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Looking Up

Looking up is not high on the list of modern vices But eyes raised gives rise to thoughts of how nice is The shifting blueness backing a palette of vapor splashes Still from below but moving swiftly on high white slashes

Looking up from my feet I see dancing spirits on breeze

My earthy walk is gravitas but lightness up above, a sea Of open flowing hopeful kind and gracious giving free Suspended…

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Peace Tower on Earth, Good Will to All People

Peace Tower on Earth, Good Will to All People

A Tower Called Peace

  At the center of Parliament Hill stands

Peace on earth, good will to all people

A tower that someone named Peace

  A Maple Leaf flag flies above this tower

Peace on earth, good will to all people

The symbol of a nation called Village

  This Village is a colorful and orderly mess

Peace on earth, good will to all people

Of all kinds, pieces from all over making a mosaic

  Tr…

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On Trees and Suburbia and Civic Disobedience

On Trees and Suburbia and Civic Disobedience

On Trees and Suburbia and Civic Disobedience

  Suburbia is my country, my home and native land. Suburbia is where I live. I live in an uneasy peace with Suburbia; a fragile peace. Not in outright rebellion. I take my cue from the trees of this country and opt for a quiet form of Civic disobedience.

  Suburbia as a land is the ultimate expression of the human need to control, to subjugate, to…

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Thoughts on an Ice Cold Blue November Morning Upon a bitter and beautiful November So cold the snow grumbles under your feet Dogs and kids create zig-zaggy patterns…

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Where the Color Goes It's that time of the year again When it's fine to stare at your toes Because at this time of the year That's where the color goes - Ron, October 17, 2018

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Bison Byways I made a bison.

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Caribou Tracks I made a caribou.

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Current Lynx I made a lynx.

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Philippe It has been a long time since I did any life drawing. Yesterday, as Philippe, the young man I work with as respite, was watching "Mulan" on his tablet, I sketched him in profile.

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Earth Bear I made a bear.

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A Horse of Different Colors

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Uprising Up North

Today I’m simply sharing a photo, a song and some lyrics.

I went to see the Sam Roberts Band at the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival last night. Sam Roberts is the kind of artist that inspires you to “kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight”, to quote another Canadian musician (Bruce Cockburn).

He chose to honor Indigenous Day by singing his song “Uprising Down Under”. Below is posted a link to…

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Making Sunshine Out of Night

Making Sunshine Out of Night

Making Sunshine, Ronald Kok, 2018, Acrylic on canvas

28 years seems like a long time to be with one person. But 28 years also goes by in a beat of the heart.

It is my 28th Anniversary today. On May 26, 1990 we were two young people who didn’t have a clue what was ahead, as is the case with every other couple walking to that altar and saying their “I Do’s”. Those years have sped by but they are…

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Fowl Fotos

During lunch time on the banks of the Rideau River in Ottawa in Springtime, you find out who your friends are. In my case today, my friends were fowl; waterfowl to be exact. These “friends” were of the mooching variety, of course, floating around waiting for a hand-out. But instead of taking offense at their self-serving attention, I took photos instead. Then I arted them up to share on my blog!

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Just a Tulip Today

Yellow Tulip, Ronald Kok, Chalk Pastels, 2018

Just a tulip today.

That’s all I got.

But if you got a tulip a day

You got alot.

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Divinity with Talons

Divinity With Talons, Ronald Kok, pen and pencil crayons, 2018

The Eagle: Symbol of courage, strength, and immortality; “the kind of the skies”; symbol of Rome; connected with Zeus, Odin and the God of the Jewish-Christian scriptures; in Gospel symbolism, the image of Jesus as God from the gospel written by John the Revelator.

A few months ago I did a commissioned work of art for someone in which…

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Ronald Kok, “Silvia’s Sunflowers”, mixed media mosaic on board, 2018

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However, my latest artwork isn’t so much imitation as it is edification in the purest sense of the word. I took another artist’s work and built my own work on top of it, quite literally.

Over the last year I’ve stumbled upon a mosaic style that has resonated with me. Most of my mosaic creations have been done on what I call “Wal-Mart art” canvases; that is, I purchase an art print that I find at a second-hand store, something originally sold via a store like Wal-Mart or Ikea or Homesense, gesso over it and resuse it as the base for a new mosaic. The “original” print disappears and my new creation appears.

I had purchased an art print on a board at my local Value Village a few months ago. It was an interesting work of sunflowers in a vase:

I really liked the image on this print and had intended to somehow incorporate another artwork into it. However, it ended up setting around in my basement until some inspiration struck: Why not use the image as a template and build a mosaic over top? So that’s what I did.

In the process, I discovered that the artist of the original is Silvia Vassileva, a Bulgarian-born painter who has been incredibly prolific in her lifetime. I scrolled through literally thousands of art prints of hers on sale online, searching for these sunflowers. Finally, I just searched “Vassileva sunflowers” and got the image immediately. It is titled “Sunflowers in a Bronze Vase”. My title? I thought “Silvia’s Sunflowers” was appropriate, considering what I owe her in my edification of her work.  If you want to see more of what Silvia Vassileva has done, check out her work on Art.com.

Below are images of the process the artwork went through to go from Siliva’s print to my mosaic:

Silvia’s Sunflowers It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However, my latest artwork isn't so much imitation as it is…