Laying the groundwork...

There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there's only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.
-Wayne Dyer

 The above quote was posted on the Facebook page of a business i follow this morning... I thought it was quite timely as I've been struggling for a while with the motivation and resolve to do just that - spend time on the 'business' end of things, and give credence to my art as a viable business option.  It's only just this week that I've been able to actually spend a chunk of time working on things like revamping the website by adding tons of photos and creating a Facebook 'page' for myself as an artist.  I also finally got up the nerve to start making some calls and emails and inquiries this week to try to start teaching art again.  I have really missed it these past many months, and despite some logistic snags (the biggest of which being the teachers are on Job Action and it makes a lot of extracurricular stuff difficult), I'm going in now with the attitude that I'm going to be able to do this.  Just gather the information together and put myself out there.

 It took me a long time to muster up the courage to quit what I was doing and go to art school, and then when i graduated, I spent a long time looking for the confidence to get myself 'out there'.  The above quote rings so true for me right now, i continuously teeter on the brink of giving up and going back to my 'other' job full-time.  Recently i had a conversation with an artist friend of mine who has been practicing in her studio for over a year.  I was inspired by her to do the same, even though it took me a while to get going.  And she started wondering out loud about giving up, asking how long she should keep doing this and saying that she felt "lost'.  I surprised myself when my response came.  "When you are lost in the woods, what do you do?"  And the answer is one that we all know.  Stay where you are, and someone will find you.

Keep it up, don't lose hope and continue to love what you do.

 

Updated Pages!

I've updated my pages along the right side of this page, and added some Exhibitions photos.

More updates to come as I work on adding more work to the Gallery.

Press Coverage and Show Opening

The Seymour Art Gallery was packed to the brim on January 10th for the opening of "Water", the 2012 Discovery show.  It was wonderful to see so many people come out to the show, including some wonderful friends.  The show got some coverage in the North Shore Outlook, online and in print.

Here I am with my piece, Solitude, which is kind of a love letter to the ocean, reflecting human resilience and the feelings elicited by being near water.

Upcoming Show

My latest painting, Solitude will be part of the upcoming show at Seymour Art Gallery in Deep Cove, BC.  The Theme of this year's Discovery 2012 Emerging Artist show is "water", and the exhibition showcases work by emerging local artists from the Lower Mainland.
http://www.seymourartgallery.com/next_show.php

There will be an opening reception on January 10, 2012 from 7pm to 10 pm, and the show runs until February 4.

"Ensemble" at the Maple Ridge ACT

I'll be heading out to Maple Ridge today to attend the opening of the "Ensemble" show at the ACT.  The show features work by local artists including myself and my friend Katherine Nielsen.  The works were selected as series or "ensembles" as they have some unifying feature.  Katherine's small works on cigarette foil feature images of her father and really should be seen in person.  Small works from my Resilience series and my Faro series are on display in the show until December 18.

Edited to add a photo of one of my series right next to my friend's!

White Rock Best of 2011

I went to the White Rock gallery to pick up my painting today as yesterday was the last day of the "Best of 2011" show... and to my utter shock and delight there was a First Prize ribbon hung next to my painting.  With my name on it.

Wave is 20 by 34 inches, encaustic (beeswax) with guitar strings embedded in it.  With regards to the title, think more than just water.  Think about the materials at work here.  As with other work in the "Resilience" series (in progress since last October), the piece speaks to human resiliency through the materials in the piece.  What holds us in place?  Where is our breaking point? How do our actions affect our environment?

The "Best Of" show showcased local artists who placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any of the shows in White Rock throughout the past year and was by invitation.

I've got the city surrounded!

It seems I'm busy all of a sudden.

As I was about to depart for my recent vacation, I was contacted by the Semiahmoo Arts Council and invited to show a new piece in their "Best of 2011" show which is on now until November 17 at the White Rock Community Centre. 

Wave is an encaustic piece that was so new i didn't have time to photograph it before running it down to White Rock the morning after i arrived home from my holiday.  It can be seen sitting sideways on the floor in this post.


I will also have work in 2 more upcoming shows:


Seymour Art Gallery, Deep Cove, BC.  "Discovery 2012", January 2012.  I will post the details closer to the show dates.

Maple Ridge ACT Gallery, Maple Ridge, B.C. "Ensemble", November 19 to December 19, 2011.
This show includes "ensembles" of work from various artists in the Lower Mainland.  Works from two of my recent series will be on display.
The "Resilience" series explores the qualities of beeswax encaustic medium and the objects i fuse into the wax, and the relationships formed by the fusion of the materials.

 Collapse, 2011, Encaustic, found objects, dirt, 14 x 14 inches

 Dis/Continuity, 2011, Encaustic, guitar strings, dirt, 14 x 14 inches

  Root, 2011, Encaustic, guitar strings, dirt, 14 x 14 inches

The "Faro" series explores, through a series of small paintings (over 30 were done in total), the destruction and transformation of a large expanse of land in the Yukon that served as the site of several different types of mine from 1969 to the late 1990s.  The series reflects the destruction of the natural area through unnatural colour, using the translucency and fragility of the encaustic wax medium to portray the strangeness of this area.

Clockwise from top left: Dehisce, Elemental, Perception, Fragment.  

All Encaustic, 2010, 3 x 4 inches.