Christmas Skates - Sold

Christmas Skates, 12x24 oil

I am thrilled to say that this painting was accepted into the Burlington Art Centre's juried show! I posted it last December, one of my first postings on this blog.  I had barely managed to get it done in time for Christmas last year.  I'm way ahead of the game this year, since I have decided to use my painting "Tangled Christmas" as this year's Christmas card, yay!  If you happen to be in Burlington within the next couple of weeks, you'll find this painting in the Perry Gallery, at the Burlington Art Centre.

Tangled Christmas - Sold

Tangled Christmas, oil 6x12

This past weekend was the big Christmas show at the Burlington Art Centre.  It was a huge display of all the work from the guilds.  I was volunteering all day Sunday, doing my painting demonstration and then helping out with sales in the Lee Chin Gallery.  The evening before I had to decide what to paint, and with Christmas on my mind, I started pulling out various items from our ever growing accumulation of decorations.  One of my favourite is a string of hand painted wooden bobbles.  It was in a tangled mess!  After spending half an hour trying to untangle them I hung them on a nail in the wall and continued going through the boxes looking for inspiration.  Pausing to make a tea, I glanced over at the mess of bobbles and saw my next painting!  The painting to the right (or above), a photo of the point at which I had to stop my demo.  I think I was quite productive considering I spent a good deal of my time chatting with people.  Below is the finished piece.  I wonder if I'll be able to get it untangled in time to decorate the house for Christmas, hmmm.




Apples

Recently I had a friend come to visit from the other side of the country.  We've been good friends since college, but our lives went in different directions.  We don't get to see each other very often, but when we do it's like no time has passed.  When she was here, she asked me to teach her to paint, (she hasn't painted in years).  I really had to think about how I would do this since I have never taught before.  Breaking down the process and making sure I didn't skip over key parts.  I made sure I picked a subject that I knew well, and was at ease with, (yes, apples).  My demonstration was the painting above.  I painted step by step and she followed, asking questions as we went along.  It was a learning process for me as well as for her, but we were both pleased with the results. 

A Big Hat to Fill - Sold

What? We've barely reached the middle of November and here I am posting a 'SANTA Sock Monkey'! A little reminder of what's to come.  I usually have a hard time thinking of Christmas so early, but I had to paint a little painting, (a Christmas ornament), as the entrance fee for the upcoming guild Christmas Show for the Burlington Art Centre.  I will have two paintings in the Lee Chin Gallery, as well as one painting in the juried show in the Perry Gallery.  A very exciting weekend coming up!  It runs from November 14-17.  I'll be volunteering there all day Sunday, doing a painting demonstration in the morning then helping in the Lee Chin Gallery in the afternoon.  The other day I stopped in the store at the Art Centre and saw some of my paintings on display there as well. This is very exciting for me having my art out there for the public to see in so many places!

Daylight Savings

Daylight Savings, 8x8 oil

On Monday this week, I went out to paint at Princess Point in Hamilton.  It's such a beautiful spot.  I've never followed the trail all the way to the end since every time I go there I'm lugging my painting gear with me, but I will have to do the hike some time without my stuff.  Last weekend was daylight savings, so we gained an hour of daylight in the morning and lost and hour in the evening.  Painting in the afternoon turns into late afternoon when the sun is lower in the sky.  The colours are richer at that time of day, but change quickly. As I was painting, the scene was becoming more and more dramatic.  I wonder how many more times I can get out to paint before all the colourful leaves are gone.  Some of the trees are already starting to look bare.

Studio Tour 2013

I hope you made it out for the studio tour last weekend.  Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to talk to everyone who came to visit, at times I was squished in the corner! The rain on Saturday didn't seem to affect the attendance. Sunday was a beautiful, but cold day.  We also had two volunteers in the studio helping out, which was great!  Among other things, their main task was to take photos and count the number of visitors.  By the end of the day Sunday, we had close to 300 visitors for the weekend.  Thank you for visiting! 

It's been a busy time, these last few weeks.  I entered a painting into the Burlington Fine Arts Guild annual juried show and got in!  It was the painting I did last year for my Christmas card, called 'Christmas Skates'.  Which reminds me, I better get started on the painting for this years Christmas card.  I also was asked by Art Etc., the store at the Burlington Art Centre, if I'd like to submit some work.  I now have 11 pieces of art there.

Tomorrow I will be posting my plein air painting for this week, (trying to get back into a schedule again).  It's surprising how much preparation and time the tour takes, wow.