7 more sleeps....

"More than this"
oil on panel
34x39"

My solo show at Ingram Gallery opens next Thursday May 5th! The paintings are varnished and ready to drop off at the gallery tomorrow and I am feeling soooo excited!
This is a painting of a lovely woman named Sachi. I met her when she was pregnant with her daughter- we shared a midwifery clinic and our husbands know each other from the Sheridan Illustration program. This one almost didn't make it into the show- I lost patience when I realized that the head I painted was both too big and in the wrong spot and would need to be gessoed over and restarted. I turned her face against the wall for a few weeks and then gave her another go. I am super happy with how the head and hands turned out in the end. I can't tell you how many things I gessoed over in the past few months- there are whole paintings underneath some of the paintings in the show! Its liberating to be at a stage where that feels just fine.
Hope to see you in a week!

Moms I Know

One more thing
oil on panel
20 x 16"
2011

Turkish Mama

oil on panel

24 x 18"

2011

presently untitled

oil on panel

12 x 10"

2011

I met these lovely ladies at my neighbourhood drop in centre (for parents/caregivers and their children). There are really rad mums in my neighbourhood!

Goldie and Bill

Goldie and Bill
oil on panel
10"x8"

I painted this one, from life, of pen knife carvings made by my grandfather, during WWll. He served in the army as a mechanic, building and repairing motorcycles. Although he never served oversees he was away from my grandmother for long stretches of time.  My grandparents were both members of the Black Hawks Motorcycle club. The carvings are of them in their Black Hawks uniforms.  My grandfather adored my grandma and I tried to capture something about their relationship in the painting. It was a tonne of fun to paint- nice to take a breather from flesh!

Wills

presently untitled

11"x16"

oil on panel

While I was studying at Angel Studios I worked part time as a nanny. I was 22 and the boy in this painting was almost 4 when I started. I had quite an intimate relationship with little William and his younger sister, Tricia. It is such a trip to see the now 16 year old Wills, full of life, sarcasm and all that is BOY. Doing this painting was a real treat.

Process

Thought I'd post some process shots of my painting of Faith. I'm LOVING these Rosemary, long flat, Mongoose brushes. Its been a tonne of fun just going straight onto the panel with paint, eliminating preliminary drawing. I've always been a big fan of being able to see brushstrokes in a painting- Sargent is one of my all time faves- and I've been able to leave more and more of them in my own work. 7 weeks to my solo, chugga, chugga choo-choo.

currently untitled painting of Faith
12"x24"
oil on panel

Paint mania!

work in progress

oil on panel

10"x12"

Whoa, I have been painting like a mad woman since the art fair in October. Some months ago I scrapped all plans to have a plan for the body of work for my first solo show. My strategy is to just paint like hell and see what happens- hang the best of the bunch and paint over the rest. I am painting people from my life- moms from the neighbourhood, old friends, the Air Force Captain I bought my poppy from this year, my husbands natural gas guy etc. I have been trying to get as much accomplished in the first sitting as possible- alla prima style. I've been using long, flat Mongoose brushes that I order from a woman named Rosemary in England (they are actually less expensive than most natural hair brushes in the art store and far better quality) and mixing my paint with linseed oil and painting medium. I like the way the combo leaves the brush strokes visible.

I did the one above yesterday afternoon. The woman in the painting is Tamara Podemski. I met her 14 years ago on the set of Ready or Not- you must remember Busy and Amanda! While I stuck with paint, she went on to win a special jurors prize for acting at the Sundance film festival. She is a powerhouse of a singer, actor and dancer and an honest, fiercely dedicated human being.  Lucky for me she was back in town in happy to sit for me.

I'd better get back to work, I have 22 others in the hopper!

Solo 2011

Ingram Gallery posted their 2011 exhibition schedule last week and here I am! Exhibition dates- check, exhibition title- check, paintings- working on them like mad! So save the date- May 5th, and come celebrate my first ever solo opening with me!