Playing with friends...

...is always a great pastime, and when they're artists and mounting a show at the same time, it's even more so!

Eileen Gidman, Laura Leeder and I opened a show called On the Wall - Off the Wall at The Arts Station in Fernie this past Thursday, and what a group of art lovers they are there.  The venue is lovely, and the townspeople so supportive of the arts.  It was great fun to install the show,

That's Eileen on the left, I'm hung up on the ladder, and Laura on the right.
Photo by Samantha Lloyd, admin extraordinaire at The Arts Station

the food was amazing,

and the attendees were intrigued and appreciative.

The three of us have done a show together before, and we enjoy the mix of mediums.  With Eileen working in dyes on textiles (top and bottom right below),

Laura working in watercolour (left centre and bottom left above), and my mixed media (above left and centre right, and photo below),

we're a colourful group.

Of course, it wasn't all business, we did need to eat and relax as well.  Check out the wall colours at the Infinitea restaurant - gorgeous, no?

Please, if you get a chance, do check out the show at The Arts Station in Fernie between now and June 22nd- we know you'd love the venue, and we're pretty certain you'd enjoy the art too!

Thanks again to Samantha Lloyd and her volunteers, who put together an amazing environment for us!  We are most appreciative.

D....d.....d...

...done, dusted and delighted.  Contrary to popular perception, I actually do finish things in the studio occasionally.  This past while I've completed the following:

'We Stand Together' mixed media on panel  9" x 7" © Win Dinn

'It's a Guy Thing' mixed media keepsake box  2.75 x 6.5 x 3.5" © Win Dinn

'Martini Hot'' altered glass 6.5" x 4.25" © Win Dinn

'Dusk'' altered bottle 12" x 2.75" © Win Dinn

'Jimmy's Bottle'' altered bottle 12" x 2.75"  © Win Dinn

'Jimmy's Glass'' altered glass 6" x 2.25" © Win Dinn

'Orange Martini'' altered glass 5.5" x 3.75" © Win Dinn

'Orange Crush'' altered bottle 12" x 2.75" © Win Dinn

I've also added a new tutorial for an easy background start to my YouTube channel, which you can check out here:

I'd love it if you would subscribe to my channel - the more the merrier, you know!

Just before I check out for the week, I'd like to remind you there's a terrific show opening in Fernie, BC on Thursday. I'm joining Eileen Gidman and Laura Leeder at The Arts Station there to do a show called On the Wall - Off the Wall.  Can you guess which one I am?

We'd love to see you at the opening this Thursday - we'd be so happy if you joined us there!

Happy mail...

...is so much fun, and this week I received a glam package from a Google+ friend, Gerda Frankes, a partner in a tag exchange arranged on Creating and Sharing Mixed Media Art. And what a package it was - even the front of it was juicy.  All the posties from the Netherlands to Canada would have been grinning at this!

The back of the envelope was sealed with this cool washi tape -

and inside?  Wow.  There were metal embellishments to drool over (you know I'm addicted, right?),

 along with a sparkly sheet of red-gold paper,

and a couple of sheets of burlap paper accompanied by two embossed tags (I love collaborative artworks, and you may be getting these back sometime Gerda!).

The tag itself is a stunner, shimmery (in keeping with the month's theme of Shine) and lush.

A closeup reveals the use of the burlap paper, surrounded by teeny tiny beads wired together...delicious.

Even the back of the tag was treated to Gerda's creativity.

I've been grinning from ear to ear since I received this, and can only recommend you artists join this community and jump on the tag exchange bandwagon.  It's an unbelievable treat to share with artists from around the world.

Around and around...

we went, this holiday weekend.  One of the highlights was the car show on Canyon Street, where I blissed out over the beautifully restored vehicles on display.  Taking well over 50 photos, I was amused to see that half of them were of the wheels...those mandalas call to me wherever I go!

These wheels remind me of people...

 since they're each so individualistic,

 designed for their own chassis,

 fitting precisely in the right spot,

 and beautifully formed for the job they do.

 Some of them look totally different,

 some are flashy,

some more quietly subdued,

 yet each fabulous in their own way.

If we individuals could appreciate the similarities and the marvellous differences of each other, perhaps we would find it as easy to take make our mark as do these!

If you'd like to see some mandalas of a different sort, go here.  For further information about mandalas in general, go here.  To learn how to design your own mandalas, check the class information here and then email me at windinn@shaw.ca to see how you can have one in your area. If you're looking for your own mandala colouring book, click the Color Me Up! button on the right hand side of this blog.

Oh, did you want to see a car?  How about these?

Hope you had a wonderful long weekend!

I love taking...

a closer look at what's in the studio.  Just as I love macro photography, zooming in on pieces of art just gives me a rush.

This is a portion of a 'man thing'...you know I got into John's stuff to work on this.  Quiet please - he'll never notice!

The cross in this piece came from a fabulous store here in town called Gold N Treasures.  I've scored so many wonderful metal embellishments from there that I may have made some enemies in town by depleting their stock.

The large button top centre of this photo came from the stash I scored from Eileen, and the coin bottom centre was part of the collection Rochelle (my favourite daughter :D) gave me when she was last here for a visit.  She spent some six months travelling in South America, and I get the mementos - how cool is that?!

This martini glass is just full of texture,

and I'm amused to find this computer bit poking out of a piece - how did that get in there?

You can tell that I'm crazy about cheesecloth.  I mop up leftover paint with it, and it gets incorporated into many pieces.

The Golden mica flakes medium is another favourite of mine right now...I must be a crow I'm so attracted to shiny things.

The brown texture below is a mixture of dried (used - waste not, want not!) coffee grounds and soft gel medium,with a bit of Inka Gold brushed overtop.

Coins, bottle cap flowers, buttons, coffee grounds, cheesecloth - it's all there for the viewing.

I'd decided yesterday that I was just about done with bottles and glasses, but then I had a brainwave this morning - Lord help me, there are four more bottles in the sink with labels soaking so I can test it out.

Back in the studio...

...after an illicit runaway day on Mother's Day, I'm inspired to play once again.  

Right now I'm drawn to those delicious metallic colours of Inka Gold, and can't seem to get enough of them.  

'Changing Landscape' 5" x 7" mixed media on gallery wrap canvas  © Win Dinn

Well, of course John thinks I've got enough of them, but he obviously can't be trusted with the real skinny, so let's not tell him, right?

They come in so many lustrous colours that I find myself putting them on nearly everything I do these days - sometimes over the whole of a piece,

sometimes in tiny accents that go almost unnoticed,

'Confluence' 10 " x 8" mixed media on cradled wood panel © Win Dinn

and sometimes from the background to the foreground and everywhere in between.

'Midnight Garden II' 8" x 6" mixed media on cradled wood panel © Win Dinn

And of course, the studio looks its usual wild self, with projects lined by by the score.

Looking at this post, you'd think that someone had taken a full 32 oz. jar of black gesso, and exploded it in the room.

Come to think of it....