…my art has become all consuming
There are only two days left to my art show so things on my blog should be somewhat back to normal after this weekend. Normal? What is that? Here are a few trios for this week’s challenge.
…after a very successful opening reception
For some reason I have no photos of me at this show, unlike last year. More importantly though I have lots of photos of the actual room and how the art is displayed. Last week, on Tuesday, my husband and I made our way to the Womens’ Art of Canada building where two galleries are housed. I was in the smaller room, The Ruth Upjohn Gallery and in the larger gallery, Dignam Gallery, the Photography Show was being set up.
The actual hanging procedure of my art went reasonably well. The only thing left to do was have the labels made and placed next to the corresponding piece of art. Unfortunately the making of the labels was a bit more complicated than in previous years so the actual labels didn’t go up until the second day of the show. None the less, everything was ready to go for the opening reception on Saturday.
On the actual day, all my worries of driving there through the city and finding a parking spot were for naught. My neighbour, Mary, came with us and kindly volunteered to help set up the food and wine and serve during the show. She was a huge help.
The actual reception was hugely successful. More than 20 of my friends and family showed up and then the artists from the show next door and their guests made their way into my show throughout the day. The photography show was also part of the Scotia Bank Contact Show which had numerous venues throughout the city so there were a lot of people from the public who also attended the show.
At the end of the day I had sold seven paintings, two rock weavings and over 40 photo cards. The show runs till this Saturday so there may be a few more sales before all is said and done.
….looking out the window at WAAC I noticed someone taking photos of this beige mass on the ground
I grabbed my phone and went outside to investigate. Here’s what I found.
…a very late night and a good chunk of today taken up making this painting
This one gave me a bit of trouble. The background was relatively simple to complete but the foreground just didn’t pop and the lavender didn’t stand out. After a consultation with our daughter, we came up with a couple of solutions to fix the problem. Along the way I made a few other changes as well and I think I can finally call this one finished.
“Lavender Hills in Assisi”
15″ x 30″ on stretched canvas – acrylic paint and mixed media
Now I just have to sign it, seal it and wire it.
…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.
….thanks to Jez for hosting I’m a fan of……https://jezbraithwaite.blog/2023/03/20/a-ride-to-the-park-fan-of-198/
I love to browse through art galleries for a variety of reasons. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon or even just an hour or less. It informs me on what is happening in the world, the values of other cultures and the diversity of art itself. I don’t always love everything I see but I can appreciate what the artist went through to make their art. The one comment I despise from other people who think that a piece of art is unworthy to hang in a gallery is….”I could do that”. The problem is that they didn’t do that and never will.
The big art gallery in Toronto is the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) and I love going there but I also enjoy going to smaller galleries like the Dignam Gallery at WAAC, the Assembly Hall Gallery and all the smaller and larger galleries we visited on our trips in Europe.
The galleries below are: The Louvre in Paris – first two photos. The Musée de Beaux-Arts in Tours, France – photos 3, 4 and 5. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tours, France – photos 6,7 and 8. The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in London, England – photos 9, 10 and 11. The Barbican Art Gallery in London, England – photos 12, 13 and 14. The Tate Modern in London, England – photos 15m 16 and 17. The Dignam Art Gallery at WAAC in Toronto – photos 18, 19, 20 and 21 and Neilson Park Creative Centre in Etobicoke – photos 22, 23 and 24 . The Assembly Hall Gallery in Toronto – photos 25, 26 and 27.
…thanks to Sue W and GC for hosting Weekly Prompts https://weeklyprompts.com/2023/02/01/weekly-prompts-wednesday-challenge-belonging/
Before COVID I belonged to a group of bakers. Every week, twice a week, we got together to make dough and bake bread in the wood burning oven at Montgomery’s Inn, one of Toronto’s Historical Museums. When COVID hit in March 2020 all volunteer jobs were eliminated and bread baking ceased to exist for almost three years. I loved belonging to this group of men and women who came together every week and I look forward to the day that we can once again get together to make bread.
I also belong to an organization of mostly women artists but also some men and that too has reduced it’s in person activities considerably since COVID hit. I love belonging to such a creative group that shares knowledge and ideas so freely and openly. It’s given me the confidence to pursue my art journey and I even hosted my first solo art show in 2022.
I also belong to a lawn bowling club and this past year we’ve been able to get together in person to play ‘normal’ games where we can have three people per side and use all the lanes at the same time. We were also able to celebrate Canada Day and we had a year end dinner. A great group of people that I’m happy to call friends.
The most precious of groups that I belong to is that of my family and friends. COVID has been difficult but thanks to ZOOM and WhatsApp, I’ve been able to stay connected. In the past year we’ve been able to travel again to visit family overseas and on the east coast and we’ve even gotten together for celebrations to acknowledge milestone birthdays.
…this week’s trios come from the gift boutique at WAAC
On the last day of the Gift Boutique I discovered an entire box of these lovely little hand painted ornaments. I couldn’t help myself….I had to have them.
If you have any photos of trios to share, I’d love to see them. Copy my link from this post and paste it into your post. I’ll get a pingback and I’ll be sure to comment. Carol
…thanks to RDP for today’s prompthttps://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2022/10/19/rdp-wednesday-exquisite/
ex·quis·ite
adjective
There are art pieces that I consider ‘exquisite’ because they speak to me. They can be large or small, refined or bold and realistic or abstract. The following pieces from our most recent art show at WAAC, From Nature to Abstraction, I find ‘exquisite.
…introducing some close-ups of the textures from the show Nature to Abstraction
There are many great pieces of art in the most recent show at WAAC but some have some outstanding visual textures.
Mama Cormier 