Lantern Magic

On Sunday night Dec. 21st, we gathered in the local park with our lanterns to celebrate the return of the light.  At dusk, a lantern procession took place wandering the trails through the woods all the way to the duck pond where twenty floating lanterns awaited us. Some say more than 200 people came to join us to create a special and magical winter solstice evening.
We were so lucky that the weather collaborated with us for a dry evening!

Now it is time to pack up all the lanterns till the next time. They need to be put out of the way, their fragile surface tears easily and I have more than once poked a hole in them inadvertently. The big paper lanterns are hung on a wire below the ceiling in my studio, out of the way. Floating lanterns are not easy to store, they need to be left alone in a big space, which is not an option.  They are built with bamboo skewers inserted in an insulation foam base, the paper is glued on the bamboo sticks. By pulling out the sticks, the lantern remains intact, I thought of folding them but my friend Carole Reid had the brilliant idea of rolling them individually. Hourray, they take little space, are 100% safe and it's easy to do.

It has been a great project, my studio was the lantern making central for weeks, heaps of colourful tissue paper covered every inch of my tables, dozens of floating lanterns rested on every flat surface that could be found, everything was ready for the special event. I loved it, happy patterns and shapes everywhere in the anticipation of the lantern procession.

Now, it's gonna be nice to regain my space and get back to work on my last paintings.

Wishing you all a very happy and gentle holiday season and nothing short of the fulfillment of all your dreams in 2015.

Lanterns making galore!

Two lantern making workshops today, and look at the beauties that were created from bamboo sticks and tissue paper!

One more lantern making workshop tomorrow night, more to come! Stay tuned!

Two months in images

Life was busy theses last two months, and here I am today making my first xmas card to send home with a box of goodies. Getting this box ready, looking as good as it can and out to the post office early is an annual marathon for me and the ritual that marks the beginning of the season.

I am going to review quickly the artistic endeavors that have taken place since my last post.

Project Liv'Art with Nanaimo Francophone Association and Conseil culturel et artistique francophone de la C.B.  Participants illustrated one of the twelve texts written for this provincial project.  Our text was a beautiful legend called  "La sirene des bois" (The Mermaid of the Woods). After a brief discussion on the text, the group agreed on the images that were going to illustrate the text the best, and everyone grabbed a pile of magazines and started the search.

Collaboratively, a collage took shape from a heap of images and shapes cut out or tore off from magazines.  Each one was making suggestions and the result is astounding, revealing the beauty of nature, honoring first nations and showing a mythic picture of the "Wood Mermaid".

La sirene des bois

My show at Le Centre in Vancouver is still on till mid-December. There was a great opening night with friends, family, art afficionados, baguette, french cheeses and wine!

My friend Andrea Georgiev recorded 13 songs she has written recently like a long love poem to life, her life. I helped her get the visuals for the cover and booklet. It was a return to graphic design for me, a nice challenge to render my friend's vision and lots of fun meeting with her regularly to complete the project. It is out in the world now and I listen to it over and over. '"Tangled Illusions".

I decided to follow my bliss and organize a lantern procession to celebrate the winter solstice on
Dec. 21th at a beautiful local park. My friend Carole Reid designed a colourful poster from a picture she took of our floating lanterns. Lantern making workshops are this Sunday at our local art supplies store Iron Oxide.

On Dec. 12, 13 and 14, Silversmith Maureen O'Connor opens her studio to four other artists. I am one of them! Here's the invitation I designed for the event.

Enjoy the season of lights wherever you are. I love to walk at night in my neighborhood and relish in the brightly lit set ups some houses offer, the more the merrier. Have you put up your lights yet?

Easing into Fall

This has been a memorable summer with more swims than I can count, with so much water around it was easy to find a spot to dip in, each with its own charm and vista:  river, lagoon, lake, ocean, in the morning, the afternoon, at night. Soft memories to ease into fall.  On Equinox week end, we celebrated at Sheila Norgate's gallery on Gabriola Island the show EDGE.  Seven women were showing pieces done especially for this theme.Here are some pictures of the show, some pieces had already been given to their new owner by the time I got my camera out of my bag. Timing is . . .

Sheila Norgate

Mia Tremblay

Mary Lou Trinkwon

Laurie Burns

             

Fall is time to gather the last figs and plums, cut the sage and rosemary to dry for winter savory, and get ready to spend more time inside watching movies.  I have watched a great one lately: The Best Offer with Geoffrey Rush:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLWgC98-T6k

FRESH ROSEMARY

THE MOON IS FULL TONIGHT.  ENJOY THE FULLNESS OF BRIGHT LIGHT SHINING ON US AND MAKE A WISH!.

The Edge - Transition

Recently, I realized that cold wax - a compound of bees wax, resin, mineral spirits and dammar varnish - is quite toxic even if it is odorless and I decided to return to acrylics. Since then,  I have been in transition exploring ways to paint with acrylic gels, wallpaper paste and varnishes.  This is a new quest and it brings interesting discoveries in the process.    Also, I have changed the direction of the canvas. The last twenty 3' x 5' were painted horizontally and these last ones are done vertically. Here are my first two paintings. They are the guinea pigs of my new experimentation. More to come!

Detail

"There is a Crack in Everything, That's How the Light Gets In"

Detail

"Hold Me Tight"

Studio makeover, The Delicious Series

SATURDAY.
Tomorrow, Sunday, the studio opens its door. A major clean-up took place, not quite finished yet, but getting there. There are over twelve new paintings to show, small and large, and I want to find the best spot for each of them. My friend Carole Reid dropped by yesterday afternoon and saved the day! She provided her legendary smile, energy and good ideas. The place took shape, she created little vignettes here and there for added beauty.

SUNDAY.
The sun came out to bath the studio in a soft light. Art, white sangria, macaroons and tango music was enjoyed by all. A crowd of great people came by all afternoon, it was such a treat and I received genuine praise for my new work. Thank you everyone.

Here a short video from Carole. It captures the atmosphere at the studio yesterday.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202424737923021


MONDAY.
 I am contacting the winners of the four small paintings in display at the Delicious Series and glowing in the aftermath of yesterday's gathering.  Now back to business. Today, I need to write up and send bio, artist statement and pictures to Le Centre culturel in Vancouver for a show this fall - from
Oct. 27 to Dec. 13.
I just read in a business magazine that the art world has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Now that's good news!
Have a lovely creative week!