Spring Rain

Last month I was lucky enough to attend a fabric collage workshop taught by action artist Rhonda Nolan at The Art Space in Huntsville where her amazing art show "Changes" was being held. I learned from Rhonda that you can use gesso to glue fabrics on to a board which you can later draw or paint over. She was very inspiring and I had fun creating this little piece with some snippets of fabric I brought, as well as the blue Dragon fabric and full moon from Rhonda's offerings. The spring rain falling today reminded me I needed to complete this piece so I just finished it today by adding some stamps and covering the whole thing with semi-gloss gel. When I got home from the workshop that day I had so much fun writing poems inspired by the piece. Here's my favourite from that day:

Summer Rain was coming soon

And the Blue Dragon's watery breath

Might send her to the Moon."

Upcoming and Recent Events...

GROUP OF ART SEVENTH EXHIBITION

CULTURE SHOCK

Opening Friday, February 3rd 7-9 pm at the Bohemian Cafe and Gallery, Bracebridge.

I chose to sculpt a shockingly pregnant torso carved in Indiana Limestone for this challenge. I am always in awe of a pregnant belly. They definitely stand out and are memorable. I remember when I was pregnant that complete strangers would touch my belly like it was common property LOL! I think as nudes, the pregnant bellies are really shocking - what alien(s) resides inside - especially when you can see hands or feet pushing or kicking. I know it is a beautiful miracle despite the shock.

CELEBRITY PORTRAIT event at the Bohemian opened January 20th, 2012.

I was one of five artists who did a portrait of "Peaches" aka actress Robin Clipsham. I called my Chinese Soapstone sculpture "The High-Flying Peaches" because her sunglasses looked like flying goggles. The money from a silent auction of the portraits goes to the Children's Foundation of Muskoka. All the portraits were amazing and although Peaches picked another one to take home, she did say at the opening that my sculpture made her feel like a beautiful flower. As always, Peaches was very entertaining at both the opening and at the sitting where I sculpted a clay model of her to work from later in stone.

Papier Mache Minotaur Pinata

In January I posted about making a Medusa Pinata for my daughter's birthday party. This week I made a Minotaur Pinata for my other daughter's party (both wanted Greek Mythology themed parties). This time I papier mached a punching baloon twice (let dry in between layers) using paste made from cooking 2 cups flour and 1 cup water. Now is the time to secure jute wrapped around the pinata & taped down, tied at the top with enough jute to hang the pinata. Then I built up features using a paper towel roll, bunched up newspaper and lots of masking tape. I papier mached another layer. Once dry I made a small slit to stuff the goodies in, taped it up well and proceeded to paint it. I painted little Chakra Vyuha Labyrinths in his eyes for fun and a gold bull ring. It took many hits before it opened up!

Celtic Cross Commission finished & installed

Monday November 7th was an amazing sunny day. It was perfect for installing the Celtic Cross I carved from Indiana Limestone. It went on top of a rocky ridge overlooking Lake of Bays. Four of us pushed and pulled the heavy cross on a dolly up the ridge. I had dug a hole for the quick set concrete around the bottom of the cross which had holes and anchor bolts to secure it once the concrete set. After it had set a water based colour enhancing sealer was applied to the stone to make it look ancient as per my clients wish. The tiny fossils in the stone actually pop out more now because they remain light grey in contrast to the darker grey. Everything went so smoothly with the installation and my clients were so delighted with the cross, they even gave me a bonus!

Group of Art Challenge #5 at the Bohemian... Natural Instincts opens Friday

Yesterday I had fun carving local rocks for the 5th challenge at the Bohemian Cafe and Gallery in Bracebridge. The theme was to be inspired by nature and I was not only by fallen leaves in particular Beech leaves, but also by the beauty in surrounding boulders on my property. These two carvings go together, one a leaf shaped rainwater vessel, the other simply a leaf shaped stone which I carved the veins in to. The opening of the show is on Friday November 4th at 7pm. There will be 11 challenges in all and the artist with the most points wins a solo show at the Bohemian for 3 weeks!

New Commission!

I have an exciting job to do - turn the Indiana Limestone slab above into a 3 foot tall Celtic Cross! It is to be simple and ancient looking and will be installed on top of a rocky ridge. We had to make my work stand bigger to accommodate the large stone and needed our neighbour to help us get it out of the truck and on to the work stand! The stone weighs about the same as my parent's piano which got delivered here on Monday (around 600-700 pounds). Speaking of which, I was so happy to have the piano (even though it's waiting for the piano tuner) that I made a video of a song I created called "Boomerang Soul".

Shows in Bracebridge & Huntsville

"Book Ends for Edith" (salvaged Indiana Limestone)
"Warrior Goddess" (Maltese Limestone) above

"Full Moon Goddess" (Quebec Soapstone) below
Opening September 2nd, 2011 and running for 1 week is the Group of Art Challenge #3 =The 4 Rs at the Bohemian Cafe and Gallery in Bracebridge. For the challenge I carved salvaged Indiana Limestone that was going to be buried on a job site (they are cut offs from the stone mason). I carved one as a turtle and one as a fish and the book was an art book that belonged to my grandma Edith who was also a stone sculptor and has been a great inspiration.

Also opening September 2nd and running for 1 month is the Huntsville Art Society's Members show "Continuous Present" at the Art Space in Huntsville. My pieces are "Aglow" (not pictured here), "Warrior Goddess" and "Full Moon Goddess". These sculptures are very spiritual and ancient to me and I felt they fit the theme of the show. Hopefully you can check out both these shows if you are in the area!