Castlegar...

is a small city about an hour and a half away in the 'Koots' (short for Kootenays, the area I inhabit here in southeastern British Columbia).  Each year they host a Sculpture Walk which brings in wonderful sculptures from around the world.  Sponsored by local businesses, these sculptures are in place from spring onwards, and are a true feast for the eyes.  This past Saturday, my daughter Rochelle and I did a road trip to enjoy them.

WARNING:  this post is photo heavy!!  You'll find a photo or two of the sculpture, followed by one of the plaque giving details.

Rochelle susses out the maple seed - we were both intrigued by the lines and negative space in this one.

Son Barry would LOVE this one.

One of my favourites - I am always going to love this sculptress and her works.

I am forever fascinated by three things - texture, rust and shadows, and this sculpture has them all!

I had to drool over the texture and colour in this...I'm a sucker for purple and copper at any time!

I encourage you to check out the first link above;  had I included all the sculptures I'd hit the limit and beyond on this post.  Watch for a future post on the 2016 winner of the People's Choice Award - it was a doozy!  

I'm wondering what goes on sculpturally in your area,  Is sculpture a big thing? And do you sculpt yourself?  If so, you know the drill - comment with a link to your work if you have it!  

I'm in the throes...

of preparation for an upcoming workshop at TAPS, this time to create a landscape in collage. The challenge is, of course, to find a reference photo that encompasses the beauty of our valley, is visually interesting, and easy enough to translate into a project that is doable for all skill levels and abilities.

I've chosen these three photos in the hopes that one of them will fulfil all requirements.

Creston Valley photo by Jean Henderson

 

Creston Valley agriculture photo by Brendan Mitchell

The Skimmerhorns, photo by Wendy Franz

So far, I've managed the first, outlining the segments in a Sharpie,

 attaching the photo to various bits of painted or printed papers,

and glueing the resultant colouriciousness onto a black cardstock.  The result is lively and visually interesting, although the trees were definitely a fussy cut, challenging to do, and perhaps too much so for some of our participants.

I did have a go at the third photo, but the results were so butt ugly disappointing that I refuse to share it with you.  Perhaps I should add some red cows to it.

In the meantime, I have a stack of some twenty paintings on the worktable,

a design project for a house near Penticton,

and some colour to add to this crackle piece today.

Who has more fun than an artist?  Nobody I know!  What's on your palette this week?  Share a link in the comments below, please, and update us all.  

I showed you some snippets...

...last week, and thought you might like to see a wider view of some of them.

This itty bitty eggy thing

actually looks like this in real life, and could change again.

The alcohol ink on black gesso

 looks a fair bit different when looking at the whole.

 This fragment of texture on canvas

is a small part of a painting in progress that is 8" x 24".  I like the fragment MUCH better, so let's hope that when it's completed I'll like it all!

I've done some work on this piece since last week

and now it looks quite different.  I can see the doodling influence, as well as a look of embroidery on this. And just think - I've got four more pieces in this style to play with!

I'm off to the interior of British Columbia this next week for a design/staging commission, so I'll be fire-dodging and tap dancing my way to next Thursday's post.  In the meantime, what are you up to? I'd love to hear in the comments below!

Because it's hot 'out there'...

...I've been holed up in the basement.  Coincidentally, that's where my studio is. Hmmmmmmmmmm...I wonder if there is a correlation?!  At any rate, I've been experimenting with design and abstract painting: ALL of those experiments are totally deadly, and if I showed them to you I've no doubt that you, too, would be underwhelmed.

I have been having fun photographing the pieces, however, cropping and experimenting with my camera.  I love colour and texture so much that it's hard to even pretend I'm working.  That being said, I thought you'd enjoy some of these photos:

This is a fragment of crackle paste on black gessoed paper.

This small piece is part of  experimental piece with Pebeo products, started in a
  play session with Lynne Mizera.  She dripped and I coloured.  What a team!

This is texture paste on a canvas, overpainted with acrylic inks and elan!

From a JumpStart session, I just recently found this piece of mark-marking on board, overpainted with white.
 Luckily I'd started five others and could do some more experimenting on them as well.

Crackle paste on black gesso, 'painted' with alcohol inks.

A heavily layered portion of a 12 x 12 panel.

A section of leaf printing gone wild.

What's got you fascinated in the studio lately?  Are you inspired by the weather, or fighting it in your area?  I'd love to hear in the comments below, as always, feel free to add a link to your blog if you'd like to share.