Paintings on display

Here are some of the paintings hanging in the Living Cafe.  A lot of the little apple ones have the stickers from the "model" on the back of the canvas.  They have been having fun at the cafe, flipping the canvases over to show the stickers.  It is nice to see the canvases spread out, yet showing as all of one theme. Lately, I've been thinking of some other ways I would like to paint fruits and vegetables and I may do some. At Cultural Days, I finished painting Adrienne's parrot. She is a white parrot with a yellow crest.  I thought it would be fun to do a white animal in a colourful way - just like the black cats got to be colourful. So that was my latest. All the fruit and vegetable paintings are for sale - from $75 for the small apple ones. It would be nice if some moved on to new homes. In the meantime, I am told that they are really being enjoyed in the cafe.

At Living Cafe

The Iconic Edibles and other food paintings are now all hanging at the Living Cafe and looking very colourful. The server told me that her favourite one was this one of the Gelato . She recognized it as real Italian gelato and said how much she had enjoyed gelato when she had the opportunity to visit Rome. There was a cooking demo for Cultural Days but I didn't stay for it ( although I would have liked to - it looked really interesting!) as I had another Cultural Days event to get organized for. Sometimes time seems too short to fit in all the art and activities a person would like.

Grand Prix of Art

September the 21st was the Grand Prix of Art and it was pouring rain the night before and, although sunny in the morning, the hourly forecast looked grim with thundershowers predicted for 11 am - one hour into painting time. However,  that forecast was wrong and we had a wonderful "summer" day. Lovely fresh air, enough sun for nice shadows- a perfect day for a plein air competition. I had a 12 x 16 canvas and an 8 x 24  one. I drew location #1 which is out by Garry Point. After spending some time peering through my viewfinder to see which direction I'd look in and which shape I would use, I decided to go with the tall narrow canvas so I could have lots of sky. I painted the rocks and driftwood along the shore leading up to the fishermen's memorial. It is like a needle for mending nets.
It was a beautiful day with lots of people out walking. Many were interested in the Grand Prix and quite a few had been looking forward to it. I was set up ready for the whistle at 10 am and managed to complete it before the 1pm whistle. I had pre-wired it and did not frame it- just painted the edges - so it was ready to turn in for judging. Then we got lunch,had entertainment, and got all the results.  Stephen Chen had been at tent #1 with me and painted in the opposite direction- he was looking at the river mouth and I was looking towards Vancouver Island. His was the top award as picked by the judges. However, I was fortunate to sell my painting. It isn't the actual sale that matters as much as the fact that someone likes it enough to buy it. There was a great turn-out to see the paintings - and lots of people came out in the rain today to see and buy paintings too. The popularity of this event continues to grow. This was the fourth year. - and a really successful one.

Paintings delivered

The paintings were delivered today- this one is one of them. It is called "radishes" - what else?  It is 8"x 10" and is $95. One of the neat things about acrylics is that they are okay to have in a kitchen. Even if something got splashed on one, it could be wiped off - because you have a durable plastic surface. I got a gluten-free apple and cranberry muffin that was really good and I have heard from a friend who had lunch at the Living Cafe' and said it was delicious. I'm looking forward to seeing the paintings hanging in the cafe'. Right now, I'm not sure if they come out at the end of this month or at the end of October- but, just in case it is sooner, rather than later- pop in to have a look!

Iconic Edibles

I have some interesting news. There is a new restaurant in Steveston  "Living Cafe'" that has lots of good choices for special diets - Gluten-free, vegetarian and so on. They are going to participate in Culture Days this year - with a cooking demonstration. Also, each month will have a different artist's works on display. Excitingly, my "Iconic Edibles" will be the first up. Tomorrow, I am taking them in so it will be exciting to see a whole display of them.  I'll feature some of them here - and maybe get a photo or two of how they look hanging in the "Living Cafe"  - on Second Avenue just by Whale Watchers. This one is "Bok Choy" - I'll show more over the next month.

September Art News

Digby wanted to be a colourful black cat, just like his sister Isabella in a previous post and on the August newsletter- so here he is. He is a very sweet little cat although a bit high-maintenance at times. He got scared by a dog the other week and went up a tree before realizing that he doesn't have the greatest balance as he has no proper tail. He  has condensed vertebrae and has no real neck either and is generally a bit boxy looking. So he had to be rescued.  A few nights later, he was keeping me company in my studio when he heard the new neighbour's dog bark. Digby growled to express his opinion of dogs in general.
Next major event is the Grand Prix of Art- billed as the top painting event  of the year in Richmond. It really is. As many as 100 artists will be out painting in a three-hour "race" at locations that have been drawn by lottery. I keep hoping I'll get Prickly Pear nursery and I carry kibbles in my pocket  to bribe the resident cats to pose - but no luck so far!  The public can walk around Steveston to see the artists in action and then view the finished paintings at the Bunkhouse in Britannia Shipyards afterward. The "race" day is September 21 and painting is from 10am to 1pm. The Gulf of Georgia Cannery whistle will be set to blow again at 1pm.( It blows every day at 12 noon. )There are prizes awarded by judges as well as a People's Choice award that won't be known until the exhibit finishes on the 29th. There is more information at www.grandprixofart.com