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Back in 2006 we started painting watercolours directly on gessoed bich panels. Following the natural evolution of thinking processes, as always for me it is normal that things should only become more complicated: in an attempt to build up layers upon layers on the gessoed panels with the watercolours I began to mix in acrylic gel with/to the watercolours, and so entered a further phase, wherein I now make my own acrylics by mixing my watercolours with acrylic gel medium. As such there are as always have been, watercolours on arches paper, watercolours painted directly on gessoed birch panels, and now, acrylics on gessoed birch panels. 07/2010 MZ
Reveiw By Christopher Jones at TO live with culture of our work at the Artist Project http://www.livewithculture.ca/art/variety-spices-up-the-artist-project/
I was also impressed by Micheal Zarowsky’s watercolour
landscapes, above, painted on gessoed birch panels; some of Zarowsky’s
work pushes towards abstraction and it exudes a textural quality
that sets it apart. March 2010- Review of our work at the Artist Project - Dilettante’s Diary www.dilettantesdiary.com/id143.html Micheal Zarowsky’s resplendent effects of leaves and water never fail to amaze. A painting of his in this show presents a row of reddish trees with shadows underneath so rich in their hues that they beckon you to stroll through. www.zarowsky.net ___________________________ Thu 2/25/2010 7:10 AM Piekne: picture of outstanding significance, a revelation, a new way of showing reality or to reveal undercover and subtle phantasies, with a correct framing and a perfect balance of shadows and light, enhanced by a correct resolution, saturation and exposition, with an original point of view and a good depth of field, vibrant colours or a great contrast of black and white, composed with a general harmony of lines and shapes Piekne = beautiful ______________________________ 2009. Posted on U-tube a series of videos of what I can only call a complete incomplete documentation of all paintings i have a record of over the last 20+ years. The same paintings have been published in a series of coffee table art books; ______________________________ March 1 /09 Review in Dillettante's Diary: http://www.dillettantesdiary.com. The Artist Project Liberty Grand Exhibition Place: March 5 - 8, 2009: ......."There were few watercolours on show but I admired, yet again, the fabulous work of Micheal Zarowsky, whose scenes of swamps and snowy fields capture the dazzle of light as no other painter's can."....... _________________________________ July 2008 Review in Dillettante's Diairy: http://www.dilletantesdiary.com Stand-outs of 2008: "But first, some favourites from previous years that we were happy to see again. At the ATorornto Outdoor Art Exhibition (Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2008) ........"It was good to revisit the marvellous encaustic abstracts of David Brown. As examples of the fine art of watercolour, Micheal Zarowsky's dazzling landscapes are always a feast for the eyes......" April 16.08 Dillettantes Diary Review by Patrick Donohue. http://www.dilettantesdiary.com/id92.html Micheal Zarowsky (Watercolours) Leonardo gallery, 133 Avenue Rd, Torornto April 18 - 19...".Readers of this website will remember Micheal Zarowsky's name from several previous reviews of art shows. With meticulous detail, Mr. Zarowsky captures the dazzling effects of light on trees, flowers and water. (to feast your eyes, check out: www.zarowsky.net) Some of his paintings of long shaodws cast on snow by groves of evergreens are enough to bring tears to the eyes of anybody who has the Canadian landscape in his or her heart. The extraordinary things about these watercolours is that they're painted on panels of Norwegian Birch that have been prepared with gesso (a hard surface, something like plaster). Mr. Zarowsky tells me he pioneered this technique because so many art buyers these days turn their noses at watercolours painted on paper and framed under glass. What you lose in softness and transparency, you gain in immutability. But I'm glad to say this show includes some of Mr. Zarowsky's earlier watercolours on paper - still very painstakingly worked and dancing with light - of streets and gardens in Paris." Review by Patrick Donohue of The Artist Project Show - March 2008 http://www.dillettantesdiary.com/id90.html.........."Some artists whom I know from previous TAE Shows have de-campepd to the new show. Micheal Zarowsky's dazzling watercolours keep pushing the envelope by way of taking the medium in new directions (zarowsky.net). His pain-stakingly meticulous nature studies capture the beauty of the outdoors with a unique vibrancy.".... April 2007 - International Art Treasures Web magazine featured our Sprirng Exhibition at the Leonardo Gallery in their online magazine - http://www.iatwm.com/200704/TorontoArt/index.html Feb 2007 .......Elected a member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour December 2006.....Began painting watercolours directly on gessoed birch panels. Never one to be contained by any medium, we have over the years made continuous leaps forward to take watercolour medium in new directions opening new possibilities and have once again done so here. I am now painting with watercolours directly on gessoed Norwegian Birch panels. Working on gessoed panels isn't necessarily much fun, being akin to painting on kitchen counter tops with every stroke beading up, streaking, spiderwebbing, misbehaving like so much spilt coloured water, but i am dazzled by the new textures, the strength, immediacy and directness that results (and my work on paper is strong). The paintings are finished by painting around the 1 3/4" deep edges and as such can be hung without a frame or placed in a float frame. To secure the watercolour, which is merely dry on the surface, i spray coats of fixative, and once dry, lay on two coats of Golden Brand acrylic varnish, to seal it permanently against the elements, same just as any oil or acrylic. Having scoured the internet for anyone else workring this way, I find myself, for a brief moment in time, alone, in a unique position creating somethting never been done before. MZ. Dec 06.
http://dillettantesdiary.com. Nov 8th Entry.......Open Water 2006 Review. (Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, John B. Aird Gallery, 900 Bay St MacDonald Block, main floor just off the lobby, Toronto, until November 24)...... "Many of them are stunning, especially the prize-winners. Take Micheal Zarowsky's "Sunlit Hillside" (Yes, that 's the way he spells his first name); a snowy expanse with blue shadows and brilliant sun on some bare bushes. Patrick tells me he has been admiring Mr. Z"s paintings after discovering them last year and this one really takes the cake! ."..... April 9th, 2006 Review by Patrick Donohue in the www.dillettantesdiary.com "Micheal: Just posted some appreciative comments about your show on dillettantesdiary.com I enjoyed chatting with Wendy yesterday. Patrick" Micheal zarowsky (paintings) Niagara Gallery. 254 Niagara St., Toronto "A sampling of Micheal Zarowsky's watercolours wow'd me at the recent Toronto Art Expo (see review below) so I jumped at the chance to see a solo show of his recent paintings. Here's work that shows you what's happening in the forefront of the watercolour movement. Most of the works are done in something like a pointalist style - tiny patches of colour workring together to build a piciture. The medium, for the most part, isn't used in a very transparent way; it almost approaches gouache inits effect. Up close, it can be hard to make sense of the busy interaction of dots on the canvas but you stand back and you see, for instance an ornate Paris apartment building emerging above a wrought iron gate. The building is not by any means rendered with photographic realism; its more of a suggestion of the building. The main point of the picture is the dazzle of light, which creates the effect of life pulsing in the scene. Apart frpm the many Paris pictures (views frorm a balcony, a hidden garden, etc) there are several magnificent pictures of snow-laden woods and Georgian Bay scenes. The colours in most of these pictures are rather cool but one of the warmer ones shows a stream near Byng Inlet dancing in the light of the setting sun."......"The show includes some works in a somewhat more traditional style: broad swatches of colour, more free-flowing, less painstaking. A few strokes render a sunlit couch against a window. Another picture captures an interior against a moonlit sky. My favourite is a ver simple picture of two yellow chairs and a table on a patio where the play of light and shadow takes your breath away." Aprril 1 - May 6 2006 Annual Juried Exhibition at Latcham Gallery, Stouffville: Awarded Honourable Mention. Jurors written comments about the paintings: "Micheal Zarowsky's large watercolour paintings are technically amazing - he has perfected his own technique. He has an assured hand and his work shows with extremem competence." Friday 24 Mar 2006: Comment posted from Gordodn@hipc.co.uk@ 82.120.239.65. ....Regarding the Devils Paintbrush / Precambrian Rock painting from Georgian Bay....."Realism or impressionism? Or seething symbolism? Zarowsky recreates nature on multi-levels, instinctively - here the underlying 'eyes' 'monstrously' inveigling their way into the image - perhaps unintentional...subconsciously rendering greater satisfaction. Remarkable work, in an impossible medium." March 17th, 2006 - Patrick Donohue (donohue_patrick@yahoo.ca) "hi: Just wanted to let you know that you're one of the few artists whose work received favourable mention in my somewhat disgruntled review of the current Toronto Art Expo. The reveiew is at www.dilettantesdiary.com and it's on the "March 17/06" page. The website is popular with many readers and readership has been growing rapidly. Patrick Donohue. March 2006 - Served as juror on Selection Committee 06 for submissions in the watercolour category to the July 06 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition Feb 2006 - Internationaal Art Treasures Web Magazine (www.iatwm.com) Included in follow up article for "Best of Show Exhibit" at First Canadian Place Gallery, Toronto Aug 2005 - International Art Treasures Web magazine (http://www.iatwmw.com/200508/toae2005/)......Mentioned in review / article on TOAE Award Winners. July 2005 - Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE) - Best Watercolour Award (KPMG Foundation) 2004 - 06 - Cornerstone 52 Foundation, Toronto - publishes watercolour "Light Across the Stream" painting as a X-mas card. May 2003 - second Havergal College Paintings Commission, Toronto. march 2003 - completed and installed commissioned painting "Musee d'Orsay Clock, Paris" for/at Watchcraft, Bloor St W. Toronto Nov 2001 - Completed commission of 23 watercolours for the Southampton Princess Hotel in Bermuda via the Windjammer Gallery Bermuda June 2000 - in conjunction with the WIndjammer Gallery Bermuda, reproduced two Bermuda watercolours for the Elbow Beach Hotel, Bermuda June 1995 - Became a member of the Bermuda Society of Arts. March 26th, 1995. "Off the Beaten Track" article by Anjali Siicar favourable reviews for "The Hindu Magazine" the watercolours I had painted that year. The Hindu Magazine with a circulation of 600,000 is the largest English National Daily in Madras, India. Mrs. Sircar is the most senoir Art Critic on the paper. June 1988 - Tamarack Gallery, Grevenhurst; in conjunction with inaugural opening/exhibition published watercolour "Segwun in Winter" poster. Dec 1989 and Dec 1988 Citibank Canada, bought and published two Zarowsky Ontario Winter Watercolours as Company Christmas Cards Dec 1988 and Dec 1987 Hallmark Cards Canada published two Zarowsky Ontario Winter Watercolours as Christmas Cards Nov 1986. Eveready Division of Union Carbide published Zarowsky Ontario Winter Watercolour both as Company Christmas Card and Print. Sept 1989. Presented the Zarowsky watercolour "Wild Irises, Saugeen River" to Dr. Noel Brown of the United Nations at the Environmental Summit at the Ontario Science Centre. 750 litho reproductions of the painting were distributed / promoted at the event. Nov 1984 - Aug 1984 . Exhibited in the 58th Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour Juried Exhibition, which toured Ontario and Quebec. Then, instead of applying for membership, promptly forgot about the Society until 2007 _________________________________________________________________________________ Magazine Covers Feb 2004. Wildflower Magazine Cover - (Blue Morpho with Heliconia painting) June 1998. Painting Commission for 1998 Lawn and Garden Catalogue Cover for TPI Plastics Inc. Saratoga. NY Dec 1991. Landscape Architecture Review Magazine Cover (Giardinetti Reali Venice Painting) Sept 1990. Seasons Magazine Cover. Monthly Publication of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (Wild Irises Saugeen River Painting) July 1989. Wildflower Magazine Cover. (Calla Lilies Watercolour) April 1988. Landscape Architecture Review Magazine Cover. (Sun-dappled Maple Leaves in the Forest Watercolour) Aug 1995. Muskoka Sun Magazine Cover (Moonlit Irises Watercolour)
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