Needle and Thread

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Mama Cormier

…the name of my new series of paintings for my solo show

The Joy of Making is the name of my solo show in May. I not only wanted to highlight my love of painting and making art but I also wanted to pay tribute to my family’s talents and the things that my Mom taught me when I was younger. From a very young age my Mom taught me how to make doll clothes with hand stitching and later how to use a sewing machine. She also taught me how to mend socks and sew on buttons.

As I got older I taught Family Studies and taught 11 to 13 year olds how to cook and sew. They learned how to embroider, quilt and sew clothes. I continued to learn and practise other needle crafts such as knitting, cross stitch, weaving, basketmaking and more. In my 50s I learned how to use watercolour and later I ventured into abstract painting using acrylics and collage.

Here are the first three pieces of my Needle and Thread series.

5-BA3-C2-BB-17-FD-4-D19-98-E8-B0183-D5-BD5-F4 — *Mending a Broken Heart*

307-F668-F-EFDB-46-AA-8912-3045837-E23-DD — *Those ‘Darn’ Holes*

EEC513-F3-863-D-4-A50-BB43-67-F9720-CB034-1-201-a — *Mom’s Button Box*

Getting Ready for my Solo Art Show – June 29th – July 9

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Mama Cormier

….I’m about 90% ready

I’m very excited to promote my solo art at the Ruth Upjohn Gallery at the Women’s Art Association in Toronto. I’ve called it Before and After Paris, simply because some of the work was created before my trip to Europe and more after I returned home. Here is the flyer that I designed with the help of my daughter, Andrea.

Most of my work consists of abstract florals and landscapes but I have also included some of my photographs in the form of cards. Here is a quick preview of some of my work.

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Day 14 of My Daily Art Challenge for March

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Mama Cormier

….bringing you up to date

After struggling with my two larger paintings I’ve finally found a solutions that I’m happy with. Originally I wanted to do something in the colours of the Ukrainian flag but it just wasn’t working for me.

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Then I decided to paint over the entire two pieces with white and blue. I kept adding more paint and again I wasn’t happy.

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Finally I covered most of the paper with white and then I cut up the paper into 4 smaller pieces. I added marks to start my intuitive process and then I began to lay down colour.

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I’m already starting to feel better and two of the four pieces are started.

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One piece is almost done. The one below is probably 90% finished but I’m going to give it another day or so before I declare it ready for framing. It already looks quite a bit different from what you’re seeing.

Remember this is not the finished piece.

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Circles in Art from the Past – October 18, 2021

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Becky B for hosting Past Squares https://beckybofwinchester.com/2021/10/18/past-squares-18/

My first attempt at abstract, many years ago, involved circles and it seems to be a shape I keep coming back to.

A Road Trip to the Country

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….titile for my third painting for the New Members Show in January

My third intuitive painting turned into another floral abstract but it is probably the least abstract of the three paintings. It reminded me of the wild flowers along the edge of the highway on our way to the cottage, hence the name.

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Starting With a Doodle

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….day 2 of Sketchbook Revival

Today in Karen Abend’s Sketchbook Revival class we were introduced to Mary Beth Shaw who is a journal artist. She took us from a doodle sketch done in pencil to an abstract spread using collage, ink and acrylic paint. It was a fun process and a great way to start a painting when you have no idea what you want to paint. Here is my day’s artistic endeavour.

From This to That

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…yesterday I showed you two blobs of colour that I would transform

Today I completed a cat that looks like it was crossed with a mouse and a leaf eating dragon. Here’s what I started with…..

….and this is what I ended up with

Starting With a Blob

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….when you don’t know what to paint start with a blob of colour

Today was the first day of Sketchbook Revival, another on-line free series of classes to get your creative juices to flow. The program is hosted by Karen Abend and today’s guest artist is one of my favourite teachers, Carla Sonheim.

Carla started by encouraging all artists to journal daily with what she calls box journalling. Basically she draws a box in her journal and divides it into sections and writes and draws in the different spaces. She writes random thoughts, to do and idea lists and draws doodles in one of the smaller squares. All of these help give her inspiration for the rest of her day. She also finds it very meditative.

Blob drawings are a great way to start making art when you’re in a rut and don’t know what you want to paint. You literally lay down a blob of paint onto paper and smear it or spread it in a random fashion with a credit card or palette knife. Here are two examples of blobs that I have laid down on the pages of my sketchbook.

Later this evening I will probably turn then around and see what animal or creature I see and start adding detail with a black marker or with ink. For the one that I just finished I used a water based ink so that I could go back in with a wet brush and add shading by just going over the black lines.

In my first blob I clearly saw a bird flying through the air. Here is my finished piece.

Abstract Painting With Karin Husty

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….beginning with exercise painting using mixed media

My first painting was my name collage where I used collaged papers, acrylic paint, art Graf and white ink. For my second exercise piece I laid down colour blobs instead of paper to start my piece and then drew in random lines with my graphite crayon. I layered in more colour, using mostly Payne’s Grey, Azo orange and white. I dabbed on some cyan acrylic ink and stencilled in some dots and circles. Towards the end I scribbled random text over the entire piece using a 4B pencil and added some dark grey and highlights of white to complete the piece. Not sure that this is done. The next lesson will determine where I go with this.

Second Doodle Completed

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….day 122 of 365 Days of Art

I was away for four days at the cottage. Even though much of my time was spent cleaning the cottage and clearing the leaves around the cottage I did manage to do some art. Here is my second doodle art piece complete with line detail.