Lesson in Abundance - Fresh Paint - Tango

For weeks, the trees have been offering us an abundance of fresh blossoms of all colours. The abundance of Spring. First the wildly anticipated Forsythia blooms that come as a confirmation that Winter is over. Yes. Then, like pure enchantment,  Magnolia trees start blossoming along my street and all over the city. Yum.  Now, in early May, it's the Laburnum's scented yellow blossoms that catch my heart, I love to smell and watch its flowers hanging down in a long cluster that looks like a golden Wisteria. 

Laburnum, also called Golden Chain Tree

I have been working on this painting for a while - it has had a few incarnations, and as karma would have it, some were better than others. It's hard to tell if I missed to recognize the point  at which the painting was just about ready to be completed, and carried on looking for the story. Still, I kept at it until at last, yesterday it got completed, Finding Peace.

Finding Peace  oil and cold wax  46" x 30"

A few more collages added to the collection. Always fun.

Bleeding Compassion

Prayer Flag

Love you

In the house and studio, big bouquets of lilac and apple blossoms. Spring, so visually pleasing.

The music of the week is from Plazza Francia with Catherine Ringer (Rita Mitsuko)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThAW9JDxQaA

Tomorrow night, Friday May 9th is the opening of the art fundraiser A Small Gesture at Iron Oxide 6-9 and Sat. 10-4. The generosity of local artists make is so that there is going to be an abundance of beautiful small art pieces at very reasonable prices. I'll keep you posted on this event.
 
Sunday, there is Milonga at the Irish Pub Fibber Macgee, tango music by Andrea Georgiev and Lou Gradanti. Come for the sensual live music, the dance, and of course to look at the beautiful shoes women wear to dance Tango. Have fun and Be happy!

Spring Show - A Small Gesture

Burnaby has a beautiful lake in the middle of Deer Lake Park and an art gallery. In a few weeks, Jung Kwon and I will be showing our works in a joint show called Internal Whispers at the Deer Lake Gallery. The opening reception is on Saturday afternoon, May 24th. from 2 to 4. It would be lovely to see many of you at the little gallery by the lake in the middle of this beautiful park.

 

A Small Gesture is an artistic event happening on Fri May 9th and Saturday May 10th at Iron Oxide in Nanaimo.  It is a fundraiser for a young mother going through cancer treatments who could use a little extra $ for the commute to Vancouver every day. Some tender loving care in action.

Many artists are offering small pieces of artwork. My contribution is 3 collages 7" x 5". I can't wait to see all the work on the walls.  There are going to be some creative gems at a good price.  Come all and support a good cause.

Grace

Expect Magic

Now

In the studio, I am gone back listening to Snatam Kaur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-BC7prlEO8

Skies Painted with Unnumbered Sparks

Ted Talks was in Vancouver in March, and artist Janet Echelman’s sculpture floated in the skies by the Convention Center, it spanned 745 feet in the air: Skies Painted with Unnumbered Sparks.

It is spectacular in daylight as the wind moves the net in a variety of shapes.  At night, it is an interactive artwork powered by Google. The sculpture comes alive with illumination, it becomes an enormous canvas which the Vancouver public and TED attendees helped color using their smart phones. 160,000 lumens of light are intertwined through the giant net. As people view the sculpture overhead, they were able to choreograph the lighting with their mobile device.

“We all carry devices in our pockets that have an enormous power to connect with other people around the world, but rarely do we get a chance to use it to connect and create with people standing next to us. I’ve discovered that there is a certain kind of social space created underneath my sculptures that is contemplative and calm. People begin to talk to strangers about what they’re seeing,” says Echelman.

The artwork was displayed in Vancouver from March 15-23. I saw the sculpture just before it came down, miscalculated the dates and missed the night show!  Oh well, still quite a spectacle!

Seeds, pods and a burgundy wall

This painting called Remembering went to its new home today and it is such a good fit in the owners' decor! The distinctive colour palette of their living room is mirrored in the painting, the deep burgundy of the wall is the same as the stroke around the beige seed which itself reflects the colour of the long vintage couch. It was meant to be, it looks lovely, and everybody is happy! Yeah!

It's always a renewed pleasure to walk the streets and lanes of Vancouver with my friend Peter and to discover hidden treasures. Here are random pics taken over our walks.

Work in progress

Transformation in the studio, work in progress. One day at a time, the story evolves, the painting changes. Here are pictures of the two last paintings from the final versions down to the initial brush strokes, shapes and colours.  Hope you are enjoying the full moon week end. Cheers!

Sunrise in Nha Trang

Lily Pad in the Sky

Glue - Paper - Scissors and Culture Crawl

Every year in November, I just love to take the ferry to Vancouver and visit Eastside artists in their studios. The Culture Crawl Nov. 15 to 18 is always a feast for the eyes and the heart, always an inspired and inspiring week end; it's just as pleasurable to discover new artists' work as it is to follow the career of some favorite painters like M. A. Tateishi, Erin Ishi and Carla Tak.  There is the traditional reunion with friends and family at Mrs Gomez on Union Street in Strathcona, my old neighborhood, and brunch on Sunday at a new cool joint. I can also count on good cardio exercises in climbing up and down the many staircases of the old factories and warehouses where visual artists work and show their art. I will try to take pictures and tell you a little bit about it in my next post!

The collage workshop has been postponed to next week end, Sunday Nov. 23rd and is going to be lots of fun, very relaxed, free spirited and light hearted.  We will play with glue, paper, and scissors to create many intriguing and seductive little pieces of art mixing images and words.  I have set up a table in the studio to make a few collage pieces on wooden blocks to show at the workshop, it was easy to get carried with all the material laid out in front of me, I made 20 in the end,  there will be some for sale at the coming Artwalk on Nov 30 - Dec 1.  They are small in sizes, from 3"x 3" to about 6"x 12", some are kind of cute and I just want to keep them.

Add caption

 Enjoy the week end, I might meet some of you at the Crawl or at Mrs Gomez's, who knows?

Workshops - Pear Cake - Smiling Faces

Last Sunday, I launched the Creative Series with an all day workshop exploring Oil and Cold Wax.  The day started with a latte, a piece of pear cake and an introduction to the program of the day. Then off to mix colours with beeswax and walnut oil for our first layer of impasto. Soon, everyone was involved in their own painting process, exploring with stencils, grid printing, rubbing, mark making and scratching.  All fun things to do!  And just look at some of the stunning images that were created.

There are two more workshops coming up, one before Artwalk and the other, the week end after.

I have a little show out of my studio window as the last fig leaves are somersaulting all the way to the ground on the soundtrack of Alegria from le Cirque du soleil . www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOIdB-GPa24
 Enjoy sweet moments and happiness in your creative pursuit.