Art Show Opening Tonight!

If you happen to be in the Penticton area come by and check out our show!  This is such a fun group, and quite varied.  I was at the Leir House last night while Glenn, George and Paul were hanging the show, and it's a really interesting range of work.  I submitted three lino cuts done from my plein aire sketches into the show.  A bit of a stretch on the plein air theme, but I'm happy with them.  I did them at Laura Widmer's studio.  Laura is a wonderful print maker I met in Wells this summer.  Check out her work here.  She has a beautiful old press in her garage.  I took seven lino plates up with me, and we bundled up and spent a chilly day pulling prints.  Thanks for the help Laura!  The ones in the show are all images of Apex.  I'll post some photos after the show.

  

Hooked On Books

Hooked on Books, Main Street, Penticton

Sketched this over my morning coffee, Yogi at my feet.  Hooked on Books, here on the right, is the newest store to carry my book, and they've invited me to do an event in their wonderful shop!  On September 23, 7-9 pm, I'll be doing a talk on waking up your creativity.  I'll be selling books, including handmade blank sketchbooks and covers.  Admission is by donation, proceeds going to 'Raise a Reader'.  I'm very excited about the whole thing.  If you're in Penticton come on down.

I haven't been blogging much lately.  My dad hasn't been well.  He's in the hospital in Kelowna, an hour away, and we've all been taking rotating shifts sitting with him.  He's 86 and has had a wonderful life.  It's hard to see him struggling now, but we're glad to still have him with us.  I've been so busy between working, sitting with dad, and putting together my new book proposal (more on that soon) that I've forgotten to go sketching lately!  Today was the first time I've dipped my brush in water since the Wells trip.  It felt good.  Sketching is always like a little brain holiday from everything else that's going on.  Love it.

Wells Community Garden Panorama

These ten images all link together to create one 7.5 inch by 112.5 inch scene.  I did two of these panoramic scenes during my stay here; one here at the Wells Community Gardens, and the other at the intersection of Sanders and Pooley Street.  They're each a full 360 degree view.  If you took the last panel and moved it over, it'd line up with the first.  It was a real challenge, dealing with changing light and perspective, dogs, kids, mosquitos and moving cars (although in Wells they really don't move that often).  I always seem to be a little bit invisible when I'm sketching on location, sitting there overhearing all the goings-on in the neighbourhood, children playing in the playground, people gardening, strolling, enjoying life on their street.  It was kind of funny how the locals had all been stepping around me for days, but when they came in to view our work at the end of the project they were surprised to see their homes and all their familiar buildings around town captured here.  Their delight at having their homes captured made me very happy!

I had a couple of real challenges while doing this piece.  The first was, after laying it all out and doing most of the initial sketching, I discovered the paper I though was watercolour friendly was not at all.  The first drop of water made it puff up like one of those compressed sponges getting it's first dose of moisture!  Normally I would have panicked, but here in Wells everything is so laid back I just sort of stared at it and thought, 'hmmm'.  Good thing I happened to grab a box of pencil crayons just before I left Penticton.  It was much slower than it would have been in watercolour, but I think it was a good exercise.  Next 'argh!' moment was after I discovered this cool sepia pen and ink on a side trip to historic Barkerville.  I was having great fun with it, had sketched maybe a house or two in this lovely ink, when I dropped the pen and bent the nib.  No more pen.  Again, I could have freaked, but instead decided to  head back to Barkerville to buy another one.  It meant packing up my camper in order to get mobile, something I hadn't banked on doing during my stay here.  On my way back to where I was parked, I popped in to one of the little galleries on Pooley Street.  I told my tale to the woman working there, an artist I met up here last year at a workshop.  She walked in the back of the gallery and came out with a fist full of pen nibs for me to use.  How nice is that!   I just seemed to meet so many generous people here.  I can see how people come here and decide to stay.

  

Ice Cream Shop Chalkboard Sign

I finished the board for the Ice Cream Shop boys last night.  This puppy is about 5' wide and almost 4' high.  It'll go over their ice cream cake fridge.  If you are EVER in Penticton, you must go there.  The shop is called Ogo's (like Ogopogo, our parasailing lake monster here).  It's on Main Street, in the first block from the beach.  Not only do they have great ice cream and the best cones ever, but the shop itself is a wonder.  You just have to see it for yourself.

I'm excited to have this finished.  We'll drop it off this morning.  I can't wait to see Mike and Brian's reaction.  I hope they like it.  It's the reason I ordered the chalk ink markers, and hopefully it'll be the first of many boards I can do for businesses around town.  I'm lovin' these chalk markers.

Chalkboard Calendars!

Over the past week or so my dining room has been a chalkboard making factory.  I'm doing a chalkboard for the local ice cream shop, and I thought I'd try to make something else while I had the blackboard paint/chalk markers et al.

These boards are 2x2 ft squares.  I did up four of them, and once I realized that the two cans of chalkboard paint I had were so different, I decided to use them to make calendars.  I like that there's no month or days in here; I can use it as a regular calendar, or if I'm doing some kind of challenge (like the yoga binge I'm currently on) I can use it to track progress.

The scene is the view from our living room last night.  I really wanted to try the chalk markers so I could get the ice cream project done, and the view was so pretty I just started doodling.  These markers are FUN!!  They're called Chalk Ink, and you can get them here.  They took about a week to arrive from Texas.  I know I missed the second friday with the darker paint.  Oh well, this one is just for me, so no biggie.  I've got another one done, but it's a birthday gift, so it's not going up here until after I drop it off tonight, just in case a certain someone is surfing the net on a friday afternoon instead of working (Yes, I mean you.  Back to work!).  It's fun.  I'll post it tomorrow.

I have so many ideas for these.  More to come.

Fun With Folding Book!

I'm having great fun experimenting with these new folding books I've been making (how-to video here)!  This was from my workshop at the Penticton Art Gallery on Saturday (finished later).

Next stop?  Sitting outside the Convenience Store on Main Street today - looking across at Grant King's, Mykonos and of course Nite Moves, where Austin worked while he was home last summer.

Here it is before the page gets flipped out, with a little peek at the Cannery Building sketch on the next page:

Another Workshop at the Penticton Art Gallery

A great  group came out for my Sketchbook Journaling Workshop at the Penticton Art Gallery yesterday.  This time I had everyone draw their own feet.  It worked out really well - they all did wonderful drawings, and then when we hit the Japanese Garden, they had the concepts clear and were able to dive in without hesitation and got some great results.  Fun!

I was working at Kettle Ridge earlier in the day and did this little sketch in one of my new sketchbooks as well.   I thought that using a crayon as a resist would give me the burst of yellow that I was seeing in the weeds.  Not so.  Needs a little work to figure out how best to show that profusion.  It's beautiful in real life.

Recycled Fruit

Day 24: Draw a Piece of Fruit.

We were out all day, first visiting Yogi at the hospital, then at work, and then at the funeral of one of Greg's hockey buddies (very sad).  We went for dinner with friends afterwards and got home late, tired, and with no fruit in the house for me to draw for the May Challenge.  It was dark out, so no going down the elevator and drawing the Giant Peach concession stand in front of our house either.  I'd done this watercolour sketch of it  a while back, so I pulled it off the wall and reprised it.  I was laughing at myself as I hit the upload button on flickr at 11:59.  Just like college days.

This peach is such a cool thing.  The opening each year marks the start of beach season.  There's a bikini clad sunbather in the original, but I clothed her and gave her a buddy in this one.  It's too early in the season for solo sunbathing.

Here's the original.  Now that I see them side by side, I think I'll add a little more crayon inside the peach.  It needs to be darker.

The Electric Pink Robe

Day 22: Draw a Piece of Clothing.  The Electric Pink Robe. It's actually not me at all, in fact I find it a bit heinous.  It is, however, the comfiest thing I own, and therefore a weekend morning ritual.  The lyrics are Lyle Lovett, also a bit of a morning ritual.

Here's the whole verse:
"I like cream in my coffee
And I lke to sleep late on Sunday
And nobody knows me like my baby
I like eggs over easy
with flour tortillas
And nobody knows me like my baby"

How's that for a little weekend morning fare?

Last night was the opening of the Penticton En Plein Aire show.  My piece was hanging right in the middle.  Greg was so proud of me, hanging back and listening to comments, then coming and sharing them with me.  Austin came to, as did Diana and the whole Mary Ellen crew (thanks guys).  There were a lot of really great pieces there.  Nice to be a part of.  And a good cause, so if you're in the area (or not) come and bid on a piece.  It doesn't have to be mine.

Now it's off to the street market for breakfast, then up the hill to work.

May EDM Challenge Day 4: Draw a Cup

The fun continues.  I notice my guitars keep sneaking into these drawings.  How will I tell them that they're not the subject of 'Draw a Musical Instrument' Day??

I sketched this yesterday morning, then headed off to work to hold our realtor event that I've been prepping for.  All went well.  We had a good turn out, food was eaten, views were absorbed, materials taken, and follow-up planned.  It went pretty much exactly as I'd hoped.

Afterwards, Mary-Ellen invited me to a fashion show at the Lakeside. It was beautiful.  It was a triubute to the amazing Sharon Amos, who passed away a few months ago.  Her two gorgeous daughters, one a hair stylist and the other a fashion retailer, stylist and glamazon, put together this amazing event.  It was all retro fashions, shown in a very dream-like way, with models working the very long runway in a sort of floaty-drifty fashion, with great hair, cool parasols, and awesome music. It was also very cool to see so many of the Penticton women out in their 'city' duds.  Loved it.  Great job girls; your mom would be proud.