February - the month for love

It is February- the month for love. Not only the love of my life (my husband ) but also the love of life. It is a month to focus and do what I love to do. For me that is painting and dreaming. I am painting in an effort to share a dream. Trying to fill a painted image with an illusive feeling is difficult, but it can and does happen.

 It is possible to share what you feel with another using only paint and canvas. In February, I try to get back to my basics, to rebalance what I am doing artistically and check to see that I am still doing what I love to do. That I am still painting what my heart sees. It is a chance to fall deeper in love with magic of art. The world outside is cold and snowy but inside my studio it is warm and full of promise - the promise of many unpainted and yet unshared dreams.

Whale & Turtle Watching in the Sun.

 One of the great parts of creating Nature Art is getting out and experiencing nature, finding and observing creatures in their own environments. Letting the animals themselves teach me their secrets. These past two weeks I have been an eager learner. I have been on the Hawaiian islands studying the sea turtles and the humpback whales. It was amazing experience to swim with the turtles in the beautiful coral reefs. Massive beds of coral growing in many different colours and shapes with accents of black and pencil slate urchins.

I spent hours swimming with the turtles while the song of the whales gently echoed in my water filled ears. I would enjoy the warm waters till too tired to swim. Then retreat to the beach equipped with high powered binoculars I then observed the whales blow, slap and breach in the ocean passage between islands. It was a phenomenal chance to see them in their breeding and birthing area. A boat trip allowed me an even closer observation of the whales exhibiting all different behaviors. Humpback whales circle and enjoy the warm waters of Hawaii as a shallow safe place to give birth and breed. 

Turtles and whales will definitely require further study, not only because they are unique incredible creatures but also because it is just so much fun!

A New Year

Always at the end of a year we have a tendency to reflect on what we have done and accomplished as well as look forward to new goals. Of course that is what I am doing now. It has been an excellent year for art. I have had the opportunity to get together with great artist friends, participate and learn in some wonderful art shows/events/workshops.There was the big art booth at the Tradex, Abbotsford in March, a great Art andWine tour with Laura in June, Artwalk in Sept,  Ramona and me on the road trip to Wyoming for SKB Art retreat and many more events.

This was my year for painting big. Two 6 foot paintings, a 5 foot one, one 4 foot and some smaller ones. I love painting big, not something that I expected at all. The challenge is awesome and it pulls some of the best work out of my finger tips.

 I am grateful to all of my new friends and clients who have welcomed my artwork into their homes. It is a honor to have my artwork become part of their lives.

Right now the cutest bear cub is climbing a poplar tree on my easel and I can hardly keep away from the canvas long enough to get ready for Christmas.

I am eagerly looking forward to 2011 as an exciting new year full of opportunities and lots of painting. The paintings that I am looking forward to creating are too numerous to mention, my head and heart are full of them.

To start the year I am lucky enough to be able to create several paintings that have very special meaning to the people they are being painted for. A commission painting is a wonderful collaboration between two hearts poured through the fibers of a brush to create a combined vision.

2011 will be an exciting, full and happy year.

Merry Christmas to All

It is a week before Christmas and all through the studio, work is in progress. Paintings on the easel do sit ready and waiting for my best work. Two more are leaning against the desk, in front of my delightfully warm pellet stove.  My mind is whirling with commissions and bear cubs....as those are the projects now in the works.  As winter rolls round and the snow flakes dance down, I am entranced with painting and cookies. Cookies and paintings are a combination I like....not so good for my thighs but oooooh .... that was a great chocolaty bite.  I am sending out all my best wishes to you, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
With this I conclude my late night sugar induced poetically challenged blog.

December Rush

Welcome to December. It seems that instantly when it becomes December life speeds up. Well this December is no different. I am running around like a chicken chasing a really fast grasshopper named ART. I am leaping and dancing from one artist event to the next.

At the last minute in November, an artist girlfriend and I decided to put an Art Shoppe into the mall. With allot of work it is now up and running. It looks awesome with our paintings and 6 other artisans that include glasswork, pottery, jewelery and fabric sculpture. The shop is in the old Shopper Drug Mart Store next to the library in Pickadilly Mall, Salmon Arm, BC. We will be there till Christmas...stop on by for a visit.

Also just changed my website, please check it out  www.valerierogers.com
This website format is allot better for viewing artwork...it comes up larger and clearer. I know that it will be an organic process with it growing and changing but here it is right now.

Now today is a work day down at the mall 3:00 to 9:00 but also I have an open studio tomorrow that is hosted by the Shuswap District Arts Council, so quickly cleaning and organizing that space for public viewing. It is ready......well yep I guess so. 

Yes, a painting on the easel, door prize artwork chosen, dust bunnies corralled, socks picked up and experimental painting hidden (not all experiments work.) It is all coming together!

Need to run buy some goodies...they were going to be home baked...but hey I figure, I will stick to what I do best...and I have been doing that...so the goodies will be professionally made. 
I am wonderfully submerged in a multitude of artistic fun and loving every minute of it. I know that I will have to jump out of this pool of art and start thinking about Christmas shopping and decorating but not for a few more days.

StoneScapes

One of my favorite things to look at, collect and ponder are rocks and stones.  Where ever I go there is an every changing landscape of petrology and geology. Rocks are interesting  and I really enjoy  observing and studying their varying attributes. My love of stones plays a big part in my paintings as well. My studio is lined with small collections of stones from places that I have visited as well as stones purchased for their beauty. I paint a whole series of paintings that I have named my StoneScapes. (you know not land scapes but instead...)

This is one that I have just been working on. I love to paint the solid texture of rock next to the fluid liquidity of water. One so hard and enduring until it meets the other and then stone gives way before the constant liquid caress of water. Just thinking about this painting's title, ...open to your suggestions.

Starting with Coloured Gesso

Very short of time this week but when I can I have been playing with the affects of coloured Gesso on the paintings. Gesso is the absorbent ground that is painted onto the canvas before beginning your painting. I have been mixing both warm and cool tones of gesso and then watching how that alters the resulting painting. It is amazing how big a difference this causes. The colour of the gesso changes all the colours that you paint on top of it. This is what creates a unity to the painting. So that every part of the image stays connected by this back ground colour. I really believe that this is important in a painting. This is certainly not a new idea but most painters achieve this effect by glazing the gesso with a light coat of the warm or cool tone. I prefer to tint the gesso as you retain the absorbent tooth of the gesso rather than filling it all with a glaze. If you are a painter give it a try, you will like the effect.