ART MAKING: Drawing, Painting, and Collage    JULY 16-20

Join me at Haliburton School of Art and Design this summer for a week of making art in the medium of your choice. Whether you like to work in acrylics, pastels, watercolour or mixed media (sorry - no oils), you'll have the opportunity to work on your own projects with lots of guidance and instruction. We will get started with visual exercises designed to  engage with subject matter and media, and to open up creative channels and enhance ways of seeing and thinking about your art.

Composition, technique, and personal expression will be addressed and positive feedback provided. Enjoy the great summer vibe at HSAD while exploring new ideas and taking time to focus on your artistic vision. Click here for more information.

All levels of experience welcome!

Trail Mix

Fresh off the easel - my piece for the Reassembled show at NPCC. This is a 'reassembly' culled together from many sources. Serendipity was employed overtime to bring together all the disparate, dissonant, and sometimes disconsolate elements to create something somewhat unified.....sort of like our country. Wresting order out of chaos.

Recent Figure Work

This term I filled a sketchbook with figure work done in Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils. I like the way they feel when I draw - working a bit smaller than usual and trying to maintaing a loose, but accurate style. I put the water on at home, where I can lay the paper flat for a bit of control. These sketches are anywhere from a few minutes to 15 minute poses with a variety of models. Some of them are still waiting to be painted - I'll post them later.

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'.