another funky peony wip

funky peony petal piece, work in progress
cps on Stonehenge paper, 15.5" x 7"

Where has the time gone? Yikes. I have been working, I just haven't been blogging. Oops...Here is what I am working on now. Another piece for my peony petal series. The inspiration comes from a photo I took of a white peony (seen in the top of the pic below). I wanted to create a yellow/cream peony but this piece has wandered off into some very funky colours.

funky peony, wip, on my table, with photo reference

The Coloured Pencil Society of Canada's National Exhibition (mentioned in my last post) is on now at the Shenkman Arts Centre here in Ottawa, Ontario. I have three pieces in the exhibition in case you missed that bit. :-) On Saturday evening, July 7th, there is a vernissage and awards ceremony. Hopefully I will be able to get some great photos of this event for my next post.

The exhibition can be viewed in Ottawa throughout July, until the 31st. Please note that there has been a last minute change in gallery venue for the second part of the exhibition tour. The changes in dates and venue are as follows:

The exhibit in the Montreal area will run from August 17, 2012 until August 19, 2012 and will be held in the brand new Galerie d’Art 543 in Repentigny, Quebec. A vernissage is scheduled at Galerie d’Art 543 in Repentigny for August 19^th.

The vegetable garden is doing great. Here are our snap peas waiting to be eaten. It has been very hot here for some weeks and we haven't had rain in a very long time. Plants and tree leaves are shriveling up but at least I can keep my veggies going by investing time with the hose.

Well hang onto your hats - I am getting off my fanny and wandering away from my drafting table long enough to do a bit of teaching this fall. Dates etc. are being considered and once things are in place I shall be writing about it here, posting it on my website and writing about it in my newsletter. This info shall be available next week.

I hope everyone is having a great summer. And remember if you are traveling to the Ottawa area in the next few weeks, do check out the coloured pencil exhibition. I shall see it for the first time tomorrow night while attending the AGM and I can't wait!!!!

more peony petals...

Guess what? I am working on another peony petal piece! Big surprise right? :-)

The above photo obviously shows the piece as a work in progress. It is about 8.5" x 8.5", so not big, but not a mini either and it is cps on Stonehenge paper. I know the square format is somewhat frowned upon but I don't bother too much with convention, if I like the composition then I blaze ahead. Like my other petal pieces, this has an abstract feel to it. I am drawn to the curves and shapes and really I could be drawing anything that had those shapes. It simply happens that peony petals give me this look and fortunately my flower garden has several varieties for me to work from. Well, of course in February in Ottawa Canada, I am working from photo references. It will be four months before the peonies are up and blowing in the breeze. 

Oh dear...I didn't get very far with my cloud piece (on the primed board, mentioned a few posts back). I gave it about five or ten minutes, felt very bored so it now sits on a table, patiently waiting for me to get re-inspired.

I have abandoned a couple of pieces this winter and I like that. I am determined to continue to build a cohesive, consistent body of work and anything that is not turning out to be my best quality I ditch and work that doesn't build my brand is also not worth my time right now. A series of cloud pieces is still a possibility but for now I am looking forward to doing those lovely Granny Smith apples next.

It has been quite mild here this winter but the temperatures are to drop tonight and over the weekend. Time to bring more wood inside for some roaring fires! I like to bake bread on weekends and make hearty stews. Winter days seem suited for such pursuits. I have an old wooden chair I wish to sand and repaint which I hope to start tomorrow and my fireside reading shall be a gardening book. Have a great weekend everyone and stay warm!