New Show at Angelina Cafe 11 Murray St. corner of Sussex Dr. Ottawa

New Show at Angelina Cafe 11 Murray St. corner of Sussex Dr. Ottawa

My great artist friend, Luminita Lou Serbanescu, and I are excited about showing at Cafe Angelina in July and August. We will be at the Cafe on Monday to celebrate Canada Day. Weather permitting, we will be outside with small pieces of artwork for summer giving. I will have some of my jewelry, my "Little Gems" and both Luminita and I will have miniature paintings. Inside, we will have somewhat larger paintings.

Cafe Angelina will be right in the middle of the action on Monday since it is a few feet away from Sussex drive, the National Art Gallery etc...I believe Murray street will be turned into a pedestrian street for the celebrations.

Come and celebrate with us!

Neptune's Sea Horses juried in Selections 2013

I was thrilled to find out yesterday that my latest watercolor painting, "Neptune's Sea Horses - Florence" was juried in Selections 2013
 
This annual juried art show will take place from September 26th to October 22rd, 2013 in the Trinity Art Gallery at the Shenkman Arts Centre, in Ottawa. 

 This year, 60 original works were selected from the 321 submissions.

FOREST WHISPERS

"Forest Whispers" - 8" x 10" acrylic on 3/4" ampersand cradled panel

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am becoming addicted to this negative painting technique, at least on this slick ampersand panel surface.  I started with the main leaf in the foreground, then "found' new shapes around and behind the this leaf as I intensified the values. Then I tried to imagine the criss-crossing of stems and twigs on the forest floor as well as little openings of light through the vegetation. This is so much fun!

I varnished the painting and painted the sides black. The painting does not need to be framed. However, I tried it in a black floating frame and it really made the colors pop.

Let me know what you think.
I am offering this painting through my Daily Paintworks site.

Still Playing...but learning at the same time

"Sea Waltz" - 5" x 7" x 7/8" on Ampersand panel

This weekend, I experimented with Ampersand Claybord panels that I had purchased in NYC two years ago. I used acrylics and this "structured and tight" painter  tried her hand at intuitive negative painting without any preliminary drawing or even a plan! My, what is happening to me???

Well, I had fun! I think by the end of the painting I was totally hooked on creating those little bits of light through and between the free-form leaves. I tried to stop before I had drilled a huge whole through those plants to reveal only the blue water:-)

What have I learned through this play? Well, I am better at understanding the concept of negative painting, I am more aware of what "lies behind or beneath", and I am starting to appreciate the surface of the claybord.

I think I will try something similar on a lager 5/8" thick Ampersand panel that is hiding somewhere in my studio.
Have a great weekend....and don't despair...I will return to my "serious" paintings before long.

What I've been up to

Time is just flying by...Why is it that the days seem to be getting shorter every month?

I was in Montreal last week for a few wonderful days, I've had house guests since, I have done computer work as webmaster for two local art organizations, etc.

What about painting? Well, I've created a few more of my "Little Gems Collection" pieces; several are now at the Ottawa School of Art Boutique Gallery in downtown Ottawa along with my new "Polar" series ( I forgot to photograph them before bringing them to the gallery:-(

Here are a few of my recent fun pieces:

"Rushing to the School Meeting"

I created this piece on a 16" x 16" gallery wrapped canvas on which I had collaged a few pieces of textured rice paper last year. One of the pieces of rice paper ( top left corner) reminded me of a fish; another looked like a jelly fish...so, recently, I decided to play some more with this piece and continue the sea theme. The resulting painting has a lot of textures from various acrylic gels that I embossed, carved into, pushed through stencils etc. What a lot of fun that was! At the same time, I was working on a tight, structured and complex watercolor, so this piece was great to unwind.

If interested, check my mixed media page ( see menu at top) where you can view close-ups of some of the textures.

"My Sweet Friend"

Above is another of my "Little Gems Collection". This glass-like or porcelain-like acrylic piece is on a 4" x 4" gallery cradled panel with sides painted black. It is highly textured and is a totally whimsical piece. My friend and great artist Luminita Serbanescu and I will be having a show in July called "Stunning Gifts" and the focus will be on small, reasonably-priced  artwork perfect for giving.

In another post, I will soon show the latest hand-made, hand -painted jewelry on watercolor paper that I have completed.

Now, I am going back to a large watercolour piece that seems to take forever to finish...but I think it will be worth the time spent on it.

Wishing you a wonderful week.