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.

Big Paintings Completed!

It has been a great art summer. It was a pleasure to have the sunlight in the studio where I have been busy working on several small and some large artwork. My husband Neil loves fishing and does manage to find a bit of time to fish, (maybe more than a bit!) I knew I had to paint another fishing painting…..so I completed the second of my fishing series “Gone Fishing #2.”This one is of a river rod and reel on the beach rocks.

Then because I am very pleased that my big moose painting is headed for a good home, I started/finished another really big one (kind of crazy I know) - Misty Morning is a soft painting of a mare under a cottonwood tree in the misty morning light. It is 4 foot by 6 foot and it brings back memories of my very first horse. I am a horse lover.

Summer is an excellent time for me to collect inspirations and experiences that may become paintings. I was delighted to have the opportunity to study and photograph the big horned sheep of the Rocky Mountains. In one day of hiking I was able to observe both the females and their young in one herd and the rams in another. It was amazing how close Neil and I were able to get to the big males…they really did not seem concerned at all. This inspired an “Out of the Dark painting called Ram’s Ridge (3 foot x 5 foot.) It is of three big horned sheep that are resting on the top of a mountain ridge. It was a wonderful challenge to create the textures that make these creatures so unique, the mature curled horns, the thick hair and their intelligent eyes.

Just wanted to share this completed work with you.

Art-Walk

Well Art-walk has come and gone. It was wonderful. The work that goes into the set up and presentation of the Winfield Art-walk is amazing. The organizing committee think of everything. It was extremely well attended and I enjoyed it immensely. My booth came together and my new look (a bit more country) went over well.
This show was the deadline I had set for myself to complete my two big paintings. I made it....although if you leaned in close to those two canvases you could smell the varnish. They and my other paintings were really well received by everyone and I was very pleased to make the top ten artists of the Art Walk. So today back home, a bit tuckered out but happy to have successfully completed my last deadline....now planning my new one.
Always happy planning.....

Island trip

Just back from a wonderful island trip. We stayed right on the water at Critter Cove in Nooka Sound. It is amazing all the life that exists and multiplies in and near the ocean. During the 3 day trip we saw humpback whales, rafts of otters (that is what a group of otters is called - I googled it) seals and bears .......and of course fish of all types. Here is the photo of one group of otters. The weather was amazing ....always a bonus when visiting Vancouver Island where rain is more of the norm. The ocean was calm and beautiful.....alas not really calm enough for my stomach....but hey when I see a whale...I forget all about being green about the gills. I have painted otters and bears before ....but now have more great reference for the future. Right now I am still working on the 2 large canvases....getting them ready for Art Walk. The one is called Misty Morning and is a gentle painting of a horse under a tree in the mist.....I could have called it Christy in the Morning as it reminds me of the first horse Christy my brothers and I had. The other big one is of three big rams on a ridge. I have been jumping back and forth.....painting on one and then the other. Wish me speedy painting as time is marching along.

Big paintings

This was the week to start some big paintings......two. I am hoping that they will balance each other with the one giving me a break from the other. So far it just seems like allot of work no matter which way you look in the studio. I love my ideas though and they are starting to take off. It is funny how the idea can come to you full blown or just grow slowly as you work. In this case I have one of each. The big painting at 4feet by 6 feet has been wandering around in my head for awhile....the smaller one is developing a bit differently than I had first planned. They both are dark backgrounds with one staying dark and the other becoming misty and light. The one will have a horse in it and the other 3 big horned sheep. So that is enough information to tantalize you. Hopefully by next post I will have some pictures to show you also. So back to the Easel.