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!

Berman's Art Fair

Opening night- Toronto International Art Fair- between my favourite Berman painting ever and my portrait of her

R.B

oil on panel

24"x30"

2010

Wow, that art fair was so much fun. I had a blast with Tarah, Jeff, Geritt, Ekin, John, Wendy and Jean Miller Harding. Great food, mango cocktails and, well, I just couldn't stop smiling- oh and great art of course!

The good folks at Ingram placed my painting, as can be seen above, on a very visible wall- beside a stellar Rachel Berman painting. It was such a treat to see our paintings together- the wall was all about her and she deserves that much attention and more. That painting of hers- a little her-girl morphed with her now, masked- the gesture, the emotion, the distortion of proportions- one of my very favourite pieces of contemporary art. It is enlightening being a friend of hers-  my art and my nerves are better for it.

Oh, and my painting sold! First art fair sale for me- yey! Man those guys at Ingram gallery are good to me- super fantastic fit.

Ok, got to get back to painting for my solo.......

Toronto International Art Fair

Ingram Gallery is showing a brand new painting of mine at this years International Art Fair (Booth #302). The painting is a full figure portrait of the super fantastic artist Rachel Berman. Rachel just moved back to Victoria, boo-hoo, but I was able to paint her for a few hours in her studio and then take some great reference photos.
The art fair opens this Thursday and I will be at the opening gala as a guest of Ingram Gallery. For details about the fair go here http://www.tiafair.com/.

Lovely

Untitled (Hatley)

oil on canvas

16"x24"

Just finished this one. Originally slated for the International Art Fair, this lovely young woman's parents scooped it up before it could make its way out of my studio. I've know Hatley since she was 3. She is stormy and intense and intriguing and I find her absolutely stunning. So, onto the next one- hope its good enough for the art fair!

Murray rocks!

My Kind of Star

Oil on panel

9"x12"

This is Murray. He is a super, fantastic life drawing model who sat for my life painting workshop last month. I started this painting during one of the workshop days- from life obviously- and finished it this weekend from a photo. Man, I really love this guys face. This painting and perhaps a few others will be hanging at Ingram Gallery in a few days as part of their Summer Series ll show.

Waxed Margo

Study of Margo

oil and carbon on plaster under bees wax

8"x10"

This lovely young woman is Margo. She is a student of mine. She is a combination of carbon drawing and oils. The surface is a wood panel covered in a thin layer of plaster (sanded). I wanted a surface that I could both draw and paint on. When she was finished I brushed on a fairly thick coat of melted beeswax and burnished it with a metal canning lid.