"V for Vendetta... or Valentines..."

Title: "V for Vendetta...or Valentines..."
Size: 24" x 36"
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Well, the title is based on the subject line from an e-mail to friends. The purpose of the e-mail? To organize a group outing on Valentines Day. As we all know, when you are young and single, Valentines is the last day you want to spend at home, by yourself…or even be alone for a moment. This is possibly why so many single people dislike Valentines day. So, the goal is to have a bunch of friends, married, dating and single to go out for dinner. I mean Valentines isn’t just about celebrating love for a lover, but it’s also a day to celebrate love for others, and sharing it with those who you love.

So, you’re asking, how does this relate back to my painting? Well, this painting started with a color that I fell in love with, turquoise. I found it during one of my shopping excursion over at Gwatzman’s Art Supplies, a little art shop on Spadina, run by a jaded old artist (it’s fantastic!). I saw the color on a shelf, and figured, I’m going to incorporate this into one of my paintings somehow. It evokes an emotion in me, an emotion I can’t explain…is it excitement? Is it happiness? Is it being content? Whatever it is, it’s bottled emotion (pardon the pun).

So, last week I was about to start a new painting that I had in mind, and figured this would be the perfect opportunity to incorporate turquoise into the background. I started applying thick layer after thick layer…mixing in white to lighten it, and then going back to the concentrated dark color, to build intensity…however, as I developed the background, I developed an urge to make the background an important element of the painting. I had to let the painting sit so I could figure it out. I was a little stumped…after a couple of days, and an encouraging conversation with my mom (who is also a painter) about letting go and doing what I wanted to do. I went for it, I figured this would be my first abstract painting I would produce.

From there on in, passion drove the rest of the painting. As I painted, the subject “V for Vendetta…or Valentines….” lingered in my mind. I want to communicate this statement on a canvas, but how do I do it? Easily…with the most passionate color of all, RED! The color of love and the color of vendetta. And within a couple of swipes…there was the V.

I have to admit…striking that V on the canvas filled me with emotion. Before the first strike, my heart began to pound…after the second strike, it got stronger. Never having experienced it before, I let the feeling linger…

The layers of the paint will forever encase the feeling I had at that moment.

I can say a ton about the similarity and ties between love, passion, vendetta and Valentines. But I will leave that up to some poor university student to argue in their 10 page paper.

Oh, and Valentines dinner with my friends, it’s still on, and it’s going to be fun!

I Love You.

Koray (Core-EYE) Salih

An Experiment in Light and Color...

Colors set off butterflies in my stomach, and the stronger the color, the more intense the butterflies. Call me crazy…or lucky to have found what excites me.

So in my latest experiment with lighting and color, I wanted to see what was possible with the small space in my apartment, and a point and shoot camera. This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to work with Bobby Del Rio and Lindsay Brown to explore the wonderful spectrum of color and light! We ended up working on this project for several hours, partially due to lighting changes and partially due to set changes. Suddenly, I have a newfound appreciation for an assistant (If you know of anyone who would like to work for free, I mean for the love of ART! Send them my way!).

The photos that I have chosen to display here could be split into three categories or sets. The first set were warm-up shots, to play around with different styles of white lights. These are the ones of Bobby sitting in a chair.

Warm-up!

The second set, which I like to call “the man with the devil’s soul,” is meant to build the story of a shady character…clearly a dark individual. For these photos I have drawn on reds and blues to tell the story. It’s rather funny how a seemingly kind friend could suddenly send a chill down your spine.

“the man with the devil’s soul”

The last set is meant to tell the story of “a troubled state”….The troubled state of a couple, a couple of friends? A couple who is dating? A couple of coworkers? Ultimately it’s a glimpse at the troubled state of a couple you may or may never know.

“a troubled state”

All in all, I am rather happy with the outcome, and am happy to share the end result. Please click on any of the pictures above, or go to the Photography! page for more.

BIG THANK YOU to Bobby Del Rio, Lindsay Brown and Carly Brown for all your help!!!


If you would like to be added to the mailing list, to receive an e-mail when new material is posted, please send me a message via the contact page indicating “mailing list” in the subject line.

Thanks so much!

Koray (Core-EYE) Salih

"when I grow up..." or "what may...or may never be"

Title “when I grow up!” or "what may...or may never be"
Materials: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 12”x36”
Date: January 17, 08

It’s been a little over a week since my last posting, and there’s a good reason for that, I’ve been pushing through the last couple of days so I could complete this new painting for you! It’s funny, it looks rather simple, but the challenge is in lighting and working with limited colors (blue, brown and white). I can imagine some of you might find it simple to work with fewer colors, but when you start going with it, you realize that this is an exercise in shading.

So what’s this painting about? Now the title is "when I grow up..." or "what may...or may never be"…Why? We’ve all seen a movie or two about what toys do when we’re not looking, or not at home. Similar to that, this picture tells the story of what this stuffed bunny dreams of. For a logical thinker, sure a stuffed toy is not real. But what if they could think? What would they dream about? Much like a child who often dreams of a grown up independent life, here the bunny dreams of the same.

Of course a stuffed bunny doesn’t grow, nor will it ever, so the second title "what may...or may never be" speaks to the impossible dream. But, the bunny doesn’t need to know that…sometimes, some things are better left unsaid…"sweet dreams!"

Enjoy! 

Koray (Core-EYE) Salih

"ten thousand words"

So Saturday afternoon I had the biggest urge to sit down with my acrylics and just get messy. I tell you, there is no greater satisfaction than getting paint all over your clothes and your hands…and of course on the canvas. I like to think of it as earning your badge of honor.

When I sat down on Saturday, I was going to start a little project. I wanted to paint one of my sketches, but I didn’t think I would get that far. In one hand was my sketch, the other hand, a paintbrush…and as time went on, the painting began to evolve into something a little different than what I had planned.

Instead of painting an old man, I ended up with a young man…and a story. I couldn’t help it, I kept painting, and out it came.

Title: Her: “Love me…”
Him: “I wish I knew how to.”
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 8”x16”
Date: January 5, 08


By 6PM I had finished my first painting, and I was stoked to hit up the second one. A painting I like to call “ten thousand words”...based on the old quote “a picture is worth ten thousand words”

Title: “ten thousand words”
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 8”x16”
Date: January 5, 08


Why “ten thousand words”????…because, every element in this painting impacts the meaning of every other element. Therefore, the painting could have an endless amount of stories….

How did this come about? It began when I simply painted the top of the canvas red. No biggie, I did it to add some color to the layout.

However, as the painting dried…it started to look a little gruesome, like blood. It dawned on me then, this simple background would now impact the outcome of the entire painting. I’ll be honest, it stumped me, I mean what would I add next?…What would do justice to this background? I sat there, staring at the canvas for a while longer before I realized what needed to happen. So piece by piece, ideas came to mind, and everything fell into place. So, “what does the rabbit mean?”…oh, “and the shaped puddle?”

Instead of filling up this page with explanations and meanings, I will leave it up to you to figure it out....after all, that's why it's titled “ten thousand words.” The story is in the eyes of the beholder. Yes, I did find it a little disturbing putting it all together (and I am sure my mom won’t be pleased about it…and no mom, I won’t take it down.)…but, I had to complete it, to see where it was going.

I hope you enjoy!

Oh, the reward to myself for being so diligent Saturday night? It was to go the ROM on Sunday. I figured I would get there a little after it opened...yup...45 min line to get in....the picture says it all, a lineup outside and inside....lame. Needless to say, Sunday was spent in a coffee shop. My home away from home.

Koray (Core-EYE) Salih

"Life of the Troubadour"

The Birth of an Idea!
You ask: “How did this video come about?”
I say: “It was inspired by Sa-Ra’s video for “Feel the Bass”

Probably not an obvious response, but what would be? During the summer, Sterling Sweeney, myself and another friend had the privilege of seeing Sa-Ra perform live at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. The music was intense, colourful, rich and thick! Leaving the concert we were starved for more. We searched the Internet to see what we could find, but we only came up with bits and pieces. Then…there it was, the video for “Feel the Bass.” An artistic music video, with bold colours, unique style and nothing shy of sheer creativity. It was amazing, inspiring…so inspiring I immediately sent an e-mail to both Sterling and Bobby Del Rio, asking them if they wanted to make a video.

The idea of making a video was out there, but what would we shoot?

We let the idea ferment in our minds…for a while…and by a while I mean until the beginning of December. During a late night work session at the Green Room, with Sterling, we got a chance to talk. We started chatting about art and creativity, which lead to discussions around creation, which then lead to the discussion of the video. We were stuck on ideas of what we could shoot, then it struck during a conversation about Bobby’s album “boys, girls and other contradictions,” Sterling suggested shooting a video for one of Bobby’s songs! We quickly started talking about ideas and we agreed that each of us would shoot a video. This would allow each of us to execute our own vision and style, but allowing us to rely on the other person for co-direction and co-production. Sterling, eager to jump on it, chose “Life of the Troubadour,” a melancholy song about the life of a Troubadour.

Preparing for the shoot.

What came next was a whirlwind. On Tuesday, December 11th, Sterling and Bobby agreed on a shoot date of Sunday, allowing them to secure a theatre. By Wednesday, Sterling found a model, by Thursday we were looking at rescheduling due to illness, by Friday, we were back to the original shoot date. To add to the mix, only one location had been secured for the shoot, and we had many loose ends to tie up. It turned into a reality show, “Making of the Video.” No cameras following us around, it was just Sterling and I, pulling together our resources to nail down most of the details for the Sunday. By 9PM on the Friday night we were racking our brains for locations to shoot the video. Aside from a theatre, we had nothing else. So we started thinking of every location that fit the bill, theatres, schools, outdoors, indoors. By 9:30PM I started putting in calls and e-mails to friends and contacts. At 11PM we came up with the perfect location, a Studio/apartment/loft where a friend of ours use to live. The problem? She now lives in England, so we had to get in contact with her old roommate. I sent a message to our friend in England, and to her best friend in Toronto, in hopes of getting in contact with the old roommate. So off the e-mails went. By 1AM on Friday we managed to get a response for both girls. It turned out that the best friend now lived with the old roommate….BONUS! We secured the location. The Sunday shoot was on!

Saturday was a blur….we spent the day planning, picking up the Dog costume, getting food for the day of the shoot, doing test shots, planning other shots and tying up loose ends. To sum it up, a mad chase around the city! By 5PM, we were burnt. We decided to split up and take care of our own things for a few hours, and then we could meet up to discuss some final shots. I should mention, it was about this time that we discovered we were about to get the worst snowstorm in 30 years. When you don’t have a car, and each person is carrying a bag per hand, AND you rely on the TTC to get around town, your concerns begin to grow. I guess I was a little more at ease, as I was going to meet up with Bobby that night, and he had no idea what we were shooting. All he heard was dog costume. I met with him later that night to walk him through the details. Sheer exhaustion had kicked in, and the meeting with Sterling was called off on account on not being able to think straight. I decided it was time to pay a visit to my old friend sleep.

Day of the shoot!

11AM, the snow had piled up rather high…dead silence outside, the sound had been muted by the fresh snowfall. Always a bad sign for commuting. Sterling and I met at my apartment, we packed everything up, and checked our list twice. Our concerns now, how are we going to get around town? And will Jennica, our model, be able to make it down to the Queens Quay with a suitcase full of costumes?

Much to our surprise, Jennica made it to our meeting location!…with a massive pink suitcase full of costumes. The suitcase with wheels was more like a snowplow than a method of transporting clothing…it made for great comic relief. After walking Jennica through the roadmap of the day, we had one last concern. How do we tell her we’re going to shoot part of the video at Jane and Finch, the other end of Toronto (but what felt like the other end of the earth considering the snow)? After dancing around the subject for a few moments, we said it, and to our surprise Jennica didn’t even bat and eye. We were golden. We continued to walk her through the details of the day, and then we were off to shoot. From there on in, the day was fun, long and full of adventures. In total, we shot at three locations that took us from downtown Toronto to Jane and Finch. The snow added to the adventure of the day, but made it memorable.

The video and photos speak for the rest, click on the video below to view it. Be sure to pay attention to the backgrounds you will see some great art by Elyse Robertson and Victor Fraser.
BIG THANK YOU!!!!! to Sterling Pache, Bobby Del Rio, Jennica Beshiri, Victor Fraser, Elyse Robertson, Ericka Duffy and a HUGE THANK YOU to Temperance gallery.

Into a dream world...

So here we go...into the way I see the world....

For a while now, I’ve wanted to show family and friends what I’ve been drawing, painting, photographing and most recently, what video I’ve been working on; however, there have been many roadblocks.

To take a step back, my whole life I have wanted to get in touch with my artistic side, but I have been too busy with school. When school was out, work and sports took up my time, and when I wasn’t doing that, I found something else to do. Basically finding excuses to avoid working on artistic things…due to a fear of failing. Exactly, the fear of failure kept me from doing what I wanted to do. It wasn’t until I learned one of life’s most important lessons that I started pushing forward; our greatest learning comes from our errors! So, here I am learning and moving forward.

The outcome? A few years ago I decided enough was enough, and it was time to get in touch with my artistic side...so I did. I began to work on drawing, a year ago I began painting (with a good swift kick in the butt from my mom), and a little over 6 months ago I started to get more into photography. What's the end result? A website that compiles samples of my work for the past couple of years.

SO! Please take a look at what’s posted, and provide me with your feedback. When you put yourself out there, you want to know what people have to say...

Thanks...

Koray (Core-EYE) Salih