Well, the kids are back in school, the vacation time is used up and the weather is getting colder. No excuses. It's time to get back into the studio. I mean you, not me! I've been in the studio the past couple of weeks getting prepared for all the upcoming classes and workshops! Below are what are ready for registration at the fabulous Inglewood Art Supply Studios! 

If you are interested, register here or contact Inglewood Art Supplies at inglewoodart@shaw.ca or 403-265-8961

Making Your Mark - Beginner and Intermediate Acrylic Painting
September 17th - October 22nd 2019 (no class October 1st)
Tuesdays 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm 

Learn the basics of painting and start working on your masterpiece! Students will learn how choose their subject, prepare their canvas, apply paint with a variety of techniques, as well as troubleshoot problem areas. Students will take home a completed painting and the knowledge to develop their skills further on their own.

Intermediate Students will be coached through individual projects and provided with more targeted feedback based on their goals for skill development. 

5 Classes - $150.00 +GST Supplies Not Included

$30 Drop-In option available, see link for more details.

Creative Freedom - Using an Art Journal to Unlock Your Creative Spirit
One Day Workshop
Sunday, September 29th, 2019
11:00 am - 4:00 pm​

Unsure of where to start on the path of creativity? Feeling stalled with creative blocks? Need an infusion of inspiration? Whatever your experience level or challenges you face with your art, you can break through using a series of creative techniques and journaling to discover the next step in your artistic journey!

$85.00 +GST
​Supplies Not Included

Making a Good Impression
Beginner Linocut Printmaking
Two Day Workshop
October 19th & 20th 2019
11:00 am - 4:00 pm (both days)

In this class, students will learn the basics of linocut printmaking. The instructor will teach students about composition, safe cutting techniques and how to pull prints. Participants will leave with a variety of hand printed projects, their own carved blocks as well as the skill to practice at home using basic art materials.

​$160.00 +GST
​Supplies Included

Breaking Boundaries
Mixed Media Printmaking
Two Day Workshop
October 26th & 27th 2019
11:00 am - 4:00 pm (both days)

Add colour to your linocut printmaking through a variety of mediums and techniques. The instructor will cover a number of approaches one can take with mixed media printing. Class time will cover basic linocut carving, inking and printing skills as well as how to use them with other art materials.Emphasis will be placed on utilizing other dry and wet media with your carved block in a number of different approaches to create one of a kind art with a few simple tools.

Most Supplies for this workshop are provided. You may need to purchase additional supplies should you want to experiment with printing on a different support other than paper, use mixed media supplies provided not in our studio.

​$160.00 +GST
​Most Supplies Included

The past few months have been very good to me as I have made some friends and connections that have been inspiring me to explore new things and push the ceiling of my skills and knowledge. Spending time with Heritage Park and Alberta Printmakers has also lead me down some interesting paths. Looking back over the past year and a half, I have come to realize that I was creatively isolated in many ways during my time of recovery and I have been very thankful for this influx of stimulus in my life!

One of my more recent connections has been with the Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society. They support many theater and visual art endeavors in the Mohkinstsis (Calgary) region. The support they bring to the local First Nations, Metis and Inuit arts community is amazing. After attending an event of theirs in June, I was asked to submit work for their upcoming 2nd Annual Touring Exhibition. Imagine my delight when my piece, Reconciling Myself, was accepted!

This work is a little of a departure for me, but this has been brewing for a while. Those bright florescent lines have been steadily gaining ground in my paintings, letterpress and sketchbook for months. It took the inspiration of this piece to explode those hues to the forefront.

Lately my work has begun to explore identity; of particular interest is my Anishinaabe ancestry. Like many Canadian families, this is complex and fraught with embedded societal racism, fear of Residential schools and broken ties with our cultural roots. As my father has made his own journey of making peace with these issues, a world has been opening up as he shares the past.

Issues of cultural appropriation have been forefront in my mind, I’ve been wary of taking bits and pieces of a culture I wasn’t raised in to forge my artistic identity. Approaching this painting, I thought about how to best represent the place that I am coming from. Basing my source imagery on European settler representations of First Nations peoples was a way to not only share a lot of my early understanding of my family history, but also an act of re-appropriation.

In my piece, Reconciling Myself, the source is from a 1910 postcard entitled “Indian Woman with Owl, Blind River”, which is the town where my father was born. This woman looks familiar to me, the slope of her nose and cheeks are the same that greet me in the mirror. In the photo, she seems unhappy and the owl looks to be a piece of taxidermy. I took liberties in my painting; she is serious, not sad. The owl is spreading it’s wings. In the background is a riot of colour and dynamic lines, a sign of life and the future.

I hope you will have a chance to take in this show in the coming months!

cSpace: Opening Wednesday September 18th until September 29th, 2019
Art Commons: Opening Wednesday October 1st until November 29th, 2019
New Central Library: Opening Monday December 2nd 2019 until January 18th, 2020