My Solo Art Show is up and Running

after months of preparation

My art show in the Ruth Upjohn Gallery at the Women’s Art Association of Canada officially opened on Wednesday. I’d love to say that it opened without a hitch but alas a couple of problems did arise or should I say ‘fell down’.

On Wednesday morning I received a message from the gallery that one of my pieces had fallen. After finishing my shift at the Inn (I volunteer at one of Toronto’s Historical Museums) I drove into the city to fix the problem. When I arrived I discovered that a second photo had fallen.

The problem stemmed from the hanging system on the back of the frame. It works fine when you hang it in your home but it doesn’t work in a gallery situation where you are required to use D rings. I had five frames in total with this faulty system and I knew that it was only a matter of time before the others fell.

I took home the frame that broke and purchased two new frames and repurposed two similar frames that I had at home. I returned the next day and found that two more frames had fallen. I reframed and rehung the pieces. I know that the nothing else will fall now and I can rest easy.

The official opening reception starts in a few hours.

Here is a glimpse of what the show looks like:

Trios From the Victoria Miro Gallery

an art gallery in north London

Victoria Miro is a contemporary art gallery in a converted former furniture factory.

If you have any trios to share I’d love to see them. Just copy my link and paste it into your post.

The Collection at the Royal Academy

a gem in Piccadilly Circus

After seeing the Victor Hugo show we made our way to the first floor to check out the main permanent collection. We were blown away when we rounded the corner and came across two giant murals on opposite sides of the room.

One was a replica of the Last Supper.

I had no idea that the original painted by Leonardo da Vinci had deteriorated very quickly and many of the features seen in the replica are no longer visible on the original. Several of da Vinci’s students painted the replica roughly 20 years after the original was completed.

These threes paintings are replicas of Rafael’s work created by Sir James Thornhill, almost 200 years after the originals were made.

The rest of the gallery housed everything from classical to contemporary sculptures and paintings.

Futuristic work station installation made with aluminum

We ended our day with a lovely soup from the RA café.

CFFC – Things Made of Metal

Thanks to Dan from No Facilities for hosting CFFC https://nofacilities.com/2025/06/02/things-made-of-metal-cffc/

A Trip to Piccadilly and the Royal Academy of Art

the bus took 29 stops before we arrived at our destination

By the time we arrived in Piccadilly we needed a coffee. We knew that we were going to a pay a premium price going into the bistro that we chose but we didn’t care. We just wanted a comfortable place to sit, a good cup of coffee and a small treat. We thoroughly enjoyed our coffees and Kevin said that his pain de raisin was the best one he ever had. I checked the prices for the same thing in the art gallery coffee shop and they were very similar. In fact coffee everywhere in London runs about £4 or more in coffee shops.

After being thoroughly caffeinated we headed out to find the Royal Academy of Art. We walked too far and passed some very pricey shops but happened to stumble upon a gallery shop featuring David Hockney. Kevin and I love his work but a single print sells for £80,000.

We had a very nice conversation with gallery administrator about Hockney’s work and she directed us back to the RAA.

The Royal Academy of Art is featuring the drawings of Victor Hugo, the famous French author and play write from the 19th century.

More about the RAA tomorrow…..

A Trip to the Artist Run Gallery in Angel

yesterday we spent quite a bit of time in this lovely little gallery

The Bakery Art Run Gallery is situated on a small side street and is home to the work of 19 artists who curate the work themselves and is always manned by one the artists. On the day we went we met Natalie Kingdoms who specializes in silk screen printing using half tone dots. For more information about the gallery you can check out their website: https://thebakeryartgallery.com/

A Trip to Angel

with the 19 bus

Today we decided to do a little shopping and explore the area around the Angel Station. We stopped at Itsu for some lunch and enjoyed a hot noodle bowl.

We explored some very cool side streets with fun artist owned galleries and outdoor cafes before we ended up at Cass Art Supplies to purchase some sketchbooks.

Textures in Art Through Lines, Dots and Swirls

For Tuesday Textures

Young Hee Sung has created implied textures in her paintings by using tiny dots, large swirls of colour and broken lines or dashes. Her show at the Assembly Hall in South Etobicoke is called Sunrise, Sunset.

Two Days of Art and Culture

a little opera and lots of paintings

On Thursday I made my way downtown to listen to a wonderful opera singer, Midori Marsh.

Midori was the winner of the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto 2024 Career Development Award.

After the concert I walked over to the Royal Museum of Ontario but didn’t get beyond the gift shop because you can no longer access the museum via the store. I’m hoping this is temporary.

I could have entered from the main entrance but I wanted to check out the show at WAAC which is a block north of the ROM.

When I arrived at Women’s Art I was greeted by this sandwich board.

The show is wonderful with very large and varied pieces. One year I’ll attempt a large piece so that I can participate in this show.

… more

Today Kevin and I attended the Lambton Kingsway Annual Art Show. Kevin learned that one of the artists that he follows was exhibiting here so he wanted to meet her.