Australia Plus April 2015

We just returned from our return to Oz trip and some wonderful travels, tours and visiting, revisiting places and folks we have known as well as those we missed when we lived downunder.  Quite tired of travel by the time all was done but also some wonderful memories and great ideas for painting.

The first painting is from a tour we did at Katherine, NT up the Katherine gorge in the tour boat.  The train stops in Katherine mainly so passengers can do this tour, big business for the local population.  It varies by the amount water in the channel  as to how far you can take the boat but it would be grand to do in a kayak or canoe.  At one point there is this yellow sand beach in the red rock, surreal.

The second painting is of a rock ridge that overlooks a wetland area which eventually enters the ocean in the Kakadu National Park, which is also in the NT and fairly close to Darwin.  The contrasts here are huge and that is what makes it beautiful.  This was from a tourist pamphlet photo not our own, but we did stand on the same ridge, just not at that particular sunset time.

My plan is to do a series of paintings sort of documenting the trip.  I have about ten in mind but am not sure how that will pan out, maybe more, maybe fewer.

Before we left I had started a carving of a loon in soapstone.  The warm weather on our return allowed me to get outside and finish the job.  It is now in the oiling process and should be ready for the ReginArt show this spring.

Up Coming Events
The Third Annual ReginArt Show,  Conexus Centre of the Arts, Shumiatcher Room,  April 24-25, 2015.  Yes we are at it again, with five new artists in our mix.  Musical instruments, First Nations paintings , new wearable art jewellery, willow basketry, wood carving and turning, painting sculpture and all by Saskatchewan artists of renown.
Nouveau Gallery has a lovely display of my work at present, carvings only, and there is a display in the Harvard Galley in the Hill Buildings which will be up for a month show some of our ReginArt groups work.
Shekinah a camp near Waldheim SK is again the place to be for the SASKATCHEWAN RIVER VALLEY ART SCHOOL, May 29 to June 3, 2015.  I will be teaching stone carving and there are other wood carving classes, painting classes, photography classes etc., by artists from across Canada.  A great place to spend a few days with folks of artistic interests in a wonderful environment.

I guess that is it for now, hope everyone has a great spring ( yes it is here ) and please join me at the ReginArt Show.  A feast for the eyes and heart.

2015 begins

not much to report for December.  I did manage to sell Weeds on Fire a painting and Nouveau gallery sold one small piece in the Christmas sale.  Yvette Moore Gallery also sold another piece.
Go to the Nouveau Gallery site to see the wonderful pieces they had and my pieces will stay there for a couple more months.  Hopefully I can get my big cougar in there in the next month or so, need to coordinate my son and a trailer to get it there.
I have been asked to teach stone carving for the Saskatchewan River Valley Art School at Shekinah this May, I always enjoy this.  An opportunity to be with folks who enjoy carving and other artists of different mediums in a five day residential program.  If any of you are interested in learning to carve wood/stone, paint, draw, take better photographs, weave etc.  check out SRVAS or the Sask Wildlife Artists Assoc. web sites for class registration.  I believe they open the last week of Jan.

Well I did manage to get my pixelated pelican painting finished and am now in the process of attempting a portrait of Granny Calihoo a Metis woman who live to be 104 years, from the buffalo hunt to the space age.  I hope I can capture that wonderful face using just little squares of paint.

Busy Fall

Man, it has been forever since I have been here.  Sorry about that but life has been extremely busy the last few months.  I'll begin with the Barge Festival,  a fun time but only visiting.  Very few people in Winnipeg know what this "festival" is all about and so don't come expecting to see fine art and certainly not to buy.  But we did have some quality visit time with relatives and friends which counts for a lot these days.

In Sept. Dawn and I combined with her sister and hubby and one of her cousins and took off for Iceland to see what the world was like in the beginning.  Volcanic eruptions, earth quakes, hot springs, geysers, ancient lava flows, glaciers and Vikings.  What a unique place on this earth.  We also hooked up with Dawn's Icelandic relatives who were so kind and gracious in their desire to make connections and show us another side of their culture and take us to where Dawn's grandmother was born.
In November we went to Churchill on a sightseeing and educational trip.  We stayed at the Churchill Northern Research Centre located where the old rocket range was headquartered.  Had a great trip, viewing the polar bear migration and seeing what has changed in Churchill since I worked up there in the late 1960's.
In the between times I did manage to finish a commissioned piece ( loon and two chicks ) and began a single adult Loon.  I also started a pixilation painting of White Pelicans.  Just finished that and will take to my Friday art group for critique.  They always give me an honest opinion and suggestions for what they think will improve the overall impression.
Should also mention that we are working on a new computer so I am not sure how to add pics but will try.

Another week of work done and pieces almost ready for The Prairie Barge Festival, neither had I until the Sask Craft Council received an invitation for Sask artists to participate.  Since Winnipeg is a city that has a long history with stone carving I thought that it would be a good place to reintroduce my work there.  There was a time that I had galleries there to sell my work but as goes the world of art they disappeared or dried up and then there were none.
Now the recent work has focused on smaller pieces since this is an outdoor sale at The Forks, not a gallery.  There was a definite lack of lower end pieces in my home stock. 

I like the leaf, turtle and beluga whales the most out of the completed work.  These are all smaller pieces and ready just in time for Winnipeg.    Hopefully the weather is great and there are loads of folks out.  If not we will just have to visit with the relatives and enjoy their company.  So next blog will be after that show and we will let everyone know what The Prairie Barge Festival is all about.  By the way there will be no barge involved this year due to high water, now that is really strange.....

August already

Has anyone figured out where the month of July went?  Seems that the summer is on the decline and I did not know we have had it, but you can sure see it in the daylight hours we now have.
After a work slack month and a half, it is back to work and the last two weeks have been concentrating on getting smaller pieces ready for the Prairie Barge Festival in Winnipeg at the end of August.  Really there is such a festival and the are promoting the arts at The Forks along with many other activities.
I also did a trip to Canmore AB to change my art at the All in the Wild Gallery there.  We incorporated a couple of relative visits at the same time and that really made the trip much more enjoyable.
So all for now but next week I will introduce you to the new carvings through pictures and hopefully show some stages of the next carving, I thought that might be more interesting than just seeing the finished product.
Enjoy the rest of summer.

Another show done

Yes the 2014 edition of the ReginArt is done and to rave reviews of both guests, sponsors and the artists themselves.  I would like to thank all our sponsors, Wolfond Financial, Dilawre BMW, Eyes on Hamilton,  Bravo Tango Designs and Western Litho, for their support.  We are now beginning the planning process for the 2015 show so keep posted and I'll try to be more regular with my posts to keep folks updated.
Our next project is a Gala Benefit for Prairie Wealth Management Group in Saskatoon.  They are raising funds in support of a new leadership program being introduced in Saskatchewan schools.. that will take place at TCU Place on October 24 with the artists extending the show to the 25 in the same venue. 

Work wise I have been concentrating on rehabbing a piece that I felt was not up to scratch.  I carved a female figure of wood but the grain of the wood made the face look ugly.  The harder I tried to get it right the worse it got.  I left it while working on the ReginArt show and then decided the rest of the piece was to good to scrap.  My solution was to remove the face and do one in stone.  This of course created other problems but the results were much more satisfying.  I still need some touch-ups but the pics will give you some idea and you can judge for yourselves.

A busy week ahead in preparation for the second annual ReginArt show and sale..  Please join us May 16 between 1 pm and 8 pm and /or May 17 between11 am and 8 pm. You will be amazed at the one of a kind/ original works of art and it is FREE.  Well entry is free,  the artwork not so much.  The show is at the Conexus Arts Centre in the Jacqui Shumiatcher room which will be set up like an art gallery allowing folks to wander and see it all or stop and study one or two pieces.

I do have another new piece called Old Man On His Back.  I depicts a man trudging along with this weight or man on his back.  Teenagers will undoubtedly interpret this differently than adults might so having highschool students view it will be interesting.

Thanks for reading and I'll try to give a brief review of the show next blog.