Awake at last from my looooong winter's nap

Here are stages 1 and 2 of "Segue" - the fourth of the six paintings being created for an upcoming exhibition with Leap Artists Collective. {from the dictionary: segue |ˌsɛgweɪ| verb (in music and film) move without interruption from one song, melody, or scene to another : allowing one song to segue into the next.} As mentioned in a previous entry, this exhibition is based upon 6 word-inspired works created by each of the participating Leap members. Stay tuned for another progress report after the weekend...

Beading Blitz is Over

I set aside my paint and canvases for awhile and have been busy creating one-of-a-kind jewellery works for some upcoming art & gift shows. However, now that I've built up a healthy inventory, I'll be back at the easel this week to complete the series I've been working on with the Leap collective.

Kaleidoscope Update

It'll soon be finished - another day or two to go.

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Barbara

Oh how I was looking forward to completing some work in the studio yesterday, right after hanging 8 paintings from the With Sturdy Shoes Series at the local library ... ha! Despite my attempts to be a well-organized artist/businesswoman, efficiency continues to elude me. As I packed the paintings into the car I realized I had forgotten the brief biography requested by the library - no problem, it's all on my computer together with the interpretative pages I'd prepared for previous shows: just a few clicks of the mouse and they'll be ready, thought I. Couldn't quite find them and as I was under time constraints to deliver and hang the works, I left in a flurry. Ahhhh ... the paintings looked very nice hanging on the walls of the lovely newish Semiahmoo Branch of the Surrey Public Library, but they definitely needed those interpretive pages. At 9:00 a.m. this morning I thought I'd be able to quickly locate the pages and my bio, print, deliver and hang them before noon... ha again! By noon I was still tearing my hair out wondering where the @#$% I had filed the pertinent information in the computer. By the time I found them (I swear I looked in the same place 44 times and they weren't there until the 45th), and reformatted the interpretive pages, updated my bio, and added a little visually semi-creative-but-somewhat-pathetic flourish to all the white papers I had amassed, it was dinnertime. Ah well, as Scarlet said to Rhett, Tomorrow is another day.

Kaleidoscope

Here's a work in progress - part of the Leap Visual Artist Collective project (a word, & painting a month until February). August's word was Kaleidoscope. I'm about a third of the way through. Seven houses expanding at a rate of 1" house in the middle, a 2" house offset, then 3", then 4". Stay tuned for next week's update.

Not ready to get back to it yet ...

I've opened the door of my studio and stood at the entrance without stepping inside numerous times today. I just can't seem to bring myself to take that step and 'get back at er'. I don't know if it's the incredible mess in there that's been waiting to be attended to for over a month, or the sunshine outside, or the knowledge that once I get in there and start painting I won't be able to stop.

I want to fall backward, back into summer, like this little guy on The Fall of Man. Of course, what I should be doing is cartwheeling forward, up the ladder, getting a jump-start and some MOMENTUM (IF's theme word this week) to push me forward through the studio door to the big blank canvas on my easel.

... maybe tomorrow ...

Andrea Pratt

Still no new images of my own to share, however, here's one created by artist Andrea Pratt. For those of you in the greater Vancouver area interested in seeing Andrea's spectacular works in person (photographs and digital images don't compare to the real thing!), visit Gallery Fourteen during the month of September.

Lawren Harris

I don't have any new images of my work to share with you, however, here's one of my favourite images - a Lawren Harris work I photographed while in Toronto last year.

Illustration Friday - Emergency

With Sturdy Shoes: Pocket Baby Dream, 2006


Here's an image from my With Sturdy Shoes series that's suitable for this week's theme: this mother is averting a mental EMERGENCY by taking a few moments for herself.

Our Town: Seven Squared

Here's Seven Squared on the easel - pretty much ready to go to the gallery last Friday, but then I had a brain wave and spent another three hours on it, adding letters and numbers cut from magazines to give an indication of personality to each 'household'. I didn't manage to get a photograph of the new and improved piece before hanging it in the gallery, so stay tuned for an updated image.

Getting Ready for the Show

My show at Gallery Fourteen in New Westminster opens tomorrow. Ah... there's nothing quite like the panic that sets in the day before the opening of one of my art exhbitions. Reviewing the invitations (oops, how did so-and-so get left off the evite guest list? Is it too rude to send him/her an invitation the day before the show opens?)



Then there are the little last minute details that are added to "finished" works...





... the transport of two dozen works to the gallery, the arranging and rearranging of works in the space, the physical exertion and complications involved with hanging work in an heretofore unfamiliar gallery (but this is also the exciting and energizing part - working with a new gallery and building a relationship with the proprietor)... and then there's the pricing (oh, is it too high ... is it too low... what's that formula again, for pricing per square inch?), calculating in the gallery commission (now is it too high ... is it still too low???), labels, food, drink, flowers, guestbook, etc.

... it's a lot of work, but I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Germinate

Each month I meet with a group of artists and we work towards putting on a theme-related show of our works. I thoroughly enjoy working with this talented group because our viewpoints and works are very diverse and this makes for an interesting and visually exciting show. This year we are to create a work a month based on a word chosen at the previous month's meeting. Last month's word was Germinate. (Click here to view Andrea's Germinate work.)
Many of my works are inspired by ideas about "community" and this work sprang from the same well. I covered my foundation with bits of text torn from my community newspaper and added many layers of glaze and paint to depict the germination of a community.

Letting the Light In - Thank You Leonard

... so there I was, working on a new painting and mumbling to myself that this particular work wasn't turning out quite as expected - it's different than my usual works and I was wondering if I was on the right track, or if I'd be better to stick with my tried and true style of past works. I looked down at my palette and gosh darn ding dang, there was Leonard Cohen staring back at me from the cadmium yellow/red mixture. I stared at the image, wondering when Leonard had grown that big mole on his nose, when the thought was interrupted by one of Leonard's wonderful quotes, "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."

Thanks to Leonard I've decided to throw my usual self-imposed style constraints to the wind and follow my paintbrush to where it will lead me - I've never enjoying basking in "the light" more.

Discovery update

Thank you for the feedback on my last post, I've worked with this piece to enhance both the "mystery" factor and the "pop" factor, and I'm pleased with the look of it. Just a few hours of work to go - finish the edges, mount it on a backing board, attach the hanging device and then it'll be ready to hang in my upcoming show at Gallery Fourteen.

Illustration Friday - DISCOVERY

OK, so I'm cheating a bit on last Friday's theme ... I'm on a voyage of DISCOVERY and need your help. I'm working on a series and had a moment of possible DISCOVERY as I was nearing the finish of the work currently on my easel: instead of finishing the work in the first image to the usual level of resolution in the second image, I kind of like it as it is and am thinking of doing just a little more to it. In it's current state, the work has an edgier feel than my highly resolved works and whenever I reach this stage in a work I pause and ponder, then keep going. What do you think? Finish as usual, or leave the blurred edges and streaks?

Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

OK, enough of this snail trailing already

Seymour continues his adventures, however I am back in the studio this week getting ready for my August exhibition. The show will feature paintings from With Sturdy Shoes and from Our Town (a series I've been working on and off again for many months - this work from the series has already been sold - thank you Kay!).

"Borrowed" Garden Snail on the Move

No artwork to show you this week - I've been busy with a new blog http://theadventuresofseymoursnail.blogspot.com/

New Jewellery Works

To see my latest jewellery works listed on Etsy, click here.

Illustration Friday - Camouflage

... the natural camouflage of the elusive Pear Fairy allows for its inclination to be butt-naket at harvest-time meetings ...

You must forgive me for my imagery bottoming out - I believe it's those Picasso-inspired nude bather works I've been painting that instantly brought this image to mind when I read this morning's IF theme.

New on the easel

I sold the paintings I'd created for my fledgling "Our Town" series and left the idea behind for over 6 months. I've recently been commissioned to create another "Our Town" work and I'm having so much fun with it you'll soon be seeing more.

A new post on Letters

For those of you who read them, Wigged Out is a brand new post on Letters to My Fabulous Daughter

Back to the easel - finally

After a month-long vacation and another month of puttering around the house and working in the garden, I may be ready to get back in the studio (or perhaps it's because it's raining today). With this view from my studio door, I felt inspired to spread some paint around on canvas today. If a worthy image appears I'll post it in a day or two. Ta-ta for now.

Demonstration Village

We didn't travel to Northern Thailand, so visited this lovely demonstration village to catch a glimpse of the architecture of the North. This demonstration village is supported by the Queen of Thailand to encourage preservation of Thai craft-making and traditions.

The structures we passed along the Cambodian highway from the Thai border to Siem Reap were similar, but excluded the steep roofs and the dramatic Thai peaks.

More from Angkor

This structure was built in the 12th century during the reign of Jayavarman VII. I took this photo of the gateway to Angkor Thom from inside the city.

Elephant trek

A visit to Thailand isn't complete without an elephant ride. Here we are on Ko Tao setting off into the forest with our lady elephant and then rewarding her with bananas after our journey - a white knuckle ride up and down steep hills on precariously narrow paths holding on for

dear life as our behinds slipped off our bench and our toes clutched desperately at the hairs on our elephant's head.

Ko Tao

Here's the view from my lawn chair at Ko Tao Resort, on the lovely wee island of Ko Tao ... an excellent place for rest and relaxation, fun in the sun, and snorkelling and scuba diving.

Wat Pho, Bangkok

One of many extraordinary places to visit in Bangkok.

Cambodia

These young Cambodian monks were happy to give us a tour of the temple grounds where they work with orphans and people with HIV. Might their eager friendliness have had something to do with my two beautiful young travelling companions? One of them asked me what I was doing about finding husbands for my daughters and told me he would be a "normal person" in just 6 months.

Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Angkor Thom, where "Laura Croft: Tomb Raider" was filmed, has been left in its natural state with nature reclaiming manmade monuments. These trees grow their roots above ground and during the rainy season they soak up all the water they need to survive the following year.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

This was a magical, spiritual place - I haven't the words to describe the wonder of this UNESCO world heritage site consisting of more than 100 stone temples built between 802 and 1220 AD. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal.

Life is a beach

Two weeks ago, early morning on the way to the beautiful island of Ko Tao.

Sigh ...

Message from the beautiful island of Koh Tao

Hello from Koh Tao! This is a tiny island off the east coast of Thailand - a haven for scuba divers as it offers some of the best diving in the world. The atmosphere here is very serene and peaceful as divers here from all over the world are seriously into their sport and can't dive with hang-overs. Yesterday Taryn and I went snorkelling and Ali went scuba diving. The water is crystal clear - amazing visibily - a large variety of exotic fish and coral. The water is very salty so buoyancy is a no-brainer - you wave a hand once every couple of minutes to keep your head above water. Every cove around the island looks like paradise with a white sand beach and cabins on stilts nestled into rock formations. I don't think I've ever seen such a beautiful place. Sawatdee ka.

Hello from Bangkok

I've been in BKK for several days now and am thoroughly enjoying every moment of the adventure. The streets are full of people, the traffic is unbelievably clogged, roads are filled with dirt and grime until it rains and then they flood. Sounds a bit grim, but I'm loving the hustle and bustle and all the sights ... and all the food! I'm bringing back lots of glass and stone beads and am looking forward to incorporating them into jewellery designs this summer. Ta-ta for now.

The Bride

This is my last art post for a month, as I'm leaving for Thailand in 15 minutes. It's also my Illustration Friday post for the theme SNAP:

In a SNAP, Sandy made the decision to keep walking right past the groom and minister standing before her on the beach. She felt light and free as she ran towards her new future and all the possibilities within it.