Paint by Numbers

Yesterday I helped Ken Kirby set up his art show and attended his event called paint by Numbers. I idea behind the event is that Ken, with the help of his posse, sold 40 tickets at $500 per ticket. He then displayed 40 paintings, a great majority of which were his own design, others were collected from local artists. Each entry was guaranteed to leave the event with a painting. But ... and here is the catch, the tickets were drawn randomly out of a hat. As your number was picked you then had two minutes to decide on a painting. Near the end of the event, obviously the choices became slimmer and slimmer as the final number drawn had their pick of the last painting.

I should also mention that Ken Kirby is the president of the Nile Creek Enhancement Society, and all proceeds from the event will go towards the restoration of the ecological systems of the rivers and kelp beds.

It was grand event and something to look forward to for next year!!!

Till Next Time ...

Love what you Do ... and Do what you Love.

Susan

Saskatchewan Cows Retire on West Coast

Yesterday I drove over to Port Alberni to take down my art show which had been running for the past month at the Rollin' Art Centre. Not only did I have a wonderful experience and had the privilege of showing my work to art lovers on another part of the island, but I also found a good home for my cows. They were sold to a lady in Port Alberni, where they will now retire on her dining room wall. I guess "From the Prairies to the West Coast" was a fitting name for the show as my Saskatchewan cows now reside on the west coast.

My advise to all artists... is to continue to paint ... and continue to show your work. We never know where, when or what will transpire by doing shows... but we do know that only good comes from them.

If you'd like to see how the "Out to Pasture" painting came about, please see my earlier blog of April 2nd.

Till Next Time ...

Love what you Do ... and Do what you Love.

Susan

Time for Play

I always enjoy the time after one of my publications goes "To Bed". It is a great relief as I send it off to the printers and wait for the return of several boxes of printed magazines.

I enjoy this time as it gives me opportunity to clean up my desk, catch up on some little chores, make coffee dates ... and also play around with some paint. And that's exactly what I've been doing - from morning till night, dabbing a few brush strokes here and there.

The first painting depicts days gone by in the prairie landscape. This particular photo was taken on the way to an artists workshop at Good Spirit Lake, in Saskatchewan. Not only do I love the old building, but of particular interest was how the old house was outlined by the ruggedness of the barbed wire fencing.

"The Old Homestead", 7 x 5" acrylic

The next painting was fun. First using my computer I added some crazy colours to the photograph, to see what they would look like. I then began to paint, wet on wet, swirling the paint around, often very thick, using different shades of aqua green, brilliant blue and violet to give the effect of movement in the water.

Not sure of a title for this one yet - any suggestions?

Till Next Time ...

Love what you Do ... and Do what you Love.

Susan

Another Busy Week

First of all I do apologize with being late with my Blog. I was hoping to have some images to accompany one of my stories, but they have yet to show up in my email box.

Here's my past week:

Tuesday was 'Artist in Resident' day at TOSH. I had two paintings that I was working on. The volunteer for the gift shop was off being a gramma, so I was also wearing the hat (or beret) of keeping a eye on the shop. But I did manage a coffee date with a friend and got some good painting done.

Wednesday I was off to Port Alberni to give an Artist's talk to two groups of 8-graders. I tried my best to keep them interested, but found some were there just to get out of class. Hopefully I did reach a few kids. At the end of the question and answer period I said "Ha, I brought some of my acrylic paints with me. Would anybody like to give them a try?"

Well that was the key to getting them excited and involved as they quickly lined up at the eisel to try their hand at painting.

I know I had fun! Here is a quote from one of the assistant teachers:"Meeting you has also inspired me to continue to teach students in a real world capacity."

What a nice thought!

Thursday I was in Nanaimo for most of the day - the rest of the week was gardening and beach walking. There you have it - another week!

Till Next Time ...

Love what you Do ... and Do what you Love.

Susan

A Busy Week

It's been a very busy week for production. First of all I completed my 8th annual Travel Guide for the Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask. area. Wow - 8 years has just flown by. I received the proof from the printers yesterday, one final look and off to the presses. They will be delivered in June.

Next in line, is the Summer issue of the Island Arts Magazine. This issue was truly a test of patience. We had problems with our network server ... what that means it for over a week, my email program was acting bizerk. I was sending emails out to my clients, asking them to proof their ads .... but receiving no replys.
What's going on, I thought. We started another email address: susan@islandartsmag.ca
It truly was a test of patience, for both myself and my clients, (who probably thought I was nagging them with duplicate emails). Finally the magazine has all come together .... and let me tell you .... this issue is OUTSTANDING! There is soooo much going on for the summer, I have many new artists advertising, the editorial content is phenomenal and of course the design looks fabulous.

This weekend, we give it another proofing, then it too can be uploaded to the printers who will run a final proof for me. That too will be delivered in June.

For all of you who have subscribed to the magazine .... what are you waiting for?

Next week I paint!

Till Next Time ...

Love what you Do ... and Do what you Love.

Susan