Happy Faces

It's been way too long between posts, but that's the kind of year it was. A year with joy and happiness with the birth of our first grandson in April. A time of stress and sadness seeing our second son's marriage end. Throw more stress in there with a broken ankle and psoriasis on my hands and feet which, after a year of agony, is finally getting better. Not the best environment for creativity!

There was a lot of success as far as sales go, which is always a boost to one's ego. The sunflower paintings started with one little plant in my garden and ended up with a total of 5 paintings, this one at 30" x 36" being the largest. It was fun to paint on canvas, which is relatively new to me, and to do a realistic subject. There will be a few more to come but I need to take a break and do something different. In retrospect, flowers always make me happy - my subconscious knew what I needed all along!

This summer I will be offering a workshop in collage - teaching being another new venture for me. Now to find my collage materials and get busy!!!!

I just got the news that this mixed media collage painting has gone to a new home.

In the past few months my abstract works have been selling which makes me very happy. I have been working on representational themes lately to be able to offer some variety in my shows. I live in a rural setting and most people around here don't 'get' abstracts.

Just goes to show you that perseverance does pay off!!!!!!!!

New Homes

This summer has seen the artworks above all go to new homes which is a very happy and validating experience for me.

My plan is now to concentrate on creating larger pieces for another solo show, hopefully, in a year or so. I will continue to exhibit in one gallery, one boutique gallery and a few group shows.

I'm feeling the need for time to reflect, daydream and to learn some more painting methods. Working larger will also be a challenge, mostly because of my relatively small workspace, but, I am very thankful for my 'room of my own' - my little 'studio'.

Ready for 'Variety'

Tomorrow I am going to Francesco's Coffee Company in Ottawa to hang a solo show for the month of August. This is my first solo art show for a long time and I managed to create a few new pieces of mixed media paintings on canvas for something new to exhibit along with a varied collection of drypoints, etchings, collagraphs, linocuts, collages and mixed media works on paper.

It has been a struggle to get this show together because of the broken ankle and severe eczema on my hands. The ankle has healed, unfortunately, not the eczema, although it is a wee bit better lately.

It will be good to see the works hanging collectively in one place and get feedback and ideas from onlookers. One always hopes for a few paintings to go to new homes - we'll see how that goes.

The photo attached to this post is of 'Three Sunflowers', my latest and largest to date at 24" x 30". Larger canvases are waiting for inspiration.

Cloning

I've just finished varnishing this painting which is a semi-replica of a previous one. The first painting, 24" x 12", goes very nicely in my newly renovated guest bathroom so I decided to do another one in the same vein on a 24" x 18" canvas that I had.

It's not easy to do the same thing twice! There are subtle differences such as 9 leaves in the first one and 7 in the second and the border treatment is a different technique. It was a challenge and I'm happy with the results.

Now on to another sunflower painting which will be on a 24" x 30" canvas in a landscape format.

Today is Day 14 of my 6 to 8 weeks in a non-walking cast for a broken ankle. Since I can't get out, I have decided to do as many paintings as I can. It's keeping me occupied and very happy!

Silver Lining

I have been neglecting my blog entries lately and today is the day to get back to it.

On April 25, 2010 we welcomed our first grandchild, Michael Steno Assaf, into this world. It's been a great few weeks and I can't believe he will be one month old next week.

Needless to say, creating artwork took a backseat for a while.

Then, just when I was getting my gardening near completion for the start of the summer, I broke my ankle and am now confined pretty much to my house with a non-weight bearing cast and hopping about on crutches. I'm told that this will be the case for 4 weeks and, hopefully, not one minute more.

The good side of this scenario, now that my arm muscles and hopping leg are beginning to not ache as much, is that I can paint all I want! I am working on one of three unfinished pieces and hopefully by the end of next week will be starting another new one.

This cloud does have a silver lining! I will post pictures when the works are ready.

Birthday Present

I am happy to have had my two Canada Geese prints juried into the 2010 International Miniature Print Exhibition and am looking forward to seeing the show at the opening vernissage this evening. The link to the online gallery is: www.2010internationalminiprintexhibition.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday to Me!