I feel like I am always apologizing for not being here. Oh well. Hopefully once I have everything that I have planned accomplished there will still be people here to see it! LOL.
This is a short tribute video to our veterans, of a poppy painting I did recently. I am so sorry that it is only the last phase of the painting that I caught. I just kind of felt like roaming my studio while doing that painting and I didn't record it.
And so it is here, October. So many exciting things. First, I was invited to be featured as the artist of the month at a wonderful ning group called Community Thrive. The group was started by Mystele Keering. A fun place to learn and play, you should check it out. One of the requests was that I do a video for them to feature over at the site. Here it is:
Another bit of exciting news and a reason why I have been a bit of an absent blogger too is the ArtSmarts program that I mentioned in my last post. The Manitoba Arts Council has so kindly approved a grant for myself and Ecole Powerview School. It is a fantastic program where artists work with teachers to teach through art! It has been a blast so far. I spend two afternoons a week with the kids and there are two classes, 21 kids and 25 kids. It can get pretty pumped up in there. It's all good.
I am also in the process of working with my web guy to update the shop a bit so that I can start selling original artwork and prints as well.
I am also daydreaming up some rubber stamps for artists to use on mixed media canvases. I have a company lined up to produce them for me.... he he so watch out for that.
I am also working on some online workshops and mini ecourses. I mean, not just your regular old ecourses. I am sharing it all. Photoshop, digital art, how I create my stamps, mixed media, water-colour, I mean I could go on all day. It all takes time and I have just stick to it and somehow find the time to pull it all together. I've said it before and I will say it again, I wish I didn't need to sleep!
Popping in with a quick hello. Lots of things going on here, mostly good but really keeping me busy. One of those things is I am working a couple days a week with one of the local schools doing art! The vice principal and myself applied for an ArtSmarts grant though the Manitoba Arts Council and we got it! I have done a few collage classes with the kids already and I think they are pretty pumped.
I will come by soon and fill you in on all the goings on, and I have so much news.
This is a short video demo I did for my two classes this week. I had them write journal pages with their personal local history on it which they were to paint and collage over a portion of it. Thought it would be cool to share the vid.
Yep, it's here all right. When it is cold enough at night that you have to turn the furnace on in the morning to warm up the house you know it. That's ok, I love fall. Love fall colours, just love it all.
I scooched off to my studio today to work on a video that I am doing for Mystele's ning group. I am excited to have been offered a spot in October as their featured artist of the month. It's exciting.
I am just going to share with you a little something I like to do with old book pages to clean my palette. I literally mop up the left over paint with the pages, I hate to waste the paint.
Now, I did use one of them for an accessory on one of the paintings I was working on today. Here is a sneeky peek. If you want to see the full painting including video you will have to run over to Mystele's ning page in october to see it ;)
Hope you tune in to see the finished painting, would love to see you there.
So labor day weekend is here, the end of summer. Sniff sniff. It just flew by for me. I guess it does for everyone doesn't it. I will miss my flowers, I have always loved flowers. I used to steal them from the neighbours yards. One of my favourites are poppies. This is a short video I made of a painting I did of poppies, I hope you enjoy.
Summer has been rolling along. We had some plans to take the kids and run off for a bit but with dad not being well, the surgery and now his post op care ( his wound got a nasty infection) it just wasn't possible. Really, it's ok, there are much more important things to do right now. Dads dressings need to be changed twice daily, the home care nurse can only come once a day, I do the night change. I gotta tell ya, I have a pretty iron clad stomach but stuffing a wad of fabric into a hole the size of an egg into your dad's stomach is pretty unnerving. I am just so happy to be there for my dad though and he is healing well, after a couple of ups and downs during the healing process. I don't have tons of time to spread around though and I just have so much I want to do. I wish I didn't need sleep.
On a high note, I am totally excited about the fact that I have recently acquired my very own ginormous studio!!!!!! AHHHHH whahoooooo. I just love having my own space to escape to and store all my stuff. My poor house was stuffed. Stay tuned for more info. I will be holding workshops galore in there but it needs some work first, arg more time needed, so little to spare.
I have carted a lot of my supplies over to my studio and had a chance to sneek over a couple times to play around and I managed to make a video of it. I was inspired by a quote I read on one of my dad's cards he got while in the hospital. It really summed things up for me with all that has happened over the summer. We have an appt with dad's specialist coming up and we will find out the results of the pathology test. Many things run through your mind while you are waiting but mostly you try to focus on today and as always try to be hopeful.
If you could, please continue to keep dad in your prayers and thoughts.
