Karen Lorena Parker Art Blog — BremerPark.com



“We are still building similar to how the Egyptians built the Pyramids”.
—David Fisher

Constantly changing shape with rotating floors, this 80 storey building worth $3billion (to develop) will be 420m tall. Built by Italian architect David Fisher, the central core will have elevators that fit cars to drive into apartments. The Dynamic Tower offers infinite design possibilities as each floor rotates independently. Between each floor are horizontal wind turbines to the twoer can generate enough energy to power five other towers of similar size.

“it will only take size days to complete one floor” this tower should take 20 months. Construction will be greatly reduced due to parts being fabricated in Italy. (Compared to the average floor of traditional buildings being 6 weeks). The second tower to be built in Moscow with completion date for 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY0Uuyf8Xhw

The Picasso Exibit at Emirates Palace was as incredible as the hotel. In Canada it is rare to see Picasso’s paintings. The last “big” Picasso show at the Vancouver Art Gallery had primarily sketches and rough drawings of his work. 186 Paintings from neo classical to cubist, sculptures in bronze and sheet metal, the show was so inspiring as the collection came from successive studios. Blending his art and his life, arranged chronologically by themes or settings, I will be going back to Abu Dhabi often.

We were fortunate enough to have a tour from one of the managers of the hotel. He took us through the ballrooms and corridors and giving us insightful details of the beautiful building. Gallery One had the Picasso Exhibit, and Saadiyat Island featured at Barakat Gallery the history of Abu Dhabi and the future plans for the Louvre, Guggenheim Museum, which will cover 30,000 square metres devoted to modern and contemporary art. Incredible displays of what is being built and projected. Walking through the halls, they had a photographic display “Abu Dhabi Through Your Eyes” branding the capital of the Emirates.

Gugghenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi

Louvre In Abu Dhabi

Incredible intricate patterns, detail after detail; online has a beautiful gallery, virtual tours of the suites.. Designed for VIP’s, GGC’s, celebrities: the door handles are worth 5000$ dollars, 20,000 gallons of water a day are used for the plants, 100,000$/ month is spent on flowers, they sponsor Lashings the international cricket team. During George Bush’s recent stay, his IT department contacted Discovery Channel to do a documentary on the technology of this hotel.

Picasso Quotes from the Exhibit
“Painting is not meant to decorate apartments. It is a weapon and we must use it.” - a bronze skull with clenched jaw, frightening in it’s worn polish, with no trace of humanity. Picasso defended Republican Spain, and the allegory of Spain’s suffering, misfortune

“I couldn’t see her, imagine her, except crying.” Picasso speaking of Dorema. Over 60 variations on the theme of women weeping, grief. In Guernica, grief dominated his proprietary sketches, but did not appear in the final painting. His figurative portraits of sexual tension, devouring each other, anger, weeping, expressive outbursts. He was deeply influenced by African masks that focused on gaze and sexual descriptions. Iberian Art that influenced the importance of sculptural volume, stylizing his work into structure, linear details, geometric forms and a fixed deep gaze.

Plato’s Origin of Love: the myth that man had 4 arms, and 4 legs. When man opposed the gods, man was severed to produce two separate beings, always trying to find the other half. Love is finding unity, and completing your appearance.

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Silicon Oasis
Thank you to all that could make my show at Silicon Oasis! I really appreciated you coming and hope to have another exhibit of Dubai inspired work soon.

Morning Light Mosaic 40″x30″
Working in shimmery aqua palettes as the cool tones light up the sky.

I am working on a show for June 13th in Silicon Oasis. Not something I could have put together — unless I happened to meet a friend from my Calgary elementary school, Junior High and Sr High… Incredibly enough I did! Playing ultimate at Safa Park with some Canadian friends.

I meet her children, and she invites me to her parties. She has lived in Dubai for four years and has connected with so many people. We laugh at how incredibly bonded you can feel to another Canadian, instantly out here. One of her friends says, “Even Americans! You just want to hug them because they’re North American!”

It is amazing how every day you are exposed to different ideas, people, values, education levels and understandings. I hear people complaining about how things are built and torn down here. But i compare to Vancouver where it takes 4 years to do a study on building a bridge. I’d rather spend the 4 million on building and revising and getting it done, than paying for studies.

I have found a supplier of canvasses and have been painting at the Jam Jar close by in the Al Quoz area. A open studio / warehouse concept where kids and adults can paint. A lady comments on my work in progress and how she loves the thought of cooler weather. How it reminds her of home. I am glad to find my work resonates out here.

I also met a wonderful artist Marina Harris who has been another instant best friend. I will be joining her as an art instructor at DUCTAC. (The arts center in the Mall of Emirates). A talented artist and someone who has been helpful in introducing me to the art scene here in Dubai. I hope she will join me in the exhibit on the 13th. A painting from her boat series. Greek Artist Marina Harris Boat Collection.

Doing my best to get up to the same level as my Vancouver Studio.
In progress.


Strata Shore Diptych (rough) 16″x20″ View Finished piece online.

Aqua Vase Rough 12″x18″

I have to start thinking in centimetres in Dubai!

The United Arab Emirates

In 1971 the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm-al-Quwain formally established the constitutional federation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Though each emirate maintains a degree of independence, the UAE is governed by a Supreme Council of Rulers made up of the seven Emirs from each emirate. This Supreme Council appoints the prime minister and the cabinet.

Nestled along the south-eastern portion of the Arabian Peninsula (see map) the UAE is 83,000 sq km and shares borders with Oman to the north and east, Qatar to the west and Saudi Arabia to the south and west. The capital is Abu Dhabi.

The UAE is largely desert with rocky mountains, oasis and some fertile plains. The UAE is also one of the world’s fastest growing holiday destinations. Tourist attractions include sun, sea, sand, sports, world class shopping, top-notch hotels and restaurants and traditional culture.

Dubai is the most populous and second largest emirate after Abu Dhabi. The majority of Dubai’s revenues come from the Jebel Ali Free Zone and tourism. Interestingly less than 10% of the Gross Domestic Product is from Oil.

Due to the very large scale construction and development boom Dubai has attracted world attention in its real estate project. Dubai also hosts the rich horse race and boat race, conferences and shopping festivals.

The population is largely expatriates and the UAE nationals (Emiratis) are actually the minority. Within the Expatriate population the largest group is from the Indian sub continent, the rest comprises of people from all corners of the world.

The official language is Arabic but English is widely spoken and used in day to day business activities.

Never sure how personal to get online as I spend my days in Dubai with my family adjusting and catching some internet moments in cafes.

On my first day, no one in the neighborhood accepts VISA or traveler’s cheques My cash has run out by noon. I try a bank, but they need my passport to cash the travellers cheque, which my husband has at work. The goal of the day was to buy some bedding and things and thankfully I find a store that accepts Visa.

The boys mood improves with each air conditioned stop and this store is no different. We each get a basket, and they find the toy section. Everyone chats with the boys, touching their cheeks. I get two male personal shoppers to help me with items. No worries on finding anything! I find a little 15$ computer for the boys, that my personal shopper shows his assistant how to add new batteries — so I can confirm my purchase.

The sun is hot as we prepare for the 50 degrees to come. The boys hats are wet with Evian water as they evaporate in the sun. Reminiscing about Vancouver weather, they ask if it will rain in Dubai.

We walk into a free internet cafe that seems to be part of something more formal. There is an art exhibition, waterfall, and the security says it is a Museum. It looks more like the Board of Trade. I give him my card and get the name of the gallerist. The exhibition at a glance seems to be a history of the Sheikhs.

I am soaking it all in, inspired. But know i am not set up for any kind of painting right now. Getting a phone and internet are my main priorities. My ‘temporary studio’ is in Customs,, but tomorrow( Friday/Saturday) are the weekend here. People work on Sunday 8-1.

The sign says, “Low Crime is not No Crime.” Our taxi is driving us back to Muraqqabat. The beautiful roundabouts and smell of flowers drift by. Silk trees with soft open leaves, hardy hibiscus type trees with small flowers, I can’t figure out what the scent is, can’t be the snap dragons. I tried showing the boys how the flowers SNAP! but they are not amused. Somehow I remember my sister and I enjoying snap dragons so much. i don’t even know if that is the real name.

We make paper airplanes from the mall map at Starbucks, and the boys enjoy watching the machinery constructing the new train line. On the map, we show them that once completed, we will be moving into a new Villa in Mirdiff, close to the airport. Dubai feels like home. The new Burkeville (by the airport) and an extension of the Vancouver RavLine under construction.

The streets and neighborhood seem ordinary and dirty today. A Zamboni cleans the large sidewalk. Men walk around in bright pink and stiff peach dress shirts with creases from the package. A small beige fly with clear wings is dead; crushed when I closed my laptop. I assume the last crumbs on my keyboard protector were worth the risk.

The boys are asleep on my lap at Starbucks. We move in one 80 pound bear hug to the long couch. “To protect the quality of the coffee you are enjoying please refrain from smoking.” I realize I can’t connect to the HotSpot. I am frustrated with my Dubai office. I fantasize I am JK Rowling writing at a cafe while her baby slept.

I’m glad to be here, in the incredible city of Dubai. I’m optimistic, and feel it was the right thing to leave Vancouver — as a family. I’m glad we all came out together.

The boys are tucked in for the night as I’m sipping espresso at a free internet cafe. I feel like I’m in the early formation of a New York. Next to me on Skype, an Egyptian with a German accent has his cigarette burning in the ashtray. People walk by in a cool breezy evening.

We arrived safely at the DXB airport with all our bags intact. Everyone nice and helpful. We couldn’t find the person to meet and greet us, so we took a cab. The 15 minutes it took to find the district of Murraqqabat were doubling quickly, as the driver asked directions in all the back alleys. But we found our wonderful two bedroom apartment in the dark, two hours later. A concrete maze of closed rooms and muffled echoes.

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Jumeirah beach is stunning. Clear aqua green water, beautiful sand with nothing to hurt or tickle your feet. The sand is smooth, and in sections like an ashtray of beige cigarette filters. At 8 am, it’s thirty degrees with clear bright sun, the water refreshing and cool by evening. A very busy beach with a neighboring nightlife, but enough room for everyone. The boys in their hats and shorts left their fleece Vancouver pants behind and never looked back.

Children splash in random regular wear led by two women in full black dress — a daycare outing? Bikini’s on every form of European, Indian, Egyptian. A rare glimpse of Asians is the only fleeting familiarity of Vancouver beaches.

Lifeguards in high lookouts with binoculars focus on the beach dwellers, not particularly the swimmers. A big sign says NO CAMERAS. We hear a sharp whistle blow as the binoculars attract someone’s attention.

People smile at the boys and tousle their hair. My surprise at their affection reminds me of Canadian’s sterile culture. It feels simple here in the sand. People swimming in their clothes, men and boys in their white underwear. Among the stretch of sand, only two people sitting in beach chairs.

Everyone should have the pleasure of rolling waves and clear beaches. How many people never see a beach, or go once a year? The sun disappears at 8pm far above the horizon. At sunset, no sun for an hour and the beach is well lit.

What was a warm yellow glow in a hazy sky is suddenly evening, in shades of grey. I point out the bright crescent moon is directly above us.
“Where does the moon go?” my four year old asks.
I reply that it is always there, but we can’t always see it. He remarks, “
I want you and Dad to keep looking for fun things for us to do.”

Some new abstract works as part of the Circle Patterns collection.

Detail of Catherine’s Pond - First Panel

Catherine’s Pond- rough draft
Acrylic on Window panes for office ‘aquarium’
27″x57″ Diptych

The diptych is in progress on my site, but i plan to merge a ‘time lapse’ here when it’s completed.

All packed and downsized to the essentials as I finish my last commission.

This is the commission that inspired my entire pond series. As each was a study based on a photo I took of my neighbors beautiful pond. It has been wonderful hearing the stories of clients and their relationship to fish, water and the cool sedate colors.

I think it will be a beautiful piece as the light comes through the window and changes the image. Morning light from the east to the warm west light refracting the glass at a different angle. Will post when I have finished the piece.

I always find commissions so interesting. Perhaps from my graphic design days where you are challenged by being the medium for the clients vision, but also expressing yours — as the client chose you for a purpose. They wanted to see the life you brought to it, they appreciated your vision. It has become a balance in the studio, of trying to paint for someone else, but still feel like it is your own personal work and your expression. I also like the learning process and challenge of discovering a new medium, technique, subject. Perhaps it gets easier with time when you realize your style, as do your clients. The proofing stages and preliminaries are not as extensive, the vision is clear.

Me with the girls

DJ Parlange and Suzka were incredible! Highly recommended! visit their site at Suzkamusic.com

Packing up as we get ready to leave Vancouver after a fantastic party with wonderful friends.Thanks to all that could make it on such a busy Easter weekend. If you have photos, please send them!

I feel like I will never lose touch with anyone, that I am not really leaving, just having an adventure and will see everyone very soon. I will be back in Vancouver with people saying, “I thought you left?” I think the saddest part for me is packing up my studio! The fact that I have to shut it down for a period of time, get set up elsewhere is devastating. And the struggle of deciding which colors are most important for my carry-on!

I was fascinated that most people wanted to see my studio, and interested to see what I was working on. Strata Shore (acrylic on panel 8″x32″) was just finished
today, after interest in the ‘almost final’ product downstairs. It always inspires me when people are interested in my work. Great motivation to finish the rough drafts. Inspiration from clients! It’s like their creative energy is added to the piece.

Thank you Vancouver! Lynette and Ivan at Enigma, Dave at Novo Furniture, you have been wonderful.

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm” - Sir Winston Churchill