My Lucky Dog

Lucky, our new foster dog is demanding a walk. Actually he is just sitting there and I am feeling guilty that he needs a walk He walks pretty good on a leash. Luckyis black Shetland Sheep dog (Sheltie), you can see his herding traits.
7 years old timid, gentle dog loves to chase a ball and kill his stuffed toy. And Jerry has taught him 3 tricks already.

Here is slide show of Lucky killing the raccoon 

He will lick himself all over and then cough up fur. "Lucky" I say, "You are not a cat" I think he may have lived with a cat and picked up bad habits.

But back to the walk, I can imagine Lucky in the right place running free and going like the wind. I painted a little picture of him as I imagined.

I think I will paint a series of lucky as I imagine him.

Squares

This summer is all about squares. My art can be seen at "Sunday on the Square" http://www.coventmarket.com/art-on-the-square/ at the Covent Garden Market on some Sundays, this summer. I did this last year and had a blast meeting all the skateboarders, strollers, bikers, walkers and rummys who love London downtown. The market is open from 10am to 4pm. There are all kinds of artists, painters, sculpters, potters, photographers and jewelry makers.

My garden is in squares this year, We planted brussel sprouts, carrots, beans, tomatos, zuccinni and more. I love watching those tinny plant struggle up thru our clay based soil. We already had a feed of lettuce.

Speaking of squares, I am enjoying a book about the painter Chuck Close. by Christopher Finch. Chuck does portraits in a grid system. Tiny coloured blocks that when you stand back make a giant face.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Close

My friend John asked me to do a pastel portrait of him. His wife had her prtrait done in 1969 and John always regretted that he had not been painted as well. I used and old 4x5 black and white photo, just finished John. He is in his 60s now so it was fun painting him so young.

So as we said in the 60's be ther or be square...see you on Sunday

Diane Dobson's art blog

My friend Diane Dobson just started her first art blog at DianeDobsonsartblog.blogspot.com  I am so excited for her. She has three of her great paintings on the site already.  My favourite is miniature of a walk in the country.

Diane and her husband have gone camping with us several times over the years.  The painting reminds me of those vacations in Ontario's north.  We love to paint together and hike on the trails of places like Killarney Park.

Diane is a birder and is always pointing out this and that bird to me.  Our greatest find for me was the Sand Cranes in a field in Manitoulin Island.  Possible for their red crown but also becouse of their large size and funny walk.

Check out Dianes blog. Here is a photo of her at Bon Echo park painting in damp, cold,  weather. That's dedication!

Let it snow?

Christmas day and the snow makes it perfect. Every one wants snow on at Christmas. Right? Accept in Australia where sun, sand and surf part of the festivities. Can you imagine a summery Christmas? What would you serve for dinner. Fire up the barby..
Gifts of hat and scarfs would give way to beach umbrellas and sun hats. Would I miss the snow as I lay on the beach in Australia, probably not but I like snow here at Christmas.

Here is my painting of Port Dover Beach. Is that Santa I see sunning himself?

Dog Art

What a great show "Friends of Portside Gallery"! Big turnout for the reception dispite the rain. I felt privledged to be among the artists.

I will have a booth with my "dog art" at the Animalert Bazaar and rummage sale.

Sale is at Western Fair Canada Building, Satuday Dec 4th - 10 am to 2 pm. Hope you will come and see the foster dogs I have painted.

Happy Howard!

Go big or go home

Go big or go home was my first impression of Donna Andreychuk's art show at the Arts Project
203 Dundas St. London, Ontario. Donna has hung a show of fabulous paintings. The huge
canvases shown at their best in the Arts Project gallery space. So often artists don't take
advantage of the gallery's size.

I think Donna used every color in her studio on this show. There was lots of the vibrant landscapes she is known for and spotted among them some more subtle mauve and grey pastels.
Donna definitely has a style that one would recognize anywhere. This year I noticed she was moving more to abstraction, letting the viewer interpret the painting.

If you are downtown to see the show, Donna also has two pieces in the Museum London Jass Show, one of which won the grand price.( The show runs to Nov 21)

The show at the Arts Project runs to Dec 4^th, 2010. Don’t miss this show, I give it 5 stars.

Don’t miss the Friends of Portside show at Portside Gallery Nov 25 to 28, 2010. 187 ½ Main St Port Stanley, Ontario. Reception Thursday Nov 25^th, 7 to 9 pm.

Judging Art

Entering art shows is always a nervous time for artists. We make our art alone with little or no feedback. Sometimes a relative or friend will comment on the piece and even that can be traumatic. But to enter a show with your peers is very unnerving.
There are two types of art shows, juried an un-juried.
A juried show is one in which a special person is selected by the show and looks at all the entries, selecting the ones they think would make the best art show. The criteria for the choice may come from the people putting on the show, but the juror makes the final choice. For instance, space may be limited and the juror may have to be ruthless in choosing the art. The juror may prefer landscape to portrait or watercolour to oil.
A good Juror would try to pick each piece on its own merit. There will always be a bias no mater who picks the art.
Did you know that in the majority of art shows the artist pays an entry fee to have their art juried. This fee is to cover costs of putting on the show.
A non juried show will still cost an entry fee but will always be accepted. In this type of show the art may be judged by an expert and ribbons and prizes received.
Either type of show is still nerve racking for the artist. "Will my art be accepted. Why wasn’t it accepted. Why did they accept my art last year and not this year. "
I entered two juried art shows this year and the Jass London Juried Art Show at Museum London accepted one of my pieces. This is the first time my art was accepted at this show. It is a fund raiser put on by the Volunteer Committee of Museum London Ontario.
Show date is November 10 to 21, 2010. Reception is Wed Nov. 10 7-9 p.m. Tickets are $10.00

Here is the entry that was accepted. Hope you will come and judge my art too. or maybe not....

Or Look here at all the art https://jasslondon.ca/catalogue.php