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

More playing...

Here is  a very small one (I think it is about 7 by 9) that I was playing with a bit more- adding more flecks of colour to liven it up. I think it is richer looking now. I wasn't worried about actual colours - just trying to create a mood of a fairly warm summer day turning to evening. For those who know the area, this is along the dyke near Terra Nova - but definitely not a photograph.
I've found a new toy on the internet- it is Golden Paints virtual mixer - all the fun of creating colour mixes without actually opening your own tubes. I'd like to make even lighter tints than is possible, but you still get a very good idea. The "lighter" was because I was mostly playing with the idea of skin tones.  I like doing people and am sort of a frustrated portrait painter - no paying clients. Still, I enjoy our models. I've had one person, at least, say why would they want a painting of  someone they don't know? Interestingly enough, it doesn't seem to bother us that we don't have a personal connection to a  portrait subject if the artist is well-known. Well, I'm not Rembrandt or Lucien Freud, but some of the paintings have turned out reasonably well. I've actually given a few away to the models - better to have them out there in the world being enjoyed by somebody. My current "model" - not always willing- is Digby - Isabella's brother cat. So my fun of creating colourful black cats continues. ...another way of playing...

Absolutely the last version....

This is definitely the last version of "Pots and Shards". After I got it back from the show, I decided that it did need a bit more detailing and shadows on the left hand side- so, acrylics being acrylics- I was able to adjust yet again. I think I am definitely an acrylic painter, not an oil painter, because I do like being able to make adjustments after a period of time- if necessary.
I still like the smell of oil paints - whether it is healthy or not- because it smells like the old Art School to me. I've been reading about  various people's art school experiences - some good, some worthless. I'm glad I went when I did as I had a classical education. We had to learn to draw first, we had classes in composition, learned some fundamentals of graphic arts (called "commercial art" in those days) and generally received a good background. We  went out as groups for plein air work. Oh yes, we drew from plaster casts too and were taught contour shading. I think it was a good background - we even had some art history- but I don't necessarily think it made me a better artist than people who have learned on their own or in workshops. I think it is a good idea to see yourself as a perpetual student. I'm still watching demos, reading books, studying art history and going to occasional workshops - as well as doing Life Drawing regularly. I would say that the one thing- maybe a downside?- I got from Art School was that people think if you went there, you should be able to **paint** period and that includes house painting!  And, yes, I have just been doing some of that which means I am not at the easel!

Into August-

Just got my newsletter done - and I used this new, experimental painting of Isabella in her BirdsBeSafe collar. She likes the collar and it makes her visible to the birds. So I had fun with using lots of colour on a black cat. I wonder what the reaction will be to the newsletter!

Midsummer Show - next week

This is one other for the Midsummer Show at Thompson Community Centre annex this next weekend. The Opening should be extra nice as there will be a string trio playing to add to the  festive atmosphere. The Reception starts Friday, July 19th at 6pm.   I thought the dahlias would be good as they are a midsummer flower. Still thinking  about new directions in painting- but right now I'm organizing my art books and tidying up supplies sort of clearing the decks for action....

Midsummer show

The Community Arts Council of Richmond is having a Midsummer Art Show - both paintings and photographs- at Thompson Community Centre from the 19th through 21st of this month. The reception is Friday evening- the 19th- and the show closes Sunday afternoon. It is a juried show and will also have voting for a People's Choice award.  I entered three paintings and have had them accepted.  This is one- Autumn, Nicola Valley - 20" x 26"-  that I am showing. I hope there is a good attendance- and I get some votes for People's Choice!    ----Also,  the floral show at Rocanini is now hung. Rocanini is the coffee shop at the corner of #1 and Moncton. I have three larger paintings in the show and three smaller ones. Jeanette Jarville, Adrienne Moore and Shirley Rampton are also showing six each- so it is a colourful show - drop in for a view......