Pre-finished stage

I finished a new piece this week, at least it's in the preliminary finished stage. That means that it is hung on a wall in my house being lived with and considered, to be looked at off and on, contemplated and debated. This process can last anywhere from a day to a few weeks before it is determined if the piece is finished. (The shorter time it spends in this process, the less it was finished) So far its been up almost a week, although it has received mixed reviews so far.

Poppy Field

24"x24"

Acrylics and Found Objects

A true assemblage painting, taking many pieces from different contexts to create this pleasing whole (at least I think it is pleasing). Many of the elements are from my current body of work, the painted flowers however, are from a painting I had done a few years ago. I liked elements from it, but not the piece as a whole, so I cut off and discarded what I didn't like aond kept what I did. In the context of my current body of work, this piece is a bit unusual in that the colour is quite bold.

Office Art

I was given an office this year and told to pick a colour for the walls and go ahead and decorate. So many options to choose from! I finally chose a deep aubergine (eggplant purple) for two walls and the other two are white. Then to decorate! What to put on the walls? There are lots of pretty pictures out there, but I am an artist, so why would I go buy a cheap unoriginal print when I can create something original? Also, this way my works gets exposure with the benefit of being decorative. I had taken one piece in and had it hung for a weeks, but it took me awhile to figure out what else my office needed. Having gotten feedback and inspiration from another creative person, I decided how to finish it. Instead of 'hanging' another piece, I went with the idea of painting a silouhette on one of the white walls (with permission first, of course).

 My desk faces this wall, so now I can spend the day looking at my tree. It is about 8 ft tall and 6 ft across at the longest branch.

24"x24"

Found materials on board

This piece changes depending on its context, such as the weather. The little mirror pieces on this work reflect the purple colour from the opposite wall, it also reflects the sun that comes in my windows. I quite enjoy watching it change from day to day.

Afternoon in Stanley Park

A beautiful, sunny, warm spring day was spent in Stanley Park. It started as a walk around the seawall, but ended being a hike through the park due to a good chunk of the seawall being closed for maintenance. Despite the steep inclines required to go up and over the mountain, it was delightful. We enjoyed being in the forest and came across some lovely surprises along the way. First, we spotted two bald eagles sitting at the top of a tall bare tree.

Then, further down the trail we saw a ruby-throated hummingbird sitting in a tree. We stopped and held our breathe! He sat for quite awhile, then took off checking out other bushes, and then surprisingly came back to sit in the tree again. This time I carefully reached for my camera, fully expecting him to take off and not come back, but he stayed!

Afternoon at the Conservatory

A few photos from our Saturday afternoon trying to escape the pouring rain. Turns out we chose the wrong time to make our way up the hill, it had cleared off by the time we came out!

 A baby pineapple, and a couple sculptures from the sculpture show that is currently on at the Conservatory. Some pieces fit so well into the surroundings you had to really look for them, others were alot more obvious. All of the pieces seemed to have taken the space into consideration for their inspiration and/or display methods.

Almost Annual Art Exhibition

This week we attended the opening of  the Almost Annual Art Exhibition, at the Lookout Gallery, on the Regent campus. It is a community compilation, showcasing the artistic work of Regent students, staff, and faculty.
It was quite an informative show, I found the majority of the work was photography or representational painting (in acrylic). There were a couple pieces that I was particularly drawn to. One was a black and white photo of an abandoned boat on the seashore, the other was a stylized, intertwined charcoal drawing called Abide in Me. I would think that there would  be more artists at Regent, than was represented at the show. Unfortunatly, I am one of them. I was not brave enough to submit any pieces this year.