Way too Busy!

That is what September has been like - way too busy!

It started off with the last day of the Saturday Afternoon Summer Art Market. The market was a mixed success; some people did well and others did little or nothing. Visitor numbers were disappointing averaging about 15 each Saturday. I think there were a number of factors that contributed to the low numbers - time of day, morning would have been better - the weather, it was way too hot all summer and - the smoke, for much of the summer the valley was filled with smoke from fires near and far. Well, we tried and might try again next year - who knows!

The following weekend The Creston Art Club had its Annual Fall Show and Sale. Of course, I forgot to take photos as I seemed to be busy whenever I was there. I was lucky enough to sell a few things including one of my painted feathers.

I also sold a small painting that was done during January's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.

#981 - Train Coming - 5 x 7 watercolour

I had a nice visit with the lady who bought my painting and I told her and her sisters all about my Watercolour Painting Parties. That worked out really well as she and one sister came yesterday to my first party of the fall.

Sherry and Holly with their Lighthouse Vignettes

Eileen and Barb with their Vignettes

It was a small group (which I am beginning to think should be the norm) and, except for Eileen, none of the participants have painted for over 30 years. I think they were all surprised at how well they did. Holly commented that she hadn't planned on framing her painting but after seeing it completed and matted she said "I think I will frame it after all". How is that for a review?

So the month is nearly over and there still isn't time to relax. I am going to have to start cleaning up the gardens and flowers this week. I am also going for cataract surgery and then, I will be ending the month with another Painting Party.

H'mm - I wonder what October will bring!

Trade Show Success!

What a weekend! Although I was standing on cement for most of the last two days and my legs are killing me, I am very happy with the response I received at the Trade Show. Twenty-eight people signed up to take a Watercolour Painting Party and more took business cards with plans to make up their own groups for private parties. If everyone who expressed interest follows through I will be doing parties into December. Wow, will I ever be busy!

#1025 Ocean Fog - 10 x 14 watercolour

I thought that more people would be interested in trying one of the fog paintings but I guess most were tired of dull grey weather and wanted to paint colour.

#1030 Rocky Shores - 5 x 7 watercolour

#1031 - Regrowth - 5 x 7 watercolour

This year the most popular choice was the "Little Guys" party. I decided two days before the Trade Show that I needed to have some samples of the paintings suggested for the "Little Guys" and painted the pieces above. Once matted and framed they were a great display for what participants 'could' do at the party. I think another reason for the popularity is that all of the paintings for these parties are quite colourful.

You can see posters with all the paintings on this blog post - too-much-happening

So, now all I have to do is figure out and coordinate when 28 people can be scheduled to attend four different parties - the hard part LOL.

Wish me luck!

Too Much Happening!

There is just too much happening in my life right now! This time of year is often busy between art activities, yard work and my bedding plants but this year there seems to be more going on than usual.

First, I have been getting things organized for the Trade Show at the end of the week. I wanted to add some more scenes (the Foggy Building pictures) to my Watercolour Painting Parties and that meant painting some - lol. I also needed to make up some posters to use to promote the parties.

I used both Pic Monkey and Canva to make the posters and I am pretty happy with my finished products. I also decided to offer Quilling Parties although I have no idea how many people will be interested.

 And, I needed a poster that helps to explain the whole concept.

  

 

The day after the Trade Show I have to get some paintings ready for a display at Creston's Rec Centre. It is only a four day show but it should be interesting. The arts community is displaying with local children as part of the annual Focus on Youth and this year the theme is Art and Agriculture as part of the Canada 150 Celebrations.

And, the day after Focus on Youth ends, I will be attending a 2 1/2 day watercolour workshop with Canadian artist Graham Flatt - His web site

The following Friday, I will be displaying some of my work at this year's Bird Festival. I am hoping visitors to the festival will be interested in taking home some reminders of their visit as I have quite a few pieces that feature birds.

 And to top it off, I hope to start my Watercolour Painting Parties the same weekend. Am I crazy?

This, That and the Other

Instead of sketching in the evenings lately, for a change of pace I have been doing some more quilling and adding the finished pieces to cards.

Quilled Rooster Card

I find most quilling to be relaxing and often do it while watching TV. Sometimes though, I pick a subject that is a bit tougher to do and it needs more control and concentration.

Filigree Hummingbird Card

This little hummingbird and flower seemed to take forever to do as I could only do a bit at a time while I waited for the glue to dry.

I have also been spending time figuring out my display for the up-coming Trade Show at our local rec centre. I mostly want to promote my Watercolour Painting Parties and my 20th "Anniversary as an Artist" Clearance Sale but I hope to make my display inclusive of all my work - thus the figuring.

This year I will be offering some new scenes for the Painting Parties. I am going to add 'A Building in Fog' as well as the 'Vignettes' and the 'Little Guys' parties.

Little Guys selection - paint two 5 x 7 pieces

Vignettes selection - paint one 10 x 14 scene

I don't have most of the scenes for the 'Building in the Fog' series ready yet but here is a sample;

#550 - Abandoned 

These scenes will be 10 x 14 and participants also get a 16 x 20 mat and a clearbag to protect their paintings.

I do have 'other' things happening but I think this blog is long enough, so I will leave the rest for an 'other' day - lol.

I invite readers to 'follow' my blog and leave a comment - let me know how I'm doing!

Painting Parties - Who Knew?

Recently a local artist hosted something she called Painting Parties and a few friends attended. One friend suggested that I should try it as she felt I would be a better 'teacher'. At any rate, I decided to check it out on-line. WOW! I had no idea that the concept was so popular! There are franchises! Of course, most of these events happen in big cities and Creston has a population under 5000 with a high percentage of seniors, so maybe it is not surprising that Painting Parties are virtually unheard of here.

On all of the party sites that I investigated everyone was painting with acrylic. As a watercolour artist, I don't think the medium is getting a fair shake. If I go ahead with the idea, I intend to host a few Watercolour Painting Parties.

Derelict #1

I figure most beginner or novice artists should be able to create a vignette if they are supplied with a quarter sheet of watercolour paper, a drawing, paints and brushes AND some instructions.

Derelict #2

Many people claim that watercolour is a hard medium to work in because you can't easily make corrections. I think these vignette style paintings are loose enough that any mistakes will fit right in with the overall look.

Lakeside Living

For now I am just coming up with subjects and possible colour combinations, but I really think that I will give this party idea a try.

I think an afternoon spent on a covered deck with a drink, some goodies, paper and paint, and some like-minded people would be super fun. And everyone would have a painting to take home too!

Over a Billion Websites!

Yesterday I attended a short workshop presented by the Creston Arts Council. The primary aim was to have members put together a profile for the Council's web page but the instructor also touched on various social media and individual websites.

The profile section is still a work in progress but a number of us have started our profiles and when the web-master has finished tweaking I think it will be a great place to check out the arts in the Creston Valley. Check out My Profile

I can't say that I am convinced about the usefulness of web pages, blogs and social media sites for promoting art but one has to try something! Bob and I were talking about the problem and he decided to check the numbers. There are over a billion web pages! And when you add in blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc. etc. etc. All I can say is WOW!

How does one little needle (my web page, for instance) get noticed in such an overwhelming haystack? My Web page

I will continue to do what I do and share with the world in the same way AND each time I learn a new way to promote my art I will try that too. Mellowood Studio on Amazon

Now, on to the art!

#945 Down the Road

I have decide to try doing a few vignettes as I really like the 'unfinished' look. I think vignettes leave the viewer open to speculating and wondering, which can be a good thing - lol. 'Down the Road' is a 7 x 10 watercolour.

#944 The Chill of Winter

'The Chill of Winter' is a 7 x 10 watercolour as well. This is a favourite size as it is an 1/8 of a sheet of watercolour paper and frames up nicely to 11 x 14.

Best wishes to everyone on this first day of Spring - may flowers bloom in your gardens and joy in your hearts!

Painting Day #2

Last week my friend Linda came over again so we could paint together. When we painted in March, Linda supplied the subject; this time I did. I found a tutorial in an old Watercolor Magic magazine - 'The Elegance of Untouched Paper' by Tony van Hasselt and we both were keen to try the vignette idea.

It doesn't seem to matter that we work from the same instructions when we follow a tutorial -  we always end up with very different paintings.

Linda's Painting

Linda chose to loosely copy the subject from the tutorial while I chose a different building.

My Painting - The Old Red Barn

  Most of the elements are the same in both paintings; a barn type building, a silo, a crooked fence, a few trees and bushes and, of course, the same palette of colors. But, our approaches are quite different. Linda often uses a layering effect with blended washes on top of dried washes while I mostly use wet-in-wet techniques. We did try to follow the guidelines in the tutorial but I am not sure how good a job we did.

Here is a synopsis of the vignette guidelines:
-Between 30 and 40 % of the paper should be untouched
-The painted area should touch the edge in 3 or 4 places but not in a sustained way.
 -The untouched areas should have and interesting, interlocking shape - not proportional or equal
-Hard edges should dominate ( I think Linda was more successful with this aspect than I)

We had just started thinking about doing a second painting when I realized that I needed to start dinner so Linda went ahead and painted a second piece.

Linda's Tree Silhouettes

I think our total painting time that day was about 2 1/2 hours. Between eating lunch, visiting, checking out new home improvements, doing dinner and just talking about our lives we don't have a lot of time before Linda is on the road back home.

It doesn't matter how short or how long the time is, painting with a friend is great and well worthwhile.