TNSC 3rd Annual Open Federation ShowApril 15 to 25, 2010

My painting "Better Days" has been selected to be displayed at The Thompson Nicola Shuswap Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artist's 3rd Annual Open Federation Show at the historic Kamloops Courthouse Center for the Arts.

The show will run from April 15 to 25, 2010. Opening reception and awards ceremony will be held Thursday April 15, 2010, 7 – 9 pm

There will also be a TNS Chapter Fundraiser the following night, Friday April 16th, with appies and dance. Music by the FCA’s own David Langevin and the Blues Jumpers. Tickets(limited)$20($25/dr)

Acrylic Floral Painting - Blown Away

After I freshened up the background, the flower needed freshening up too but I think it was worth the effort :)

Blown Away

Acrylic on 11x14" stretched canvas

Acrylic Floral Painting - Blown Away Update #2

I have evened out the colors and added more darks and lights but still need to add more to push the shapes more. I am liking how the shadow areas are adding interest and the flow of the bottom petals.

I am contemplating adding more depth to the background but will see once the flower is completed.

Fluid Acrylic Floral Painting - Blown Away

This is my first fluid acrylic painting and although I have a long way to go, I am quite liking working with these acrylics compared to the previous acrylics I have used. They are more suited to my working style and I finally feel like I am working with my acrylics instead of fighting against them!

The subject is an iris flower that I have made into more of an abstract style so it is a loose interpretation of the flower, I am calling it Blown Away.

Golden Fluid Acrylics Workshop

(first image is raw canvas using flow medium and pure fluid acrylics mingled on the canvas, will make a great background for a painting - few rain drops when transporting home in the corner - added texture :)) (next image is a 24x36" raw canvas that I stretch and painting the subject with fibre medium - need to touch up edges before painting; and then painted the background with absorbant ground and then fluid acrylics - too cool )


I have been ridiculously busy this week but wanted to get a few of the photos from the golden fluids workshop up to show everyone. We had a blast! There are so many cool things you can do with these paints it is impossible not to have fun, especially when the instructor, Sara Robichaud, showed us all the cool stuff you can do with them and how you can manipulate them on so many different surfaces. Sara is a really fun teacher who obviously knows her "stuff" and has a passion for art. She showed us several possibilites for each medium and gave us a really good understanding of the fluid acrylic properties and colors. Then she set us loose and we all got to "dish out" whatever we wanted from the paint buffet table and go crazy. She also showed us how to paint on raw canvas and how to stretch our own canvases, something I thought I would never want to do but it was super easy and know I totally understand the freedom and control it offers being able to stretch your own unprimed canvas.

These are just a few of the things we did, I will have to update more later when I have more time. But right now I have a painting on my easel that is beckoning me...my first fluid acrylic painting :)

There is another workshop planned for April 10 & 11 from 10-4pm at the same location using Golden Open acrylics so if you are interested please email me to sign up as spaces are filling up fast!

Arts Connect Port Moody Art Walk 2010

Things are gearing up for the ArtsConnect 11th Annual Art Walk located in Port Moody. The art walk will be the same time as the Port Moody Arts Festival so should be alot of fun for everyone.

I am not sure where I will be located but I am getting excited already!

I am helping (ok sitting in on) the organizing of the Art Walk this year and we thought it would be a great idea to start a facebook page so that artist can provide a sneek preview of their artwork all in one location. Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/ArtsConnect/210385481250#!/event.php?eid=382244556250&ref=share Images will be added through the month so keep checking back for updates and new art!

Watercolor Flower Painting - Not Quite White

OK, I did a few minor tweaks and after staring at this for sometime have decided it is complete and named it Not Quite White :)

There was a brief moment of sunshine so I took the painting outside to photograph so I think these colors are truer than the previous posts. The more I look at it the happier I am with the background, it has a nice velvety texture which I never quite seemed to achieve in the past so I must be learning something!

Watercolor Flower Painting - Iris Update #6

Well I could not put it off any longer, I had to darken the background! I really liked the way the top left hand side had swirled together, online it did not look too special but in real life it was sooo, pretty. I wanted to wait until I added all of the darks in on the petals to be sure.

Oh well, the whites were suffering with such a pale backdrop and the dark blueish-purple still looks really nice I think and make the whites appear so much crisper. I darkened the edge petals and added a few more details to the center of the flower as well.

I will need to let it sit again for a few days and stare at it to see if it needs any further tweaks :) Now to decide on a name...ugh!

Watercolor Flower Painting - Iris Update #5

I am working all over the flower now adding finer details and more darks in areas while softening and lifting out lights in other areas. I am still playing with the push and pull to balance the entire flower and pull the viewer around throughout the petals.

I darkened the background again and will need to get some distance to decide whether to give it one more layer of darks on the left side. It is getting very close to being done and at this point I get a little nervous of overdoing it but I am really trying to push my paintings to the limit right now (sucker for punishment perhaps?) so I am finding that rather than listening to my usuals, Sarah MacLachlan, Anna Nalick or Holly McNarland, I have switched to ear splitting levels of Bush X, seems to be working...or at least I am having fun :)

Watercolor Flower Painting - Iris Update #4

The orange and yellow stamens have been roughed in and will be built up in intensity and shape. I am slowly building up the darks and the colors in the flower working from one area to the next to let each layer dry completely before adding more.

Crazy how many colors there are in a white flower ;)

Watercolor Flower Painting - Iris Update #3

I am slowly strengthening all the darks now that the background is in and will likely darken the background, at least in some spots, once I have more of my darks established.

I am trying to really focus on using lost and found edges and using warms and cools to push and pull the petal shapes. I need to add the stamens soon as they will help to pop things up a notch as they are yellow and orange. Still trying to come up with a title for this one. Maybe it is a good thing paintings take me so long, give me more time to think about the titles ;)

Port Moody Art Walk - Artist Studio Tour April 24 to 25, 2010

I am excited to say that I will be joining other local artists this year at the 11th annual Art Walk Studio tour in Port Moody. The tours are set for April 24 to 25 to coincide with BC Arts and Culture Week.

Last year's tour which was concentrated mainly in PoMo's historic town centre was really fun. I have gone for the past few years and really enjoyed last year as the venues were combined so that you could actually walk rather than drive. Having the artists together allowed me to see more of the works than in the past too as I am usually rushed with other obligations on the weekend!

I plan on bringing a larger variety of work than I do at the usual demos and show so will have original pieces of artwork, miniature original paintings, giclee prints and greeting cards. Now to figure out how to display it all!

Check out the Arts Connect website for updates at http://www.artsconnect.ca/artsconnect/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=245

Watercolor Flower Painting - Iris Update #2

And now for the fun part, the color! Now that the midtone have been established I will start adding more of the darks and also varying the amount of pigments in my mix to bring out all the colors in this white flower.