Upcoming Show at AyrSpace in Ayr, Ontario

I am pleased to announce that I am the first Featured Artist of 2014 at AyrSpace in Ayr, Ontario.
The opening reception is April 4, 2014 from 6-9pm and I hope that you are able to come and see my recent works. I will also be painting at the gallery on Saturday April 5, 2014 in the afternoon. Please feel free to come by for a chat.
AyrSpace is a wonderful destination gallery representing accomplished Canadian Artists and regularly hosts a concert series right in the gallery as well as exciting talks. Please visit the website at http://www.ayrspace.ca for more details.

Recent Portraits

Aline as Lady Gaga

Canadian Landscape Painter Gordon Harrison

Phil Emond as Marty the Butler

Above are three recent portraits. Aline and Phil's paintings are based on photos I took of them during the Murder Mystery at Pine Point Lake last August. Gordon's is based on a photo taken of him in his studio. I am quite pleased with how they turned out and sent them as gifts to Aline, Phil and Gordon. I got an email recently from Phil and Gordon and they have had all three frames; I am so happy that they liked them enough to frame them.

Surprise Art Patron

Thank you to all who came to the studio tour this pass weekend. Here I am with my surprise visitor - my niece.

Burlington Studio Tour ART IN ACTION

This coming weekend November 2 and 3rd (saturday/sunday) I will be part of the Burlington Studio Tour : Art in Action. The tour is a free self guided tour. I will be at Terry Seaton's studio this year - Studio 8 on the map. More info is available at the Art In Action website. I will be painting live at the event.

Halton Crime Prevention Commercial

Check out this Halton Crime Prevention Commercial launched on Youtube today. It stars my husband as a zombie-so proud of him. I think he may have missed his calling as an actor. The video is such a creative and humorous way to get the public thinking about crime prevention. Make sure you click and have a look at - if he gets enough hits maybe he will end up on Ellen!

Winter Collection #1

I am happy to announce I am now being represented by AyrSpace in Ayr Ontario. AyrSpace is a wonderful destination gallery. The opening is on November 15, 2013 at 5:30pm. The above painting and others will be on display. Hope to see you there.

Gordon Harrison Art Retreat: five paintings

 Here are the five paintings I completed at Gordon Harrison's Art Retreat. I love the colour and loose brushstrokes that Gordon uses in his work so for the entire week I challenged myself to work using his methods rather than concentrating on coming home with 5 masterpieces. Believe me it was hard to set aside my way of doing things and embrace someone else's methods but I am so glad I did. I learned so much from Gordon and now I am excited to get back into the studio and see how my week with him is going to impact my next paintings.
Things I learned:
-planning is a good thing (I am not much of a planner when I paint)
-a broader more complicated colour palette is challenging and fun (I tend to keep to a limited palette - Gordon noticed and LOL took away all my crutch colours - thank you for pushing me Gordon!)
-don't let things get too fussy (something I am always striving for)
-Gordon took away my palette knife and I held the brush ala Gordon and Rene Richard and I am a convert

 This painting sold to a fellow artist at the retreat!

This one was Gordon's favourite of the 5 paintings I did. He liked the limited palette - different from his palette.

 I really pushed my use of colour in this one - it got a little complicated :)

Per Gordon, this one is my most successful.

Painting with Gordon Harrison

I just spent a week painting with Canadian landscape painter Gordon Harrison. Here I am soaking up all of Gordon's wisdom as he discusses the painting I am working on with me. Posts of the paintings I completed at the retreat are to come.

Lake Huron Sunsets

These small paintings are based on a Lake Huron Sunset photo taken by a friend. I could not believe the colour.

In support of Halton Heroes 2013

Just finished this piece this morning. It is based on a newspaper photo of Halton's Swat Team. I believe the team is meeting up prior to heading out on a call. I am donating this painting to be part of the auction in support of Halton Heroes. It is a charity that supports Halton Police Officers injured on the job. The Halton Heroes Gala takes place on friday September 20, 2013. I will not be able to attend this year, but it is a great cause and I want to lend my support. 

I do not have a title for this one, so if anyone has some ideas please send them my way.

BTown Sound Art Event

 Here are some pictures of my work that was featured in Thursday nights BTown Sound Art Event.

This thursday, June 6, 2013 I will be showing some work at B Town Sound's Evening of the Arts. Admission is free, there will be live music, a cash bar and great art to look at. Hope to see you there.

Dancing Lights

On Thursday April 18, 2013 I participated in an event put on by the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra called "What does Music Look Like, Art created by Music at the Dundas Valley School of Art". At this event local artists created new artworks as the composer Adam Scime composed electroacoustic music. The audience was able to walk amidst the artists and the composer, and even help construct the sounds Adam Scime used in his composition.
Both the composer and the artists had one hour to create their masterpieces. It was a really neat event to take part in. At first I found the music distracting, but as I got into my painting zone; I found that I felt the music more than heard it as I painted. I am really happy with the end result - this painting has been sold.

Art Auction

Friday night I attended the Art Auction at the Burlington Art Centre and watched one of my paintings auctioned off in support of the centre. I am so happy that I braved the snow storm and attended the auction. I was a little nervous that no one would bid on the piece and in the end a couple of people were bidding on it. It was such a boost to keep on painting!

Country Road

12 x 24 inches, oil on canvas
In honour of its 35 year anniversary, the Burlington Art Centre is presenting its Annual Art Auction in three formats this year: online, silent, and live. Each segment will feature 35 original pieces of art. I am very excited to have the painting featured above accepted into the live auction which will take place at the centre on February 8, 2013.

Burlington

3 foot by 4 foot oil on canvas
This is a view of Burlington, Ontario from King Road.

Country Road

12 x 24 inches on canvas

This is painting is quite similar to a larger painting a completed last year. I worked off of the same reference photo. Happy with how it turned out.

Exit 25

12 x 24 inch landscape

Last Light - Halton Escarpment

The top painting is the finished piece entitled "Last Light" completed in studio (12 x 24 inches). The painting below it is the plein air study (6 x 12 inches) that I based the larger painting on. "Last Light" was auctioned off in support of Halton Heroes, a charity that helps the families of injured Police officers in the Halton Region.

Plein air studies

Above are some plein air studies I did of the Halton Escarpment. The first one at about 7 pm and the second at around 8 pm just before the sun set. These were studies for a larger painting that I donated to the charity Halton's Heroes.