Long time, no update. It has been very busy both in the studio and in our household. One of the things taking a lot of my time lately has been Letterpress related. It is a long (and hopefully interesting) story that I am saving for it's own post (Hint: it involves costumes and moving crazy heavy pieces of machinery!) Anyways, in amongst all this busyness, life in my studio has been puttering along at a brisk pace. 

I love this time of year because the roads are reliably decent and the weather is good so I can plan to travel to deliver fresh art, teach or demonstrate. Here is some stuff I have coming up in the next few weeks in June and July: 

Muk Luk Magpies: The initial batch of Flour Sack Clothes sold very quickly so I recently dropped off a large batch with lots of colours and patterns. Just in time for teacher gifts! You can get store hours and more information here. 

Impressions Printmaking Exhibition: The Leighton Art Centre invited me to participate in this upcoming show done in partnership with the Alberta Printmakers Society. There are some amazing local artists represented here, so I am quite excited to hang my work on the same walls as them! The opening for this show is this Saturday from 2 - 4 pm. Hope to see you there! 

Canada Day at Just Imajan Art Gallery: I will be painting alongside 14 other local Cochrane artists during the Canada Day festivities. I'm looking forward to connecting with the locals and will demonstrate my process as well as have a selection of my work available for sale (working on some fresh stuff that I hope will be ready on time!). You can get more information here. 

On the Road Travel Sketching Workshop: SECOND DATE ADDED We are so pleased to be able to add a send date for this sketching workshop at the Leighton Art Centre. The July 8th date filled up really quickly and we think there is ample interest in adding a second date. I think its the combination of getting out there with a sketchbook in hand paired with mysteries of bringing art supplies with you when you travel. We are going to cover both of these in an action packed day long class! Second class date is July 15th - I hope you can make it. You can register here. 

Red Deer College Basic Linocut Printmaking: I am very excited to be offering a class through this venue! I believe there is still room to sign up if you are in the Central Alberta area and want to take the plunge into creating your own relief prints. You can register here. 

If you have any questions about any of these classes, my work or how to book me as an instructor, please send me a message and I am happy to get back to you! Its been a great start to summer and I am really pumped about these upcoming events. 

Airdrie, Alberta is home to a very neat studio and shop, Mukluk Magpies. While it is primarily a stain glass operation (trust me, they are one of the best in Alberta for all things glass related), they have been steadily amassing the work of regional artisans to sell through their gift shop as a complement to their other wares.

This morning I brought in a full selection of Flour Sack Cloths, Letterpress printed cards, framed Linocut prints and some paintings. I'm really excited to have another venue to show my work through. 

You can find hours, directions and more on their website here. 

Leighton Art Centre will be having a printmaking show from June 24th - September 24th and I am really excited that they have chosen all three of the pieces I submitted for consideration! 

As some of you know, I'm working through this plates theme in my paintings lately and it seems to have jumped the barrier into my printmaking. I really enjoyed taking the time to carve out the patterns that have been so familiar to paint. Stripping away the colour, texture and tone to focus solely on the graphic nature of these pieces of china was immensely satisfying. 

These are all printed in their own limited edition of 10. The first of each will be framed and  available for sale at the Leighton Centre, the others in the edition will be for sale unframed (at the moment). Please send me an email if you are interested in knowing more about these pieces! 

It's been a busy time of making in my little studio! I have a number of projects on the go - painting, linocut printmaking, letterpress, lesson prep and then I've had a couple of orders for flour sack cloths. I am very relieved I have moved on from the season of endless paperwork and can instead focus on getting my hands dirty every day! 

I recently had to change suppliers for my flour sacks. Man, are these new ones ever nice! These are very thick and thirsty and they take the dye and ink beautifully. They are larger than my other flour sack cloths, they measure 30" x 36". Like any flour sack cloth, they get better and softer with age. These are heat treated so the ink is permanently bonded with the cloth. It's been neat that people have been ordering batches of these, a lot of them destined to be gifts. They are pretty versatile, they can be used as tea towels, receiving blankets, scarves or bread basket liners or whatever else you can think of! 

This batch was a mixture of deep blue, light blue, tan, orange, deep pink, and light pink (the 2 light pink ones are still available). I will be printing more deep blue, deep pink and tan ones in the coming weeks as well as dying some fresh batches (I just have to decide what my new favourite colours are!!)

If you are interested in a custom order, just shoot me an email and I can let you know about price and shipping. Usually I can have an order ready to ship in a week or two depending on quantity and if you have specific colour/design requests. 

I could see this development coming for a long time. Discontent with the plates in my possession, at first I branched out to borrowing the plates of my friends and family. This worked for a while but lately, I could tell my eyes have been straying... I find myself building surreptitious stacks in thrift stores and sneakily taking pictures with my phone. 

The arrangement in this painting is one of those fleeting encounters in the housewares department of a secondhand store. I was attracted by the different eras represented here. A classic fine china floral sandwich plate balanced on an 80's era dinner plate with punchy colourful fruit and leaf combination anchored by a graphic platter from the 60's or 70's in the prerequisite brown pattern of the day. I fiddled and played around with the composition for a few minutes under the quizzical eye of a staff member. I felt a little odd after I took my picture and returned the plates to their mates. I loved the image I captured though, it was worth the stares. 

Still working in my limited palette. I seemed to have dropped the cobalt blue in favour of only having phthalo blue to mix with. Old habits die hard and I find I don't have to think too deeply to mix what I am looking for. I could have used a magenta for the floral china though - the pinks are not as vibrant as the real thing but I am just fine with how it looks in the completed piece - I find magenta can easily look too harsh sometimes. 

I've developed a favourite new habit. My new go to mode of relaxation is to put some DIY fixer upper shows on television and block print flour sack clothes. Nerdy, I know. I think this must be my version of knitting or something. I love the ritual of making patterned motifs and listening to HGTV hosts bickering about throw cushions.

This last batch I finished almost two weeks ago and already more than half of them are off to new homes. If you are interested in knowing which ones are left, send me a message and I can give you the details on price, availability and shipping if needed. 

Vintage Pyrex is super challenging to paint, I've learned. This painting has stymied me for a while now, sitting on my easel while I've puttered away on some other projects. I have my easel set up in my studio so that I can see if from my living room chair. Usually this feels great as I get to think about my next steps in a piece while I have my morning coffee. This time, this painting haunted me each time I sat down to read. 

I think the challenge lies in the milky white interior. When the light is cast through it, there is a hint of the exterior colour that glows through and lights up the interior - part of what makes these dishes so classic and beautiful. Also, this has a lot to do with why they are so hard to paint! Normally this dish looks icy cold white on the inside, but in this arrangement, the interior shifts from the blue all the way to a glowing yellow. As usual, the pattern was the most fun to paint, and this particular one, Butterfly Gold, is where my title comes from.