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.