Collecting Art

I've recently been thinking about the act of collecting art and I am extremely excited to show you my newly acquired pieces. On the left is "Communion" by Don Michael, Jr. and on the right is "Simone" by Barbara Muir. It is hard to express in words just how exciting it is to have pieces of original art by artists I admire. Not only are they unique artists with a clear vision of how they see the world, but they are both sincere, genuine, generous people. When I began my blog a year and a half ago I hoped in some way I would be able to tap into the supportive online blogging community, but I never really imagined that I would end up making friends. I've now met Barbara and, I hate to speak for her, but I think we could have spent hours and hours together. And I'd like to think that someday I'll meet Don, but it is not likely that it will be in Canada during the winter! He he. This all got me thinking about how collecting art can be so personal. There is a certain euphoria that comes with collecting original art. To be up close and personal with the colour choices, brushstrokes, texture and composition of an artist makes me feel like I know him/her in an intimate way; and then owning a piece that is one of a kind, well, a person can't get any of these things at the mall!

I've also been thinking about collecting art because I went to the art auction on Sunday (see previous post)... and was that a haven for collectors, or what!? I had no idea what to expect, but I really wanted to check it out and see all of the work that had been selected. The auction was held in an old historic building on the third floor in a huge open room with big beams, dormers and beautiful natural light. There were two musicians playing, wine and punch being served and a delicious catered spread of appetizers. Mmmm. It was quite a classy affair. My husband and I wandered around the viewing area and I was like a kid in a candy store! I kept gasping and swooning over all of the art by established Saskatchewan artists; some of them are even nationally known. They are all highly collectible. After the heart palpitations from being so close to this art subsided, I began to pay attention to the crowd that was gathering. It became pretty clear that this was a "collecting" crowd. And then I honestly broke into a cold sweat! I couldn't remove my jacket because I was drenched!!! I started to hear a little Muppet/Sesame Street voice singing in my head, "One of these kids just ain't like the others; one of these kids just isn't the same..."! All I could think was why on earth would anyone bid on my work when these are the options??? My nerves couldn't take it! Confidence is not my strong suit, so we cleared out a few minutes before the auction started and headed straight to a lounge to get a drink pour moi!!!  Once I gained some perspective I felt so honoured that the two auction curators took a chance on my work and gave me an opportunity to have my work alongside those artists.

The good news came to me yesterday through the grapevine... the auction was a complete sell-out! Everything went, so that is fantastic for Sexual Health Centre Saskatoon, the non-profit that will benefit from the sales. And now I will save some of my pennies so when they hold the next auction in two years, maybe I will stay and bid on something for my collection!

Here are links to some of the fantastic artists that were part of this auction: Ian Rawlinson, Alicia Popoff, Les Potter, Miranda Jones, Greg Hardy, Clint Hunker, Degen Lindner, Anne McElroy, Jan Corcoran, Jane Harington, Terry Fenton, Lorenzo Dupuis, Cindy Pellerin, Marvin Swartz, Dmytro Stryjek, Gale Hagblom

An Honour

 

Imagine my surprise when I got a lovely message from Barbara Muir saying she was giving me the Sunshine Award for creative and positive blogging. It is high praise coming from one of the most positive bloggers I have ever come across! Please swing by the link to her art blog and you will see exactly what I mean. I am quite determined to meet this amazing woman in person someday.

The rules for accepting the award are:
Put the logo on your blog or within your post,
Pass the award on to 12 Bloggers
Link to the nominees in your post
Let the nominees know they have received this award
Link to the people who gave you the award.

Okay, so I am giggling about Barbara's comment that it is too hard to choose only twelve and I, too, am a middle child who wants to be fair and not miss giving it to all the wonderful blogs I have come across. However, besides giving the award to me Barbara has also given it to many of the blogs I know and love... so what is the etiquette here? Do I double the award up and give it to the same people she did? Hmmm... I think I will try to list twelve different blogs and I will just say ditto to her list!

I'm paying the Sunshine Award forward to the following lovelies:

Deborah Ross... check out her gorgeous self-portrait blog banner
Julie Beck... now here is a creative person and I love the history and stories in her paintings 
Don Michael Jr... he paints masks with tons of personality... and also did some kick ass portraits of his three children for Christmas
Sheila... her subject matter is varied, but her style is consistently colourful and joyous... and everyone loves her!

Tatiana Myers... I recently discovered her beautiful pastel paintings and blog
Christine McCoy... she started a daily painting adventure about six months ago and I admire her ambition

Jeffrey Boron... oh, how I love his Canadian West Coast Impressionism style

Halima Washington... rich and buttery paintings done with the impasto technique

Judy Mackey... she paints with a palette knife and it's wonderful!
Lisa Daria... love, love, love her still lifes 
Liyana... a sweet young lady working hard at her dream 
Auspergertopia... a beautiful, heartfelt blog by an amazing woman...she's a prairie Martha Stewart

I want to be sure that everyone on this list knows that I chose them to acknowledge them for the enjoyment I get out of looking at their blogs and I hope now that others will find you through these links. Please do not feel obligated in any way to do anything more with this award... it is completely okay to smile and do nothing more than bask in it's sunshiny glory!

Thank you, Barbara, for shining the sun on me! XO


P.S. I need to alert everyone on this list that they have received this award, but it is now very late so I will handle that part tomorrow...

New Year... New Goals

Happy New Year!!!

May 2010 be a peaceful and enlightening year for all who inhabit this glorious earth of ours. May we find a way to share it and save it so that our children can enjoy it's wonders.

Today's post is one of my two ever attempts to use chalk pastels to convey the figure. This is a slightly cropped image of a piece I did many years ago in a night class I took. It was quite intimidating to create a flesh tone with no actual flesh toned chalk! At least with paint you can mix to get the colour you need. With chalk pastels it is all about the layering. It was fun, however, and after about two hours or so I guess I ended up with this.

I'm not huge on resolutions... they never seem to stick. Unfortunately the pounds I've always resolved to lose sure do! As a result, this year I will not make any resolutions, but I am okay with making goals for myself. I think that in this coming year I would like to experiment with new subject matter. I've made mention of this in the past and I would like to explore the beautiful river and river bank that runs through Saskatoon. I also found a beautiful area of town while accompanying Sammy's class on a field trip this past fall. Right in our city is a protected area of grasslands and while there with his class I took many lovely photos which have the potential to make exciting paintings. Those landscapes are on my to-do list. As well, I have long admired artists that paint the figure and portraits. I always enjoy seeing what Rahina is up to in Glasgow... I have really been inspired by her and over the last year that I have been visiting her blog, I have seen her skills and talent grow. As well, I am a huge fan of Berlin artist, Edward B.Gordon, and have found that my favorite paintings of his always seem to involve a figure. And then there is Barbara Muir in Toronto who paints her figures with such joy and vibrancy you can't help but want to try it yourself. She has just had the most incredible life experience in Florence, Italy and she has even sketched Oprah via Skype! So in effort to learn something new and expand my horizons, I would like to delve into the figure as a subject this year and I will look to these bloggers for inspiration. Aside from all of that I have wanted to experiment with collage and more abstract ideas that are stuck in my head. Ah, so many ideas and so little time.

As for any other art related goals I might have, well, I am excited to see what paintings I might find for my fledgling art collection. I definitely hope to add to it over the next twelve months. I have purchased four amazing pieces from other bloggers over the last year and a half. Two paintings you know about from previous posts (Orange Flower by Duane Keiser and Tattooed Bridge by Pierre Raby), but the other two I have not talked about. One I bought way before I began my blog and it was through discovering this artist on Etsy that I, in fact, found out about art blogs. Like Edward B. Gordon, she was also inspired to paint daily by Mr. Keiser. Who is it, you ask??? And which painting did I buy??? Well, my first ever online purchase was the spectacular little painting called "Stand Oil And Brushes on a Sill" by Philadelphia artist, Abbey Ryan. This painting actually ended up being chosen as a finalist for a competition she entered! She is extremely gifted and if you have never seen her work please make sure you check out the highlighted link. The second ever painting I bought online was soon after I began my blog and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. It is quirky and different and simple and complex all at the same time. I'm talking about Aaron Lifferth's "Tomato Distortion". It's so good. There you have it... four fantastic paintings by four fantastic artists. Maybe by the end of 2010 I will actually own a prized Edward B. Gordon.... or one of yours....!

I'm actually excited to be starting a new year. Hopefully a new year and a new slate. I'm fine with closing the door on 2009... it was a rough year... and I want to get off the roller coaster for awhile! There were some rocky times in a couple of very important relationships to me, the economy, so much illness this past fall and then our traumatic car accident. All of those things really let the wind out of my sails so-to-speak. But at the same time there were some true highs... like our first big family trip (Disney World), a visit to see my sister in Guelph and my first gallery show. Yup, 2009 was about peaks and valleys... I hope 2010 is about those flat grasslands I was talking about!