Steinbach Street Fair and the girly dragon

I drove down to Steinbach, Manitoba to take part in their Summerfest. I have a friend in Steinbach who told me about the event, and who also booked a booth to sell her stuff (fantastic little dresses for girls made out of wonderful fabrics decorated with cute appliques and buttons)! We made sure we were together at the streetfair so we could visit as well :) The first day it rained, and we toughed it out for a couple hours, but my paintings were getting wet, so we packed it up and headed into Winnipeg to shop the "Urban Barn". We couldn't've asked for better weather the second day!

Anyways, i had a really nice time there. Sold a painting, sold a few prints and postcards, and also received a commission! Here is the drawing i received from Cezanne, the mom:


The original was actually coloured in orange, but i cant find that image right at the moment, so here is the black and white version i worked up (easier to use in my projector this way). I have never worked with the colour orange and i have to admit it's because of all the colours, orange is my least favourite! but i am always up to a challenge. Cezanne was actually open to me not using orange at all to keep it in a 'girls' colour theme for her daughters room. But i had seen orange done really nicely with pinks and purples somewhere, so i assured her it would look fantastic and girly :) She never doubted my decisions and was just excited to see what i would do! I love a customer like that!

And, the finished product:



I even used orange-with a dash of pink-sparkle dust on the dragons body! I was really happy with the result, and i know Cezanne and her daughter were as well!

I was so happy to have Cezanne send me a picture of the painting up in her daughters room.



And i quote "I just wanted to thank you for the beautiful art piece you made for us! As you can see my daughter was thrilled!"

:)

"Two-gether" - SOLD

This painting is an ode to what was meant to be, but didnt happen. it is an ode to the oneness that 'two-gether' should be, and an ode for the ideal that should continue to be upheld, despite what goes on in the world around us. A wonderful reminder from one of my daughters 'interpreting life' drawings.

Purple and a Personal Challenge

I am gearing up for my application to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit and i have to have photographs of 10 of my works for submission to the jury. i do have about 8 or 9 in the arsenal, but i wanted to get 2 or 3 more done in 8 weeks so i could feel like i had a choice in which ones to submit. i average 4 weeks per painting, so it was going to be a bit of a stretch.

SO, the goal was to get this following painting done it a week. ONE WEEK! the drawing came from my daugthers bed... yes, her BED (naughty little girl :)...) so it invovled removing a large wooden door and taking it down to be photocopied at STAPLES. that was fun. no one even batted an eyelash as i walked in with this 2x6 slab of wood and proceeded to lay it on the copier! truth be told, i was a little disappointed. i would have loved a reaction ;)



as far as the colour inspiration, it was found in a multi pack of swarovski crystals i found at micheal's (green, pink, and iridescent). They are the dots on the dress (about $20 worth of crystal on this painting!). It's unfortunate that you can't really appreciate the full sparkly crystal effect on this painting. But if you click the photo, it should open up a new window with a large version to scrutinize :)... Purple just seemed the perfect background for these. It is a true amethyst colour. for awhile i had this painting hanging in close proximity to a large chunk of amethyst that i have and they looked fantastic side by side.

The day i finished the painting, i displayed it at "evening of class" (fancy dinner thrown annually in thunder bay) and it is on hold for a customer! i will be sad to part with it so soon, but i am glad it may have a home to call its own!

all photos on this site are courtesty of my good friend, lizz busby check out her flicker page.

The Pink Dresser Movie

i thought it would be fun to photograph each little step i took while creating "The Pink Dresser", so i set up the tripod and the sony handycam in the studio (not super good quality photos, sorry to those who care...) and painted away. this took a few weeks and i'm really happy with the results - minus the fact that the last image never fully loads as the video stops premature of the ending. but i'll post a link to a better version for you soon.

special thanks to my brother, jon, at transparent-mastering.com for creating the soundtrack. if you have sweet speakers then you will enjoy his music to its fullest!

soon i will also post a good quality photo of this painting, because the handycam really did the process justice, but not the painting itself!