Artists Studios Online Tour and Giveaways – A Blog Carnival

Go BEHIND THE STUDIO DOOR and see where real painters work! Have you ever wondered about the mysterious artist studio? Now you can tour them online. Visit the links below to see the participating artists' blog posts about their work spaces! Some artists are offering giveaways or special prices for the Carnival.

Marla Laubisch	Carol Schiff	Kaethe Bealer	Jo MacKenzie
Michael Chamberlain	Charleen Martin	Sally Binard	Jacklyn Karabaich
Sharon Graves	Sea Dean	Johnna Schelling	Taryn Day
Julie Ford Oliver	Sarah Sedwick	Kim Rempel	Cindy Michaud
Joanne Grant	Carmen Beecher	Cindy Williams	Cathy Engberg

Welcome and here's an inside look at my studio!

Sometimes it's really clean.

And sometimes it's not.

I have two walls for hanging paintings, and two walls of windows.

Below is from the day my nephew came and helped me clean my studio. Loved that!

I have paintings everywhere.

I have a couple tables. One holds a rack that my husband built to display my daily paintings at shows.

The other holds the shadowbox that he and our sons made for me. I love it. It's definitely been an essential tool.

There's also enough room to store my brushes and paints and little things that collect in a studio:

~coloured glass bowls from a junk shop~

~well, I am Canadian... : ) ~

I also have little bits of inspiration taped here and there. Quotes, thank you notes, and art cards (below is a card from a show by David Alexander). There are art posters taped on my door and a photo that makes me laugh propped on a window sill. 

I am hugely grateful everyday for my studio. But aside from my cozy interior, there are also times that my studio is this:

and this:

and even on a few very special occasions, this:

I love my job.

So, thank you for your interest! I just gave a painting away in June for my blogiversary so this time I will hold a 48 hour* 50% off sale from all my available daily paintings (6x6 or 6x8 (approx. 15x15cm or 15x20cm). To view them please look here. Send me a note saying what you'd like and I will change the PayPal button to reflect the new price. If you'd like to see my large abstracts and landscapes, please check out my website. 

Thanks (and Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks!)

*sale ends July 2nd at midnight est

Roasted Grapes/Ricotta on Grilled Bread + plein air class NEXT Friday

So for about a year and a half I have been part of a gourmet group and it's a lot of fun. It's not so much "gourmet" as in 20-ingredient complicated recipes, rather trying new recipes each month. This week it was at my place and one of the recipes was the above. It did have a sprig of thyme on it but after I'd painted it it just wasn't working so I took it out.
Also, next Friday (July 5th) from 10-4 is the next plein air class at The Good Earth in Beamsville, Ontario. All levels are welcome! You can draw, paint with oils, acrylic, watercolour, pastel...whatever you like. For more information or to sign up, click here. It's always a lot of fun.
6"x8" / oil on canvas / $99 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Old Growth Cherry

Ta-da! It's complete. And I'm feeling pretty stoked.
I photographed it in daylight (above) and indoor (below, under fluorescent lighting).

This is an old growth cherry tree near my house (and regular readers know how much I love painting trees). Peach tress are blossoming in the back. It's a scene very familiar to me and each spring it always feels new and full of wonder. It's like everyone is agog at all this beauty being bestowed upon us. Breathtaking. This year the blossoms seemed particularly spectacular - I'd never seen so many people stopping at the side of the road to have their pictures taken in the orchard.

18"x24" / acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas / $550

Some things that made me smile this weekend

Friday I went to Toronto to do a little gallery hopping. First I saw the Bobbi Burgers exhibit at Bau-Xi. Her pieces were really quite stunning. They also had a few David Alexanders hanging so it was a double-score! Then I went across the street to the Art Gallery of Ontario and met my fabulous art friend Barbara Muir. We saw some interesting things on the "Contemporary" floor ; ) Interesting like... "interesting". There was a sound house that mimicked the sounds you hear during a thunderstorm which was done very well but the really cool installation that I thoroughly enjoyed looking at was:

A pink roller coaster bed. Actually it is "La Montaña Rusa" by Los Carpinteros. Cool, yes?

Before I headed home (which took triple the usual time - darn summer weekend traffic) we zipped over to see the fabulous work by the iconic Canadian painters, The Group of Seven. Both of our hearts have little pieces that hang out in that room I think. I can never miss is when I'm there. Happy sigh.

Then this evening another dear art friend Sandy sent me this link which was funny.




And now we are going to sit down and watch aerialist Nik Wallenda cross a gorge at The Grand Canyon. Wherever you are, hope you were able to enjoy your weekend and have a few smiles as well.

Sometimes you've gotta re-work

As was the case with this abstract I did, "Park". The last time I posted it it looked like the image below. It was bothering me, as I stared at it day-after-day on my studio wall, and I decided to have at it. Even though I thought it might go south, I wasn't satisfied with how it was looking anyway so I might as well dive in. Sometimes we have to be willing to possibly destroy something in the chance that we'll build something better (and yesss, I've done that too). And now I'm feeling good with it all.

orchard painting progress + bowling ball update

So here is how the orchard painting looks after today. I began adding leaves, put in more of the ground and worked on some of the background blossoms and sky. Next stage is to add more leaves and value changes within them and then add all the white blossoms to the tree in the foreground.  This is how it looked last Thursday. 

And in case you're wondering, I thought I'd include a picture of how my bowling bowl/garden gazing ball is looking. Because my glass pieces are of varying thicknesses it has made grouting... interesting. I can't wipe and get a smooth, clean grout line. So what I'm left with is a bit of a frosted cake look. Hmm. Will this go down as a Pinterest fail? Because of the amount of time I've invested I feel a certain amount of affection for it none-the-less. I'm telling myself once it's tucked into the garden with leaves all around it, it will be charming : )

Tiramisu Cake - SOLD

SO DELICIOUS! Add an espresso and you have perfection : )
6"x6" / oil on gessoed hardboard / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

 

Progress...

I really love seeing process/progress shots with other people's work so forgive me if you find this tedious!  Anyway, this is where the painting stands today. Acrylic on stretched canvas.

Peas in a pod

Local peas. Crunchy and sweet.
6"x6" / oil on gessoed hardboard / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Phlox

More phlox from the ditch : ) They look so pretty growing in clusters of multi-coloured pinks and purples.
6"x6" / oil on gessoed panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

In the studio

I have begun working on a studio piece from a photo I took in spring. It's of an old gnarled fruit tree in blossom, in front of a young blossoming peach orchard. I'm just starting to block in some of my key favourite bits and getting in the darkest darks. As regular readers of my blog know, I really love painting trees.

Yum - SOLD

Can a piece of pie be a muse? Because I really don't want to stop painting this slice of pie!
Okay. Tomorrow something new (although it may just be a different kind ; )
6"x6" / oil on gessoed panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Seconds please!

Well, it's a fun piece of pie to paint.
6"x6" / oil on gessoed hardboard / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide).

Lemon Pie

Some lemon meringue pie for you today!
6"x6" / oil on gessoed panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

June Bouquet + Winner Announced!

This is what's blooming at our place right now: peonies, chives and wild phlox (well, I yanked the phlox from the ditch). Oh, I absolutely love peonies. The scent? Heavenly! Then again I think I love just about every flower.
6"x6" / oil on gessoed hardboard / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

 

And today is my 4th year blogiversary! Thanks to those that entered the giveaway, I appreciate all the entries very much.
And the winner is...
(drum roll please....)

...Crystal Cook! And for those of you that know Crystal, it's pretty appropriate that she got a cupcake : ) It will be in the mail tomorrow Crystal! Thanks Crystal and to ALL OF YOU who follow, appreciate,  leave comments and yes, purchase as well. Hurray : ) xo

Sushi night - SOLD

And now, for a little sushi! Happy Friday everyone! Also, if you'd like to enter the Blogiversary Giveaway, please send me an email (top right side of blog) or leave a comment to enter. Enter by Saturday midnight, EST. Winner will be announced Sunday. Good luck and truly, thank you so much for following!
6"x6" / oil on gessoed hardboard / SOLD

Fiddle me this - SOLD

Went grocery shopping today and fiddleheads are in! It's such a small window of time when you can nab these little guys. Yum!
6"x6" / oil on gessoed hardboard / SOLD

African violets - SOLD

Thanks for your comments yesterday and I want to remind others to please enter the painting giveaway for a chance to win my cupcake painting. If you are having a problem leaving a comment just send me an email (top right column of my blog) with your name and you will be entered. If you are on Facebook, just "share" and leave a comment noting you shared or a "like". Easy peasy.
I painted these violets I purchased at the grocery store - they were so pretty! Unfortunately once the initial bloom has faded I'm never able to get them to re-bloom. I will enjoy them while they last.
6"x8"/ oil on canvas / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Blogiversary Giveaway!

On June 9th it will be four years since my very first blog entry and I thought that called for a little cake! I love painting and running this blog - it has brought buckets of joy into my life!
I have:
• Made a mountain of friends that I can bounce ideas off of, ask for advice and just enjoy each other's company and work.
• Developed my skills (A commitment to regular painting and posting makes you grow. No slacking!)
• Been invigorated by a wonderful online art show daily through all the blogs I follow.
• Been able to find an audience for my work.
And that is huge : )
Thank you!
If you'd like a chance to win this painting there are two ways to go about it. If you follow me on my blog, please leave a comment. If you follow me on Facebook, please share this post. That's it! Enter by Saturday midnight EST. I will have a random draw using random.org on Sunday, June 9th and announce the winner. Good luck!

Ready for shipping!

I received a bulk order from a corporation for employee gifts. THANK YOU! If any one else is out there reading this and is interested, please let me know. Of course I will give a generous group rate!

In other news, here is the progress on my bowling ball/garden gazing ball. I'm itching to grout! Now, off to the studio where I'm working on a large tree painting.