Island Lake with a Paddle

Island Lake with a Paddle / Acrylic on Canvas / 18"x24"

This afternoon, my good friend Deb and I took some time out of our very busy lives and enjoyed a painting class being held at Island Lake in Orangeville.  The painting above is the result of a thoroughly enjoyable 3 hours of pond-side en plein air painting. Thanks to the Credit Valley Conservation and Art Therapist/Instructor Rubi Garyfalakis for a wonderful experience!

Paradise... Lost?



"Paradise... Lost?"/16"x20"/Acrylic on canvas.

Last month, I had an opportunity to spend a beautiful afternoon painting "en plein air" in Melancthon, just outside of the site for the proposed Mega Quarry that local residents are fighting.  This painting is what came out of my efforts that day. The view I chose to paint looks over the actual site where the proposed Mega Quarry would go. As I gazed out over this rich, lush and beautiful farmland, I couldn't help but mourn the potential loss of such a paradise.  If the Mega Quarry goes through, everyone loses... the residents, the local food movement, the wildlife, the environment...
I painted this work in a style that is new to me but I really enjoyed the process and I'm fairly pleased with the results.  I'll be exploring this style again, for sure.

I understand there will be sets of notecards created from the various works to come out of that day, and each set of 6 cards will be sold for $15.  I'll post info when I know more, as all funds raised will go to fighting the Mega Quarry.

Louis Riel

Louis Riel / 8" x 10" / Acrylic on Panel

This week, in the Daily Paintworks Challenge,  the challenge was to paint Abraham Lincoln. Since I'm Canadian, and since we just met a remarkable Metis woman at the IWC! opening, I chose to do a portrait of Louis Riel instead - to honour her heritage (and my own). (Not sure if it will be accepted by the DPC, but I had lots of fun with it, in any case!   This is for you, Ria! :)

Delicious!

Delicious! / 8'x10' / Acrylic on panel

So, inspired by the IWC! gathering, I decided to launch myself full throttle into blogging!  This is my offering for this week, a simple study of an apple, lit from the window behind me.  It was a fun way to pass an hour, but served as a firm reminder that I've forgotten as much as I've remembered.  Ah, well... guess I'll just have to practice a lot! ;)

IWC!

Just nicely back into the home routine after a wonderful weekend away at the artists' celebration party for International Women Celebrate! and I just feel so incredibly affected by the experience.  I arrived at the Gallery in Ayr, Ontario at about lunchtime on Saturday and was able to meet both Jill Yuzwa (Gallery Owner and driving force behind IWC!) and Jeanette Obbink (who - along with my good friend Kim Rempel - helped co-ordinate much of the show.  Jeanette also designed a beautiful book showcasing all the artwork from the show.)

Once the artists started to arrive and we spent some time mingling, we each formally introduced our paintings and explained what had moved us to create the piece.  Some of the stories were incredibly poignant, others hopeful.  All were moving. A few of us spoke to the women's movement in general terms, but many of us were moved to speak to family situations, loved ones past and present, life situations, future hopes and dreams.   Sharing with women from so many walks of life and from so many parts of the world was a once in a lifetime experience.

Jill Yuzwa welcomes the artists to IWC!

Tammy Hext introduces her painting to the group.

Mingling, visiting, sharing!

Modern technology played a huge part in making this exhibit possible.  Blogs, emails and websites were used to spread the word and bring in contributors.  Skype was used  several times during the weekend to bring us together with fellow exhibitors from the Netherlands, South Africa and other parts of the world. And emails and blogs will be spreading the word about the show (which continues on until April 10th) and the fact that the paintings are for sale, with a portion of proceeds from each work going to Mission of Hope Haiti (http://www.mohhaiti.org/).

Talking to a contributor via Skype.

On Sunday, after a delicious brunch,  an impromptu sharing of spoken word and music on Sunday served as the perfect wrap up to a simply extraordinary experience. I want to thank those who shared their talents - it was lovely.

I'd also like to personally thank Jill for all her hard work and incredible organizational efforts, Jeanette and Kim for all the work they each put in to the show and each of the other contributors for being part of such a great shared experience. And I hope anyone reading this will take the time to travel to Ayr for an afternoon while the show is on and check it out for themselves. Well worth the drive!

More info about the show is available by following this link:  http://www.ayrspace.ca/featured



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The Journey

The Journey / 24" x 24" / Acrylic on canvas SOLD

For several years now, most of my artistic energies have been poured into my writing (www.runningoffatthemouth.wordpress.com) and commercial art. When I do get to paint (which isn’t often), I usually do so for my own pleasure – with no thought to having the work seen by others or exhibited in a show.  

The in the fall of this past year, my friend Kim Rempel (http://www.eatdrinkpaint.blogspot.com/)   told me about a gallery owner in Ayr, Ontario that she was working with to mount a special exhibit of paintings to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (http://www.ayrspace.ca/). Kim and I both decided to answer the call for entries, as did another friend of ours, Debra MacMillan (http://www.myimmaculateconvection.blogspot.com/).

My offering to the exhibit is pictured above. Titled “The Journey”, it speaks to that dark place women have come from in the last 100 years and the voyage they have taken… a voyage many women in this modern world are still faced with.   The style of this piece is a departure from the way I usually paint, but when I set out, I made a conscious decision to try and paint what I was feeling. I really love the way it turned out.

Here We Go!

This is my first post to a brand new blog – a blog devoted to a journey I’ve wanted to embark upon for some time now, but kept allowing life to postpone for me.

For so many years, I’ve pushed the fine arts part of myself to the back burner, telling myself it was because I have other priorities and responsibilities… important commitments… obligations. I told myself I had to be practical – and I was.  But somehow in the process, that little spark that used to flare each time I picked up a brush became dimmer and dimmer each year.

But the glimmer never completely went away… it always nestled there in the centre of “WHO I REALLY AM”, sometimes jostled awake by a painting I saw or nudged into alertness by a particularly beautiful scene that was just begging to be painted.  And sometimes it would ache, quietly… whispering, “it’s time…”

I’ve had this blog named and ready to go since May of 2010.  I’ve known this was coming, and I made sure I was ready.  And now – I think it really is time. So – after a hiatus that has spanned one full decade and has long fingers reaching into another – I’ve lifted my brushes again.

I was given the final “push” to get going when I was encouraged by friends to join them in answering a call for submissions to a project celebrating International Women’s Day (International Women Celebrate, AyrSpace Gallery, Ayr, Ontario:  http://www.ayrspace.ca/)  And ironically – I named the piece I submitted “The Journey” – referring to the dark place women have come from, and the journey they have taken… a journey many women are still faced with.  Maybe subconsciously, that painting was – in part – acknowledging this journey I’m embarking on as well.

Part of my inspiration for this blog came from my friend Kim Rempel who has been posting beautiful daily paintings to her blog for over a year now (http://www.eatdrinkpaint.blogspot.com/). I've really enjoyed watching her already considerable talent grow and blossom - seeing her confidence as an artist grow as well.  I know my life won’t allow me to commit to daily paintings, nor will I suggest that I’ll be able to keep to a strict timetable on this blog any time soon.  I want this to be a joyous journey but I do recognize that it still has to fit into a life that also includes raising two children on the teetering on the brink of entering their teens, running a home, and working with my husband to publish a monthly newspaper and run two radio stations. But I will commit to posting a couple of pieces of work each month - something I think is a realistic goal to begin with.

I hope you’ll join me as I explore the part of me that’s been in hibernation for so long.  It promises to be an interesting trip!
As Oprah would say… Here We Go