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

Lady (P)arts

Please join me for the opening reception of Lady (P)arts, held at the Victoria Arts Council Head Quarters May 10 from 5pm – 8pm. The show will run from May 10 – May 31.

One year ago I joined the Thrive Mastermind program. As part of the Thrive group I attended monthly group meetings for one year. We united to support each other, share knowledge, humour and give accountability in our art practices.

Originally started in Vancouver, THRIVE Mastermind is a community of local and online artist groups who believe that “thriving artists must make art, meet the people and do the work”. Gender inequality in the arts has been highlighted again and again over recent months with many major art museums re-visiting their collections and starting to address this imbalance. The Thrive Network provides a powerful platform for female artists to connect, share their experiences and raise each other up through community, in a non-competitive environment.

Free and open to the public, Lady Parts is our first show together – a celebration of the art and camaraderie that brought us ‘to the table’ over the past year.

Artemis Rising

In Conversation III – Poets Write, Artists Respond will be at the Coast Collective Gallery Apr 3 – 14*meet the artists-and-poets reception 1-3 pm Apr 6* Please stop in and say Hi!

My painting ‘Artemis Rising’ and was inspired by a poem titled ‘Advice to a Poet’ by Susan Braley. The painting and the full poem will be on display at the show. Artemis is the Greek Goddess of the moon and the wild places. I felt that the poem represented a thorny and dark state of mind that must be travelled through to reach the vulnerable place where creativity happens. There is also strength in vulnerability and I imagined the wild and ancient Artemis finding this strength and herself again in the painting.

Library Heaven

This summer I got to go to Brooklyn with friend and fellow artist Marisa Tsikitas to visit our sketchbooks at the Brooklyn Art Library. It was such a cool place with so many amazing sketchbooks, we could easily have spent all day there?. Art + Library = Heaven! I gained so much by participating in this project that I signed up again for 2018/19. I am posting pictures of my watercolour rock gardens for the 2019 project on Instagram if you want to follow along.

Little Gems Show and Sale

Little Gems

“Letters of Gold” – will be going up the VACs Little Gems show and sale at 1800 Store Street, Nov 28 – Dec 21.⭐ To celebrate Victoria Arts Council’s 50th anniversary there will be 50, 10″ x 10″ canvases all priced $150 on the theme of GOLD ⭐ Happy Anniversary Victoria Arts Council ⭐

The Yellow Bird Paintings

The Yellow Bird Paintings

I just finished a small series of paintings that all feature a yellow bird in some way. They are all hanging together at Victoria International Airport until Mid Jan 2019. Close up pictures are posted in the Gallery 🙂

We Should Come Here More Often

We Should Come Here More Often

Imagine a garden soaked in light drizzle, the trees and shrubs radiate green as they bask in the moisture but the colour is muted by the mist that hangs in the air. Every leaf and blade of grass is spattered with tiny droplets of water. There is a soft hush all around from white noise of the light rain and the sound dampening fog. The grey is comfortable on your eyes and ears. You breathe it in and remind yourself to come here more often.

Thriving with Fellow Artists

Thriving with Fellow Artists

Back in May I became part of Thrive Mastermind. Thrive is a group that provides community, accountability and support to female artists. We meet monthly in Victoria and talk about what we are working on, what we have learnt, our achievements and share any useful resources we may have discovered over the month. There are also online discussion forums, podcasts and tutorials to help with every aspect of being an artist. Studio work can be lonely, it has been so good to meet and talk with other women artists about the highs and lows of a creative life. It has encouraged me to set goals for myself and think about all aspects of my art making practise. I would recommend the Podcast – you can listen to them here: Thrive Podcast

Pink Power

Pink Power

Using YouTube tutorials, I have been teaching myself to bind my own sketchbooks. I signed up again to the Sketchbook Project; you can re-bind or alter your sketchbook any way you want so long as it stays within set dimensions. I knew this time I wanted to use watercolour paper to open up more possibilities in the type of media. I tried my hand at binding one hard cover book with glued spine and one method without spine or glue using Coptic stitching. The stitching was a little tricky at first but now I have the hang of it, it is definitely something I will be doing again. Shop bought bound watercolour sketch books are so expensive and this way I can be as creative as I want with the covers because who doesn’t love neon.

The Sketchbook Project – Update

The Sketchbook Project

The sketchbook project is over : ( it is winging its way over to the Brooklyn Sketchbook Library. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed participating in this project. Originally I decided that I would use the lyrics from a Jack Johnson guitar tab book to inspire the project but this turned out to be just the launch pad. Once I got more into the project I realised that there were things I wanted to try out so I went with it. I played with collage, gouache, abstract drawing and watercolour. There is even a pop up page. I had so much fun doing this; it has made me approach my sketch book in a whole new way. A little book of ideas and experimentation just for me. I have decided to keep this going and signed up to the 2018/2019 project!

Studio Journal