Loving the Tribe

There's a special connection between art makers; a connection akin to a tribe.  In the tribe, one feels a spark, a mutual understanding with the other tribe members what it is to share a creative path.  I have the best discussions with other artists.  It's also why I enjoy listening to the Savvy Painter podcasts sometimes while I paint.  

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They are great while I'm working on my mini wood blocks, because I paint them responsively, not too much cerebral stuff in them.  When I need to think I cant listen to any podcasts or music (only exception is birdsong).  It feels good to know there's others out there all around the world working away on their own creative paths, going through similar ups and downs as me.  I love the tribe!  

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Dec 8th I've been invited to attend the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's  December meeting.  woohoo! It's a great little public art gallery very enthusiastically supported out here in Victoria...cant wait to see what the other members will bring, it's a show & tell.  ...feel like I meet some of the tribe :)

blossom where you are

Apple Blossom - 48 x 24 inch- oil on wood - $1500

It's May, it's May...the lusty month of May...that love'ly month when everyone goes blissfully astray...(can you hear Julie Andrews singing in the background??!) ha ha!!  I do love this month.  I've been getting my blossom on :)  The trees budding and bursting with bloom always thrill me. It's gardening season, and  I'm missing my lovely garden at my old house; but I've lots going on despite no gardening to be done here. 

a detail of oil painting 'Spring Quilt'
available through Studio 87, Perth
(formerly Gallery On Gore)

In my last post I mentioned that we are moving at the end of this month...we'll be at 803 Lotus Avenue in Kingston's east end, starting June 1st.  It will take us about a week to settle in, and then 'poof!' it will be summer!  
This year, summer is full of visits with family and a couple of weddings for us, so again this year I'm unable to commit to do any art shows over the summer at all.  I'm kind of missing that.  I'm that person who loves connecting with people who show up at the art shows I take part in.  I'm hoping I'll be able to do a few autumn art shows before the year ends.
Next weekend I'll be giving an art workshop in the little village of Bath, with the Bath Artisans group.  It should be rather fun; we're going to be painting upside down :) It's a method I often employ to help me switch off  brain chatter when I paint.  I thought it might be fun and interesting to share with other artists, especially if they've not tried it before.  The workshop is called "Turn Your Inner Critic Upside Down" and it's on Sat. May 13th.  
We'll be in Victoria for a week this month, so I feel like the month is going to fly. 

Joy in making

Sometimes my creative fancy takes forms in design and construction not always in painting, but often derived from my paintings in some way, made of or including tiny original paintings, or printed from one of my original paintings onto fabric.

Creating these designs gives me as much pleasure as painting; at least for short periods of time, until I saturate my desire for them.  It provides me with a  much needed diversion, especially when I have painting 'dry spells' or I'm stymied in some way while working through my usual painting process.  It's a common complaint for many artists, and getting going again can often be baby steps in new directions; the creative muse soon returns and all is good with the world

 

I think of making my handmade goods as an extension of  what I like to do and who I am.  Prototypes for these ideas often die in infancy, but some survive and come into fruition.  It can take a long time to bring a handmade into production.  Beginning from the time the idea drives my creativity,  I can spend hours laboring on different ways to make it work...then a long time tweaking, to make time, cost, and construction methods suitable for producing it.  It needs to meet a certain aesthetic that works with my art, but also stands alone.

Tiny Townscape Chocolates

'Chickadee'  - cushion -SOLD

Original designs and small product lines are always the driving force behind anything I create in the handmade goods market.  

I love the unique quality of making something out of time and love. That doesn't necessarily transfer to profitability but I don't always care about that. It satisfies me to 'make things' and if I sell them, well then it's a bonus for me.  I don't have an interest in scaling up to large production; small production is what makes them special and uniquely mine.  I find this ethos is a quality that people who buy my handmade goods are looking for... something distinct and one-off.