Boxed In Opening: Video

I wanted to do a better walk around so I could really show off the talent here in Port Credit... but the gallery was crowded (awesome!) and I was late arriving, so it just didn't happen. But what a fantastic show! I am continually amazed by the diversity and quality of the work of the artists I meet here. The work was priced to sell, so I wasn't surprised to see a couple pieces had sold. I actually was surprised that more hadn't sold. This is the kind of show that really should sell out.

In 2011 we had 713,445 people in Mississauga. We have 5 dedicated art galleries, one being the public, city-run gallery, and another being the one at the University. Two of the commercial galleries don't carry the works of anyone local (that I know of... I've been following them for quite some time and have yet to see it, but I could be mistaken). That leaves one... and I've submitted my portfolio and wasn't even graced with a response. We have artist-run initiatives: Imagemaker (not counted in my tally of galleries), who keeps it's doors open by holding classes, Pazan gallery, who survives as a framing shop with a display space for the locals, and Promenade Gallery, which has some interesting events centering around the South Asian community. We also have the wonderful Visual Arts Mississauga, who offer all kinds of artists programs and also have shows in their space. I know there have been other galleries open in the past, but they have had to close their doors. I've often wondered why this is, given the amount of money that resides around here. Houses by the lake go for over a million bucks. Some way, way over. Even a condo will set you back over half a million.  So there are people who can afford to have original art in their homes, yet they do not seem to buy it here. My guess is that they go into Toronto. My son has noted the same thing as a musician. There are very few venues for live music here these days. Most of the young people trek into Toronto to catch a show, because nothing much seems to happens here.

The Mississauga Arts Council is aiming to change all that. The Interim Executive Director spoke at the opening, and he had some inspiring things to say. Plans to make Mississauga residents more aware of the local talent we have. Programs to help Mississauga artists actually sell their work here. And combined with the planned conversion of the Small Arms building into a cultural hub, this should be a huge boost to the cultural community in this city. I have high expectations. I hope I'm not disappointed.

Oh and if I've missed something, please let me know in the comments! I love finding new, local spots to visit!

New Abstract Painting: Soul of the Siren

"Soul of the Siren", 6x6" mixed media on wood panel. Private Collection. 

It has been an incredibly busy couple weeks. But YAY!!! My mom has been successfully moved, it all went pretty smoothly, and she's settling into her new apartment. It will be a big change for her... she's been in a big house for many years, and no matter how comfortable her new digs are, it's still an apartment. One level, one bathroom, a small kitchen. it will be easier to keep clean, but it will take some getting used to. Luckily there is lots of family around. Having social contact will definitely help. The house was beautiful and peaceful, but really, really isolated. 

My son is also preparing to move house. He's going to be moving in to a house in Toronto with his friends... he'll be closer to school, will be able to practice more often with both the bands he's in, and will be able to try out the whole independence thing while still being a shortish trip home for a mom cooked meal. It's an exciting time for him.

Things are going to be a bit weird for me though... the past year I've had kids constantly in and out of my house. We have a somewhat soundproofed room in the basement, and Clairvoyant is a serious band and they practice constantly. I had always enjoyed having the kids around. It's been fun. The house is now going to be oddly quiet. I'm sure I will miss it. But hey, it might actually inspire me to invite MY friends over. It's certainly been a while. 

This painting I finished up a bit before all the mayhem. As you can imagine, I haven't had a whole lot of time to paint in the last couple weeks... I'm getting a bit antsy to get back to it. I've committed to a habit of daily creativity, and I've actually done nothing in the past week. Nothing. I do have a couple projects that I will be getting to later today. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands dirty. This little cradleboard has been sitting on a shelf in my studio for over a year. It started as a collage that didn't work, was covered with paint for a bird painting that didn't work, covered with an abstract that didn't work. As a result, there is so much texture and colour that it didn't really need a lot to create something that did work. I just needed to know what I was looking for. I am going to give this little piece to my son when he moves. It will be his first piece of original art (that he didn't do himself). He has always been surrounded by it and I'm sure he will miss it. And if I'm lucky his friends will be ok with my using their walls as storage space and I can get some of this stuff out of my closets. If I'm lucky. 

******************************************************************

I know I was going to post a video of the Boxed In opening. Didn't forget, I've just been busy. I actually arrived late and so didn't get my wifi set up in time to go live, and the place was so packed I couldn't get close enough to do a decent walk-around. I do have a bit of video that is uploading to youtube as I write this. I will post it here mid-week. See you then. 

Anatomy of an illustration

Samples of my hand-drawn lettering

A couple weeks ago, when I was still in the midst of my Boxed In project, and my mom was getting ready to move, my son asked me to do an illustration for his band's upcoming CD cover. Normally I would be thrilled to have been asked. I'm his mom, and therefore old and decidedly uncool. This time though, I raised an eyebrow at him.

I thought you had someone doing that for you, I said.
Didn't work out.
When do you need it by?
Friday.

It was Monday, around 10 pm.
Crap.

Any other client, I'd probably say no. Creating something I'm proud of, from concept to print ready art, takes more than a couple days. But this is my kid, and he's been working hard to get this recording done, and I want him to have it for the string of live shows they had lined up for early June. So, ok... I'll do what I can. But as a client in a hurry, decisiveness is key.

1st Rough concept for the album cover.  

We started with concept. The name of the album? Rot. Oh. Goody. They don't want something gross. Ok, so no skulls or bugs or rotting vegetables. Crumbling concrete? No, too cliché. Also struck down... assorted vegetation, and kids sitting in front of a TV set. They finally decided on a crow. Subtle, but the association is there. Crows eat dead things.

Next up, the wordmark. Typeface or handwritten? What impression do you want to give? I did a couple handwriting samples of the band name and album title, just to give them an idea. Hand drawn typefaces are all over Instagram, so it is very current. Current is good when you're young and you're target market is young.

I did a few quick layouts with images I already had... two from my sketchbook, a couple using photos I found online... just to give them the basic idea before I started drawing. That part takes time, and no point in wasting time drawing something that they ultimately don't want. They picked one layout, which I then used to start my drawing.

My initial computer drawing. I kinda like it, but the boy
wasn't sure about the white background... even though that
was what he had asked for... sometimes you can't tell
if something is right until you see it.

When I do illustration work, I usually start out on paper. I know people who go straight to the computer, but I can't seem to work that way. I need a pencil and paper to work through the basic stuff, then I do a final drawing, scan it in, and work from there. I guess I'm old school that way... and being an artist in the traditional sense, I feel like I can be more creative with a pencil than a stylus or mouse. I use Adobe Illustrator at work. I also use Photoshop, but the main part of my job is in Illustrator. I prefer Photoshop for actual illustrations. I could probably get the same effects and a bit more flexibility if I used Illustrator, but I haven't invested the time to be really good at it. Anyway, once that drawing was done I did a little mockup to show the kids.

It wasn't quite the feel they were going for, so I did what I never do... let him sit beside me and go through some possibilities. Having your client sit beside you while you work is like some special form of torture.... anyone who works in a creative/visual field has probably experienced this. It only took a few tries to get what he was after, so ultimately easier than going through them all on my own and letting him choose. We made the printer deadline, and they picked up their CDs the day before their show in Montreal. And I've got a happy kid.

The final CD and cover. All done in a week.

My boy, playing in a Toronto club. Photo by the talented Haley Wheeler. Check out the band on their Facebook page, and their music on Bandcamp.

**********

I won't have a regular post next weekend... my mom is finally moving and I will be otherwise occupied. Have a good one, and I'll see you for the Boxed In opening on June 9th.

Boxed In: Final Entry

"Secret of the Ancients", 12x12" Mixed Media on canvas. Available.

Done. The final painting. Feels like it took a really long time to get these finished, but I suppose, with stopping to take working photos, and documenting everything in between painting sessions, it added on a bit of time. At least I made it for my deadline.

I'm going to be doing something a bit different for this series. Each piece looks best in a certain direction... in my opinion. But they can all fit together for something different. So to allow a bit of flexibility, I'm going to sign them on the edge of the piece, rather than the front. I will still have to put wire on the back, but that is easily changed if the eventual owner decides they want to hang them in a different direction. The gallery is actually going to hang the show with velcro instead of hooks this time. Makes it easier with so many pieces, and that way they won't have to fill a million holes in the walls when the show comes down. The canvases they gave us are small and light, so it should work well. I can hardly wait to see how the show comes together.... some of the work I've seen posted online is really wonderful.

Excavation series, lined up horizontally. These would look lovely in a hallway... maybe on a white wall? I found another
silver in my stash that was way more reflective (Golden... of course), so I went over the solid silver areas in all
three pieces. Anyway, that's why I have areas that look warm grey in that last photo. That's the new silver
reflecting the light.  I really should rephotograph the other two...

Now that I'm done this series I have a few other things I have to focus on for the next couple weeks. My mom is moving in a little over a week, my son has a million things on the go (some of which require my input), and I really, seriously need to clean up my studio. I don't know how it can go from clean to a disaster in a few short days, but it manages to happen. One misplaced object, and suddenly I need a couple days to put everything back together.

I will post a video of the opening on June 9th... I'll try to keep it short-ish. I'll have to do the walk around and maybe have a little chat with some of the other artists. If I can get that live stream thing happening, I'll let you know.

Boxed In: Project Entry Part 8 - Finishing Touches Canvas 3

"Escape", 12x12" Mixed Media on Canvas. Available.

This will be my last mid-week entry for this project. The end of the month is coming up, and I'm finishing up these paintings to get them to the gallery in time for the show. I was hoping to be able to live-stream the opening... I know a few of my followers who are not local would enjoy "being there", as much as they can. The easiest/most accessible version of "live" would be the new Facebook Live feature...... but alas, I still don't have access to it. Searching the help menu leads to the always  so helpful "some users may not yet have access to this feature". Awesome. First time ever Facebook has rolled out something new I actually want to use before it's available. 

I love this iridescent paint so much...

I do have other options. I'm on Periscope, but the one time I used it I got about 0 views. It's not like I've been on there much... most of my audience is not the 20-somethings that are up on every new app that comes along. So I think I'll go with the trusted YouTube platform... I can stream live (I've tried it out, but not exactly sure how it looks on the other end. How do you find live streams on there? I can't seem to figure that part out. Is it like a hangout?), and I can record it at the same time and save it to my channel. Yes I have a YouTube channel. My son was shocked.

Oh, and now it looks green! How cool is that?

I have another opening to get to this week... I was FINALLY accepted into the Artworks Oakville annual juried show. It's one of the local shows that is always really wonderful. Gets loads of entries, has notable judges, great prizes... all the things that make a juried show really hard to get into. I've entered repeatedly. To the point where when I fill out the entry form I feel like I'm making a donation to the group instead of actually entering a competition (it's the same with the VAM show, another really great juried show held at the AGM at the end of the year). Getting that acceptance email was a bizarre feeling... I walked around for a week thinking they surely made a mistake, and I'd be notified any day now. It's not that I don't think my art worthy of being in a show like that, it's more that my work is not so different that it would stand out when lined up against 100 or so other pieces. I'm make abstract paintings. Not unlike a plethora of other painters. It's just how it is.

Anyway, I will be posting the last of these paintings on Sunday. It feels like it's taken me forever to get these done.... but I've had a few other things going on. I'll fill you in on those at some point... I need to have something to talk about for these weekly entries.

Boxed In: Project Entry Part 7 - Finishing Touches Canvas 2

"Excavation", 12x12" Mixed Media on canvas. Available.  

From the side to show the interference.

Well, the first of the three canvases is finished. I didn't actually have to do too much to finish this off. I just added in some bright white highlights and did a bit of drybrushing to accentuate the texture (if you want a reminder of what it looked like, you can see it again here). After looking at it turned in all directions, I decided it looks best this way. Even when I join it up on either side with the others it looks best this way. So, I still need to sign it, touch up the edges and attach the hanging hardware, but otherwise it's done.

 One of the wonderful things about interference paints is the way the colour changes when the light hits it. How to photograph that is a bit of a mystery.

From another angle. Now it looks green. 

Here I've taken a couple shots on different angles. You can see how it looks purple from the side, but green if the light is on a different angle. As I've only used it in accent areas, it is really something that can only be fully appreciated in person. But then all original art is kind of like that... right?

If you are in the GTA, this promises to be a really great show. I've been following along with the progress shots from some of the other artists, and have seen a few of the finished pieces already turned in. Wonderful. AND, if that wasn't enough, at $100, these pieces are a steal. Most of these artists would have work this size going for considerably more... myself included. I imagine a few of the artists will take the opportunity to buy work from other artists they love but could never afford (likely myself included here as well...). If you are in the area, be sure to stop in and take a look.

Boxed In: Project Entry Part 6

 

Canvas 1 continuing. Photo taken with my phone, and therefore not colour accurate. 

This weekend was a little nuts. I haven't had time to do much since my last entry... but since I said I was going to post, I'm going to post. 

My mom is going to be moving soon. It's a huge job, packing up that house.... and now that she's on her own it's a bit overwhelming. My husband and I went out there on the weekend to help get things sorted. Her moving date is approaching quickly, and packing is slow and difficult when you're mobility isn't the greatest. Two days and we made a lot of progress. Still not quite there, but definitely got a good chunk of it done. She does have other help... I am the youngest of 4 kids, so she's not alone, but it's a trek for all of us. I for one will be happy when she's closer.

As for this painting...

I've obliterated that awkward block in the middle. The shape is bigger now... not sure it's necessarily better, but at least it isn't smack dab in the middle of the canvas. I lightened up that curved shape on the left. It was kind of a mid-tone grey... I decided it had to be either light or dark and light felt better to me. I got rid of the pointy, arrow-like line. I also changed that shape on the bottom... it felt like it was too much the same size as the shape at the top, so I made it a bit smaller. Again, not sure it's necessarily better, but it's different. That area on the right I haven't dealt with yet. I still don't know what to do with it.

That's all I've got right now. So here's a cute picture of my dog.

Because dogs.