The crew from Novus came out to cover the opening of our group show a few weeks ago & I did my first ever TV interview. Yikes! I think we all did a really good job (& of course, the Novus folks did some fabulous editing), but it’s still mortifying to watch myself. Is my voice really that nasally? Are my cheekbones really that pronounced? No wonder Hollywood starlets get fat pumped into their lips & cheeks! I think I’ll stick to letting my art take the spotlight, thankyouverymuch.

between the waves & the trees I found home
16″ x 20″ (1.5″ thick), acrylic on beechwood
$450

My group show at Raw Canvas gallery is wrapping up at the end of the month, so if you’re a Vancouver local, head down for a coffee or a glass of wine and take a peek. We don’t take the work down until July 2nd, so if you need to take a break from the beaches on Canada Day, definitely pop in. Oh, and buy some art!

It was such a great experience & also a massive learning experience in so many ways. I sold the same painting twice, for example. Not good! I got interviewed for TV & am now keenly aware that I need to practice my public speaking skills. And when it comes to promoting an event, you really need to start early. Much earlier than I thought. Posters & postcards need to be up & given out weeks before the event starts to build up hype & then continue on throughout the show. Press releases need to be short, concise & have some kind of a catch. It also helps if you can develop a contact list of media people.

The next time I do a show I think I’ll also hit the bricks & introduce myself to all of the neighboring businesses & invite the staff to our opening. The opening night was great & got really packed later in the evening, but when we first started, there were tons of people walking past that I’m sure would’ve popped in for a gander & some free snacks. I think there’s still a lot of mystery around galleries & the average person doesn’t know that you don’t need an invite or tickets to these events. From the outside, I’m sure our show looked like some kind of private event. And being Canadians, there’s no way anyone would pop their head in & ask if it was OK to come in. We’d just say, “Sorry!” & keep walking. heh

opening night

I’m not quite happy with the prints I’m getting from the big painting, so I think I’ll take it in to be scanned on a BIG scanner. I really love that piece so I want the reproductions to be the best quality possible. I should have them up in the shop next week!

I’ve been working on 5 little paintings all week and am finally done. Yay! I signed up to do The Canvas Project 2 weeks ago and have been struggling with what exactly to paint. This is how it works:

1. artists sign up with the lovely folks at Atlanta’s Art House Co-op
2. they send you 5 random words that have been submitted by users plus 5 tiny canvases (3″ x 3″)
3. you paint your interpretation of the word & then mail the canvases back to be displayed in a big group show

It sounded like fun, plus a great challenge. That was, of course, before I got my words in the mail. Um…bioengineering? Viaduct??? Are you freaking kidding me?!

I knew I could’ve just painted each actual object in a very literal way, maybe played with an abstract style, but then…what’s the point? If anyone does look me up after having seen my work, they’ll see my girls and critters and art that looks nothing like what I’d submitted. No good. But how exactly does one integrate the cute with the word “cannonball”? Well, take a look!

bioengineering

slander

Viaduct

country

cannonball

OK, so I caved on the viaduct one and went for a literal painting of a viaduct, but I’m really happy with the rest of them. A squirrel cannonball? Love!

If you feel like getting your own creative juices flowing, Art House Co-op has lots of other projects coming up. And if you do sign up, don’t forget to add me as a friend! You can find my Cagey Bee page here.

Lena and her Little Lamb
9 x12″, acrylic on canvas

click here to buy the original

prints available in the shop

After adding Sophie to the shop yesterday, Lena had to come out to join her. I’d love to offer the two girls as a print set, maybe as smaller sized 5×7s. Looking around my walls I realize that as much as I love buying artwork, tiny paintings and prints are sometimes a better fit. There’s always a little nook that can handle a small frame or print hung by a clip, but 8×10s plus mat plus frame equals a lot of wall space.

I have a couple of other originals I’ll be adding to the shop soon, but I think I need to find the perfect frames for them first. One is on thick coldpress watercolor paper and the other is on thin canvas board, not the thick stretched canvas I usually use. They’re exactly the sort of thing I would buy & then let sit for months because I still haven’t found a frame for them. Whoops! I’m sure I’m not the only one who does that, so I’m thinking if I can find the perfect vintage frames, they’ll be much happier shipped ready to hang. Plus I love any excuse to hit the thrift shops. *grin*

I’m heading out the door with the puppies in a moment and then back in the studio all weekend. The boy comes back from his visit with the grandparents on Sunday so we’re planning a family outing to the Richmond Summer Night Market, a massive outdoor market with rows upon rows of crazy Asian food, bubble tea, interesting import goods and cheap knock-offs. I love the assortment of cute Japanese notebooks and pens with bad Engrish. My current favorite pencil case sports what appears to be a cream puff guy saying:

I sear by the moon and the

start in the sky and i side i

see the questions in your

eyes

Oh & above his head it says “Meat filling”. Love!

Happy weekend!

Sophie and her Pink Piggy
9 x12″, acrylic on canvas

click here to buy the original

prints available in the shop

I painted Sophie and her sweet little piggy months ago but only just added the original painting to the shop today. Part of the tardiness is surely procrastinating; protecting my originals with the UV coating is a pain in the butt & it’s much easier to do a bunch of paintings at one time while I’ve got the stinky toxic stuff out anyway. But the larger part is it takes me a while to be ready to part with a painting. I really like Sophie’s storybook charm and big cartoony eyes. I love the striped background that feels like an old ramshackle farmhouse. And of course I love the pig.

I have such a strong attachment to my girls, I hate to part with them unless I know they’re going off to a good home where they’ll be hung with love. I like the idea of my paintings hung in a cozy little den or living room where their new family curls up to read a book. Or in a child’s room that’s filled with smiles & silliness. As I run out of wall space over here (& money to buy new paints & canvases too!), I know it’s time to send my little friends off on their own new adventures.

As an exercise in learning to let go, I’d love to do a series of tiny paintings & just leave them outside for people to find. Or get out the sidewalk chalk & play with creating something that will get washed away. But before I do that, I’d better get some other paintings up in the shop! Lena and her Little Lamb will be joining Sophie shortly & they make a very sweet pair.