  Proud to be Canadian- yup, love my country. The sun is shiny on this Canada Day holiday and so everyone is outside soaking it up... Back in the studio, on going drop-ins and workshops are happening. Had a great group of woman here on Saturday for an "Altered Spaces" workshop and am looking forward to another fun group this coming weekend for an "Introduction to Encaustics" 2 day workshop. It is always interesting how much I learn from these classes! Hoping to begin watercolour classes soon- for beginners. Looks like I will be waiting until September to start a beginner Acrylic class. Dropping is still every M-W F afternoon and everyone is welcome!!    
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Ok, what happened to spring?? Wet and cold-- have lit the wood stove almost everyday for the last week!! Keeping warn in the studio though with lots going on.... Finished up our Beginning Acrylics classes this week. Great work by everyone; lots of variety of subject in our last projects. We ended the day with some acrylics pours for fun... This past weekend was the opening of our Wet Paint Group show at the McMillan Arts Centre (MAC) in Parksville. It is on from June 9th to July 14th. CHECK it out!! In the other gallery at the MAC is a show by Will Millar (of the original Irish Rovers) called My Irish Rovings-- oil paintings of everyday life in Ireland- awesome! Here are some pictures of the opening: Last weekend was the Central island Studio Tour. Pauline Anglin and I welcomed almost 100 people to chat art and view our work--- and even buy a few of our pieces! it was a great time- perfect weather, gorgeous flowers and enthusiastic visitors. Here are a few pics: The studio has also busy busy with the new acrylic painters; they have taken only 4 classes and are producing some fabulous art! Here are some of the work , in progress--- A wonderfully busy time of year; with the great weather comes spring clean-up, gardening and yard work. It also ushers in the spring and summer art shows that seem to be a reliable venue for showing and selling art for many emerging and established artists. Coming up soon is the Central island Studio Tour- a free self - guided tour of over 100 studios in the mid Vancouver Island, from Parksville to Campbell River. An amazing array of genres, media and styles are showcased in many fascinating studios and often gorgeous gardens. Brochures are widely available. See the web site centralislandartsguide.ca to map our your route. A mobile app is also available -- download it for the map data free.-Ondago Back in my studio, the beginning acrylic painters are really taking off---here are a few of their first works of pears. this week we will be doing a closeup floral- stay tuned! So fabulous to feel the sun, tromp around the garden without wearing big coats, and just enjoy the sights, scents and sounds of spring! Oh the flowers... So, Focus-On sessions have been focusing on flowers: poppies, daffodils, tulips and rhodos. Here are a few photos :             and few more birds by our favourite studio "bird artist" Joe, and a couple of furry studio friends.... After a brief shot of cold, snow and wind it is feeling a lot like spring now with loads of shoots up and lighter brighter mornings and evenings.This weekend we must put our clocks ahead once again, so Spring it is.... Last weekend we had a Cold Wax and Oil Painting workshop here in the studio. Great fun, lots of mess and some very cool paintings. As this is the kind of medium that you can revisit and continue to layer onto, veil out, and scrap back , I am hoping I will have more photos as these works evolve. The watercolour painters continue to produce wonderful works and have fun doing so.... Here are a few recent works from the WCII class and the drop-in folks:
Despite the sunny warm days last week with flower shoots up everywhere.... winter is back with a blast-- brr and snow... We are however keeping warm in the studio- Watercolour II students looking at colour - value, hue, temperature and intensity: making a colour wheel with our warm and cool primary pigments, doing lots of exercise using different colour schemes, and mixing neutrals. Here are a few of our exercises ... 'Last week I took a one day workshop 'Acrylic Abstracts' with Corre Alice of Cumberland, BC. I love Corre's art- check her out. Although I didn't finish any of the 'exercises' it was very enjoyable! I will try to get back to these soon...    Putting people into your watercolour scenes... Another fun day today ---looking at quick sketches and 'stroke' figures. Everyone was impressed with how easy and effective it is to "dab' in figures. Have a look... One the best parts of travel for me is the chance to do some 'plein air' painting everyday. A time to sit back and record the awesome surroundings or 'goings on' of the environment, I love the act of painting small postcard sized paintings quickly. More like drawing, it is mostly about observing and sketching quickly- in pencil, then outlining in Sharpie pen and then painting with travel watercolours ( I have a small Cotman travel kit, and a Koi water brush) Of course, sipping a drink and chatting while painting makes it even more fun! Here are some of the small paintings from my trip to Mexico( Puerto Vallarta and Lo de Marcos) last month:  After a wonderful vacation to Mexico, I am back in the studio and welcoming back both "old" and new art friends . • Drop-in is back on, and it is great to see what everyone is working on! • Winter Classes are starting up... •Focus-on watercolour sessions have also started-today we looked at painting glass. It is a great subject for so many reasons: looking and studying light, reflections, highlights, refraction and shadows. You can setup such intriguing still life arrangements too! Some student works in progress: |
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