"Circles and Squares"

Finally, the painting that I posted about under "torture" has been finished. I have decided to call it "Circles and Squares" because of the circles of the bicycle wheels and the squares of the cobblestones and windows. It was a lot of work but ended up being a pleasure because it pushed me in a slightly different direction again. So far, people who have seen it, like it - and that is kind of what it is all about - bringing some viewing pleasure to people.

Home for a Garden

In 2000, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site had a juried show "Workforces" with the focus to be on cannery workers,fishermen and their contributions. I wanted to come at the theme from a different angle and thought about present-day contributions of the descendants of the workers. Then I thought of Mrs. Sakata's garden - a Steveston treasure. Everyone passing by gets so much pleasure from viewing this garden. Kay Sakata is both daughter and wife of fishermen and has an extended family that has made many contributions to Richmond. Her daughter is a local school principal. Then I decided to do the painting as a triptych so that the size would make it a little like walking into the garden. I worked from my own photographs, edited out the stores across the street and proceeded to rough in the painting. I don't have an easel set-up that would work for a six-foot width of paintings so I worked on each section alternately, taking time to line them up against a wall to make sure the lines and colours matched. At the show opening, Kay Sakata was pleased to see her garden on display.The triptych was then shown for the summer at Gulf of Georgia. It was then selected to be in the Minoru window of Richmond Art Gallery for a show that fall.
Then it came back home. Shortly after, an opportunity arose to display it in the Richmond offices of financial advisor David J. Wright. Here, it was enjoyed for about four years but then David moved to Vancouver offices. I felt that as it was something the public enjoyed, it should be shown in a place where the general community could enjoy it. Richmond Hospital Foundation was pleased to accept the triptych for permanent display in Richmond Hospital. It has now been installed in the waiting area for Diagnostic Imaging . Last Thursday, I was able to go over to the hospital to see the painting on the wall and Kay Sakata was happy to see her garden up for everyone to enjoy. Pictures were taken for the hospital newsletter so people who haven't seen the garden yet, can hear about it."Mrs. Sakata's Garden" is in Gallery Two. Photo shows its present location and Kay Sakata and me.

Rooftops-

More rain this weekend and all the more reason to think of sunnier times. One painting that I finished of Cesky Krumlov is up at Omega Gallery (27th and Dunbar) and will be part of a group show, opening December 7th. Cesky Krumlov is more medieval and Prague is more baroque but Cesky Krumlov is still like a smaller version of Prague - the river loops around it, the castle is on the hill, the old town is centered on a town square... and the rooftops are mostly red tile . This was fun to paint -including the chimneys with their own little roofs. One of the things I like about acrylics is their layering ability - so getting the sun and shadow on the roof tops was an exercise in glazing as well as building up texture. A lot of the buildings had false fronts added - reminded me of the Old West towns with more important looking facades tacked onto an old building. Because I was looking at the rooftops from the other side, some of the decorative fronts can be seen poking up at the fronts of the buildings. I don't think I'm finished with rooftops yet!

Plein Air Painting

It's pouring wet today, which makes last weekend so good by contrast. Tanya had organized a plein-air instruction group with Brent Lynch so there our group was in the great outdoors. Plein air is the French term for painting outdoors and painting what you see. Brent says he just calls it "field studies". He also reminded us that we were painters first and not "reality recorders". He said "I realize there is no substitute for the real thing. There are direct experiences in the field that you cannot have in the comfort of the studio."
It was cool out but most of us were enjoying pocket-warmers - and it wasn't raining! No great masterpieces yet, but I have a couple of little field studies that I think can be worked up into something a bit bigger in the warmth of the studio during winter.
Some of us have been doing some plein-air and intend to keep at it - although, preferably leaving it until Spring now! For others, it was a new experience but fun. ---- and it was last weekend in the dry and not this weekend!

"Salon"

When we have Life Drawing, coffee breaks are never long enough to talk about art shows, critique new paintings or discuss art in general. We decided that what we needed was one evening a month devoted to art talk. It was also decided we would have an "educational" element and talk about one artist and look at his/her painting reproductions . After a too-busy summer and then the Czech trip, we recently held our first evening salon over dessert and tea or coffee. It was a great success in many ways but we need to fine-tune the format. One problem was that as artists arrived, they immediately began enthusiastically discussing paintings - so this wasn't as organized as it could have been- so we'll change the order somewhat. However, it was obvious that this time for talk was something we all felt filled a need. Now we have the next one in January to plan for....

Richmond's 2008 Dream Auction

My friend Sally came this morning to pick a painting for the live auction on November 29. This luncheon and auction is held to benefit the "Dream Auction". What is the dream? To quote -"Our dream is that no child in Richmond will suffer from poverty". On the surface, Richmond looks like a prosperous community- and, on some levels, it is. However, there is poverty - and poverty that is virtually invisible. Statistics show that 30.7% of Richmond's children under 15 live in poverty and that the annual income for a family of four living in poverty is $14,900 a year. The poverty gap in Richmond is one of the highest in Canada.The goal this year is to raise $35,000 toward directly helping the children of Richmond - through school breakfast programs, the Food Bank, Community Meals and Nova House. So - it was easy to make the decision to again support this very worthwhile charity. The donated painting is "Moored" which can be seen in my Gallery 2006. If anyone else wishes to support this -please come to the luncheon - and bid on auction items - maybe even on my painting! the date is Saturday, November 29 from 10am to 2 pm at the Executive Airport Plaza Hotel, 7311 Westminster Highway, Richmond, B.C. Adult tickets are $35 and are available through Gilmore Park Office at 604-277-5377.

The torture continues...

The bicycles from Prague have now made it onto the canvas - one that is 12 inches high and 30 inches long. Painting has barely begun and I am working on it only a bit at a time while working on another painting. I think I will call it "Circles and Squares" as the cobblestones are squares and there are reflected squares in the windows - which are squares. The shadows and overlapping bike wheels are fairly confusing but it is an interesting challenge that I'm hoping will make an interesting painting.