stress and organize my thoughts."