Our intrepid Eagle Valley Arts Council is having an evening and matinee with the first theatre production in quite a number of years. Cindy MacKrell is the director and energy behind this evening (SCAT - Sicamous Community Amateur Theatre) with the play "Working Stiffs". Also organized by the Arts Council is a painting challenge showcasing 3 artists painting "live", a talent show, the photography club's presentation of a photo show, karaoke etc. It will be a fun evening of celebrating the wide range of arts within the Arts Council and the surrounding area of Sicamous. Grab your tickets for this Saturday evening or Sunday matinee. Your invitation is below with my donation of original mixed media painting called "Dance Moves". Thanks in advance to everyone that is participating and volunteering their talents and energy!

With a very busy summer, I decided to make a sketch book out of random discarded papers. I had been tossing interesting used papers in a basket for collage work. Instead, these were gathered up and made into a unique sketchbook. I watched a Youtube video where random flowers were rolled up and steamed to make beautiful marks in a sketchbook. Well that did not work for me but I decided to keep going and make it a playful floral sketchbook. 

Some of the pages were tracing paper that I had used to transfer drawn images on canvas, tickets, music sheets, book pages, used painters tape on paper, palette papers, BC Ferries ticket, lottery ticket, water colour paper pieces etc. for a variety to work on. This book was meant to be pure play! I worked on random pages with left over paint, cut outs, anything I had handy and are still working in it.

On the top left photo you can see the left hand side of the unpainted page and the right side is painted. The second page shows the flowers that did not leave a bright mark when I tried to steam them in and on the right of that photo is actually tracing paper I used to transfer a dog portrait I drew onto canvas - it is turned sideways but the design worked well. Discarded paper cutouts on the bottom left and a negative painted flower on the right (I drew the flower and painted around it, not in it). 

"Blooming Fun"
16" x 12" acrylic on canvas board, #20102022

This is the end result of a fun teaching day about negative painting with the Eagle Valley Brush and Palette Club. I saw this on Robert Burridge"s weekly "Bob Blast". We each picked 3 colours (a red, blue and yellow) and splattered, smudged and finger marked these colours randomly all over our canvas. Rigmor brought in different shaped vases to help us decide on what our vase would look like. Negative painting (painting the background, not the "thing") around the splattered paint to carve out a table top, vase and flowers. Then going back in to add details, refine shapes and shadows and "Ta da....lesson completed!" As usual when I teach, this one was finished in the studio as I find walking around talking to participants and answering questions fills my time.