Newsletter

MUSINGS

Well, my favourite season of the year is HERE! The aspen woodlands are a soft golden yellow interspersed with the dark conifers. No strong winds or driving rains have come to bring down the leaves so we are enjoying a long, long fall with warm weather that everyone is enjoying to the utmost. I am spending most of my time putting my garden to bed. Unfortunately, my studio time has taken a bit of a hit but with numerous shows and a Christmas market (or two)  around the corner, I will definitely have to pick up the paintbrush.

UPCOMING SHOWS/EXHIBITIONS

SOLO SHOW OF MY LANDSCAPES- OCTOBER, 2022

"PRAIRIE DRIFT: A PERSONAL JOURNEY" at Highlands Public Library

October-December, 2022

MUSINGS

It feels like spring is just around the corner with the longer days and bright sunshine. Winter is still desperately trying to hang on with the occasional snow squall but the warm winds of spring quickly melt any fresh snow. The local art community is also experiencing spring fever as many of the spring shows which were cancelled over the last two years are back in full swing! And that means I have to start painting! I have started a mixed media series based on the daylily which will be showcased in of those spring art shows. But I really need to start some bigger paintings. A few ideas are percolating...you will just have to wait and see. 

 CURRENT and UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

"PRAIRIE DRIFT: A PERSONAL JOURNEY"

In this solo show, I am exhibiting a collection of landscape works that I created over the past four years. The Alberta prairie is showcased in this exhibition, portrayed in a wide variety of mediums ranging from graphite to acrylic to mixed media. This show is at the Zyp Gallery, Calmar.

I will be one of the vendors at this spring market showcasing my fused glass items and some of my "Easter" crafts. I will only be there on Saturday, April 9. 

I will have my daylily series on display at this particular art show. This art show takes place at the A.J. Ottewell Centre (Red Barn, Broadmoor Blvd., Sherwood Park)

I know, I know. Two art shows on the same weekend! What was I thinking?!? I will be showcasing some of my landscape paintings at this art show. It takes place in the St. Albert Place Rotunda.

 WHAT'S IN THE STUDIO?

Thoughts and hopes for an early spring have been on my mind and so I started a new series featuring bright, sunny daylilies. I have completed several small mixed media paintings, including my first one on a round birch panel. 

MUSINGS

Alberta has been fully embraced by winter. We survived two weeks of bitterly cold weather ( -30 Celsius) and are now in a "heat wave" of above freezing temperatures which everyone is relishing before the next cold front moves in. January has been a good month for me as I have been getting back into my painting by taking  some small steps. I am currently finishing off older works that have been sitting on my shelves unfinished and mocking me as I walk past them. I have also just attended a planning meeting for an upcoming local spring art show. Yippee!!! That means I need to start producing some new works. Exciting!

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

"Deep Freeze" 

Again I have had several works accepted into the Deep Freeze Festival to be displayed at the Carrot Community Coffee House  (Edmonton) for the month of January. This annual event held on Alberta Avenue at a variety of locations celebrates winter! 

One of works on display at the Carrot Community Cafe

"Mountian View", acrylic, 12 x 16

"ISOLATION"

This group show features artwork created or in response to  the Covid-19 pandemic. All artwork can be found at the Stanley Milner Library, Second floor in their reading room. It will run from January 15-March 26. Three of my works from the "Nesting" series are featured. 

"CREATIVE GENES"

This is a very innovative show idea. VASA members and their relatives can submit an art piece to exhibit. My niece and I have both submitted a work and our pieces were accepted. The show runs all of February at the Hemingway Centre, St. Albert.

"Roadside" by my niece

CURRENT WORKS

One of the unfinished works I did indeed finish.

Current title " Jasper Outlook" but it may change.

Second one of my "Daylily" Series

Mixed Media, 12 x 12

(I could not capture the background colours properly...painting is more vibrant in real life)

MUSINGS

With snow on the ground and the fireplace roaring, I am hunkering down for the winter. I am excited to start a new series of works based on the daylily. I have the name of the series " Transience" but now I need to create the works!   I missed out on  the Strathcona Art Society Christmas Marketplace because of a head cold but I did participate in two other local winter/holiday markets which was a new experience for me. Hopefully, I will be able to get back into all of these three winter/holiday markets.  The Christmas tree(s) still needs to go up but I hope to get some painting in as I decorate the house. Happy holidays and take care!

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

I have three works in this show. 

I have three works in this Cash and Carry Show.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

I am very pleased to say that I will have three works in an upcoming exhibition at the Stanley Milner Library (Edmonton). This show titled " Isolation" will present works that artists have created during the pandemic or in response to the pandemic. Three of my works from the "Nesting" series have been chosen. The exhibition will take place in January 2022. Further information will be provided in the next newsletter.

WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!

So what happened to July, August and September!!!!

Well, summer happened and then fall clean-up of the garden. But with the garden bedded down for the winter, all lawn furniture packed away and most leaves raked up and bagged I am back in the studio. 

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS/SHOWS

DRAW!

V.A.S.A. (St. Albert) is hosting an exhibition showcasing drawing, the first one of its kind that I have entered. Five of my pieces have been accepted and will be on display from November 2-27, 2021. "DRAW!" will feature drawings in graphite, pen and ink, charcoal etc. 

CHRISTMAS MARKETPLACE

This year the Art Society of Strathcona County (A.S.S.C.) will again host a Christmas market at the Red Barn/ A. J. Ottewell Centre (Broadmoor Blvd., Sherwood Park) on November 13 and 14. I will be participating this year and feature many different items ranging from fused glass Christmas tree ornaments to floral designs to Christmas cards. 

CURRENT SHOWS/EXHIBITIONS

"LIMITLESS"

The digital age brings about a new frontier, empowering artists to share their art across the world. Sample what creative energies are at play in the global theatre and witness events unfold in the world, as they are rendered through the evocative lens of art.

I was very pleased to have one of my monotypes accepted into the on-line exhibition "Limitless" hosted by the Federation of Canadian Artists (Vancouver). This show runs until July 31 and you can view all the works at 

https://federationgallery.com/show/2021_limitless_exhibition/0

"Artist's Lens 2021: Street Photography"

Street Photography expresses instant, unexpected encounters, and the unpredictability of interactions between ourselves and public life. In this exhibition, artists explore broad themes in their relationship to public spaces, such as nostalgia, isolation, idealism, public protest, science fiction, voyeurism, literature and geometry.

The Alberta Society of Artists is showcasing photographic works of artists at the Calgary Central Library. I am pleased to say that one of my photos " Dusk on Acorn Street" is a part of this show. This show runs until July 31, 2021. If you want to see all the works on-line please go to 

https://www.albertasocietyofartists.com/al2021-street-online/

"AROUND THE CORNER": Upcoming Shows

In August and  running through into September I will have a couple mixed media works in the "Drawn From Home" show hosted by the Art Gallery of St. Albert (AGSA).  More details in my next newsletter.

Finally, I am so pleased to announce a solo show of my pastel works featuring Alberta landscapes will be seen in Spruce Grove at the Melcor Centre (Allied Arts Council). This show takes place in August and more details will follow.

SOCIAL MEDIA UP-DATE

I now have an Instagram account!!!! 

"A Look Back: Older Works"

I am slowly, slowly working on some new pastel landscapes (getting ready for a couple fall art shows) but they are all works "under construction" so I thought I would highlight an older work. This work involves using the silk-screening process which I had never done before. For a first time, I am quite pleased with the results (of course, the subject matter is the land/nature!) As I was working on this piece I imagined myself as a bird flying above the land, seeing the farrows of the farmers' fields, the grid-like pattern of our highways that intersect our land, the grain fields swaying in the wind...

A Textured Land

A Change in Format

I have decided not to do my blog as I have been very negligent in maintaining it over this past year so I am moving to more of a "newsletter" format. I will be posting events, exhibitions, and new works in this newsletter. Enjoy reading!

Current Shows

As part of Culture Fest, I have several paintings at Remedy  Savona Cafe

(200 Festival Lane#110 Savona Centre, Sherwood Park). 

I have also submitted two photographic works into the Allied Arts Council Open Photography Show. This show (on-line and in-person) will run until July 2. 

New Work(s)

I am currently working on some new pastel landscapes for an upcoming solo show set to take place in Spruce Grove in August. 

The Silent Prairie

I thought I would write about how I work as an artist when deadline(s) is LOOMING. I am a morning artist...my creative energy is much brighter at this time. I find I can work in the afternoon but my attention wanders and often times not much is accomplished.Currently I have three works going at the same time all at different stages and in different mediums (my A.D.D. is kicking in!). I usually work on one for a bit or a couple of days and then hop over to do something on another one. So, I have a small acrylic painting I have started (something I saw on you-tube that I want to try....a simple experiment on an 8 x 10 canvas). I am finishing a mixed media work (part of my "Nesting" series which needs to completed TODAY for a show submission today! and finally I am also working on  soft pastel painting for another show. I find that my creative brain enjoys the "stretch"...if I stay too long on one project I get too rigid in my mark-making. The downside to this approach, of course, is that at times I do not finish some of these projects as I have moved onto something else that has captured my imagination and feel compelled to start that series. Yikes!  I applaud all the artists that have the self-discipline to stay on one work until complete.

Well I think my gesso has dried and I can go back to work...take care..

So this fall I started on a new series in my fused glass titled "Shattered Glass". I have created several pieces, small and large. I am really enjoying producing these works and I believe that I will continue creating a few more pieces with some slight variation.

There is a debate among artists whether to donate an art piece to a cause. I have decided that in my career I would donate at least one art piece every year. This year I am donating one pastel landscape to the Strathcona Community  Hospital Foundation. They will be holding a golf tournament and silent auction on May 30 with and dinner and silent auction at 6:30 at the Broadmoor Golf Club House. There will be many items to bid on.

Faerie Hill