Abbotsford Wine and Art Walk

I don't know about where you live but now that September has hit someone has decided to flick the fall switch here and the temperature has dropped and the leaves have started to turn colour. Can't we drag summer out just a bit longer?

  Coming up this month I will be participating in the 2nd Annual Abbotsford Wine and Art Walk on September 11, 5pm. For $15 ticket buyers can do a self-guided tour of various downtown businesses and sample some tasty wine while enjoying the displayed artwork. Only 200 tickets will be sold so if you haven't picked yours up yet you should soon as I heard last year sold out. I will be showing at Tha Realm Dance Studio at their new location, 33788 George Ferguson Way. I will be selling original drypoints, a linocut and an original watercolour. See you there?

See you at the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair

  The Christmas craft fair season has started! I hope you're able to avoid the mall this year and make it out to one of the many fantastic handmade shows. I would love to go see all the vendors at Make*It at the PNE but I think it's a bit too far for me this year. Next year, for sure.

 The only show I will be selling at this year is the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair on Nov. 30 10-4pm. If you've never been, it's a great excuse to visit Steveston and see where Once Upon a Time is filmed. 

  I will be selling cards, calendars, prints, paintings, silkscreened napkins and tea towels and whole whack of other goodies. Shall I see you there?

Crafty Affaire - May 4th Mark it on your calendars

Spring is in the air and the craft show season has started. I had planned that this year I would participate in a bunch of shows to boost my local presence but it doesn't look like that will happen. Most of the art and craft shows happen on the weekends and that conflicts with my new job's work schedule. I'm already booked for A Crafty Affaire  though 

which will happen on May 4th 10-4. Shall I see you there?

Can you see my little dolls in the promo?

Some Halloween Skeletons

I've been busy on so many projects that I almost forgot to update my blog. Lately I've been working on numerous silkscreen projects and this year I finally got it together to create some Halloween themed pieces. What do you think about my funky little skeleton?

A nice sized trick-or-treat bag

Size: 6-8 yrs

Size: 24 months

Available in my shop

How the Arts Alive! show went

It was a beautiful day for the Arts Alive! Festival and if you were able to stay in the shade it wasn't too hot. I went into this show trying not to think too much about sales and just focus on getting some local exposure. While the crowd wasn't huge it was pretty consistent and continued for almost the whole show. I'm happy to say that I broke even on this show and that's fantastic. I didn't sell any of my new cups and saucers or any of my silkscreened onesies even though I swear there is a baby boom about to happen in Langley.

Below are some pics from the day.

My booth set up with my newly sewn bunting.

Napkins, cups and saucers

I was next to Krazy Bob's Music Emporium and his funky VW

Krazy Bob creating LP art. He knew how to get the crowds. ; )

I have an addiction and I need your help

I have an addiction. I have a constant need to create and I become lost and sullen when I feel like my habit might be threatened. I'm my happiest when I'm in my studio discovering some new technique or idea. I become consumed and the need to create grows more. Unfortunately this constant thirst to create makes it so that I have produced work faster than I can sell it. My print drawers are overflowing and my art supplies are taking up more and more floor space. I have told myself that I mustn't try any new artistic techniques in case I get hooked and insist on getting more supplies and tools. I've already broken my promise with encaustic painting and polymer clay.

Although I've given plenty of my work away for free, I'm thinking that I would like to donate a substantial amount more. I need to find good homes for my work and I need the space to create more. This is where I was wondering if you could help me in my quest. I'm looking to give away some of my larger pieces, particularly my monotypes, to reputable and worthy charities for fundraising or simply display. Do you know of any organiztation who puts a call out for an artists talent? Do you have a favorite charity yourself? Is your local hospital needing something visually stimulating on their walls?

I'm willing to give some of my work away as long as the donation fits a few specific criteria. I don't mind submitting to a jury process but I can't afford an application fee. I would be, however, willing to take on the responsibility of financing shipping and insurance of a piece. Although I love to do theme specific artwork I am looking to donate solely from my current stock. As a final wish, I would prefer my pieces to be displayed in a public space for some period of time. I want my work to be enjoyed and as relevant to someone else as it is to me.

What do you think of my idea? Have you got a few ideas of your own? I would love to hear them.

How the Blim show went

Last weekend I participated in the Easter Blim market at the Heritage Hall on Main St. This is the first artisan sale I had done since the Steveston Craft Sale. I had been planning to do this show with my sister who owns Super Nova Designs for months now. I had heard good things about the show as a low risk venue with a loyal set of handmade buyers. Well....it was a bust for me. I sold some fridge magnets to the vendor across from us but other than that, I only got a lot of lookers and no buyers. My table was tucked around a corner at the far end of the building and I feel as though we had less foot traffic than the other tables. Over all the show wasn't well attended but I found it to be a great experience and we were able to learn a lot from it.

I thought I would show you a bunch of photos of the sale and some of my fellow vendors. What do you think of our table? My biggest purchase for the table was a rotating necklace rack from a closing consignment shop.

Some funky finds

Tempting pastries

The sweetest hand-felted birds

My cousin who is also an artist

The fantastic food we ate

Introducing pocket mirrors

How is everyone? Is the sun shining for you? I hope so. Even though the sun can't seem to decide what season it is here I know it must be spring because the lilacs are budding and my lillies have popped up.
 I think so many people enjoy spring because it's all about renewal and fresh starts after slogging out the winter. That's kind of what Easter is all about too, isn't it? I think that's the mark on the calendar where people acknowledge the arrival of spring and the promises of a great summer. This year I will be celebrating Easter at the Blim market in the Heritage Hall on Main St.. Every month on a Sunday Blim brings you a fantastic selection of artists and crafts people that create unique handmade items. These are popular markets and this year will be the first one for me.

Staying with the theme of "new" I will be selling a new product to my shop. I have been wanting to do pocket mirrors with my images for ages now and I've finally been able to create a line of twelve different images. Now you can carry a little piece of art with you where ever you go AND use it to make sure you look smashing.

If you're in the Main St. area on April 24th, stop by and find my table and say 'hi".

Celebrating spring with Paper-N-Stitch

Spring is almost here and I'm happy to announce that I've been accepted into the curated spring Paper'N Stitch Showcase. I've always enjoyed the showcases on P'nS as they are always chalk full of unique and beautiful handmade pieces.

Take a look around the site and take note of some of the great promotions some of the sellers are giving exclusively to Paper and Stitch readers. In my own shop, I'm offering 20% off combined purchases of $30 or more before shipping. Just type in the code PNS in the "message to buyer" section to receiver your discount via Paypal.

What do you think about the site? I would love to hear about your favorite piece in the showcase.(Not just mine). Here's to spring!

Work in progress

Now that we're well into January I thought I'd show you what I've busily been working on. For ages now I've been wanting to work in encaustic but I've been too intimidated by the process and the expense to try. It always seemed so mysterious and potentially toxic. Alas, I couldn't shake the interest in was and started researching it more.

This January after having realized that I had double-booked myself for art shows, I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to create an entirely new series of work based around encaustics. This new series will continue with the mushroom theme I've been doing but it will incorporate linocuts, encaustic paintings, monotypes, drawing and watercolors. I will be tackling many new techniques that I've never tried before and it's gotten me wishing that there was some way I could get rid of sleep and work so I could work in the studio more.

Above are a couple of photos of a encaustic painting in the process. The second one is of painting being carved with my linocut tools to help me create details. The wax really is magical and it's always on the verge of being out of my control. I love that kind of creating. So what do you think? Do you work in wax? Do you have any hints or tips for me? I would love to hear them.

2011 Art Calendar preview

Yikes! The week has just flown by and I still have so much to do. Today I thought I'd do a small post and give you a preview of this years art calendar. I will be selling a 6x9 wall calendar on card stock in the next couple weeks in my shop. Get yours early because I make a limited amount. I'm still tinkering with the idea of creating another desk calendar for those of you  who want something for the office.

Take a peek and tell me your thoughts. I love to hear them.