Summer Art Show and Sale

Summer Show and Sale PosterFinally art shows are back!

Now that the VAC has re-opened, they are showing the work of over fifty artists in their main gallery space all summer long! I am happy that my work “Diving Down Just to be Deeper” has been included among them. I stopped by the show on Saturday and it is looking fabulous.

Come see original art by some of Victoria (and Vancouver Island) artists working in drawing, ceramics, jewellery, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, installation, mixed media.

Each Wednesday the VAC is hosting artist salons where select contributors to the show will speak about their work for a small audience. RSVP: arts@vicartscouncil.ca to reserve your spot!

Gallery Open 12-5, Tues to Sat – 1800, Store Street, Victoria, BC

The Incoming Tide – Masks

Masks have been on my mind. I poured the painting to the left -The Incoming Tide – some time ago and decided to pick it up again. Sometimes images jump out at me from the poured paint but on this one there was nothing obvious. When I started work on it I was listening to a podcast by the Jealous Curator with sculptor and jewellery designer Debra Baxter. I turned back to the painting and there it was, as clear as day, a mask, less than 10 seconds later Debra Baxter talked about her wish to create a stone mask, my jaw dropped. Debra had been talking about the kind of mask we are all wearing now to stop the spread of Covid19 but I have been thinking about their relevance right now.

Masks are being worn to prevent the spread of disease and at the same time masks are falling away. We are openly talking about racism and our complicity. The mask of politeness, not wishing to offend our opinionated relatives or clients, and the mask of silence is being removed. Seeing the mask in the painting in its watery setting also made me think of Edward Colston the Bristol Slave Trader whose statue was tossed into the water and how it had been swept there by a tide of anger at the continuation of the kind of injustice his ‘benevolence’ was built on. I know this is just the beginning but I feel excited about the possibilities for all the empty plinths that are left behind.  This is a unique moment for cities and towns to build something together in equality, art that is relevant to this and future generations.

Staying Connected

Studio - Amber LomaxI hope this latest blog post finds you well or at least coping. I am used to spending a lot of time alone as I work from my home studio so that hasn’t been a problem for me, however my husband is also working from home now, so I actually have to get used to having more company than usual. There are a few things I miss – going out for coffee, the cinema, restaurants and seeing art in person and not through the screen. Believe me, I am very aware how I lucky I am that these are the only things I miss. I have been making time to get into the studio and I have been working in my sketch book. It took a little while to get into some kind of routine though.

Real life has gone virtual and like millions of others I have learnt to use Zoom so I can catch up with my Thrive Art Studio group, it is really nice to check in with them and hear how they are handling this time. I have also discovered that Youtube has life drawing sessions online which is awesome to get some practice in. As all of the summer art events are cancelled or postponed, online events and exhibitions are set to be the norm. The Victoria Arts Council is sharing local art through a new online magazine called ‘Until’ and instagram accounts like Quarantonics and the Quarantined Art Gallery have emerged to help artists share their work.

I love how artists are looking after each other right now – sending each other art postcards, selling art to support other artists or turning their skills to making masks. Even just being open and honest about feeling crappy or unfocused can help reality check the expectation that this is the time to be super productive and write that novel or learn a new language. I am really grateful for my online art community and I feel like connections are being reinforced.  I hope that this is something that continues when we get to the other side of this, in the meantime, take care of yourselves!

All Bound Together – Handmade Sketchbook Tutorials

Handmade Sketchbook using Youtube Tutorials

Handmade Sketchbook using Youtube Tutorials

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a bout of illness I got myself together and bound a new sketchbook. I won’t be mailing this one off to the Sketchbook Library – it is just for me! I am going to use it to play and test out some new images and ideas for my next set of paintings. Someone recently asked me how I make my books so I thought I would share some links to the YouTube video tutorials that I followed to make my handmade sketchbook.

  1. How to make a hard cover and signatures (pages) for your Coptic Stitch book
  2. Coptic Stich Book Binding

Things you will need: a bone folder, awl, thread, needle, glue, cardboard, cutting mat, scissors, craft knife and paper.

The tutorial said to use wax thread but I didn’t have any and just used a regular acrylic thread, which worked fine and is holding together with out any problems.

If you want to get inspired by the possibilities of bookbinding here are a few accounts to check out @arquitecturadellibro on Instagram and Judith Coe on Pinterest.

The world news about Covid 19 has sporadically turned my brain to mush and making art is about the only thing that quietens it down right now. I can highly recommend trying the tutorials to make your own handmade sketchbook and giving your brain a break from the news and stress.

 

Art Demonstration at Opus Art Suplies, Victoria

I will be doing a free art demonstration at Opus Art SuppliesArt Demonstration at Opus Art Supplies in Victoria on Saturday, January 25th, 12:00 – 1:30 P.M.

I will demonstrate how to incorporate dream imagery into your artwork. Learn how to build your own dream vocabulary and layer up acrylic paint to express your subconscious side. Techniques to be discussed include paint pouring, transferring your sketch to canvas and the use of mediums such as glazing fluid and gel medium. Gain confidence to express your inner world using acrylic paint. 

Please visit Opus Victoria or contact them at 250-386-8133 or toll free 1-800-524-6555 to register

Double Act

Art Show at Langham Court Theatre

Little Bird by Angela Menzies, Acrylic on Canvas

It’s been a little while since I posted. After my show at Xchanges I was exhausted. I took it easy for a while, recharging my batteries in the beautiful wilds of Sooke. I have been working in my sketch book but nothing huge. I have a couple of things coming up in January that I would like to share. Angela Menzies and I have an art show together at Langham Court Theatre. It will run from Jan 15 to Feb 1st alongside the play ‘Company’. Company is a musical that asks the value of relationships in modern society. I love the Langham Court Theatre, it is such an intimate venue and their performances are always fantastic – I would definitely recommend checking them out.

I will also be doing a free demo later in January at Opus in Victoria and I will post the info for that soon.

I hope everyone had a relaxing Christmas break and wish you all the best for 2020!

My Agent Hasn’t Solved a Case – Acrylic on Canvas – H 29″ x W 29

Hit and Sunk

Show Poster

Just over a month to go until my show ‘Hit and Sunk’ opens at Xchanges. I have been working steadily towards my goals and it has been good to paint consistently on a daily basis. Things are a little out of balance in my life as I am in painting mode and some things have had to slide but I know it is only for a set period of time and I can correct it soon. 

In the show I plan to explore our connection to our subconscious side and the internal struggle between who we are and who we think we are using the theme of twin film noir detectives and the game of Battleships. The idea to make a series of paintings with the detectives had been bubbling away for a while and is a departure from the animal theme paintings that have previously occupied me. 

Check out my Instagram for progress and process shots in the run up to the show.

In The Studio

Right now I am busying away in the studio, working on a series of paintings for a show I have coming up at Xchanges in October. The theme for the show involves using twin film noir detectives to explore the duality between the known and unknown self. I am steadily making progress towards my goal of finishing 8 paintings before the show – two done and I start my next one today. My goal for this project is to make a series of paintings that all look and feel connected, I have a tendency to skip around with color and ideas so I am working hard to make a cohesive show. I am really excited about what I am working on but also nervous because this will be my first solo show in a gallery. What makes me most nervous is the opening but I am trying not to think too much about that at this point. Do you get nervous about openings? I would love to hear your experiences and any tips you might have for maybe even enjoying it!

Last week I went to Andrea Soos‘ and Natalie Brake’s show Coastal Inclinations at Fortune Gallery. A beautiful and really vibrant collection of abstract art inspired by the coast, it is a bolt of sunshine in this so far wet and grey July. The show runs to July 31st.

Now, to the studio…..

Sketchbook Project – This One Thing

I finished another sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project! I managed to keep to one theme this time (instead of meandering all over the place) – beach pebbles. I will be signing up again for another book towards the end of the year. I enjoy working on these so much I am sad to let them go, so that is why I made the video. I hope you like it. The Sketchbook Project Library is in Brooklyn, NY, so If you are in the area stop in and check it out, they have a collection of over 40,000 sketchbooks, you will leave inspired. 

The Doors

Door 84 – Dorothea Tanning (1984)

“This is the strangest life I have ever known.”
― Jim Morrison, The Doors

This Spring I went home to visit my family and managed to squeeze in a couple of days arting in London and St. Ives. There was crazy wind and rain on the South West Coast but I got  to spend a few hours at the Anna Bohiguian exhibition at the Tate St. Ives. I wish I could have stayed longer there was so much to take in. It was inspiring to see her sketches and characters freed from the page to take up various positions around the gallery.

In London I spent a day at the Tate Modern, taking in Pierre Bonnard, Dorothea Tanning and Jenny Holzer. I loved Bonnard’s use of colour and space. As a viewer I felt like I was in the room with the subjects of the painting. Windows and doors were almost life size and I had the feeling that I was being invited to step through into the painting. Windows and doors marked the separation between an interior and exterior world. The tranquil and predictable interior home life and the external wildness of the garden.

The theme of doors continued in the Dorothea Tanning Exhibition. People pulling against a physical door separating two canvases; Subjects hiding behind doors and doors leading to rooms in an unending pattern. Tannings doors take us to the unknown rooms of the subconscious and there is a strong sense of an unknown otherness in all of her work. 

On Day two I got myself over to Brick Lane for The Other Art Fair I got to see the art work in person of some artists that I follow on Instagram which was awesome. I also discovered a few new artists whose work I really enjoyed, you can check them out on instagram @spiralwonders @georginawaltonartist and @altaberri