Sunday, November 30, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 30

Well…I didn’t take a single picture at the show! It was a wonderful show, but quite crowded and, being a shy person, it would have been a bit awkward and caused a bit of a kafuffle if I had been trying to photograph!

I did talk to a couple of the artists and was inspired by quite a few people's works…one woman referred to her work as ancestral…she said that what first inspired her was buying an old Muskoka chair…there are chips of paint missing, letting the history of the chair show through…the surprise of a past life spent as a red chair, an older still one spent being green…I was drawn to her paintings for a few reasons…the colours were yummy and the paintings were divided into, usually, 3 sections (I have a thing for odd numbers and 3 is one of my favorites)…they were made up of many layers of paint in all these different, wonderful colours and then parts were scraped away to show the colour below...a little piece of red, purple, or blue…like the chipped paint, the previous lives, the things in your life that go together to make you who you are…the many, many layers that come together to create the whole…each painting also had one, little picture – of a house or a tree, collaged on usually spanning over one of the junctures of the sections…the collaged on pictures were so little that you had to move in to get a good look at them…they are beautiful paintings.

Another woman also used thick, yummy colours of paint and collaged in various pieces of pictures…one had a canoe in it…you could just see part of the canoe…it was smeared into the painting with thick paint…another had 3 sections – in the top there was a landscape, then 3 shells and in the bottom section a leaf.

There were 2 glass artists…one did fused glass that he had added plant material to and some had a coloured canoe paddle, or a depiction of the Gatineau River, or a rock runner guy…like cave paintings…they were beautiful…mostly just using clear glass except for the few that had the coloured paddles or rivers in them. The other glass artist layered cut pieces together to create three dimensional scenes…she included wire, tiny figures, coloured foil…I have seen her work before on a studio tour and she had them in the window and all the edges of glass caught and played with the light…they are really beautiful…most of hers were about 6”x6” little scenes.

The other artist whose works I love was one that I am so glad to have come across again! I had seen her works before on a studio tour as well…she makes the most amazing cement (using all different kinds of cement) creations…wonderful bird baths that speak to me still after having seen them 2 years ago!...she puts things in the cement…lace, shells, ceramic balls, leaves that rot away leaving their fossil outlines. She also makes cement sculptures that I guess would sit on a table…sort of blocks ranging in size from 4”x10” to some 1’x2’ ones I saw a couple years ago on that studio tour…she doesn’t just do the cement sculptures though…she also paints and has taken up felting after a trip to New Zealand…this felting is intriguing…so many different things can be done with it…scarves, shawls, panels that are paintings with the felting…little dolls…the felting that this woman did were like collages…bits of things were incorporated into the pieces…bits of lace, a tie, a little beaded treasure…they were such fun to look at!

There were other artists as well – a couple making beautiful silver jewelry, a print artist who had some lovely prints…copper etchings…another thing I have never tried…a potter who does really pretty painting on her pieces, a few photographers and wood workers…it was a wonderful show…

I slept till noon today…had a lot of sleeping to catch up on…things have been a bit stressful and busy of late…so I needed a catch-up! Then went to the show…now I am sitting up in my studio typing this and painting my pottery hearts…one of them started to crack, so instead of firing them a second time (which might have made the crack larger) and glazing them, my pottery teacher suggested painting them with acrylics…that way I can get the rich, deep red I want too! These hearts are going into the mosaics. Now I have to clean up and we are going back out to the Gatineau Hills for dinner at Oma’s…some wonderful slow cooker chicken, black bean, corn and cream cheese creation that has me getting hungry just thinking about it! My younger is coming as well as Cariño…my younger is hoping to be able to have a luxurious bath session…Oma has the most amazing bathroom ever…both my girls love to go out just to take baths there!!! She has a huge bathroom with high ceilings, wonderful ‘woman art’ all around…a huge tub that has the jets that you can use bubbles with and all around the tub is a ledge with more woman art sculptures and candles…it is quite a heavenly spot…the whole rest of the house is absolutely beautiful too and sits up on a hill overlooking a lovely little lake…it is a piece of heaven on earth there…we love going out for visits! Our dogs get to come too and play with Oma’s Kenya…they get to go out and run around free…no leads…what a life!!!

A wonderful last day of AEDM…but I am going to miss it…I am going to keep going though…I now have a few friends and family who check in on me here…so I trust that will be incentive for me to keep blogging!

Here are the pottery hearts…they need another coat of paint yet…but this opens up new possibilities painting pottery instead of glazing! The girlfriend I went to the show with today also suggested my doing larger sculptural-type pottery pieces like my ‘thing’…maybe also combining pottery pieces and paintings…like mixed media diptychs or triptychs…hmmm…so many fun things to think about and try…

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 29

Had a good day…but a busy one and I’m tired…not quite sure why I am still up, except for the fact that I am having fun with my latest little postcard…I was at my part time job all day and didn’t get up here until this evening…then the evening was full of phone calls…so it was after 10pm before I actually opened a jar of ink!

This is another take on the city lights on the river…this one is called “Full Moon in the City”…somehow the name for this one came easily, where I still haven’t settled on a name for the other one…













Tomorrow Cariño can't come out and play…his work is coming up to the print deadline and final exams are looming…so he is beyond busy! I am going out with a girlfriend and one of my sister-in-laws to a craft show – called “Gifts from the Gatineau – Art Exhibit and Sale”…seventeen artists will exhibit their work including jewellery, pottery, painting, sculpture, photography, glass, ceramics, and mixed media…it sounds like it will be fun!


















I will try to remember to take some pictures at the show and will tell you about it tomorrow…I can’t believe that tomorrow is the last day of the month! It has flown by too quickly!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 28

I first heard about Zentangles a couple of months ago. One of the people in one of the projects I am participating in on WetCanvas did one as one of her pieces. She had taken the idea and added to it…the piece caught my eye and then reading about it, the word Zentangle is so appealing…it is a fun word…like Leah, from Creative Every Day (who is running this Creative Every Day Month project), likes the word widget…they are fun words to roll around in your mouth…widgets and zentangles, zentangles and widgets!

Here is the "Horse based on Zentangle" by Elain














Elain just said in her description of the picture to Google Zentangle…so I did here is the link for you…
http://www.zentangle.com/index.php
I like how they are a form of meditation…and that they are used in Art Therapy. They can range anywhere from the very simple to elaborate. For such a simple original concept (organized doodling, really), there are so many applications…

Here is my first Zentangle...Heart Zentangle 1...

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 27

The whole of yesterday from morning until evening disappeared into a computer job…I got home about 7:30pm, after quickly picking up some groceries on the way, to an offer from my younger daughter to be taken to the movies…she was paying! A comedy: “Four Christmases”. How could I pass that up? So we had a quick dinner of pre-made grocery store food (not very good) and then my wonderful Cariño drove us to the 9:45pm show – there is no parking around the downtown core of Ottawa. Enjoyed the movie...had some good laughs. Got home, walked dogs with Cariño and fell into bed around 12:30am…exhausted…

This morning I had to be at the part-time job for 9am…got home after that and had one hour before it was time to leave for pottery. My pottery classes really do act as art therapy for me! So does the time I get to spend painting up in my studio. With both painting and pottery, I can so completely zone out of life and right into whatever it is I am doing…it is so wonderful! I feel completely refreshed after either a pottery or a painting session…wonderful stuff…wonderful time spent creating and playing!

I remembered the camera tonight! I made another little ‘nest’ pinch pot with 3 little balls in it…didn’t get a picture if it though…then I smoothed and cleaned up the edges on my ten star Christmas ornaments…hey…didn’t get a picture of those either!...then I sat down to play and I made a ‘thing’…not like the last ‘thing’…a bowl-type thing this time…inspired by one of my favorite potters here in Ottawa (but I can’t pronounce or even begin to spell her name – I will see if I can track it down)…it took the rest of the class and I got totally captivated in its making…


















Oh…I also took a picture of the other ‘thing’ that I stained last pottery class and got to bring home tonight…I am really happy with it…it is going to go into one of my mosaics (those mosaics that are still residing in my head…but I am sure are going to come out soon)…












Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 25

Woke to pretty white snow over everything today…and it has continued snowing all day…it is supposed to change to rain…but I hope it just keeps snowing…

Today I worked on another postcard…I’m not thrilled with it, but am going to call it finished, I think – before I go too far and totally ruin it! So far it has coloured pencils, watercolour pencils, watercolours and markers…


















I also did some more on the bigger balloon painting…I am going to add some flowers to the bottom of this one…


















Here is an indignant Pimkey – because I told her she couldn’t roll around asking for a love-up right where I was painting…she sure can give a look!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 24

I had planned on spending the afternoon in the studio…but that wasn’t to be…Cariño and I ‘dashed out’ to pick up some milk…and the van died…so, what should have been a few minutes excursion, turned into a few hours one, as we waited in the cold van for the tow truck to come, tow us to the shop and then make our way home by cab…damn van…

I finally made it upstairs after dinner and I worked on a few things…didn’t really get anything finished though…it was a nice way to forget our van woes and generally escape life’s troubles…

I’ve decided to try a bigger version of “Floating Away with Balloons”…on a 10”x20” canvas...I was surprised at how captured some people were by it…it is always nice to get compliments though!

I played some more with my city lights on the water painting…I can’t decide what to call it or whether it’s finished now…it has entered the realm of fantasy though…like a few of my things seemed to have done lately!










Tomorrow I will be waiting to hear about the van…I hope it isn’t anything major…I plan on escaping up to the studio again while I wait!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 22

I missed another day yesterday…I came home from working in the afternoon and just had to have a nap! While I was napping Cariño went out and got some wine, movies and cook-at-home pizza…so he woke me to an evening of escape!

Then we had a very disrupted night between kitties being naughty and younger daughter coming and going…so I slept in this morning and only had a little time in the afternoon to spend in the studio before having to head off to work at my part-time job…

I finished this very simple postcard…”Floating away with Balloons”…


















I also started assembling the Christmas cards…

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 20

No pictures today…I meant to take my camera to pottery…but forgot…

I had a wonderfully creative and productive evening at pottery…I finally remembered to take the second ‘ball bowl’ that I had made a few weeks ago (it had been sitting up on a shelf in our kitchen covered in plastic)…so tonight I finished smoothing the outside of it and set it to get bisque fired. Then I made ten, very textured star ornaments – much like the one I bought at the pottery show last weekend – it was one that my instructor had made and she brought in her stamps and cookie cutters tonight.

I enjoyed the look of the stamped clay so much that I rolled and stamped another slab and cut two large rectangle tiles from it. Driving home I wished that I had cut each of them in half to make long narrow tiles, but, oh well…I can make more later if I want. Carrie has great stamps, though, that she usually keeps out at her studio.

After that I stained the ‘thing’ I made a few weeks ago for my mosaic…will take a picture of it next week when I get it back after it’s final firing. I also glazed two other of my bowls that been bisque fired.

Still there was time left in class – so I made three little pinch pots that I shaped and in one I put a single ball and in another I put three balls…they will also be for my mosaic.

Before class (after my computer jobs) I started another postcard – this one is fanciful as well…a girl is floating up and away holding onto three colourful balloons…hopefully I will get a chance to finish it tomorrow…

All in all – a nice day…the pottery sure is therapeutic!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 19

I am finding that fitting in a new, part-time job is proving to be tiring! I have not had a chance for a couple days to do any painting – but I have been having fun with the new job, so all is good!

Today after work I had a couple hours before Cariño would be home from classes and it would be time to get dinner. I managed to paint another postcard for the Dream Vacations project…I’m quite happy with it…it is similar to the “After the Sail” one, but has a huge moon rising in it instead of the sail boat. It is called “Moonrise Over Open Water I”












My postcards for this project are becoming more and more fanciful – but that is fine…people in this group are very accepting – that is one of the things I really like about this artist community – it is very supportive and encouraging…the site is full of eye candy too!

I also worked a bit more on that new painting of city lights on the water – I used the back end of a very small square stamp to ‘stamp’ in random squares of white lights in the buildings. Now I am not liking the black hump of the bridge that I had masked off, so I think I am going to level it out straight…now I just have to remember what blue I used…and did I mix some black into it to darken it down…?...










I think I will make a postcard of this idea as well…

Tomorrow I have a computer job in the morning and a couple more I am just waiting to hear back on, so I don’t know what the afternoon will bring. Tomorrow night is pottery class! I have to get going on the mosaic…it is still residing in my head!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 16

A sleepy, snowy, quiet day!

Today I worked some more on getting organized for the Dream Vacation postcard project…finished the 4th postcard and got them scanned and written up…20 more to go!!!

These are all done on 4"x6" 140lb cold pressed watercolour paper using acrylics and inks...

Here they are so far…

Georgian Bay II












After the Sail












Meditation Garden V


















Sunset Over Open Water II – finished today












Now I am off to get ready for yet another birthday dinner for Cariño! This one at his niece’s with two nieces, nephew-in-law, a brother, sister-in-law and my elder daughter…

Art Every Day Month – Day 15

By the time we got home from having Cariño’s birthday dinner out at Barbara’s…I was way too tired to post anything about our visits to the three shows!

The Ottawa Potters Guild show was wonderful…my favorite of the day…they had a great turn out…people were lining up to pay for their treasures! In fact there were lots of people at all three shows and many seemed to be buying! I ended up buying a few things…couldn’t resist!

There were the works of over 70 potters at the show and the pottery ranged from wonderfully whimsical to beautifully functional. Over the course of the show there were various demonstrations up on the stage that was at one end of the room…we ran into my pottery teacher, Carrie – she had just finished a demonstration and hands on session with a whole lot of kids.

Here are Barbara (left) and Carrie














I came away with a cup (we use our collection of pottery cups for wine – each one different) that has a beautiful glaze – looks like an abstract landscape…and it is blue…I love blue! I also got a little fish plate that is really happy and two Christmas tree ornaments. There were so many more things that tried to speak to me…but I resisted!

Here is the new addition to our wine cup collection


















The happy fish plate


















And the ornaments














Next we went to the Ottawa Glass Bead Artists show - again – lots of wonderful eye candy – but those beads are expensive! I fell in love with a glass heart bead, about 1.5” high with beautiful iridescent blues and greens inside of it. There were a few exceptional artists there that stood out above anyone else. They made things that you just couldn't help but touch - that were absolutely yummy in their colours and design! . There were some amazing glass beads that were like mini sculptures – twisted and melded colours and shimmers in them like little landscapes - beautiful worlds all on thier own. I have never tried making glass beads or blowing glass so it is kind of like magic to me! There were a few artists making glass goddess beads that were beautiful…my favorite was a buxom purple one.

There was also one artist there that was making silver jewelry out of a special kind of clay…”Art Clay Silver”…that seemed to be truly magical! She talks about it on her web site Rideau Art & Beads. They give classes in this – might have to look into that!

The final show was the Third World Bazaar and it was very much like a bazaar – tons and tons of things all stuffed onto shelf after shelf after isle after isle…I got a little overwhelmed there! There were too many people and too much stuff! Maybe it was because I was going into eye candy overload! There were some really nice things though – my elder daughter bought a bunch of things and Barbara got a rug – I came away with a maraca to put with my Tibetan singing bowl and tingsha.

Entering the bazaar


















Some nice Kisi Stone plates














This frog bird bath could have followed me home!


















Barbara choosing her new rug














My new noise-maker
















Cariño was the only one who made it through the day without buying anything – my elder daughter bought the most! It was a fun day and lots of beautiful things were seen. After the shows, we stopped by our place, picked up the dogs and headed out to Barbara’s for a wonderful dinner.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Art Every Day Month – Day 14

Today’s creativity consisted mainly of a wonderful nap…came home after working and crawled into bed with my younger daughter (who also loves naps), a cuddly fat cat (Maddy – who has perfected the slob-cat routine) and we slipped away for a couple hours…good for the soul!

I puttered for a little while up in the studio in the early evening…after waking up from my nap…I have a pile of bits to be put together for the cards…all ready to go except for the star…I think I am going to make a little stamp for the star…it is a bit finger-tying to work with the little cut out!


















I also worked a bit on another postcard for that project…the Dream Vacation one…won’t show a picture yet…will wait till it is finished…this one is a Norval Morriseau/Ted Harrison inspired one of a sunset over open water…I’m doing it in acrylics – this is the one I was painting the narrow ‘straight’ black lines with the brush that wouldn’t hold a point! I decided to just embrace the non-perfection of the line and go with it!

Tomorrow I will be going to a few shows…the Ottawa Potters Guild show is on…so is the First Annual Ottawa Glass Bead Artists Show…and the Third World Bazaar! I don’t have a cent to spend at any of them…and that is going to be hard…but I will enjoy the looking!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Art Every Day month – Day 13

It’s a rainy day today…at least the freezing rain warning has been lifted…a few blocks around the Parliament buildings have been closed because of a suspicious package…there was one last week on Bank street in front of the Morgentaler clinic that turned out to be an empty suitcase that had been left out for the garbage…

Today I painted the fronts of the seven pre-made cards, the seven tree trunks, splattered ink on the now blue cards and the gold insets…it’s like an assembly line doing a bunch at a time…not as captivating as doing the first one…but that’s ok…there is something fun about having a whole lot of pieces laying about…knowing that they will all come together soon into a finished whole…I used to feel this way when I did woodworking way back when the kids were just little…I felt like a one-person toy store! I also spend time thinking about the people that I am making the cards for, which is nice.

The only other thing I managed to do today in-between job and orientation, was to ‘pat’ the ‘flowers’ in on my Meditation Garden postcard…so it will be ready to be mailed off once it dries…

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Art Every Day month – Day 12

I’m sitting at home today waiting for an electrician to come…in my business, which also deals with emergencies at times, I tell people the time I will be coming and if I am going to be at all late– I call them…seems most business don’t do that! We were hoping the electrician would come yesterday (my Cariño doesn’t have classes on Tuesdays this term) but no one showed up…so today I had to shuffle around my stuff so I could wait at home…why can’t these people make appointments like I do???

Luckily it all worked out – I didn’t have any emergency calls – and I made my appointments for tomorrow and Friday…so today I am spending creating!

I am happy with the Christmas card, so I cut out seven more trees and got them started in the painting, drying, painting some more and drying cycles!

Here is the finished card…simple, but I like it…


















Here are the various bits drying…The 4”x6” inserts are all painted gold and I got the trees base painted and then the textured green put on…have to be more careful with these pieces sticking to the backing…unlike my ‘pieces of colour’ squares, which I do on heavy watercolour paper – so they are fairly strong…I just did the trees on sketch pad paper, so they are much more delicate…I peeled them off the backing papers before they were dry and draped them over paint pots so I wouldn’t harm them trying to get them off later…




































I really need to get going on the two projects I am part of through WetCanvas! So today I started a postcard size (4”x6”) ‘Meditation Garden’ painting…great fun patting on all the different colours…I get carried away at times! Here I have the top and the bottom parts of the painting finished...once that is dry, I will pat in the 'flowers' - the purples...


















I started the recording process I do to go along with the pieces I will be sending out for the WetCanvas projects. This takes a fair amount of time on its own…each piece has to be scanned or photographed, I have to keep track of who I send each piece to (we mail them off and then upload them to the forum when the recipient lets us know it has arrived), write down the medium(s) used and also a few sentences about the piece…the why and wherefore…

The two projects I am participating in right now are a “travel or dream vacation” postcard (4”x6”) one and an “anything goes” ACEO (2.5”x3.5”) one…there are 25 in the one group and 27 in the other…so I have to make 24 and 26 cards respectively and mail them out to people in the group - people who are all over the world - and they are all doing the same…so I should receive 50 little pieces of art in the mail!...much nicer than bills!!!

I also worked some more on that new painting…lights on the river…but I don’t like what I did…so I will have to undo that…

The electrician never came…both Cariño and I are busy all day tomorrow…what a pain!

Not sure if I will get any time in the studio tomorrow…maybe I will take my camera with me on my journeys…I have a computer job in the morning and an orientation at a part-time job I just got in the evening…what happens in the afternoon depends on how long my job in the morning takes…tomorrow is also Cariño’s birthday so a special dinner will be in order…not sure how I will pull that off, since I will be at that orientation until 8pm and he is in class until 8:30pm! - dinner at midnight, anyone? Maybe we will have to postpone celebrations until the weekend…

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Art Every Day month – Day 11

Remembrance Day – it was a beautiful day for the ceremonies here in Ottawa. As I type this, I can’t find any pictures from this year on the Internet yet – here is one from last year – a nice view of the crowds at the National War Memorial where they hold the ceremonies – just in front of Parliament Hill. I found this picture on “The Maple Leaf”.













Most places were closed for the morning, so I spent part of my morning up in the studio! The Christmas card is coming together and I am happy with how it is turning out…it isn’t going to be much of a surprise for my Mom because she keeps tabs on my blog! But things are always different in real life than in pictures! I have just made the one so far…to see if I liked it before I went making a few – immediate family only!

Here is a progress picture…the three pieces are all stuck together…


















Now I am going to put red ‘Christmas tree balls’ at the ends of the branches and a little star on top…the star will be another piece applied to the picture…am just deciding how to paint it…made it gold, but it didn’t show up…so now have painted it blue and am going to rub some gold and/or silver onto it…the red balls will be painted directly on…

Here is the little star…all but lost on one of my backing pieces that I paint on!


















I also started a new painting…I see patterns and light combinations everywhere and usually, in the back of my mind, I am wondering if I can ‘use’ what I see in my art…there are a few bridges that we drive over often (there are many around here) and when we drive over at night and Cariño is driving…I love to look at how the lights and the city reflect on the water…so this painting is an attempt to capture something of that view – actually the ‘view’ in my painting is from my imagination…based on a compilation of a few of the bridges…

Funny thing…I had painted the whole canvas (16”x8”) black and then had cut a mask out of paper to lay over top to paint the night sky…I was looking for that beautiful indigo blue…well…I painted it on and wet it looked great…came back this evening and the blue had dried down so dark that I couldn’t see it!...so I repainted with a lighter blue…again…looks good wet…we shall see when it dries…

Again…sorry about the glare on the photos…it is always dark by the time I get around to photographing my ‘stuff of the day’!...I should work one day ahead of myself…start the project October 31st and post in the mornings…maybe if Leah runs this again next year…

Monday, November 10, 2008

Art Every Day month – Day 10

Day 9 slipped by me without my getting much done in the creative department…I did do a little – started an idea I have had for a while for a Christmas card. So I started the parts for that…will consist of the card, an inset part on the front and then a piece put on top of that. I painted the card – a pre-made one, I painted the 4”x6” inset and cut out and painted the Christmas tree…then I had to wait for it all to dry!

Today I added another coat of gold for the 4”x6” piece, am flattening the card part and added 2 greens to the tree…I patted the paint on with a little palette knife so I could get some texture…waiting for it to dry again…














While waiting I started another postcard for one of the swaps I am on…am trying to paint a thin straight line with a brush that won’t keep a point!

I added some more blues back in on my big painting…there was a dark ‘hole’ in almost the middle of the painting that I found distracting…so now I will let this dry and then see if I want to add another lighter blue, some more off-white and red…


















I am hoping tomorrow morning to be able to spend a bit of time up in the studio…the last couple of days have been busy with this and that and I haven’t had much uninterrupted time to spend painting!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Art Every Day month – Day 8

I had a day full of eye candy! I just wish I had pictures to post here. There seem to be a lot of shows and studio open houses on during this time of the year…the Christmas-time shows. Today we (Cariño and a friend) went to two of them…

First we went to the 260 Fingers Show – an invitational show and sale of 26 clay artists. It was wonderful…such amazing and beautiful things…I fell in love with many pieces! There were the gorgeous pots, mugs, platters and bowls that you would expect at a pottery show…but this was not just a pottery show, it was a clay artist’s show, so there were also sculptural pieces.

I was truly inspired by two of the sculptural artists – one of them didn’t have a card and I was hoping to be able to see her on the web site…but now that I am looking I don’t see her listed…I may be haunted by this…I hope I get to see her work again…it was mixed media incorporating clay, wood, leather, metal and bones I think – just amazing. She had two wall hangings that I could have looked at forever! I am going to have to hunt down her name…

The other sculptor that I really, really loved her work – Christina MacEwen – also did mixed media – using much the same materials (clay, bone, metal, wood, linen and paint) - wonderful, tall ‘creatures’ or spirits - about 6 to 9 feet tall!…she had a book for sale called “Spirits from the Shore” showing her sculptures as well as writing about them…it is the only thing I bought at the show…I just had to have it!

There were a few other artists that I really liked as well – Chandler Swain – I love her works…my favorite coffee mug is one of hers – has a happy woman floating along on it. Tim Storey’s fanciful creatures were great – his Big Fish was especially wonderful and he had a dragon tea pot that I wish could have followed me home! Paula Murray made exquisite sculptural containers out of porcelain…so fragile looking – some looked like curled birch bark.

After the 260 Fingers show, which was on at the Glebe Community Centre, we headed over to the New Edinburgh area of Ottawa for the MainWorks Studio Open House. Karen Bailey (who I have mentioned before) has a studio here along with 14 other artists. MainWorks is located in the old Crichton Street School which is now the Crichton Cultural Community Centre. The artists’ studios are up on the third floor – huge windows, super high ceilings…it is a neat spot!

Saw some paintings there that I would have liked to have had follow me home as well…but, thankfully, most of the ones that I really liked were sold already! It’s ok if they are sold – then they can’t haunt me! It’s when I really like them and they aren’t sold that they can leave lingering whispers in my head!

As for creative things that I have done today…not much… but that’s ok…it was an inspiring day with all the creative eye candy I got to see!

I am still sitting with the big painting…

I did add a bit more to this little one…it is one I take out every so often and add to…not sure where it is going…it is becoming fanciful…sort of gives me the feeling of a dream…a nice dream…

Friday, November 7, 2008

Art Every Day month – Day 7

Yesterday, Day 6 of AEDM, I didn’t do anything to show…I took the rest of the pieces of colour off the backing sheet. I had a pottery class as well, but missed it because I had an interview – interview went well, I think, but took way longer that I thought it would!

Usually Cariño walks the dogs in the morning, but this morning he had to rush off to University for a meeting, so I walked them…I found a beautiful stone heart!

















Today I managed to spend some creative time!

I had a helper though…Pimkey (one of my elder daughters cats that we are watching) is a very needy cat…she pokes at you with her cold nose and kneads you with her sharp claws…kind of drives you nuts after a while! It is hard to get mad at her though…she looks at you in such a love-me-pet-me-need-me kind of way! The problem is that she never settles, so eventually you have to tell her to leave you alone! A couple times as she was rolling in needy ecstasy on my work table, she rolled right off!












































She is a funny creature! Hard not to love though!

I played around with the placing of the pieces of colour…deciding which way up I liked each piece and where to put them on the canvas…think I am happy with it now…next is to stick them all down with gel medium…another one of the more tedious steps…but I can get lost doing that as well…it’s like sanding pieces of wood…meditative in it’s own way…or maybe I just like mindless, repeditive things sometimes!






















The other main thing I did today was to paint the next step in my Flow painting (couldn't help the glare...it was dark by the time I was ready to take a picture)…I have to sit with it for a bit now…decide if I need to add more or make it ‘less’! Part of me is thinking that maybe I want the top part to just be some blues and a bit of the off-white…part of me likes the red as well…part of me likes the riot of colour! So I will let it sit for a while…have to wait for it to dry before I put on the ‘flow’ anyway…

I imagine what I will do is get another 30”x30” canvas and try it with just the blues…and maybe some red…

I used palette knives to paint this…started with a big one and got progressively smaller as I moved through the colours…from about a 12” one down to one that is about an inch!


















It is the weekend once more!!! There are a number of things on this weekend...tomorrow Cariño, a couple frinds and I are going to go to a pottery show and a multi-artist studio open house...will post links for them tomorrow...