a place of peace

The Wolfden in Dwight, about 10kms from Algonquin Park is my place of peace in Ontario. I was there helping my friend Ben about a week ago and he took me out to find some Hemlock. Which I believe is one of Canada's oldest living trees. Well the Hemlock tree has this inner bark that is deep red or burgandy and if you search particular spots of a forest you will most likely find a blown down tree. We found a few trees that day and took some bark so that we can boil the natural dye out from the bark. I think and make sure to read more about it first, you can make tea from the bark that be a medicine of some sort.

Anyhow, I will be trying to dye some paper and fabric with that deep colour from the Hemlock. I will most likely make a small series of prints with the dyed paper, and from all the inspiration of being in the forests up north I might have an idea for a new series of work. Something to do with shelters, naturally built in the woods, survival type things. A mix of what I have been working on over the past year or so combined with forest art and these shelters might offer some interesting creations.


http://www.wolfdenbunkhouse.com

The Harris Collective

Hi Folks, I have some great news. I applied to be apart of an art collective that is held at the Elora Center For the Art and I got in. Below is a link to the main page of the collective and you can see the other artist that are part of the gallery.

http://www.eloracentreforthearts.ca/index.cfm?page=gallery_goodQuestion


Roisin Gormley-Young is the Education Programme Coordinator at the center and helped me choose the work that I have submitted to the Harris Collective. I would just like to thank her for the help that she offered me.

My work will show with the collective for approx a year and I will also volunteer at the center during that time. This is very exciting for me and hopefully I will be able to gain more exposure as an artiest.

Konbit Shelter Project in Haiti

Below is from the project website http://konbitshelter.org/, it is a great project and totally cool. I love this type of construction for homes and the artists and volunteers are making a positive different and change for the people of Haiti. Need I say more, please check out the link and support this project even though the project is at its completion.

Konbit Shelter is a sustainable building project with the objective of sharing knowledge and resources through the creation of homes and community spaces in post earthquake Haiti. We are a group of artists, builders, architects, and engineers, who, after the January 2010 earthquake, asked ourselves how we could use our skills and resources to directly assist another community in a time of crisis.

http://konbitshelter.org/fundraiserart

the studios i've had

I have had so many studios during my path as an artist. Everything from forest floors to sharing a beautiful space in an old building in Guelph. My homes have always offered great space as well, in the basements mind you but at least I had a space that allowed me explore my style and create new things. Now I find myself waiting to go on a trip to Hawaii, the big island, and volunteering and create art at a yoga center. The art shed is a place that will let me make new things during a new adventure.

more from this summer

here are a few more from this summer.

summer exposure

i thought i would bring back some images of what i did this summer. this year has brought new exposure for my work and i've made some interesting pieces. so during the next few posts i am going to dig through the many photos that i have taken to show some of the progress that i have had this year.

artists can cook...

i am not posting this because i have run out of material, i just thought it would be a little peek of what else i like doing as an artist. COOK. i went to the streetsville farmers market this weekend with uncle luciano and we picked out some goodies. some corn, squash, garlic and a bit of maple syurp i was all ready to make a dish using all local produce. even the garlic!

i roasted everything and then made a dressing of olive oil, lime juice, maple syrup, ground cummin, corriander and paprika and seasoned with salt and pepper. i must say it turned out really great, really sweet from the corn squash mixed in with the lime and maple, but it also had a nice smokey taste from the barbeque.

after i filled my belly with yummy goodness i went back to the drawing table and worked on my prints. so far a good days work.

superart crawl in hamilton

if you are looking for something fun to do, you should go to the superart crawl in hamilton september 25th. starts at 1pm and ends at 11pm, there will be lots of great art, music and foods.

http://www.supercrawl.ca/news

supercrawl facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hamilton-ON/Supercrawl/138295686592

visit the art crawl and support your local artists

for the art crawl

tightey whitey by Vince and Mike

a couple friends of mine painted this cool mural over the long weekend in guelph. Vince and Mike worked their magic and provided a great mural for those who will visit the Red Brick Cafe in guelph over the next year. i believe there are some plans for the space, ie other artists painting murals in the space, music and good times. the owner of red brick cafe was really great in allowing this to happen, it offers great exposure for artists and she has supported the arts community tremendously. thanks to red brick cafe and of course Vince and Mike for their hard work.

work in progress

just a few things in progress, working on a new piece and decided to explore with my prints. i have a really good feeling about the new prints, although i am thinking these days that i should expand my palette a bit.

prints for a trip

i've started working on more prints this month in order to prepare myself for a trip that i am taking at the end of october. there is an opportunity for me to show my work and be part of an art/farm market in the US. yes i did say the US, so i thought why not have a good inventory of new prints that i can show and sell. i am not very sure on how the set up is where i am going, but by the sounds of it i believe that i will do well in the area. i will explain more on where i am going and why, and of course post a few photos of what i am preparing for the trip.

white rabbit, more

more photos of the newest piece. the lighting is much better in these photos so i thought i would post them. it allows to show truer textures and clarity of the objects i used.

lilly pads and bull rushes

try to find the metal bars amongst the taller weeds