Best Art Blogging!(?)

Gian Lorusso from the art Blog ArtSediments sent me an email last week saying that he was adding my blog to his list of "Best Art Blogs." It's nice knowing that someone out there in the blogging world appreciates my posts. Lorusso states on his blog that:

"Art Sediments deeply believes that creating art is a human necessity, as love and friendship: art is in the nature of everyone of us. And Art Sediments deeply believes that art, as love and friendship, needs to be shared with others."

I'm happy to be included in a list with that kind of mandate!
Here is a link to the list of his best art blogs:
http://artsediments.blogspot.com/p/art-blog-list.html

Yesterday I headed over to a friend's daycare in Winnipeg to do an art session with some of the kids there. The plan was for them to tell me a story while I drew it. I supplied them with the bare bones of the story, sort of mad-lib style and they filled in the descriptive details for me. It turned out to be a really fun activity. I don't get to draw with younger kids anymore, I always work with high school students. We ended up with a drawing of an alien dude named Mr. Bob who wears a leather jacket and a speedo. His best friend is a dog named Stinker who has eyes on his ears, pogo sticks for legs, and has always dreamed of going to Catopia. Mr. Bob and Stinker live in a garbage dump, eat smelly cheese, and sleep under a giant mushroom. I didn't think of bringing my camera, so I don't have a picture of it, but I was very pleased to work collaboratively with the kids. Finally, people who like weird drawings of things!

Here a couple of recent drawings I did this week. I suddenly realized that the deadline for the Sketchbook project is coming up in only about two weeks, which means I have to have my moleskin sketchbook all filled up and ready to be sent out very soon. I think I have about 14 pages left, so I'll have to work hard at finishing it in time. Here are a few pages from the sketchbook. By the way, the numbers correspond with my ongoing image a day project that started at the end of August.

#114 I have cold hands. Collage with watercolours and ink



#115 Coffee Collage with watercolours and ink

Refreshing Winds: Art vs Photo

I am happy to announce that two of my photographs have been accepted into the juried art Show Refreshing Winds which opens January 21st, and runs until March 5th! I submitted a several photographs to the show at the Mennonite Heritage Gallery, and was very excited to hear that two photos were accepted. The show coincides with a conference at the CMU campus with the theme Here in this Place.

Some black and white pictures I took in London this past summer were accepted to the show. I sometimes forget to mention on this blog that I am a photographer. I tend to separate photography from art in my mind, because the process of each is so different. I love both, and actually have this fear that I am a better photographer than artist. Or rather what I mean by that is that I think my photographs can sometimes be more accepted than my artwork, and I kind of wish it were the other way around. I sort of happened into photography by accident. I was hired to teach a photography class before I had ever been a photography student, and thus spent one summer in a photo crash course covering black and white, colour processing, and digital photography. Thankfully I ended up loving it, but this is a recent development for me. I honestly sometimes forget to associate photography with myself because it's like it hasn't made it's way into my identity yet. Art though; painting and drawing has always been a part of my identity, that's why I still think of taking photographs as second fiddle to painting and drawing.

For the MHC exhibit artists were invited to submit works using the following statement as a guide:
“Our goal is to recognize the importance of context and culture in our worship, to explore and understand how culture impacts us, what culture means in our theology and how worship is embodied in location.”
The photos fit this theme more easily than any recent paintings, and I am really happy to have somewhere to display them especially within the context of the show.
I will include more details about the show closer to the date.

On another note, December finds me falling behind on my image-a-day project. I have the next two weeks off, so I'm hoping to do some much needed catching up on creating.

No Plastic Seeves

I had a welcome break from my day job today (one of the absolutely maravalous things about not having a full time contract), and I began researching artist promo mailers. I came across the website NoPlasticSleeves, which is a site devoted to artist promotional materials. It is mainly photographer and designer based, however includes some great visuals and ideas that is presented in a much more appealing format than many other sites that will pop up if you do a search for such a topic.

They featured the artist Jesus Galiana's promo piece: Here is screen shot of part of his image.

He is an illustrator and hand typographer based out of Madrid. He has some really great hand-done typography and some pen work that makes me happy.
Check him out here:
http://j-galiana.com/tag/pen-drawing/

Collage Drawings!

# 97 Take Flight Collage Drawing with marker wash.


#99 Lost and Alone in the City. Collage Drawing with marker wash.


I realized I really like the idea of incorporating text into my drawings. It's interesting cutting up other people's words, rearranging them, and making them a part of something that I make. It's also interesting searching for books whose purpose will be to cut them up. The local MCC book/Cafe Sam's Place by my house has a great selection of old, strange and discarded books, and all for a very low price. It's funny how with some collages when I finish them, not only do I like to look at them, but I like to touch the texture of collage pieces over the rest of the drawing. That makes me happy.

My friend Sarah is insisting that I start writing children's book with found text. I like the idea, and am considering it. I feel like it would have to be a series of short stories, that might fit my way of working a lot better.

Sheer Ashtonishment

Painting, Drawing, Collage.
I tried painting on drawing vellum because a recent Illustration instructor(Craig Terlson) said that he loved how the ink sits on the vellum. I found I love it too, except that when I went back in with yellow ink, it was too wet for it, and wanted to curl up a bit. Nevertheless, I still like how this image turned out. Part of the image was cut off, because my scanner is only so big, but you get to see the main part of the image. I'm going to try out more vellum paintings, but might stick to just using black India ink on it.
In other news, the Beautiful Mercy and Other Works opening reception was tonight, and the show runs until this Sunday. It's always nice to visit some art. It's an eclectic show, and there are some nice pieces on display. Check it out at 200-75 Albert street.

Irish Bailout

I decided to make something that was about something going on in the world for a change. After reading a free press editorial on Ireland getting bailed out by the European Union, I created this drawing. Go to this link to read the article: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/whos-sneering-now-110334009.html

Sneaky-Illustration Friday

Illustration Friday Image Sneaky.

Coming Events!

There are a few events I'm involved in coming up close on the horizon:

Ace Art's annual Winter warmer will be up and running from this Friday the 26th until December 13th. Opening party happens Friday at 8 until late. I submitted a couple of recent drawings. Aceart is located on the second floor of 290 McDermot Avenue.


Vineyard Christmas Craft Sale- Nov 27 from 10-4. All handmade items. It is in support of a Women's Co-op in Nepal. The co-op teaches and certifies women in valuable skills like sewing so that they have a means of supporting themselves. Last year's sale was a great success, and I have no doubt that this year's will be even better. Check out their fabulous website with most sellers listed here: http://www.vineyardcraftsale.com/ They are located at 782 Main Street.




St. Benedict's Table presents Beautiful Mercy and Other Works-an art show and music Launch happening December 2nd until the 4th. Opening reception happens December 2nd from 7:00-9:30pm. The Exhibition is open December 3rd from 12-7pm, and December 4th from 1-4pm. I am submitting two simple paintings that I did a few weeks back. I painted them when I was reading C.S. Lewis' Great Divorce, and they have an entirely different feel to them than anything else I've made in the last year. I haven't posted them on the blog yet. There is also an CD release for Mike Koop on the 3rd as a part of the exhibition. This event is happening at the Exchange Church located at 200-75 Albert Street, in Winnipeg. St. Benedict's Link: http://stbenedictstable.ca/2010/11/mercy/

Happy Marker Day

Filling myself with happy thoughts today I bought a new package of 64 markers. I love it when art supplies are actually entirely affordable and I can find them at Staples. Ah, a new package of unopened art supplies is like a having a little breath of fresh air mingled with excitement, because there is something so satisfying about owning something that's whole purpose is to provide assorted colours to play with.
Here is my green deer from today, made with the new markers. What's with all the deer lately? Well, it's just a theme I decided to go with. I'm teaching myself how to draw them from pictures because then when I feel like drawing deer on my own I'll know how. I still need to work on deer feet.

Happy Green Deer

Deer in Colour!

Continuing with my deer studies, here a few from today. They are all marker washes with ink overtop.

Blue Reindeer


Green Fawn


Red Deer

Don't forget to Listen

#68

#69


These two pieces started out as random words, and they became something more than that. It means something in life if you can listen to the right things, ignore the wrong things, and know which sound to follow.

Safe from Attack

#67 Safe from attack

Collage, drawing, ink...

Reindeer

#64 Green Reindeer

Markers, was, pen and ink. I'm thining about making some Christmas cards out of the deer images.

Hello Dear.

#63 Hello Dear.


I'm in a big deer phase right now. This one was made with markers, wash, watercolours and ink.

Art-a-Day...

#57 Ours are the Hands

Painted on tracing vellum and then collaged.

Art-a-Day

#52 Dear me


#53 and 54- Sadness and Disapointment


#56 Wrong Track

Image-a-Day...

#47 Impatient Monsters - Made with Markers and wash, and pen and ink.


#50 Green Hand - Made with Markers and water wash, with pen and ink.


#51 Freedom - Lino Cut print

I went to an art education workshop on Friday, and made this lino cut print at Martha Street Studios. Martha Street Studios is a printmaking studio that exists as a gallery, studio, and place for community members to make use of it's facilities - they run workshops regularly for adults and also have high school programming and programs for youths. It was nice to finally see this place, because I've been eyeing workshops with them for a while.

Spooky-Ilustration Friday

Marker wash with pen and ink collage. It makes me happy.

Ink Drawing

This one is part of character development for my Illustration class.

Art-a-Day...

I've still been progressing with my art-a-day project. It does take some stamina and devotion to maintain an image a day, but so far am really enjoying it.

#38 Rain Protection


#45 Untitled

Winnipeg Centre Vineyard Craft Sale

Once again this year I am a part of the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard Craft Sale coming up on Saturday, November 27.
There was an amazing turnout of people last year, which was great for many reasons- because it is a fundraiser for a Women's co-op in Nepal, and for vendors it was a really great day with a lot of interested customers. There were loads of fantastic vendors last year selling art, hats, jewelery, and many other hand-made items. I only participate in few craft shows all year, and this is one I'm happy to be a part of. There is a new website this year which will be up and running by this Friday. www.vineyardcraftsale.com

Illustration Friday- Transportation

Mixed Media, Vegas, and Colour

It feels like ages since I last posted because I've been so busy the last few weeks with moving, going to Vegas, and lots of other life-filling things. I'll have to be more on the ball with posting, and will try not to fall behind in scanning images. I was on a roll last week with collage drawing/paintings. They were fun to do. I also started a Children's book Illustration course two weeks ago. I'm excited about it, but I'm not used to getting graded on my art anymore. I was honestly more than happy to leave grades behind when I finished my degree several years ago. I had a little flicker of fear during my first class when I realized I'd be getting marked on my images. It can be good to be reminded of that, especially as an art teacher. Here are some of my images from the past couple weeks, some of them inspired during a weekend jaunt to Vegas for a friend's wedding.

# 23 Violin Man


#24 I remember Iceland.


#25


#26 Blue Dress


#27 Handgun


#29 A Visit to the Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Illustration Friday-Acrobat

Image #19

Illustration Friday drawing. Watercolours, ink, and ink drawn collage.

Image a Day Week 3

Image a Day # 16


Image a day #17 Merthings.

Just in case the text is hard to read, it says, "The merthings lived at the bottom of the ocean and angered easily at the mention of their more beautiful cousins, the mermaids."

Image a Day

#10


#14

Images-a-Day Week 2

Here is a little glimpse into my progress with my image-a-day project. A few of these images are doubling for the image-a-day personal challenge as well as the Sketchbook Project.

# 6


#7


#8


#9

The Sketchbook Project!!!

Today I received in the mail my new moleskin sketchbook for participation in the Sketchbook Project!! The sketchbook project is an initiative through Art House Co-op. The idea of the sketchbook project is that artists fill their sketchbooks, according to a chosen theme, send them back to the Art House, and then the sketchbooks tour galleries in the United States as a sketchbook library. The slogan for it is:

"It's like a concert tour but with sketchbooks."

The sketchbooks are made available for people to check them out like library books and then returned where they will be moved on to the next city. This is the fifth year the Sketchbook project is in existence and I am SO stoked to fill my sketchbook and send it off. The project deadline is mid-January.

Here is a good CNN video about the Project: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/04/27/barral.sketchbook.project.cnn?iref=videosearch

First Images from my Year-Long Project

As anticipated, my life this week was far busier than many parts of my summer due to moving and starting back to work. I did however make time for doing a drawing a day, and am proud of myself for not slacking off, and completing a new image every day. It hasn't even been one week, but I know that this is going to be a major challenge for me to continue and make it through the whole year. I am only sharing three images from this week so far, and here they are:

Image #1-Got keys to my new residence!


Image #2- I painted my new room yellow.


Image #3- My dog has very dry eyes, so my mom bought him some goggles to wear when he wants to stick his head out of the car window. (And no, this didn't seem normal to me, also the goggles didn't fit him, so has to deal with the dry eyes.)