Monday, August 07, 2017

Too Loose??
These conte drawings were done with my left hand - so yeah - a little loose but I'm happy with how they turned out. These are from our Friday drawing at Neilson Park. We get some brilliant models - they give us interesting and subtle poses and that great energy that fuels inspired drawing.






Wednesday, May 17, 2017



It has been a busy year for classes and a great year for Figure Drawing! It's hard to believe we are almost at the end of May - running full tilt into Summer. I am really looking forward to being back at Haliburton for the week of July 17-21 to teach a whole week of Life Drawing!
It's a fabulous way of immersing yourself in drawing from the figure  - a focussed and  intense time of growth and skill development. I'm always blown away by how much progress my students make by the end of the week - and they are too. We have some great models lined up and it's such a great art community - lots going on throughout the week. I hope you can join me!




Recent Works
I take every opportunity I can to draw from the figure. These are some recent works from my Friday Figure Drawing drop-in at Neilson Park Creative centre, as well as some from a workshop I took with John Leonard in April. 


Wednesday, March 08, 2017


Spring Classes Coming Right Up!

The weather's not quite warm enough for the shirtless look, but it's getting there and Spring classes are just around the corner.

We are trying something new this term: A Field Trip to the Art Store: Art Supplies Demystified
The title says it all - an hour and a half of going through your materials list and explaining what everything is, why you need it and why you need the more expensive one. I'm looking forward to this workshop…you can never have enough beautiful art supplies!

Coming up in the first week of April at VISUAL ARTS MISSISSAUGA, I'll be teaching 
Figure Drawing and Mixed Media, Monday evenings 7-10,
Introduction to Drawing, Tuesday mornings, 9-12
and Drawing With Pastels, Tuesday afternoons, 1-4
Saturday, June 10, 9-3: ON THE SPOT DRAWING workshop
Monday and Tuesday, June 19 & 20:  BEYOND THE DRAWING: MIXED MEDIA AND THE FIGURE - 2 Day Figure Drawing workshop

At Neilson Park Creative Centre, Spring Classes begin April 13 with 

Click on the links for more information.

I'm thrilled to be teaching at Haliburton School of Art and Design again this summer.
Join me for an exciting and intense week of drawing from the figure:






Spring is Almost Sprung...

...and Pop Up Workshops are popping up all over!

I'm very excited to see my workshops happening all over the GTA and beyond.

Sat. & Sun. April 22 & 23, I will be at Neilson Park Creative Centre in Etobicoke for a 2-day Artful PopUp Workshop.
For more information click here.

Sat. & Sun. June 3 & 4, CBBAG will be hosting a 2-Day PopUp Workshop at the Bindery in Toronto.
Click here for more information.

Saturday, June 24, I am pleased to be teaching a one-day workshop with the fabulous Meta4 Gallery in Port Perry. They feature beautiful fine arts and crafts by Ontario artists and artisans, and are a hub for art education and community involvement. I'm really looking forward to working with these enthusiastic people.

Saturday, July 15,
 Paper Engineering: Pop-Up Workshop at Haliburton School of Art and Design - a full day workshop. See the PDF file for HSAD Summer programs here.

My Artful PopUp Workshops are suitable for all skill levels. I work closely with my students to ensure a successful outcome for everyone! The emphasis is on learning Paper Engineering techniques that can be adapted to your artistic vision. We use painted and decorative papers, decorative punches and other embellishments to bring your pieces to life. If you've taken one of my workshops before, you'll know that I'm flexible in my approach and open to requests. If you like working with paper (origami, making books, collage, scrapbooking) you'll love making your own Pop Up pieces.

Saturday, January 14, 2017


Variations on the Theme of Rust
These are prints made from a rusty plate I found whilst walking one day. It was conveniently square and I beveled the edges so it wouldn't cut through the paper. I took a couple of 'blind prints' - without colour - which turned out great, but don't translate well in a photo. These were experimental pieces - I'm an occasional dabbler in printmaking. I love the process, but have trouble keeping things clean - not  a technician! 
I played first with water-soluble graphite - I like the Lyra-brand crayons because they're nice and dark. Then I added Inktense crayon colours, mixing them up with the graphite. The results were lovely and subtle - like granite rock or lichen. 



 I finished up with Akua Intaglio inks, first the magenta, then the Paynes Grey - taking two prints from each without re-inking between pulls. 
It was a happy and fortuitous day in the studio, just messing about with colour. 
These samples are just a few of several prints I made from this plate. Later, I may work into the surface, but I really enjoy the aesthetic of 'the found'.




Tuesday, January 03, 2017



Winter Classes Start Next Week!
It's January already, and Art Classes at Visual Arts Missisauga begin next week! So - not a whole lot of time, if you're thinking about signing up.
I'll be teaching Figure Drawing on Monday evenings. I have some great models lined up and looking forward to another fantastic session.
On Tuesday mornings - Introduction to Drawing - a great class for Absolute Beginners, or those getting back into drawing after a long hiatus.
I've had a lot of requests for a Pastel class, so here it is: Tuesday afternoons at VAM. Looking forward to lots of exciting drawing discoveries!
Check out VAM's offerings here: http://www.visualartsmississauga.com/programs/?type=adult-programs

Sunday, January 01, 2017


Figure Drawing Workshop
It's been a busy Fall session. Some of my classes didn't run, so I took advantage of the time and took a few classes myself. These drawings are from a happy weekend in Studio B at Neilson Park in a Figure Drawing workshop with John Leonard. Two full days of nothing but drawing from the model. It was so great!


Memory Drawing - First we did a quick gesture (grey pastel). We spent a couple of minutes just gazing at the model. Then we closed our eyes and did a contour drawing, trying to keep the second drawing as close to the first as we could.


                          

Two-handed Drawing.   


Cross-Contour.




Two-handed Drawing





10-30 second gestures


Two-handed contour drawing


Fast gestures.