Amazing-ness

So last year we splurged and we bought this huge incredible painting from local artist David Carlin...

whom some of you may also know was my high-school art teacher turned mentor turned dear friend.

Every time I pass it I feel humbled to have it in my home and I see something new & beautiful.

We had wanted one of Dave's large-scale originals for awhile

(we have quite a collection of his lino cuts prints going already) 

But we were waiting until one of them spoke loud & clear to BOTH of us...and this was the one.

If I have even an iota of his talent & artistic drive & spirit in me when I am in my 70's I'll be lucky!

& now if the house catches on fire I'll gather the bunnies, my honey, my hard-drives & this painting! 

One Of My Favourites

My dear friend, mentor, inspiration and high-school art teacher Dave Carlin
has had an exhibition "50 years in the hole"
running at the Alex Dufresne Gallery in Callander
(I highly recommend a visit if your anywhere local to me before it closes this coming Saturday).

 Dave means so much to me because of his strength and zest for living,

but also as an artist who is never ever done pushing, learning and growing.

I am a very proud and happy owner of several of his works and every time I pass them

I am not only inspired to dig deeper into what I do but I am happier.

 I am happier because they remind me of how important it is to have visual splendor in the world.

 They remind me that it's a amazing thing to share our stories and vision....

and very much like Dave, I jump on every single day that I get to create

& add a spark of beauty to the world.

I am was so so lucky to have had someone like Dave in my early life as an artist

& I am extra lucky to still have him in my life now as an established artist...he continues to push me.

I hope every artist out there is lucky enough to have a 'Dave' in their life...

if you don't, seek one out because it sure does make life that much more inspirational...

and to me, inspired living is one of the big things this is all about XO.  

Dabbling and Bad Habits

I've been dabbling with printmaking again...

I tend to cut a bunch of blocks before I do the hand-pressed printing part,

it's probably a bad habit..I plan to do some actual pressing/printing this week hopefully!!

My dear friend and mentor Dave Carlin gift me a whole whack of his beautiful chisels

& some vinyl too, I think he was excited about my renewed interest in picking up printmaking again and it's so awesome to be using chisels that he actually taught me with in highschool!

A Studio Visit

One of the most precious and inspirational people in my life

is my old high school art teacher David Carlin, who is now a dear and cherished friend.

 

 

Now and than we have a date for coffee which is usually followed up by some time

in his studio, which we affectionately call 'The Hobbit Hole".  He's beyond talented, imaginative,

intelligent, nurturing & caring & I feel so very lucky to have him in my life XO.

Friends In Exhibition & And More Prints For The Shop

Hi Everyone, these two prints will be added to The Shop today. This one is called "I Saw The Three Sister" and the print is from one of my original coloured pencils. This print is called "Peggy's Cove" and is from one of my original watercolour's. Enjoy!

I can't go further this week without mentioning three friends who are exhibiting at our local gallery very soon. Claire Calarco, a beloved local talent will be having her show in the smaller gallery at the WKP Kennedy Gallery and coinciding is a show with Dave Carlin and Nancy Davies called "Parejas/Couples", for this one Nancy and Dave team up with two Cuban artists, Nancy Brossard and Norberto Marrero and I trust that both shows will be fabulous shows. Claire Calarco is not only an artist but also an actress, she participates in many local films and she co-owns with her husband, a production company called "Pair of Ducks Productions", she's a very busy lady. I am so proud and happy of her...her exhibitions are usually well received and I can't wait to see what she has been up too, to go visit her new studio sometime this fall. Claire, doesn't have a website as far as I can see, I am going to have to convince her to get one soon so the whole world can enjoy her talent. Here is the announcement for Claire's exhibition... Nancy Davies is another local artist. I've seen a lot of Nancy's clay works and I just love what she does and I am anxious to see what her part in this exhibition includes...paintings, clay work...I just don't know but I am sure it will be good. Nancy doesn't have a website as far as I can see. Dave Carlin...well honestly no words can fully describe dear Dave Carlin...he is needless to say a local treasure. Someone everyone is in awe of. Someone everybody wants to be around and make proud and just an amazing and talented human being. Dave was my high school art teacher and honestly one of the big reasons I choose OCAD as my post-secondary institution...if Dave Carlin went to OCA, I wanted to also...and at the time I applied, they were only accepting 300 students out of thousands of applicants and Dave was one of the very first persons I told that I got in and he was so proud of me. It was through Dave that I realized I wanted to be an artist and it was through his nurturing that made me believe it was possible to be an artist. It was also through Dave that I came to love lino-cuts and printmaking. I bet he doesn't even know he did all of these things for me. So Dave if your ever reading this....know how very treasured, loved and admired you are dear dear man...and an early Happy Birthday to you talented and inspirational sir. (Dave has a blog here...though it doesn't look like it's updated much check it out.) Here is the announcement for Dave and Nancy's exhibition... I just can't help but gush and rave about the people I admire, love and look towards for inspiration..for any of my local readers, don't forget to come out for these two openings...they will amaze and delight I am quite sure. October 4th - November 1st, 2008 at the WKP Kennedy Gallery, North Bay. Opening: Saturday October 4th from 1:00-4:00 (and I am sure that drinks and food will most likely follow at Greico's after the gallery bit is finished up). It's kind of nice to be back to more frequent posts...so I'll see you tomorrow. Happy Creating.