This has been a week of wrapping things up - finishing that little press, Heritage Park is now closed for the regular season and I have one more teaching trip in British Colombia before winter makes driving over the Rockies unpredictable and precarious. It has really been a good year on many fronts and to be tying up loose ends and turning a page to a new chapter feels really good. 

The class I am teaching is at the Kelowna Art Gallery - a wonderful maker space that is well stocked with all sorts of materials and treasures. We are going to focus on beginner's watercolour - a great way to dip your toes into painting! I've been working more and more lately with incorporating watercolour into my notes, en plein air and mixed media work so I am really looking forward to sharing the basics this weekend. 

Here is all the registration information, the class still has room last I heard. All the contact information to register can be found below: 

I'm excited to be able to offer this class as part of the Impressions series of workshops that go along with the printmaking exhibit of the same name. The exhibit comes down this weekend as well - it was great fun to check out my pieces up next to all the amazing Alberta print makers represented. 

​Leighton Art Centre, Calgary: Mixed Media Printmaking (two day workshop)

Sat, September 23, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sun, September 24 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Cost: $135.00 (Leighton Members receive a 10% discount)

Add colour to your linocut printmaking through a variety of mediums and techniques. Join Michelle Wiebe as she covers 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.

Students will leave class with their own carved block, several one of a kind mixed media prints, and the skills to keep incorporating printmaking into their art practice. This workshop is open to beginners with no prior experience to linocut printmaking as well as to artists with a printing foundation who wish to explore a different approach to linocut.

Space is limited and registration is required.

Please visit Leighton Art Centre or contact them at  [email protected] to register

Where to begin? Fall is here, kicking and screaming and I finally feel like I've had a chance to come up for air.

Studio Expansion: My garage is now officially a core component to my studio practice. Late July, we welcomed a third press to our family: a Chandler and Price Old Style platen floor model. Some good friends helped us load and move this along with a paper cabinet, composing table, type cabinet and full sized paper cutter. I am truly blessed. 

The flip side to this is making room and extra clean up. Almost all of my open studio time in August has been spent puttering away in my garage doing glamorous jobs like scraping old labels, sanding, painting and degreasing. We are in the homestretch now which is good - winter is coming and my car needs it's shelter for parking!  

On a side note, paper cabinets are a beautiful thing. With 25 shallow drawers, this is for my art supplies like what the wardrobe is for Narnia. Things feel so in reach and organized! 

Current Projects: I'm in the early stages of some small still life and landscapes for the upcoming Christmas season. I am also busy printing all sorts of letterpress goodies for market as well. Add in some collaboration involving a laser engraver, block printing more flour sack cloths, instructing as well as the aforementioned studio expansion and I am a busy girl. 

Website Update: I've cleaned things up and added some greater detail on events and workshops. I've been planning this out in my head for a while and finally sat down long enough to get it all up on the web. I still have loads more pictures and details to add, but this should suffice for the moment. I have a love hate relationship with digital tinkering. 

Plein Air Postponement: My deepest apologies to all of you who have expressed interest in further plein air meetups - this has been on my mind constantly. I had a domino effect happen with that equipment acquisition that affected too many areas of my household. Add in multiple extra weekend bookings for August and I couldn't make it happen. Stay tuned for spring though - I have some alternate ideas I'd like to try out with plein air! 

I feel very behind the scenes this past few weeks. I've been busy working on a couple of orders, writing proposals and getting all my paperwork in order for tax time. I'm ready to be posting some new work at the end of this week. I have to laugh sometimes because an artist is usually measured by their social media output and so when I slack off on putting fresh work up online, I feel like people think I'm probably busy reading romance novels or something! 

I have a couple of demonstrations and classes I am excited about in the next few weeks - all centered around linocut printmaking. I have a particular fondness for working with people who are new to a particular art form. The opportunity to empower someone to step out of their comfort zone and build a new skill (and work with sharp tools) gets me quite excited. These are usually my favorite kinds of classes to teach. 

March 24th - Visiting artist to the Cochrane Ranchehouse In conjunction with my show upstairs at the Ranchehouse, I will be set up in the main foyer with my tools and ink demonstrating printmaking from 1pm - 3pm. This is a beautiful location and I'm looking forward to sharing my art with the locals. Find out more here.

March 25th - Leighton Art Centre, Calgary Basic Linocut Printmaking This will be a one day workshop where beginner and intermediate students will be walked through cutting, inking and printing thier own linocut blocks. You can register here.

April 1st and 2nd - Kelowna Art Gallery Basic Linocut Printmaking This is a two day intensive workshop where we will explore all sorts of the possiblilites of linocut from craft to fine art. Class size is limited so registering soon is recommended, You can do that here.

Looking forward to getting out of the studio in the next few weeks. I'll also be posting some new work in the coming days so stay tuned!