I had an idea this morning! As a Kingston Arts Council board member, I am aware of how much is needed in funds to support initiatives like the annual Juried Arts Salon. I thought that if I were to produce a bunch of Xmas cards with 2 images of Kingston Xmas scenes on them, then perhaps I could sell them, and all proceeds of the cards sales I could donate towards the Kiingston Arts Council. It would be my effort to give back to an organization which has been a part of my own arts growth over the years… So I am currently in negotiations to arrange this. I will have my estimate tomorrow, and will know if I can proceed. I think it will be a well timed fundraising initiative, so I hope that it takes off and makes some money for the arts council. Should be ready to roll with it in about a week.
Monthly Archives: October 2007
watercolour - 15″ x22″
I rarely ever do watercolour portraits, but this was painted as a lark in a workshop with Amanda Hyatt, who is a well known Australian watercolourist. It is of her daughter who came with her to the session. Amanda graciously filled in for another artist who was scheduled to do the workshop but couldn’t. She is a good painter, very strong in design and composition.
Farm Sky - oil on canvas - 24″ x 20″
I’ve posted this before, but not before I added the smoke coming from the chimney of the little limestone farmhouse…this painting sold during the studio tour. A friend told me that subconsciously when I painted this I was making a comment on how tiny humans are in comparison to the greater firmanent around us. She might be right. But I liked the shape of the cloud formations.
Greener Pastures - oil on canvas - 36″ x 30″
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this roly poly landscape near the area Mt Chesney. I like the sort of ‘vista’ view I get from there. I might be working a number of paintings on this landscape until I tire of it. Went to visit a friend Margaret who lives nearby, but spent quite a while on the way home taking pictures of this area.
I got through the studio tour weekend! It was tiring, but worthwhile. I sold 13 paintings!! It was a good year this year. I think I will do it next year too. That was the good news. Today I got a letter from the Portrait Society of Canada, saying that they regret that my 2 submissions for their upcoming show in Toronto were not accepted. Dam. That is dissappointing. I really wanted to be a part of it,…they only picked 42 from 230 submissions… I guess that’s the way it goes…maybe next time I’ll make it. In the meantime I have a lot of things on the go that I want to work on, so I’ll stay focused. Below is the first painting that sold on Saturday for the studio tour weekend. I will miss it.
Hay Day - oil on canvas - 30″ x 36″
The Country - watercolour - 15″ x 11″
I’ve just spent most of the day cleaning out my studio and family room to make room to display my artwork for the studio tour this weekend. It’s been a lot of work…but I enjoy the tour…however now that I am painting larger paintings on canvas it is getting increasingly more difficult to display them properly. I’m thinking I may not do the tour next year…I will see how it goes this year and make my decisions in a few weeks.
Patio Drinks - watercolour - 21″ x 15″
I put a darker shadow under the awning in a diagonal pattern, to try and bring the focus area to the couple having drinks. I think it’s better now.
No painting time today, as am getting the studio ready for the studio tour this weekend. Not sure I will do it next year, what I am doing now is working on larger canvases, and they dont present very well at my home studio as displaying them is a challenge.
Justin Ogilvie - Debbie
Victoria Stusiak - Portrait of Meriah
Jim Bourke - self portrait #4
