UNICAN

UNICAN
10" x 10" Mixed Media Collage
Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas
$150

Available at Gallery 97.
Peachland, B.C.
Canada
www.gallery97.ca

As promised, here is my submission for the "Proud to be Canadian" Exhibition at Gallery 97. Exhibition closes In October.

Birch Vineyard

BIRCH VINEYARD
Acrylic on 4" Round
Natural Birch Archivally Prepared
Ready to hang or display on a mini easel
$49

To purchase click here

Another little round painting reflecting our local wine culture. The series is currently only available by email.

Birch View

BIRCH VIEW
4" approx. Birch Slice
Archival Prep
Use with small easel or hanger attached
$49 + Shipping



Or contact me here

I've been obsessed with finding a way to paint round for a couple of years now. Round canvases are available, but they are either cheaply made or well over the point where I can still make a small profit. I've spent hours trawling the internet for inventive options from drink coasters to embroidery hoops, but nothing gives the quality appearance I want to achieve. These natural birch slices were one option I found and ordered a box to test.

The slices are naturally aged, but the natural gasses would seep into the painting and affect the colors if they weren't treated first. I used GAC 100 to seal them and then clear gesso to give a better painting surface. This is a time consuming and expensive process because the dry wood sucks in the product. I resolved to go to the hardware store to investigate another sealing option, but I dont think it would be archival.

My round obsession probably originates from one of my favorite paintings being round, The Sea Hath it's Pearls by William Henry Margetson. I have this painting on my to do list and I'm always thinking about how to approach the frame, which is an integral part of the success of the painting. Some prints use a generic roccoco frame and others paint it on the canvas. As the crabs are an integral part of the success of the painting, I think this is the best option. Another option would be to obtain a plain round frame and carve into the wood, or coat with many layers of plaster and carve into that. I'll keep you posted on this project.

Birch Blossom

BIRCH BLOSSOM
4" Round Birch Slice
Archivally Prepared
$49

>

Or click here

This is part of my new NATURE SERIES painted on slices of birch which have been dried and then painstakingly treated with archival product. There is a fair bit of texture in this piece as well as peekaboo glimpses of the rings and sawcuts.

Birch Blossom is painted with acrylic including some Pebeo Acrylic Binder in Violet Iridescent as well as touches of Violet/Blue, Red/Blue and Orqnge/Yellow Iridescent Dyna. These are part of my collection of new toys.

Each slice has a hanger, or can be displayed on a small easel.

Third Time Lucky

When I was in marketing there was a rule that applies as well to art as any other product ... CONTACT A MINIMUM OF THREE TIMES.

Artists are a shy bunch and often afraid to stay in touch with customers for fear of frightening them off, but above all else, exposure is what sells art. The painting above was created in 2011 and recently sold after exposure in at least 3 shows, 3 galleries and many many shares on my blog and the internet. It sold for full price.

Staying in touch.... Firstly, art lovers love art. Duh! Your past clients and interested circle of friends and contacts have made their way onto your list because they enjoy your work. I'm not saying deluge them with emails, but don't forget about them either. I write a regular blog but not everyone in my circle follows my blog. Past customers may hop in and out but don't visit daily. That's understandable, but I am not doing my duty to them or my art if I don't keep them in the loop.

Everyone likes a bit of personal attention. Last year I sent a personal invitation to a client for an art show I was participating in. She replied immediately and said she wasn't interested in the show, but could I contact her about a commission. That commission turned into three paintings, perhaps none of which would have happened if I hadn't contacted her first.

A monthly newsletter is a good way to stay in touch, sharing your successes, upcoming exhibitions, shows, open studios, customer appreciation offers etc. It is always interesting to share a story about the creation of a piece or a photo of happy customer and of course a few images of new works. It doesn't matter if you've blogged some of the content before because readers will scan and dig deeper when something catches their attention. If like me, you are happy to recreate a painting in another size, or with small adjustments, let your customer know about your versatility. Someone that loves a piece may not have a place for it, but a smaller version or a slightly different palette is perfect.

Artists often want to exhibit their newest pieces at shows and juries like current work, but often it takes at least three viewings for a customer to purchase, so ensure you have an album of older works to show visitors. Some art lovers only attend a few shows a year. Maybe a patron didn't make it to your corner the one time you had a piece on view, or rushed past and never got back. Also exhibiting a work up to three times to the same people is not a bad thing. Someone that loved the piece before but didn't purchase for some reason, may now find the time is right. Perhaps a client is redecorating and that large painting they loved two years ago will now work over the couch. I could go on .....

What I'm saying is don't get into the trap of thinking your older work is past its prime. I've discovered that it often takes three years, or more, for even my most beautiful work to sell, but eventually the right person sees it at the right time and snaps it up.

And one final word on this ... don't believe everything people say. I have a regular patron that always goes for my most unique pieces but she has categorically told me in conversation that she NEVER commissions paintings, even on approval. Last year that client saw a piece of mine that she loved but there was something holding her back and she had decided against it. After discussing possibilities and emailing back and forth my client commissioned the painting in a larger size and on canvas rather than paper. She loves it!

A Little Behind

A Little Behind

Actually my behind is much bigger than I would like, but what I'm referring to here is how slack I've been at posting. It's certainly not because I haven't been working, it's because I've been so busy Painting, cataloging, restocking my galleries, accounting, scheduling and living, that time just got away from me. I was quite shocked to see I havent posted for two weeks.

Locally we've had some trials, first with extensive run off flooding around the creeks and properties bordering the lakes, then fire season arrived with a bang and for weeks we've been trapped inside peering out through veils of smoke and wondering if we would ever be able to enjoy summer. When the wind shifts we dash down to the pool to swim some lengths, but all my plans for daily walks in the park have been put on hold.

The abstract above is one of my recent iPad drawings entitled Zorro for obvious reasons. I'm quite taken with it. As always my IPad work is available in limited edition canvas prints. Just contact me here.

ZORRO
8" x 10" - $65 + shipping
6" x 8" - $55 + shipping

I will do my best to catch up over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more new work, interesting idea, tips and tricks etc. Follow my blog, Pinterest, etc by clicking the various buttons around this blog.

Preparing for an artists demo

Reposting one of my most popular blogs

There's no doubt about it, if you want to be a full time artist, eventually you are going to have to do a demo. The first time I did a demo it was on a scorching hot day in July and I was painting in fast drying acrylics "Plein Air": Certainly a trial by fire.

There are different kinds of demos
Demo at a show or event, which is all about painting and just needs courage and supplies.
Demo with talk, which is more varied and needs to be well prepared.

This is a check list of things to do to prepare for a demo with a talk. Remember people are there to see you paint, so keep the talk to 30 mins and demo at least 30 mins. Be brave and remember that people are already on your side by showing up. They want you to succeed. As well as an intro you will also be talking when you paint, but that will be about process and answering questions. Leave time at end to answer personal questions.

A list of good traits and bad traits in presenting.

Good - Sound knowledge, prepared, on topic, open and sharing, engaging, good voice and pace,start on time

Bad - Boring, no control, poor voice and speaking, knowledge of equipment, not set up.

PREPARATION

1. (a) Pick a topic and a catchy title
Something you're passionate about
Something you are knowledgeable about
Something people are interested in -
Personal discoveries, techniques
Don't have too broad a topic

Possible Topics
Light and shadow
Perspective
Finding style
Composition
Techniques
Fur and feathers
Depth in water

1. (b) e.g Negative Painting for Positive Results

2. Collect material
Progress photos including prep drawings
Any visual material
What inspires you
Supplies and equipment
Slide show - 10 - 20 slides - no more than 6 bullets on each page, no more than 6 pages - not longer than 30 mins

3. Create short bio
How you took up art
Your personal journey as it relates to your art
Successes and failures
Keep it brief and think about what people want to hear not a list of achievements

4. Prepare an outline
Place everything in a folder on computer (make sure to number in order)
Focus on topic and gather visual aids
keep adding ideas - better to have too much than too little
Organize
Create Structure
Illustrations
Visual elements
Handouts

5. Prepare for Tangents
Questions - Answer question and return to topic
List of supplies
Knowledgeable hijackers - Thank them and go to topic
Balance time versus interest

6. Assemble items
Power cord, lights
Several progress paintings to work on
Bring finished work

7. Plan Room
Best way to seat people
Rear tilted mirror
Easel (blocking view, which side to stand)
How equipment works
Arrange visual aids in order
Size of demo piece? According to size of room

8. The Demo
Be organized with tools and visuals
Paint for at least 30 mins
It's easier to prepare several progress canvases
Answer questions
Pass things around

Ending - allow people to come up and see
Answer questions
Leave time for off topic questions to be addressed personally

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY - DAVID HOCKNEY

DAVID HOCKNEY OM CH RA (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer. An important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. 

DAVID HOCKNEY IPAD WORKS

In December 1985, Hockney used the Quantel Paintbox, a computer program that allowed the artist to sketch directly onto the screen. Using the program was similar to drawing on the PET film for prints, with which he had much experience. The resulting work was featured in a BBC series that profiled a number of artists.

Since 2009, Hockney has painted hundreds of portraits, still lifes and landscapes using the Brushes iPhone and iPad application, often sending them to his friends. 

Sea says "I'm not so fancy, I use the limited app that comes with iPad "notes". I must say though that it's very addictive. Lately I must have my iPad drawing fix every day and for someone that was criticized for not having enough drawing in my portfolio, I think that's pretty fantastic."

Hockneys show "Fleurs fraîches" (Fresh flowers) was held at La Fondation Pierre Bergé in Paris. In 2011 a "Fresh-Flowers" exhibit opened at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, featuring more than 100 of his drawings on 25 iPads and 20 iPods. In late 2011, Hockney revisited California to paint Yosemite National Park on his iPad. For the season 2012–2013 in the Vienna State Opera he designed, a large scale picture (176 sqm) on his iPad, as part of the exhibition series Safety Curtain, conceived by Museum in Progress.

"Strangely, I don't ever remember studying his work before. Of course I knew the name and had a vague idea that he was gay and either British or American. I also had a residual memory of swimming pool paintings and water.

When I started my iPad drawing journey, many people I spoke to pointed out that David Hockney was now almost exclusively using his ipad. I was excited by that, but in my usual independent way I didn't want to be influenced by his style and avoided looking for them. 

Now I'm starting to develop my own iPad drawing style it's safe to sneak a peek at Hockneys iPad work. Wow! Wonderful stuff.

And one of my latest iPad abstracts available as a limited edition 8" x 10" canvas print by contacting me here."

And I can't resist sharing one of my latest pool images with a nod to David Hockney.

Everything Maple

True North
6" x 8"
Acrylic on Canvas Panel



If you're in Canada, you've heard nothing else for months (unless you've been off grid), for my other readers, on July 1st 2017 Canada celebrated it's 150th birthday. As a result, I'm currently working on a submission for "Proud to be Canadian", a Canada 150 exhibition. It starts August 1st, which seems a little late, but I'm running behind on most things lately, so this exhibition is in sync with my life.

The two completed paintings shown here are from my current catalogue and are available to purchase, but are sadly not the right size to submit to this exhibition. I've had many ideas, but none have gelled, so at this late date I find myself clutching at straws and researching all things Canadian. Here are some interesting things I've uncovered during my research. Happy reading/viewing/eating!

Morning Coffee Video - All you never wanted to know about Maple Syrup
Recipe - Yummy Faux Maple Syrup
Maple Trees - Some of these are quite surprising 13 Species of Maple Tree
Toronto Maple Leafs - Ice Hockey Team of course - International Baseball Team???
The Maple Leaf Forever - Canadian Flag

Maple Cascade
3.75" x 5.25"
Watercolour on Cold Pressed W/C paper



I will share the painting I'm submitting soon.

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY - FRIDA KAHLO

FRIDA
Acrylic on Deep Wrap Canvas
18" x 24"
(Unfinished)

This painting is nearly finished but not quite. It started life as a practise piece for Art Battle and I enjoyed painting it so much that I kept going past the 20 mins and 10 mins touch up. I'm not sure portraits are good candidates for my fast paintings because its so important to get the features right.
Nevertheless she will be available and if you love the painting contact me to have first refusal when it is complete.

FRIDA KAHLO
Frida Kahlo de Rivera
born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón
(July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954)

Today we honor Frieda Kahlo, a Mexican artist and a lady of great strength and character. Since her death in 1954 at the age of 47, Frieda has become something of a cult heroine. She was married to one of Mexicos greatest stars, Diego Rivera and she was also an artist in her own right, specializing in extraordinary self-portraits. She overcame many difficulties and is a great example for any female artist struggling to succeed.

Read more about Frida here

FRIDA II

Limited Edition Print of iPad Drawing

6" x 8"
$39

FRIDA I

Limited Edition Print of iPad Drawing

6" x 8"
$39

SPIRIT OF THE OKANAGAN - YLW Skyway

Sales at the SWAC kiosk at Skyway in YLW Departure lounge are growing in leaps and bounds. Our curator Irene visits every couple of weeks and does a great job organizing and displaying the art of the 20 local artists. Some of us are struggling to keep up with the demand. A happy type of stress.

Although the large paintings were originally intended to create impact and attract buyers into the area to purchase smaller art works, they are themselves becoming very popular, which is causing quite a logistical challenge for the group. Skyway originally only agreed to sell carry on sized items and prefers to leave shipments to the artist. Therefore when the art is purchased, it is held until Irene's next visit, taken to the SWAC Gallery in Westbank an hour away, the artist picks up the work from the gallery and negotiates with the buyer about shipping. Phew! The paintings end up having more miles on them than a model T Ford.

These are some images taken by Irene after her last visit. My small paintings can be seen in the lower center of image 3, and the left of image 4. I don't know who did the big pink flower, which is lovely, or any of the other large paintings, but the landscape on the right of image 1 and the big tree in image 3 is Irene Scott.

Art Battle Review

I've finally pulled in images from various sources to show you what my Art Battle experience was like. I was painting, so no time to do a progress montage. Images Maxpaq Photography and my friends Tammie and Karen.

For those of you that missed the lead up to the competition, I applied and was selected to compete against 11 other artists to win prizes and perhaps progress to regional, national and international heats. I was under no illusion I would win my heat because the other artists were mostly in Uni or just out and had large followings. This was not a juried event, it was decided by spectator voting, so as I only had two people in my cheer group, winning was unlikely.

Art Battle June 2017

We had a blank canvas start. As you can see, it was very dark, with blinding spotlights: Hardly condusive to painting. I couldn't tell what colors I was mixing, so it was all instinct. The guy on the right kept flicking paint on me, in hindsight maybe that was a distraction strategy.
It was very noisy, with loud music, cheering and intrusive MC announcements, but surprisingly that didn't distract me. Overall I was quite comfortable. Earlier in the week I had visited one of my galleries and the owner, Cathy had said that I had no cause for nerves because I was a very experienced artist. I suppose she was right!

I had trained in case I got through to the final heat, but it was an ambitious painting and I was very relieved not to be selected. Nevertheless, I gained the experience of painting in front of a crowd and painting FAST, which was very liberating.

Nearing the end

Distraction strategy? The guy on my right kept flicking paint
all over me, so I moved as far to the left as I could and turned my canvas away.

Signing my Masterpiece

The finished painting was auctioned off and I got half the proceeds.

The Winner is on the left