Glad it Over!

It's New Years Eve.   Tonight, we will be spending the evening enjoying the company of  family, friends and neighbours.  Lots of great conversation and a feast of delicious Chinese food.  For the finale, a round of spectacular explosions as the fireworks are blasted off at midnight.  The kids love it almost as much as the guys who are setting them off!

The holidays are finally winding down to a close.  I love Christmas and New Years, but I can't say I am not glad to see them sneak out the door.  The excitement and hectic craziness of it all makes me long for normalcy.

The glow from the candles in the window, the glimmering Christmas tree and the soft shimmer of  the garland on the stairs.  These all made me smile the first night I had all the lights out but, in between rounds of gift wrapping, scrubbing walls and floors and running here there and everywhere!













And what a wonderful time we had!  We had a little party for the kids, and you'll never guess who stopped by for a visit!























My awesome cousin Ron was visiting from Houston with my aunt from New York!  We had a fabulous time.  Ron was hoping to get some skiing in.  That didn't quite work out, but instead, we managed to sneak in some sledding and the Two Rivers Wildlife Park.

I had barely enough time to paint some wine glasses which were to be gifts for some of my favorite people :)  I'll post a tutorial if there's interest....leave a comment!

For me, the real finale is not the fireworks but the calm that follows on New Years Day.  Ahhh....peace and quiet!

I will be enjoying it thoroughly, since it will after that that I plan on going full speed ahead with those New Year's Resolutions.  But that's another post!

Why Not Art?

If you are like me, you are always looking for something different and unique for Christmas and Holiday shopping.  Well, why not art?

I just relisted one of my giclee prints on Etsy.  This is one of the first crows I ever painted, and it's probably the most popular, too :) Sorry, but the original is already sold...it's happily residing in the home of a crow lover in beautiful British Columbia. But the print is still available, and now I am offering free shipping on it, too :)

It is printed on GORGEOUS heavy weight archival watercolor paper which is 8x10 inches.  The actual image size is 7 1/2x6 inches.


So, if you'd like to have free shipping on ANY item in my Etsy shop, all you have to do is enter the code HAPPY HOLIDAYS when you are checking out.

Don't leave it too long to order though, especially if you would like to receive your item by Christmas!  According to Canada Post's website, parcels to the United States need to be shipped by December 8th and items within Canada by December 12th.  (This is by regular post.  Sorry, but I can't extend the free shipping to Express Post, but if you do need your parcel in a hurry and it's past the deadline, just email me and we will work it out :)

Holiday Craziness and Work in Progress

The winter holidays are quickly closing in...are you ready?  It is only the first week of December, and already you can feel the rush and bustle in the air!

Things here at the house are getting pretty hectic, too...I have lists everywhere and calendars are filling up with schedules, activities for the kids and Christmas parties all over the place.  No wonder it's hard to keep up with it all :)  That's not to mention the cleaning and shopping.  I love cyber Monday :)

My youngest son, Ethan did his solo in his Christmas concert beautifully...we were all so proud!






They also enjoyed the Christmas parade :)







Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and Google Plus, Etsy, Fine Art America...Anybody else find it hard to keep up with it all?  As an artist, I think it's important to be on at least some of these social media sites.  It's a  way of getting your work out there and seen and also see and enjoy other artists's work.  I like to start my day by checking my email and putter around with all these different social media sites.

Here's my problem...I get on all these sites, and it's fun...meeting other artists and chatting and having a look at all the amazing artwork out there.  The next things you know, hours have gone by and I haven't painted a darn thing! Anybody else experience this?   I'd love to hear how other artists and bloggers balance it all. (Yes, I know I have been slow updating my blog here!)

So that being said, in spite of all the craziness going on around here, I have got a bit of painting in:) Here is a sneak peek of my latest work!  It's a work in progress, still a bit more work to be done.

I plan on adding some collage elements to it.  It's based on a photo of my grandfather when he first came to Canada from Poland.  I collaged in some letters from his mother in Poland, some pay stubs and some receipts of money he sent back to the mother country.  A lot of these got painted over, so I will print these off on rice paper and collage them back in, distress it a bit, too.  Any thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by!

Pics Pics Pics

Another busy week down and it's finally Friday...Yay!  I have been working all week and finally (ahem) got my camera back.

So, I would love to share with you all some pics from the last couple of weeks.  Remember Stacy from Magic Love Crow?  Here's the awesome painting I won from her blog giveaway a few weeks back.  I am a bit late posting this, Stacy...So Sorry!  But here it is and I hope you enjoy.  I have it in my front entranceway with my other 2 favorite pictures.

I also received in the mail a gorgeous poster that I will have to frame!  I participated in a fundraiser by doing a painting a on  6x6 inch tile for the Mosaic for Mental Health.  It was hard to get a really good picture so I took several.

Every little square is a different painting from a different artist.

Aren't these fabulous?  I love how there is so much color!

So much great art here.

If you look closely you can see my grapes in the middle of this one :)

There is everything here from abstract to realistic, anime to impressionist style.

Incredible.

   There is so much amazing work here.  I would have loved to have been there.  Maybe next year :)

Every year at my workplace, we raise funds to "adopt" a less fortunate family for Christmas.  This year we are selling tickets on a huge basket of goodies.  Everyone was asked to bring something in for the basket, so I hand painted  some wine glasses... I tried to make them funky and fun.  

I hope everyone has a great week! Next I'll be posting a pic of my work in progress...It is still a work in progress but slowly coming along :)

Excuses and I'm Lost Without My Camera!

Did everyone turn their clocks back?  I don't think Daylight Savings time is buying me any time...It's been quite a while since I posted!  I am, in fact, shocked at how fast the time has been passing, even with our clocks turned back :)  Seems there is always something crazy going on these days.  

So what's been going on that's been keeping me so busy?

First, I have to tell you about this wonderful little item I received in the mail....I can't even tell you how thrilled I was to open up  this happy painting by Stacy at Magic Love Crow.  Stacy is always so upbeat and her blog always has something fun and new going on.  She also has the best giveaways, too!

So before Halloween, Stacy had a giveaway for Magaly's All Hallows Grim Party, and guess who won...I did!

This happy little 6x6 inch painting is going right in my hallway so everyone can see it.  Isn't it adorable?

I should have a photo of it on my wall but...Part of the reason why I haven't posted lately is because my camera is on the missing list.  Well not really missing, I just left it in my locker at work.  

Last week was "Take your Kid to Work Day".  All the kids in Grade 9 get to go to work with their parents.  I took my son, Andrew and his friend Michael.   Since I work part time, I was off that day.  I took my camera to get some shots and left it there!  I am really missing my camera!   I think the boys  really enjoyed their day, though.  They thought it was cool that they got to wear lab coats...said it made them look smart LOL.  They got a great tour of blood collections and all the areas of the lab and the X-ray department.

Halloween was a blast for the kids.  We took them on haunted trail tours the weekend before, carved pumpkins, got costumes ready and Halloween night we had somewhere in the neighbourhood of 130-140 ghosts and goblins at our door...pretty good crowd!  We topped the night of with fireworks and sparklers with all the neighbors.  It was great fun...I'd share pics but I left my camera at work :) No tricks except for the after hours pumpkin stomping goblin.

I've been working on a painting.  I was planning on doing a step by step of the painting process, but *sigh* my camera is at work.  Yeah, I know I already said that, right?  Okay, I can't post the work in progress, but I will show you the original photo that I'm working from...

Is that an incredible photo, or what?  My grandfather came from Poland around 1910.  He worked at the steel plant for most of his life.  Before you could get on in the plant, you had to "earn your dues" in the rail yard...here is my Papa earning his dues.  He is sitting in the front row, furthest to the right.  He is looking down.  They look like such hard workers, don't they?  But check out that guy in the middle...it looks like he has a shovel in his hand and he's about to bop the guy in front!

Featured Artist! Yay!

I was in a rush and a flurry all day.  From my son's doctor's appointment in the morning to a highly important run to walmart with my oldest son for hair product, supper ready, piano lessons, then off to French class.  Phew!  I came home checked my email and guess what?  I'm featured in the Top Artist Directory...how cool is that? 

So, what is the Top Artist Directory, you ask?  

The Top Artists Directory is a list compiled by Kim Barker, aka laketrees and is compiled from the Top 101 Artist's Blogs List at laketrees.  Kim features an artist from the Directory every Friday.  I feel honored to be this weeks pick...Thanks so much, Kim!

By the way, speaking of featured artist, and though I hate to blow my own horn, I am excited to share this with you!   I have also been given the great honor of being chosen as featured artist for Pierscape this spring 2012.

Pierscape was started to highlight local talent and has grown into an annual weeklong festival celebrating Sydney's Whitney Pier.  Pierscape continues to grow every year.  Paintings by local artists are exhibited for the entire week with activities going on every day.  There is Ukrainian egg decorating workshops, painting workshops, food festivals, poetry and prose reading as well as music.  

My grandfather came to Whitney Pier from Poland in the early 1900s.  He worked at the steel plant  until he retired.  Here is some information I took from www.whitneypier.org's website.

Whitney Pier is a working class area of Sydney that was settled at the turn of the 20th century by peoples from all over the world who came to work in the steel and coal industries. Presently, the ethnic groups represented in the "Pier" include Jewish, Celtic, Newfoundland, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian and Black (both Nova Scotian and West Indian), as well as a small number of First Nation families.  Whitney Pier is considered to be one of the most ethnically diverse areas in Eastern Canada. Community institutions, represented by "ethnic" halls places of worship and, reflect this diversity.

The development of Whitney Pier has been going on for more than 100 years.  Since it began as a working class community (steel and coal transportation) at the turn of the 20th century, this multicultural community has always retained a strong and proud sense of itself, and it is that pride which continues to make Whitney Pier an ideal place in which to live and to work.

The activities of the Whitney Pier Festival of Visual Arts (PierScape'98 Sept. 14-20, 1998) will coincide with and enhance recent and positive changes in the community.  Several new businesses have started in the "Pier".  Park areas have been revitalized, the Boys and Girls Club has initiated a beautification program, and there is considerable interest in the summer walking tours.  Furthermore, the Whitney Pier Resource Centre has become a focus for community development. These developments all indicate a new ambience of optimism in this community which has been hard hit by the down-turn of the coal and steel industries in Cape Breton.  In the midst of these initiatives, the strong voluntarism within the community has guaranteed the strength of its ethnic groups and its historical society as the basis for continued cultural development.

So my plan is to do some paintings that celebrate the origins of Whitney Pier from my grandfather's perspective.  Stay tuned and thanks for dropping by :)

Some Vitamin C...

There's some nasty colds going around these days with the change in weather.  How about some Vitamin C for the soul?  Here are two paintings I did in the spring and I finally just got around to listing them in my Etsy shop today.  These were both done from life in my kitchen.  Hope you enjoy!

Both this painting and the next one are painted on watercolor paper, 140 lb using transparent watercolors.  Both are 5x7 inches.  You can click on either image to go to my Etsy shop where they are for sale.

This next one is a painting of pear.  I find pears to be very zen like, don't you?  I added some collage and stamping to this one with the words, "live simply".

Here's some great news...A while back I did a post on the Canadian Mental Health Association's Mosaic for Mental Health.  Here's the link here if you'd like check it out.  The association invited artists to create paintings on 6x6 inch tiles.  The put the tiles together to create the Mosaic for Mental Health.  Here are the paintings I did on the tiles:

The opening was last night.  And both of these paintings sold!  Yay!  It feels great knowing these small paintings are helping people in a huge way.  

They have the posters of the mosaic made and hopefully mine will be here soon.  As soon as I get a pic of the poster, I will post it here!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Giving Thanks

This weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada.  So as it is a day to give thanks for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed, I thought I would show you a painting I did a little while back.

My grandmother grew garlic in her garden and after she passed my uncle carried on the tradition.   After the bulbs were harvested, they would let them dry and save them for cooking.  They would always set some aside for replanting.  They were absolutely huge bulbs!  And if you love garlic, you would love these!  So flavorful!

I painted this one on an 8x8 inch gallery wrapped canvas using acrylic paint and I also collaged some handwritten text.

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and a Happy Columbia Day to my American friends!

Some new crow paintings and video

Got some great energy moving in my studio yesterday with some amazing music as I started (and finished!) two new ACEO paintings.   

I was listening to The Grey Dusk of Eve (Return to Portobello), a song by local band The Rankin Family.  This mysterious and powerful song always gets me fired up and really lets me get that paint moving.  I made a little video using the song and some of my crow paintings if you'd like to check it out, it's on the bottom of this post.

The warming sun of autumn got me thinking about Halloween and the brilliant colors of  golds and oranges in fall.  This little guy I call my "Halloween Crow".

I love the warm sunny days of fall and the freshness of the cool nights.  Here's "Moonlight Crow" out enjoying the brisk night air.

Last week my son and I went out on a photography expedition.  He hopped on his bike (he loves that bike!) and the two of us headed down to the running track.  I was in search of some good crow photos for reference pics.  I figured the track would be a good place to start  because there are always loads and loads of crows there.  

There was quite a few people around as it was a gorgeous evening and the sun was just starting to set.  People were out walking and enjoying the evening.  The crows were out too.  Watching us, anybody would have thought we were totally off our rockers for sure.  

We tried to sneak up on the crows to get their picture.  But of course they always KNEW we were there.  And would immediately start their funky walk in the opposite direction away from us.  I was having a hard time getting a front shot of them.  I could only get them from behind.  Well, duh!  We would get so close and then they would fly away.  I would just get them in my viewfinder, shoot and my camera was just fast enough to get the tail feathers as they took off.

Not Sour Grapes

Remember way back when  I mentioned that I was participating in a fundraiser to raise money for mental health?  Here's the link in case you missed it:  Here's a Great Cause

This week, I finished two of the 6x6 inch tiles, and today I got them both packed up and mailed off to Halifax.  Yay!  

Here's a peek:

Not Sour Grapes 1

 They are both painting using acrylic paint and are both on 6x6 masonite tiles.

Not Sour Grapes 2

Thanks for stopping by!

Guess What Came Today!

Magic Love Crow   is one of those blogs you go to and it just puts a smile on your face.  Stacy is a such a cheery and kindhearted artist.  She always has the most fun posts on her blog and is always coming out with new ACEOs and paintings.  Like me, she is a die hard crow lover and she creates these fun, whimsical crow paintings.  

Stacy has purchased several of my own ACEOs and I picked out one of hers just last week.  It arrived in my mailbox yesterday...Yay!  This morning I got around to taking some pics...

 

See...ya can't help but smile!

Here's a close up of "Autumn Flowers"...check out the detail on the wings.  The picture doesn't do it justice, it is so pretty and fun.  Stacy's personality just comes shining through!

Right now Stacy is having an AMAZING blog giveaway for her September birthday and anniversary of opening her Etsy shop.  Interested?  Here's the first blog post on the giveaway here.  And since this giveaway has started, she has added even more prizes including a booby prize...hehe  I love it ❤

Crowing about New ACEO Listings

I just put some new ACEO paintings up on Etsy of one of my favorite subjects...Crows :-)  This is my little mini-series of mini-paintingsYou can click on each of the images to have a look at the listing.

Crow Closeup

The size of these little paintings is 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. They are all ACEO paintings, which stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals" and are the same size as a baseball trading cards. 

Crow Cawing



They are all  painted on watercolor paper, 140lb using acrylic paints. 

Crow Walk

Thanks for stopping by!   Let me know if you have a favorite, okay?

Here's a Great Cause...

What makes you feel good as an artist?  I love beauty and light, and I love to create.  I love to capture that beauty and share it.  When an artist creates a painting, they are creating a labor of love.  There is an energy and passion that goes into each and every painting.  Thoughts, feelings and emotions all come through in their creation, even those that are unintended.

I am able to share this creation with others.  And whether they simply give it a quick glance or take in every drop of paint, they are taking in that energy  and passion that went into creating that piece of art.

This week I am creating paintings that will be donated to the Canadian Mental Health Association Halifax-Dartmouth branch.  They have an amazing fundraiser coming up and I really want to share this with everyone.

A good friend recently asked me if I'd be interested in participating in this art event.  She is a volunteer and a great supporter of the Canadian Mental Health Association Halifax-Dartmouth Branch.

This association is inviting all artists to participate int the 13th annual Mosaic for Mental Health.  The exhibition consists of 6"x6" individual works of art.  The Annual Mosiac for Mental Health has become a powerful expression of artists who care about mental health and mental illness.

Here is their website if you'd like to have a look:  www.cmhahaldart.ca


CMHA promotes the mental health of all and supports the resilience and recovery of people experiencing mental illness.  Proceeds from the Mosaic for Mental Health support the Social Programs of CMHA HalifaxDartmouth Branch:  Among Friends Social Club, Sharing and Caring Social Club and Building Bridges.

All media are welcome, whether it be painting, ceramics, drawing, textiles, photography, collage, prints, 3-D.   All work for the event (with the exception of ceramic, sculpture or textiles) is to be on or attached to 6"x6" tiles, which are available from CMHA Halifax-Dartmouth Branch.

If you live in the Halifax-Dartmouth area, the tiles can be picked up at the CMHA branch.  My tiles were mailed to me, however in future, they are suggesting that artists create their works on 6 x 6 inch watercolor paper, and the artwork would be mounted to the tiles after they are received.  In this way, costs on shipping are saved as they do have a bit of weight to them and we all know that shipping costs can get pricey.  If, however your medium of choice doesn't work well on watercolor paper, they will be happy to send some tiles to you.

To have your work included in the Mosaic Poster, artwork must be submitted by Wednesday, September 21.

The exhibition will begin on Thursday, Oct 13, 2011 from 7-9 pm until Sunday Oct 30th at the Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Final submission deadline is Monday Oct 3.

All submissions will be for sale at $25.00 each, which is an incredible price for artwork.

Further info 902-455-5445 or email cmhahal@ns.aliantzinc.ca  

My tiles are all gessoed and they are almost ready to go.  What I create on them will be a surprise...will it be an abstract?  A crow?  A light filled still life?  What would you like to see?

Crow Calling...New Crow Print!

Just added this latest painting to my Fine Art America shop. 

 It's called "Crow Calling" and the original is available, too!

Just thought I'd let you all know that I now have reproductions of my work available!  Woohoo!


Fine Art America is a great site,  they offer giclee prints, which are the highest quality reproductions.  All prints are produced on Epson 9880 giclee printers using archival inks guaranteed to last up to 75 years.  This was really important to me when I was looking for a printer for my work.

So, what I also liked about Fine Art America is that you have your choice of prints...you can have the image printed on gorgeous fine art paper, or on canvas that is gallery wrapped.  They offer framing and even greeting cards are available.  


They also offer a 30 day guarantee, so if you are not happy with your print,you can return it within 30 days of the order date, and they will reimburse you fully upon receipt, including the outgoing shipping charge!

So please, have a look at my shop at Fine Art America!  Let me know what you think...You can click on any of the images or on the Fine Art America logo at the bottom of this post :-)


Have you ever used Fine Art America before?  Tell me about your experience, I'd love to hear. 

I Believe, I Wish Art Cards

Just thought I'd share some of the other ATC's I made while working on the piece I created for the Artist Trading Card event at the Confederation Center in Prince Edward Island. 

 

These little paintings are like a "mini-series" I painted while creating the art card for this fun art event.  The art card and series are both called "I Believe, I Wish"...you can have a peek at the post by clicking here.  I explain what art cards are here, too, just in case you haven't heard of them before :-)
The painting on the left here is called "I Believe".   It is painted on 140lb watercolor paper and it is painted with watercolor and acrylics.



I find that sometimes when I'm painting, I can get impatient and go into washes before they're dry and just make a mess.  


So, I like to have a 3 or 4 that I work on all at the same time. While one wash is drying, I can move on to the next painting.  This is great because I find it helps me to keep it fresh.  I am constantly moving from one painting to another.  Then while one area is drying, I can move on to another painting using colors that are already mixed and ready to go.  I am in the groove and able to keep on moving.


The Art card to the right is called "I Wish".  It is also watercolor and acrylic on 140 lb watercolor paper.


Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you like these art cards.  I plan to have them listed on Etsy shortly so they will be available for sale soon.  


Are you an artist who creates art cards?  Are you an art card collector?  Leave a comment...I'd love to hear from you :-)