Three contrasting gallery exposures - The Vancouver Art Gallery( seriously)...the Federation of Cdn Artist Gallery, and Galileo coffee shop

Well its been a busy spring and you just never know where your art will be displayed!

First the coffee shop....  just hung a show at the Galileo coffee shop in Brittania Beach on the way to Squamish ( right before the mining museum)... from early June to mid july...

Next ... the FCA gallery , or Federation Gallery... got juried into another show... CANVAS UNBOUND with  a piece... High Altitude Drama  (shown above larger at 24 x 36)  was displayed earlier in may..its now at Whistler Real Estate Company for the ArtWalk summer exhibit through the summer

Finally, My work was in the Vancouver art Gallery... legitimately...  for a fundraiser!
The Arthritis Research centre hosted an inaugural event  an elegant "ARThritis Soiree"  and invited me to participate

This is my piece "Alpine Majesty" in the Vancouver Art Gallery ....  all in all a very rewarding event for a very good cause I am very close to!

Plein Air - The Agony and the Ecstasy - OPUS Plein Air Honorable Mention

Well it's that time of year again...

Time to get the paints out and get outside... its been "agonizing" and exhilarating at the same time...

the first "agony".... Im trying out water soluble oils for the first time... I've never painted in oils before unless you count the time I accidentally bought a tube of phtalo blue oil paint and thought it was acrylic and couldn't figure out why it wasn't washing away and why it was smeared all over my clothes, sink, counter top, etc.

So, rather than try them in the comfort of a studio... I chose to go outside and experiment!

Well... I didn't use any thinner or medium so my first effort was VERY clunky... went to a park with a view of the North Shore in Vancouver

 

 

 

More agony.... experiencing the nasty weather painting in the drizzle , wind and rain.

 

Carol and I entered  the second annual OPUS Plein Air Challenge and went down to Crab Park on Vancouver's waterfront for a day of COLD and WET outdoor fun....  My "happy accident" painting totally feels like the weather we had that day....  one bonus... it won an "honorable mention"!  great to see everyone's different efforts!

 

 

 

 

 

Now the "ecstasy".... nothing beats a day outside on a perfect blue bird day on the water with the wind blowing and great scenery.    Went out in whistler and attempted the water soluble oils once again....  with a bit more success this time!  Just playing with paint.... it seemed to move around better using a thinner...   more experimentation needed! 

 

 

 

What do Hawaii, a bed store, avalanches and lupus have in common?

Nothing but I haven't updated my blog in ages so I thought I would fill one blog post with four updates:

plein air painting in Hawaii.... an art exhibit in a bed store/gallery.....  alpine paintings donated to the Cdn Avalanche Foundation... and a painting donated to the BC Lupus Society...

                                                              FIRST HAWAII:

I had the wonderful opportunity in the fall to plein-air paint on the Big Island... loved being outside....but challenging conditions with wind and fast drying acrylics

here are a few samples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOW THE BED STORE;

 

 

 

 In December and January, the bed store/Gallery Essentia on W. 4th Street in Kitsilano hosted an exhibit of the Whistler Out of Bounds Artist Group featuring the works of Susie Cippolla, Doria Moodie ,Andrea Moore and myself ( we are pictured below at the opening night!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT THE AVALANCHES:

 

Since I love painting mountains and snow... and since I love to ski...I donated two alpine paintings to the Whistler and Calgary fundraisers for the Canadian Avalanche Foundation.....  this one is called "Harmony Off-Piste"

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT ...LUPUS

 

I also donated a painting to the annual fundraiser for the BC LUPUS Society... this time a plein-air scene from the peak of Whistler...  It feels good to give back to worthy causes.

 

 

 

Federation of Canadian Artists Juried Shows - landscape and still life success

I've now been juried into two shows at the Federation of Canadian Artists Gallery on Granville Island:

My first landscape entry:  Coastal Mountain High is 12 x 24... shows the WHISTLER hike off Harmony in summer

my first still life entry: Glorious Glads    is 18 x 24...  a bouquet of colour for a dreary day!

I'm now working on some entries for some upcoming shows... always something to strive for!

A painting a day workshop

Liz Wiltzen inspired a group of us to paint a "still life day".... who knew that fruits and vegetables could be so inspiring?

it is all about the light.. the shadows, the reflected light... the highlights!

 the key is to look first for simple abstract shapes .  Working with a limited pallette was the first exercise

 

first a limited pallette

                                             then the full meal deal as shown above... then if that
                                             wasnt challenging enough... the next "challenge": to
                                             paint in ten abstract shapes AND use 50 strokes or less!

                                             shopping expertise comes in handy:  how to save paint
                                              strokes is just like shopping for "bargains".... CONSERVE
                                              and RESTRAIN....  load up the brush to "stretch" your dollars
                                              and load more than one colour to stretch your strokes!  FUN..

                                              this was the result below

                                          at the end of the weekend... a happy bunch below..
                                           instructor Liz our "hero"  bottom row.. third from the right

                                           GO TEAM!

road trip to Alberta - GO BIG or go home

In late september four of us whistler folks made the trek to alberta just outside of Calgary to Canmore to paint at the River Rock Studio with instructor Brian Atyeo and host Ursula Reynolds.

painting in a group, meeting new artists, exposed to new techniques.. it was all a blast

"GO BIG or GO HOME" as they say... we painted LARGE and LARGER... I havent painted on large canvases ( 24 x 36 and 30 x 36) for a very long time so it was fun...

Painted my favourite mountains and lakes landscapes,

But for a change flowers were very fun...


 and for a total change of pace  ABSTRACTS....  colour colour and more colour!!

can't wait to return for more inspiration

a tribute to my late mom- artist Lillian Gulka

One year ago today my mom passed away suddenly following an art workshop we took together on gabriola island as pictured below

 

 

 

 

Her memoriam in today's  Thunder Bay newspaper reads:

 

 

Beloved wife, sister, mom, "chocha" "baba" and friend

 

                                      We remember her zest for life,
                                         her laughter, her smile,
                                            her warm embrace,
                                            her encouragement,
                                               her friendship
                                                and her love.

We are truly blessed to have had such a wonderful person touch our lives and our hearts

with much love Walter, Lianne, Leslie, Larissa, Carl, Will and Marko



my special art tribute to my mom is provided below

Lillian Gulka Art Tribute

We miss my mom terribly and this last week of painting on Saltspring Island brought back many great memories.  

Over this past year I am so grateful for everyone's support in helping us cope with our tremendous loss.   Thank you.