The Sidney Fine Art Show was a huge success by all accounts and quite a bit of fun. The "Dancing Killer Whales" table was a hit and I met quite a few people that gave me great feedback on it. Awards night was a blast but my only regret was that I didn't get to meet Art Vickers. Maybe next time I guess.....
So I am now working on the bigger panel for Italy and will have a few pics up for the next blog. After that I will be working on a Sun Mask so you'll be seeing lots of updates full of cedar chips!
I've went to the Sidney Night Market last night which was a little disappointing. I don't think there is enough advertising as there was a dismal turnout for the second straight time. I'm hoping it gets better as we get closer Xmas but I did learn a lesson.......get back into bringing something to work on. I had a drum with me that I spent the first while designing but unfortunately I didn't bring paints.
Also, this Saturday will be my last Moss Street Market for the year as I will be up island next Saturday. I will be attending the Moss Street Xmas Market this year but I'm not sure of the dates.
I was very pleased to receive a Jurors Choice Award last night at the Sidney Fine Art Show. There was so much fantastic art this year I was happy to just make it in to the show! If you get a chance to go to the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney it is on all weekend and you'll see some of the most beautiful art anywhere.
I took a few days off before the show but did manage to get the first panel done. All I have left to do on this piece is to put some hardwood braces across the back to prevent warping. I'll have some pics of the bigger one in the next day or two.
I almost forgot.......I will also be attending the "Meet the Artist" night at the show as well which is Saturday from around 6pm. Come have a glass of wine and chat with some fantastic artists!
I now have the first coat of the black formline on this panel as well as all the red. This is when it really starts taking shape and comes to life. I'm bringing it down to the market today so I'm not sure how much work I'll get done while I'm there. Sometimes you get lots done and other times next to nothing. I found out this morning that the market actually runs until the 31st so it looks like I'll have to come up with a costume for the last one.
I am thinking of doing another original design that will be used eventually for the giclee prints. I may do something similar to the abstract Killer Whale that I did this summer. I was going to use that one but it ended up getting sent to Cyprus of all places. That will have to be a project that I do maybe in the evenings while watching a little hockey.
Well I'm off to pack up for the market.......I hope there's not too much rain today!
As you can see in this picture I have most of the red on the panel. To get the red to look like a true red over the white it requires many coats. I think I've got 5 coats of red at this point but if you don't put enough you can sort of see white through the red and it doesn't look right to me. So the rest of the day today I will be working on the "points" of the red design with a fine brush and assuming that gets done I will move on to the black formline.
I was talking to my brother earlier today and he mentioned he has a piece available that at the moment has no home. As most of you probably know, I don't usually have much available as most of my work is commission pieces. So I asked him if I could put it here on the site and here we are.
The piece is a "Speaker" Mask and his dimensions are 17" high by 10" wide by 9" deep. That is a very big piece as far as masks go and as you can see in the pictures he has done a great job with a clean finish. It is carved out of red cedar and has cedar bark rope around the edges. For a piece of this size and finish he has an excellent price on it of $1050 which includes shipping (in North America). I would be more than happy to answer any questions about this piece. I have put the pictures in the Available section as well for a better view.
I almost forgot, I will have my booth set up at the Moss Street Market tomorrow. It's been 4 weeks since I last went so it should be a fun day. I may even bring the panel for something to work on but that depends on weather. Feel free to come by and enjoy the market........there's lots of great vendors and some awesome food as well!
Well I finally decided to bite the bullet and start a blog. I think it may stem from wanting to update the site more regularly and this would give me a little more motivation to do it.
As some of you know, I was working on a yellow cedar Coffee Table which was finished a little while ago. I entered it into the Sidney Fine Art Show and am very pleased to say I made it into this prestigious show. I think there were over 1400 entries this year so just getting in is an accomplishment. There are some pics in the Art in Progress section but not the high quality ones. I rely on Lynn for that!
I have also been working lately on a couple of panels for a gentleman in Italy. The order is for an Eagle with a Salmon that is very traditional (black and red) on a "rustic" red cedar panel that is whitewashed. Also the panel is to be painted only, no carving. Sounds easy on paper but the whitewash throws a wrench into the operation. Cedar oil tends to bleed pretty badly through white paint so you have to put on numerous undercoats as well as numerous layers of white. Also, red and black require more coats of paint over white as opposed to cedar so basically everything takes more time. Here is a sketch I did as a rough idea of where this is going.
Anyways, I'll try to keep this up-to-date as I go along. Feel free to ask any questions.....
