For all art friends...........

.............two studio tours coming up!!


 

September 28, 29, and 30 is the 

19th Annual Saugeen Autumn Leaves Tour. 

 

 I will be displaying my watercolours and acrylics at the Earthen Vessels Pottery, north of Durham.  You can check out this amazing tour and get directions at   http://www.autumnleavesstudiotour.ca/     

Every fall the artists on this tour invite the public into their homes and studios from 10:00 to 5:00 all weekend.  Explore the diversity of these seasoned artists and some new studios as well.  There are 51 artists exhibiting at 23 studio locations.  You will be amazed at the local talent! It's always held the week before Thanksgiving,and it's free. 

I might see you at Earthen Vessels!

 
 
 
 

Thanksgiving weekend, following the Autumn Leaves Tour, is

The second Art Map "Open Studio Weekend" of the year.

   Check out the Art Map website  http://theartmap.com/The_Art_Map_Open_Studio_Weekends.html for details about the contest.  You can win prizes from the artists-- including one from me! The details from my August 8 post are the same for this weekend, which happens to be Thanksgiving. The scenery should be awesome, which you can enjoy between studios.

   Come and visit me at my home, a 130-year old stone house.   I'll invite you upstairs to my studio.  Enjoy both of these weekends if you can!

I'm getting ready for the Art Map Weekend! Here is the information. Have a great weekend enjoying all the art!

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2nd Annual
Open Studio Weekends

This is your chance to visit your favourite artists and their galleries during two Open Studio Weekends in 2012.
Join in the excitement starting August 11 & 12
on The Art Map's 2nd Annual Open Studio Weekend.

This year there are over $450 in fine art gift certificates and prizes to be won.

23 studios and galleries open for your convenience. Many with multiple artists. No appointment necessary. Throughout Grey, Bruce and Southern Georgian Bay.
1st prize is a $225 prize pack from artist and instructor Susan Seitz. A $200 gift certificate for a painting, workshop or kids camp, plus handmade journal, card and bookmark.
2nd prize is a $100 gift certificate from artist Barbara Pearn.
3rd prize is a $75 gift certificate by artist Kathie Wright for a painting.
4th Prize is a $50 gift certificate from Southampton Art Gallery.
Can be used for a painting or workshop.
Random prize giveaways cards and bookmarks by artist Susan Seitz.

To enter our contest and for details go to our facebook contest tab and Contest details. There are more opportunities to visit the galleries and studios during our Open Studio Weekend in October.
For locations & links to maps see chart below.
      Contest ends October 31, 2012.

Take in the creative talent at the studios and see the same scenic landscapes that inspire the artists year-round.
See the chart below for the dates, studio name and location-key numbers. The numbers are on the digital map guides.  Print out the guide and take it with you. This chart is on the digital guide. Each location in the chart below is linked to a google map with more information about the artist or studio and more images of their work as well.

#	Participating Studio	Aug 11 & 12	Oct 6 & 7
1	Paul Murray Gallery	Open	Open
6	Tina Revie	Open
9	Glass in Motion	Open	Open
10	Jean Francis	Open	Open
13	The Artist Den	Open
14	Loft Gallery (gallery only open)	Open	Open
15	Ann Wylie Toal	Open	Open
20	Lisa Hambleton	Open	Open
21	Victoria Park Gallery	Open	Open
24	Matilda Swanson		Open
26	Southampton Art Gallery	Open	Open
37	Beach Stone Studio	Open
38	Jennifer Barna	Open
39	Cindy McKenna	Open
40	Nature's Millworks	Open
43	Bev Morgan	Open	Open
45	Kathie Wright	Open	Open
46	Janet Liesemer	Open	Open
47	Cedar Hill Gallery	Open	Open
48	Birgit Wright	Open
49	Barbara Pearn	Open	Open
50	Paul Corefield	Open	Open
51	Ofra Svorai	Open	Open
52	Beaver Valley Glass	Open	Open

The story of a painting.......

When I began my poppy painting, I decided to take photos along the way, to tell the story of how it progressed from the pencil marks to the final product. 

After I put on a purpley-blue underpainting, I drew the poppies and buds with a white charcoal pencil.  The buds I painted white, so I could show their fuzzy nature.

To give the buds their shapes, I added greens, leaving the edges white and soft.  Next I painted the poppies as flat shapes, in a dark cadmium red.  I had placed them carefully so they formed a rough circle shape, to keep an observer's eye moving around inside the painting.



It looks like I painted dark red shapes on the flowers, but actually I painted the light red on top of the dark!  I'm working from dark to light.  The original photo had three trees in the background, which I liked, so they went in to tie the background together.



Then a third layer of red, lighter than the last.............

..........and finally a fourth layer, lightest of all.  I wanted to show the luminosity of poppy petals.

Finally I added the background, and fiddled around with colours and values until I was pleased with the result.  I call it "Dancing Poppies".  The buds look quite comical to me, like heads doing a silly random dance. 

"Dancing Poppies" is 24" X 24", on a stretched gallery canvas.  You can see it at the Show and Sell, which happens this weekend in Hanover.  Check out the details by clicking on the top photo to the right. 

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Poppies reign in my garden!

I've taken dozens of photos like these below, of these wonderful flowers, so delicate, so proliferous, so............so cadmium red! 

I can't wait to put brush to canvas to try them out. 

Since my class at Southampton has been cancelled (not enough registrations)

I will have more time to paint the glorious sights of spring around my house. 

(At least when I take a break from digging and planting and weeding.)



I love the way the stems take such odd shapes. And I love the fuzzy flower pods. 

The honeybees really love them too. See the one below?
He just might make it into a painting.

Patchwork textures

This painting is on display at the Southampton Art Gallery on the Instructors' Wall.  I wanted to show a sample of one idea for using textures in watercolour paintings.  If you are interested in attending this class, June 4 - 8, click on the photo of the gallery on the right side of this page.  See you there! 




"Patchwork Petals"
12 X 15
watercolour

Portrait attempts.........

"Reg"
watercolour, 11 X 14

When a friend at our church lost her father, I spotted a photo of him at the funeral home that I thought would make a wonderful painting.  I hope I did justice to him, since I had never met him.  It was a challenge to do his face, since there wasn't much light and shadow on it.  I abstracted the clothing and the background quite a bit, and tried out several different texture techniques. 

I would have liked to know Reg.

"Summer Sudoku"
watercolour
11 X 14

I took a photo of this fellow at the beach last summer, I think at Southampton.  I was pleased with the way I captured the intensity of his manner.  I was interested in my eye movement in this painting-- my eye looks back and forth between his face and his hand, top to bottom. 


I hope to try more portraits in the future.  It's a satisfying challenge, to capture a likeness.  I only did one portrait commission once, (with the exception of Brandy the dog!), and I agonized over it.  But it was about  5 years ago.  Here it is! 

"Lucas and Olivia"
watercolour

Art and Grandchildren

For Olivia............

I promised Olivia months ago that I would do a painting for her.  She requested flowers, particularly pink and purple.  I started this just before Christmas, but finally finished it for her just before March Break.  She loves any arts and crafts, and did a painting over the Break that was to go on her bedroom wall.  Here it is!

There'e no problem distinguishing the focal point here!  Everything points to the whale, and we are left wondering why it's so sad.  Olivia could tell you.

For Benjamin.......

This was an item I painted for a fundraiser last year.  I knew that if it didn't sell for the literacy program, I had someone on my Christmas list who would like it!  So it went under the Christmas tree for Ben.  And now Ben, just in grade one, has been trying his hand at the arts, with great success too.  Here is his work of art over the Break...........

Did you notice that Ben painted some bushes behind the figure, so it overlaps?