My First Gallery Show

Posted on June 7, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..it all happened so quickly

Last week I was informed that I had won a membership to the Women’s Art Association of Canada (WAAC) and when I went for a tour they asked me if I had a painting to submit for their New Members Art Show. The theme was ‘flowers’ and I knew that I had at least one painting that would fit the bill. I submitted the painting on Monday and the opening happened today.

When I arrived downtown I was greeted by three friends outside the gallery. They were very excited for me and I was touched that they wanted to be there. It’s not a huge show but the work was beautifully curated. I met some of the members and was made to feel very welcome. Here is my submission: Floral Abundance

Here are a few more pieces from some of the artists who are members of the WAAC. I really liked the teapot but it was already sold.

A New Art Form for Me

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….acrylic still life

I’ve done still life in watercolour and pencil crayon and I’ve played with acrylics mixed with glazes. In the last two weeks I’ve been checking out Bob Burridge’s youtube channel and decided to try his technique of laying down lots of colour and then painting in the negative space to create a vase of flowers. Here’s one example of how I started. It is actually the second piece that I painted.

It’s hard to imagine that the finished piece came from the first painting but it did.

I had so many positive comments on my first piece using this technique that I decided to donate it to our school’s silent auction. Here’s what it looks like. I have since framed it.

I went on to painting a wine bottle using a slightly different technique but the application of light and dark and adding a shadow are the same.

Finally I painted a pear using a very simple circle/triangle technique to create the pear and then adding dark and light to the background and a shadow to create depth.

If you’re interested in the technique I used for the flowers check out Bob’s video.

Bob Burridge

Painting on Cedar Shim

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..painting birch trees on a piece of carpenter’s shim

I’ve recently taken an on-line course called Paint Your Garden where most of the projects were done on birch plywood. I loved using this surface for painting. While at at the cottage I noticed that we had a lot of shim left over from a recent building project so I chose a piece and primed it with Gesso.

I’ve always loved birch trees and since I’m surrounded by them I decided to use the forest as my garden for this project.

Acrylic paint on 8 x 18 inch cedar shim.

Close-up of tree on the right.

Close-up of the base of one of the trees.

To finish this project I’m planning on drilling two small holes at the top and adding wire to hang.

Painting at 91

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. Ray Cattell

Ray with his granddaughter and daughter.

On Saturday I had the pleasure of going to Ray Cattell’s opening for his latest group of paintings at the Moore Gallery in Toronto. I’ve known Ray for over 20 years and he never ceases to amaze me with his beautiful collection of paintings. He’s been displaying his work since the 1960’s.

We were all surprised that he wanted to do one more show. Most of the paintings are smaller than what he’s produced in years past but with his recent health issues it’s not surprising. He also recently won an award at a juried art show to add to his list of numerous awards granted to him in his lifetime. Some of his work can be found in the Vatican LIbrary, Windsor Castle and in the private collections of The Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth and Henry Ford II.

If you’re in Toronto between Dec 1 and Dec. 22 you can catch the show at the Moore Gallery on 80 Spadina Ave. For more details you can go to the website: Moore Gallery Ltd.