End of October

It hardly seems possible that we are at the end of October already and that our GuessWho? sale will be THIS SATURDAY!   I have been busy organizing for it - I think there will be more paintings than ever - and the quality is outstanding. We have lots of people returning from previous years but here is the information if you haven't attended before.  All the paintings are 10x10 and are on gallery-thick canvas. All sell for $100 each - a tremendous bargain. The trick is that you don't know the artist until you buy as the signatures are on the back (or covered). Some people recognize certain artists styles and will buy on that basis, but the important thing is that the purchaser likes the painting - so - really, is who painted it all that important? It could even be a lesson in finding out what you do like without being influenced by a signature. I can think of many well-known artists who painted some real masterpieces - and also some pretty bad stuff. Most of us do some serious weeding from time to time. You have to be willing to take some risks to grow - but not all the risks are successful, especially at first. So, a lot of tossing takes place and most artists damage the work in some way so that it is not possible for it to be "rescued". - but I digress- The point of this sale is to find what *you* like. $50 goes to the artist - who - at that price- is making a donation too - and the balance goes to Richmond Food Bank . So you get something you like and help support a charity too. The date is November 5th, the time is from 10 to 3pm and the venue is the Pioneer Church at #3 and Steveston Highway. The sale starts at 10 but there will be about 15 minutes for viewing before then- then we blow a whistle and you can snatch the painting that caught your eye.Many paintings re by members of Richmond Artists Guild but we also have well-known local artists like Chris Charlebois and Leo Hu as well as high-school students (the next Picasso?)Since they are they same size, they are nice to collect for a gallery wall.
     The pastel above is from our small-group Friday long-pose (and is not part of GuessWho?) I had planned a mixed-media approach and found I'd forgotten the acrylic pastel gel I needed - and I also didn't have the heavier paper for straight pastels. So, I used a lighter weight pastel paper from a pad  and decided to just make the best of it. In the end, I was fairly pleased with how I had captured Amanda.