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Thought I would post an image of the finished painting from my summer class at Red Deer College (it was on the easel). I have not named it yet...having a bit of difficulty with this one...

Just as a side note, this is the third interpretation of the same photo...one of a local rural road in my area. (I seem to love roads going off into the horizon)....Reminds me of a watercolour series Robert Sinclair did of Alberta roads/highways 

This summer I do have a couple of smaller shows on the go. I have two mixed media pieces that were juried into the "Air" exhibition by the Alberta Society of Artists (A.S.A.). Currently this show is on display at the Alberta Art Gallery and will be there until September 6. The show is in the lower level of the A.G.A. in the Ledcor Theatre Gallery. I also have some pastel works on display in the Atrium of the Strathcona County Hall.

I have not recently posted on this blog because the summer months are my time to take  a variety of classes and learn new techniques/methods etc. So I thought I would write about one of those classes I attended. It was in Red Deer as part of the Series program that runs annually every summer. The class was based on abstracting the landscape and taught by Susan Woolgar, one of my favourite instructors (based out of Red Deer). The class was very intensive and I took copious notes,although I know I missed out on some Susan's many demos. I also participated in a week long glass class (photos will come at a later date)..so here are some images from last week in Red Deer.

Shout out to the St. Albert Gazette and writer Scott Hayes. I am featured as "Artist of the Month" for June and appear in this week's Wednesday paper. The article features my interview with Scott and photos of my fused glass works found at the St. Albert Art Gallery are featured. Thanks so much to Pam G. at the art gallery for recommending me to the paper and Scott for taking my verbal ramblings and making them sound coherent and intelligent.

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

I finished and framed my last piece that  will appear in my next solo show at the Dow Centennial Centre (Fort Saskatchewan). It was a bit of a struggle as I have been producing many new works this year for my solo shows. It is wonderful to be accepted for solo exhibitions but I did not realize how much work these shows are! For each show I had to produce quite a few new pieces (naively I thought I had enough inventory). For one show currently at the Londonderry Public Library I produced ten new acrylic paintings of varying size. I can not believe how many pieces artists who exhibit in larger venue must produce. Kudos to them for all the hard long work that is required to create some wonderful art. 

So, my last BIG solo show is in Fort Saskatchewan at the Alberta Lottery Fund Art Gallery (Dow Centennial Centre). It opens May 28 and runs until June 24. The gallery is open every Thursday and Friday from 11-2 p.m..

Along the River Bend (my last piece)

This past month I have been quietly working but in a new direction. The subject matter has remained constant (the Alberta land) but I have moved into acrylic paint. The sizes of my paintings vary from 8 x 8 to 18 x 24 and all on cradled birch panels. Most of these new works are in preparation of a small solo show at Londonderry Public Library for the month of May. I am enjoying this new venture more than I anticipated (I never really embraced acrylic paints prefering the "juiciness" of oils). By using a glazing medium with the paint I am able to build up layers of colours similar to my pastel works. I have also incorporated the palette knife in many of my works. I think that these early paintings are a good start in a new direction...

I am making slow but steady progress with some larger pieces for my first show in 2019. I would like to complete around another three or so. The biggest difficulty I am experiencing is finding compositions (photos) that would work well with the frames I have. ( I refuse to buy any more until I have used up my existing frames.) I have also come to realize that I need to take more photographs. Ah well...back to the easel.

My latest work based on a photo taken this fall.

With 2018 drawing to a close, I am now preparing for an upcoming solo show at the Muttart Conservatory(Edmonton) in February 2019. I need several new pastel pieces so in between prepping for Christmas I am tackling some new works. I am also working on a "new" paper that I am not familiar with. It is a sanded paper which I prefer but it is not one of my home-made ones so I am finding I cannot blend my colours as much as I would like although the paper does take a LOT of pastel. I am also working on suede board for a couple of pieces and these boards require a different approach as well. 

One of the "new" sanded papers 

I find that giving a name to my art pieces can be a bit of a challenge especially for my print work which is often more non-representational. For print work I think that a single word often looks better when signing the monotype. It does take a while...I look at the print, the colours, the overall design. Sometimes, but rarely, when I am working on a piece I already have the name/title in mind. More often than not, I will walk past a piece for several days looking at it with "fresh" eyes. Often it is as I am drifting off to sleep that I run through a list of potential names....very much like mind mapping/brainstorming.

This last print was particularly bothersome... I liked how atmospheric it looked, at least in my eyes. I initially thought of the atmospheric pollution, the planets, the Milky Way until I arrived at Nebulous. I don't know if it works but I like it.