Langley Art Studio Tour

Why hello there! How have you been? I've been crazy busy! I'm having a bit of a hard time keeping up with my studio practice while still putting out cake orders AND trying to home school our kids while we go through a teacher's strike here. Needless to say my kids schoolwork involve baking and art projects. Meh, makin' it work.

 Right now I'm preparing for the Langley Art Studio Tour Sept. 20-21 & 27-28. This self-guided tour will feature 43 artists in various studios throughout Langley. To view a list of participating artists and venues click here. This year I will be stationed at the Loafing Shed Glass Studio where Robert Gary Parkes will be demonstrating some glass blowing magic. Who couldn't watch that sort of thing all day? As for me I will be doing printmaking demos everyday which will include linocuts, silkscreens, and monotypes. I will be emphasizing  how to print at home and without a press. Demo. times will be 1-3pm each day but I will probably be working on something the entire time I'm there.


Below is a short video I created of using a homemade gelatin plate for monotypes. I will be demoing this technique on Sept. 27. Shall I see you there?

Showing at Watershed Cafe

It's been ages since I've posted here! What can I say? Offline life is getting in the way. I have been pretty busy though as I have been preparing for an offline solo show at a little local cafe. The Watershed Arts Cafe is a busy and funky place that serves up wonderful homemade items. I had been in there numerous times enjoying a latte and a treat or two and noticed that they were rotating their artwork. I enquired about showing and was able to snag a slot for the month of September.

 I had almost forgotten how much it costs to put on a show! Matts, show tags, frames, printmaking paper, etc. Yup, those costs along with the problem of storing all that framed artwork is why I started trying to sell online.

  At this show I've gone with a food theme and I think you can see the influence cake making has had on the imagery. So if you're in the Langley area and would like to enjoy a latte next to a fireplace, come check me out.

Reductive monotype

Where to find me this season

Oh boy the time is just flying, isn't it? I'm getting kind of nervous about all the things I need to get done. Why isn't there 36 hours in the day?

Today I thought I would let you know about where you can find my work this season. Just in case you needed some awesome and cute gifts for your family and friends. *wink*wink*.

From Nov.15-Jan 15 I will be showing some original monotypes and a series of encaustic   paintings at the Langley Centennial Museum. The theme is moons and mushrooms and I have numerous pieces there under $100.

One November 24th I will be back at the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair 10am-4pm. I will be selling one-of-a-kind prints, ceramic tea cups and saucers, silkscreened napkins sets, magnets, tree ornaments and more.

If you're out in Coquitlam I have some silkscreened onesies and t-shirts, Xmas cards, napkin sets and some really cute polymer clay bird ornaments at the Place des Arts  Christmas Gift Boutique.

If you can't make it to any of those events you can always get up-close and personal with my work at Bird on a Wire on Main St.

As for my own Christmas shopping I will be checking out some of the local craft fairs in the neighbourhood. Time to see what kind of creativity is hidden in Langley.

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.

My monotype process video

Ever since I've done monotype prints I've been confronted by the fact that most people don't know what they are. Although they are a printmaking technique, they are a little different in that only one image can be produced. They are kind of a hybrid between printmaking and painting. I've also found that once people find out that they are prints, they sometimes dismiss them as being of "lesser value" than an original painting.

It's been a bit of a struggle to explain a rarely used technique in an already misunderstood medium. I've asked around on the forums about this and I have gotten some great advice from other sellers. Most suggested that I needed to show my printmaking process more and explain some of the terminology so that the average person could understand it.

Because I'm a visual person, I can appreciate watching  demo. videos. For more than a year I've been wanting to post a video of myself doing a monotype. I finally made one but I had some major hurdles with editing and uploading. So after my Sony handi-cam bit the dust I invested in a Flip video camera which cost a third of what my Sony did. And guess what? I filmed on a Sunday and I edited and uploaded my movie by Monday. The Flip comes with its' own editing software which is just great. If I want to though, I can edit with iMovie or another movie program.

Take a look at my video and feel free to leave comments. At five minutes long I think I will edit the next one to be a bit shorter and.....I can now because I have the technology!
You can view the painting process of my "I think we need to have a chat" here which was done with my digital camera. I set my camera to take a photo every 30 sec. for each session. A not bad solution but it still required a LOT of editing.

Stay tuned for more YouTube videos.

Showing at Richmond Library Rotunda

For those of you readers in the Lower Mainland, I thought I'd let you know that I currently have ten pieces hanging up in the  Main Richmond Library in the rotunda. There are very few spaces to show artwork in Richmond and when I had originally applied to show they told me that earliest I could get was April of 2011. Okay....... As it turns out, a space came available this year and I jumped at it.

The consists of ten original monotypes that have been hand-colored with chalk pastels. I chose a set of landscapes and moon images that I have been working on.  The set looks really cohesive and shows quite well on the deeply colored walls. I'm always happy to get the chance to show in a public space because my work needs to be seen in person and up-close to really be appreciated. Something is lost in the scale and the record of my hand when  my pieces are shown online. I guess that can be said about most original artwork.

The show will be on for a very short time so take a peek at it if you get the chance. The show runs April 1-15 and the library is closed on Monday April 5th.

It's time for a STUDIO SALE!

Over the years, while busy creating artwork, I hadn't bothered to show or sell my work. The work slowly accumulated between periods of no production whatsoever do to moves, new jobs, and having children. Since having my second child, that tiny artistic voice in my head just got too loud and I could no longer ignore it. Committed to spending time in the studio, I longed to creative more and more. To that end, I have a stockpile of work that needs to find a new home. There is more that I want to create but no where to put it. As such, I'm having a huge studio sale and offering some really big discounts. Some of the pieces will be up to 50% off. The majority of the work on sale will be original monotypes (singular prints) but I will have some smaller editioned prints as well. As a bonus, I will be offering free shipping and insurance on the purchase of larger pieces. The sale will run for the month of August and I hope to add new pieces throughout the month.

Many viewers of my artwork are confused as to what a monotype is and don't realize that the prints I create are one-of-a-kind. The monotypes that I do are called reductive in that I roll the whole plate with black ink and then “draw” into it with rags, cards, fingers, etc. to achieve the whites and grey tones. Once I feel the image is complete I lay a piece of dampened paper onto the plate and roll it through the press I keep at home. Now all the ink has transfered onto the paper and the image is in reverse. This will be the only print I can pull. Once dry I may go into the print and hand colour it with chalk pastels.

While there aren't too many artists who do this kind of print I was able to find a few Etsy. Take a look at the following printmakers 's shops to see how wonderful this medium can be.

Plate Ink Paper

Frettke

B.DelPesco

Flying Monkey Studio

Hadley Hutton

Linnea Tobias