Artful Musings from the Gallery Gal

Pumpkin Art

2011-10-31T12:39:00.000-05:00

I have to confess, I have not carved a pumpkin in years. Ryan and I each carved one for our Halloween party in 2008. I thought we did a really good job (even though Ryan cheated... he used a stencil) but our pumpkin carving skills obviously rate average compared the following works of art.

Artist Ray Villafane is a master pumpkin carver! Prepare to be amazed!

Read more about the artist and his other artistic endeavors on his website Villafane Studios. You can buy signed prints of his creations and even commission him to carve your Halloween pumpkin!

This next carver, Noel Dickover carves Fantasy Pumpkins. Here are a few that caught my eye...

Wow! These guys have talent!

I know you're probably still wondering what our pumpkins looked like. Well here they are...

What do you think? Just a bit more practice before we become pumpkin carving masters?

Happy Halloween Friends!!!

Melissa Jean Art Demo

2011-10-28T20:54:00.006-05:00

Last year I started representing a vibrant young artist from Lake of the Woods, Ontario.

Photo courtesy of Joel Ross

Melissa Jean is a fast emerging artist who can barely keep up with her own creativity. Every new painting is an adventure for Melissa. She studies her home surroundings at Lake of the Woods with a unique perspective and an inquisitive eye. Whether she is looking up, looking through, or clearing brush to climb down to the perfect little painting spot, Melissa is always looking to show us the world from a new perspective. Her success in this first year of representation at Woodlands Gallery is very exciting.

She was first featured in the gallery during a group exhibition in Fall 2010, which resulted in a great pARTy and a number of art sales.

This Fall Melissa was the Feature Artist for September, showing 16 brand new paintings. She even offered a Friday afternoon to come to the gallery and demonstrate her paintings techniques. She worked on two paintings that afternoon... here are some photos of the process.

Photo courtesy of Joel Ross

"As I paint, there is an energy, a thought or an emotion that I try to capture into my painting... the inspiration filters through who I am and out onto canvas... traveling through to the viewer, and into their space. There is a human connection in an original piece of art, it is a thoughtful thing." -Melissa Jean

And

        here...

                  they...

                              are...

The completed paintings!

In The Woodlands, 24x18 acrylic on canvas

by Melissa Jean

Rocks and Raindrops, 24x24 acrylic on canvas

by Melissa Jean

There are so many great things coming up for Melissa! With each new painting completed, her energy and creativity are growing. We can hardly wait for the solo exhibition planned in the gallery for the Fall of 2012. Possibly to include another painting demonstration!

~ You can view more paintings by Melissa Jean on the gallery website.

~ Read more about what inspires Melissa most about nature and living in Lake of the Woods, Ontario.

Please visit the gallery at 535 Academy Road in Winnipeg to view Melissa's paintings. I guarantee they are even more awe inspiring in person!

Meet my Assistant Gallery Gal!

2011-10-08T16:49:00.000-05:00

I first met Stephanie when I was eleven and she was four when her family came over for a pool day in my parents’ back yard. I remember my sister and I being so excited to meet these 4 curly haired little girls (triplets and their little sister). Yes, Stephanie is a triplet! How neat is that?!?!

Little did we know back then, that our love of art would bring us together again more than 20 years later?

Stephanie graduated from Sheridan College with a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Illustration) in 2010. After graduation she moved back to Winnipeg. She is continuing to upgrade her education at the University of Manitoba School of Art and illustrating childrens books part time. Stephanie currently lives along the peaceful Red River with two cats and one sleepy Saluki dog.

I had been thinking of getting someone to help out in the gallery for a while. My Dad remembered that one of the McGregor triplets attended Art School and casually mentioned to her Dad one day that Stephanie should contact me about a possible opportunity in the gallery. She came in to meet me one day in March, then started coming in a few times a week and has naturally become my Assistant Gallery Gal.

If you would like to see some of Stephanie's Illustrations please visit stephaniemcgregor.ca

Stephanie would love to meet you! Please pop into the gallery to introduce yourself next time you are in the neighborhood.

The First Look

2011-06-17T11:23:00.004-05:00

Next Tuesday will mark the first day of Summer and it's finally starting to feel like it here in Winnipeg. Almost time to turn on the AC.

It's also wedding season! I have two weddings to attend this Summer and attended my first bridal shower of the season last weekend. I can't believe it's been almost a year since Ryan and I were married. July 24th will be our first anniversary!

So I figured it's about time to share a few more wedding favorites. The "First Look" photos!

Our wedding ceremony and reception were both held at the same location and we wanted the ceremony to flow right into the reception. Therefore, going against tradition, we chose to see each other and take our wedding party photos and lots of couple photos before the ceremony.

Many couples who choose take photos before the ceremony, and see each other all dressed up before the moment the bride walks down the isle, arrange a special private moment or "First Look" at each other.

Here is our "First Look" moment.

What was your "First Look" like? Did you have a private moment before the ceremony

or did you wait to see each other until just before you said I DO?

Libations, Lollipops, and Lines of Longitude

2011-04-18T17:17:00.000-05:00

"Libations, Lollipops, and Lines of Longitude" is the title of the current exhibition in the gallery. It's a solo exhibition of paintings full of candy colour and whimsy by gallery artist Angela Morgan.


"All good women should have, at the very least, a working knowledge of common household poisons", 36x36 oil on canvas by Angela Morgan

"Angela Morgan’s work celebrates humanity through the use of colour, pattern and line. Her human figures express the poses of life, the jubilation of dance, the contemplation of parenthood, and the melancholy of summer’s end. Colours fuse and meld to achieve gesture, transforming abstract images into living moments." via

"the obvious benefits of joining the circus"
30x30 oil on canvas by Angela Morgan

Angela, from Fernie, B.C., flew half way across the country to join us on Friday April 8th for the opening reception. With a personality as vibrant as her paintings, collectors enjoyed meeting Angela and hearing all about her inspiration and painting process.

The gallery is so colourful right now! I can't help smiling when I look at Angela Morgan's work. Libations, Lollipops, and Lines of Longitude is on display in the gallery until April 23rd. If you live in Winnipeg, please visit us for a smile soon. View more paintings by Angela Morgan here.

Does Angela's work bring a smile to your face? What memories or happy emotions does it evoke for you?

Literally Breathtaking...

2011-04-18T14:20:00.000-05:00

Earth Day is coming up and I could not wait to share the most breathtaking video I've ever seen!

Norwegian landscape photographer Terje Sorgjerd creates amazing time-lapse photographic videos. "The Mountain" showcases some of the most beautiful and breathtaking sites this planet has to offer.

"This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide. Spain´s highest mountain @(3715m) is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories.

The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and probably less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies." Terje Sorgjerd via

A few more stunning videos by Terje Sorgjerd are "The Market", "The Aurora", "Glimpse of Norway" and "The Southwest".

There are no words to describe how much these videos moved me! This guy is an amazing artist!

Lost In A Painting

2011-02-22T11:12:00.001-06:00

On Friday I received 8 new paintings by one of my newer gallery artists Melissa Jean. They are all so beautiful but there is one piece in particular that I can't stop looking at. Every time I glance over, I can't help getting lost inside it. Being surrounded by art & artists every day, this is not something new for me but it's such a wonderful feeling. Isn't that what art's all about?

This painting for instance... Can't you just feel the water around your ankles and then the sand between your toes when the water rushes back? Can you see the sweet little bubbles created by the water coming and going? The movement and clarity of the water glistening in the sun makes me smile. I know the lake water is cold but I can't help wanting to dive in for a swim. It really takes my breath away.

From Coney Beach, 24x24 acrylic on canvas by Melissa Jean

This is one of the moments that makes me thankful for what I do everyday. Bringing joy to so many people with art... what could be better?

Is there a piece of art that you get lost in? A piece that takes you away? It can be anything... Art is everywhere!

Take a moment today... Get lost in some ART!

You can view more of Melissa Jean's paintings here.

Happy Valentines! HEART ART

2011-02-14T07:37:00.000-06:00

Mosaic Heart Sculpture (San Fransisco) by Laurel True

via

The most delicious EVER Imperial Cookies from High Tea Bakery

via

LOVE Sugar Cookies from High Tea Bakery

via

Souvenir Amoureux, acrylic on canvas by Melan

via

Love's Promise, Fine Art Photograph by Carla Dyck

via

Une Soiree Romantique, oil on canvas by Kim Veilleux

via

Heart My Book, Fine Art Photograph by Sarah Moldovan

via

Stained Glass Heart Suncatcher

via

Red Love, paper garland of hand cut hearts

via

Lego Heart Necklaces

via

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

2011-02-06T17:09:00.004-06:00

I've been promising more wedding photos since my sneak peek back in the Fall. Since there are almost 1000 photos to choose from I've decided to split the day into... The First Look, Fun Photos, The Ceremony & Reception etc.

First, I'll share a little about my Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed & Something Blue... (maybe not in that order)

Something Blue

In university I joined Alpha Delta Pi Sorority which will always be special to me for so many reasons. Alpha Delta Pi is about scholarship, leadership, philanthropy and lifelong friends. Because our colours are blue & white, on my wedding day, I wore my diamond shaped badge with sapphires and pearls pined to the under layer of my dress as my "Something Blue".

My ADPi sorority gals and I at our wedding reception.

Something Borrowed

On my wedding day, my mom let me wear her diamond stud earrings. Although there's isn't much of a history behind them, it was simply a pleasure and a privilege to wear them. Thanks Mom!

Something New

My wedding dress of course! Finding a wedding dress wasn't easy. My first thought was always "Will Ryan like it?". Everyone would always try to reassure me... "Of course he will... He will love whatever dress you wear". Well, I wasn't so convinced... Every time I pulled out a bridal magazine or turned to "Say Yes, To The Dress" he made comments about how all the dresses were too poofy, too sparkly, too lacy, too frilly or too plain. How would I ever choose something just right?

One day, it happened! One of my bridesmaids, Corie, and I set out to a particular bridal store downtown. To our surprise, we came upon several more bridal shops right in the area. After trying on about 10 dresses, in the first shop, I was discouraged again. But Corie and the consultant were not ready to give up on me. They encouraged me to try on just one more dress. And guess what...? It was the ONE! It could not have been more ME. It fit perfectly and seemed to meet all the must haves and must not haves on my list. HOOORAY!!!! You'll have to wait for the "First Look" photos to see Ryan's reaction :)

Something Old

I had two beautiful and meaningful pieces for something old.

The first one, my Nana's flower shaped diamond ring. I remember my Nana (Dad's mom) always wore beautiful rings and jewellery and I feel so honoured to have worn one of those pieces.

The second piece of something old was from my mother in law. It was the string of pearls she wore on her wedding day, given to her by her mother. These pearls are especially meaningful, because she passed away a little more than a month before our wedding. She so so so badly wanted to make it to the wedding.

After she passed, the pearls were chosen for me by Ryan and his siblings on her behalf. I know she would have been so delighted and touched to see me wear them on our wedding day. They were an absolute perfect compliment to my dress. Maybe one day I can pass them on to one of her future granddaughters.

Ryan's Something Old
After his mom passed, Ryan and his siblings (their father passed away a couple years prior) had the difficult task of sorting through their parents personal belongings. During this process, is when they decided to gift the pearls to me. Ryan also found some gold and silver cuff links that belonged to his Dad with the letter "D" (for their family name) engraved in them.

Although his parents were not physically with us on our wedding day, they were present in our hearts. His cuff links and my pearls also served as very meaningful mementos.

All Photos (except the two of my sorority gals and I - Thanks Megan!) by Mairen at Luckygirl Photography

What special mementos served as your Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue? I would love to hear stories about your special day!

An Owl Family Photo sHOOT

2011-02-02T17:23:00.001-06:00

The other day while I was photographing Tara Tuchscherer's new ceramics for the gallery website, I could not resist having a bit of fun with her ceramic owls. These creatures of hers have so much personality, I just love them!!! So I thought they were also deserving of a little photo sHOOT!

The "New" Kids

"Fall In"

"Eyes FRONT"

"Everybody say mouseee..."

"All together now..."

"All the small kids get to the front..."

"Ready... Set... Serious faces..."

Little Peanut

Recess!

A fun photo shoot in the gallery! Maybe in the summer I'll take the family outside for another. Here are a couple of Tara's other ceramic works with prairie influence...

You can view more of Tara's work on the gallery website here.

Hoar Frost Morning

2011-01-27T12:04:00.000-06:00

This morning Winnipeg woke up to a thick layer of hoar frost covering the city.

Hoar Frost, defined by Wikipedia, "refers to the white ice crystals, loosely deposited on the ground or exposed objects, that form on cold clear nights when heat losses into the open skies cause objects to become colder than the surrounding air."

The abstract forms the ice crystals take on, are so interesting and beautiful. Here are a few shots I took as I was leaving the house this morning...

It's most beautiful when the sky is blue and the sun is shining...

via

The last two shots are by local photographer Ken Gillespie. Check out more amazing images on his blog here.

Even though we just had a week of unbearable minus 30 to 40 temps, it's refreshing to know we get days like this every once in a while. Winter can be brutal and beautiful here in Winnipeg.

Have a lovely day friends!

Video: Meet Fine Jewellery Artist Cathy Sutton

2011-01-18T12:39:00.001-06:00

My gallery jewellery artist is a star!!! On Friday January 14th Winnipeg Beach jewellery artist Cathy Sutton was featured on Prairie Pulse on our local Prairie Public Television.

Cathy's spotlight is in the last half of the program so please fast forward to about 19:35.

I've previously posted about Cathy's wearable fine art here and here. You can view more of Cathy's jewellery on my gallery website here or on Cathy's Facebook page.

Have a beautiful Tuesday!

Reflections on A Great Year!

2011-01-06T12:32:00.002-06:00

The gallery is back to regular hours after a nice break between Christmas & New Years.

2010 was an Unforgettable Year!!! Planning my wedding and getting married in July, marked 2010 as one of the best times in my life! Although stressful at times, planning all the little details that went into making our day so special was all worth it.

I finally got the disc of our professional wedding photos so I hope to share more moments of our day soon. There's a peek in a couple earlier posts here and here.

July 2010 also marked my 10 year anniversary of owning Woodlands Gallery! I still had one year left in University when I took over the gallery in July 2000 and really had no clue what I was getting into. It was a bit of a struggle to say the least; going to school full time (my thesis year) and trying to get to know the new business I was supposed to be running. But here I am today with a successful art business that I absolutely LOVE!

One of the major milestones for the gallery was moving to Academy Road in February 2005, when I changed the focus of the gallery to representing Original Canadian Art. I can't believe it's almost been 6 years! Because February 2010 marked 5 years on Academy, we treated the gallery to a much needed interior makeover seen here. The building owner also gave the gallery an even more needed exterior makeover.

Two of my best friends had their first babies in 2010, which has been such a unbelievable experience to be close to. I sooo look forward to watching them grow up!

There are babies everywhere lately! Not only were two out of three of my bridesmaids expecting at our wedding, there were all together 6 pregnant women at our wedding of only about 100 people. The last of our 6 friends had a baby boy (her third) on Christmas day. Lots of babies...

...which YES makes me think more of starting a family of my own someday. It seems to be the next question on everyone's mind lately... "so when are you planning to have children?". And I absolutely do want to have babies... when we're ready... maybe in the next couple of years :)

In September, Ryan and I went to San Francisco and Wine Country. Another experience of a lifetime! Cable cars, the Golden Gate Bridge, crazy hills, Alcatraz, Pier 39, the 49ers, murals, Muir Woods, delicious wine & food, so many amazing photos and so much more!

I do plan on sharing more photos of our trip... they just need to be selected from over 2000 shots and sized down which can be a tedious task to say the least. Especially since my computer at home is in need of a major overhaul. You can check out a glimpse of our day at the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa here.

So here's to looking forward to great things in 2011! There are a few new artists being introduced to the gallery this year, solo shows for Angela Morgan and Hugh G. Rice and of course more new works by all gallery artists throughout the year.

On a personal level, Ryan and I are looking forward to finishing our basement at home, which has been a work in progress for almost 2 years. But it's really starting to come together... He has a few exterior walls built and the plumbing for the new laundry room is all set up. Our new washer & dryer are coming on Saturday! When it's all done (I'm hoping for September) I'll make sure to post some before and after shots.

Happy 2011 Everyone!!! I can't wait to hear about what's going on in all of your lives too!

Robert Mondavi Winery

2010-11-29T13:35:00.008-06:00

I can't believe it's been 2 months since Ryan and I got back from San Francisco and Wine Country, and this is my first post about our trip... With the exception of my "Airport Art" post which doesn't really count as part of our trip. We spent 4 days in San Francisco and 3 days in Wine Country and I have so much to share...

What inspired this post was opening our bottle of Robert Mondavi 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon that we picked up in Napa at the Robert Mondavi Winery. We are re-living the beautiful moments of our honeymoon sip by sip.

The Robert Mondavi Winery was our first stop when we arrived in Wine Country. Since this was our first winery visit we decided to sign up for the $25.00 per person Signature Tour & Tasting... It was well worth it and let me ~~tell you~~ show you how amazing it was...

Saint Francis, Bonze and Glass Mosaic by Beniamino Bufano, 1929

"This large bronze sculpture of St. Francis, greets visitors as they arrive to the winery. There are several sculptures of St. Francis at the winery, as the Franciscan missionaries were the first to bring wine grapes to California." via

Welcoming Muse, sculpture in bronze by Henry Wadell
acquired by Robert Mondavi Winery in 1982

Fermentation Room

Barrel Aging

In the distance, another sculpture of St. Francis by Beniamino Bufano

from the 1950's watches over the barrels.

Bottling

The Making of Corks

In the Tasting Room

I'm so glad we decided to take a guided tour of the vineyard. It was an absolutely beautiful property and we learned so many neat things about growing grapes, grape varietals and wine making. At the end of the educational tour we were offered a delicious wine tasting.

Our visit to the Robert Mondavi Winery was amazing! Wine making has to be one of the most interesting and delicious occupations.

Do you enjoy wine? Does grape growing and wine making interest you or do you simply love the results?

Hello Winterpeg!!!

2010-11-19T11:26:00.000-06:00

We were lucky here in Winnipeg that Winter held off until now. We had an incredible November with above average temperatures. Now it's time to face reality! This is just the beginning...

10:25 AM Academy Road, Winnipeg, MB - November 19, 2010

Stay warm and drive safe Winnipeggers!

We Named Her "Sofia": Before & After Framing

2010-11-10T14:59:00.001-06:00

My sister in law came into the gallery a few weeks ago to see what ideas I had about re-framing a piece of artwork she recently inherited. This beautiful original painting, very dear to her, was purchased by my mother in law while in Paris in the 60's.

We could see from the sticker on the back that she had it custom framed at Eaton's. The frame was chipped, cracked and outdated. The artwork was in need of a well deserved update.

We looked at several different mat & frame combinations and decided on a neutral ivory top mat with a rust coloured accent. I love how the rust accent mat brings out and compliments the soft blue sky so well. We chose this frame because it had a contemporary yet rustic quality and the geometric component worked really well with the buildings in the background.

Most of the frames I use in the gallery are from a company called Larson Juhl which are grouped by collection and then by number. The name of the collection of our selected frame was called "Sofia". Beautiful! So this is what we're naming her.

Here's a Before & After...

What do you think of "Sofia" in her fresh new look? Isn't she beautiful?!?!

.

Great pARTy!

2010-11-05T20:27:00.004-05:00

Last night was the opening reception for the New Artists 2010 exhibition in the gallery. We had a great turnout and a great time!

The show featured Winnipeg artist Brandy Lynn, Kenora artist Melissa Jean and BC artist Peter Wyse. Anytime there is a local artist in attendance we always have a fantastic turnout. Add relatively local artist Melissa Jean from Kenora (only 2 hours away) and we had a PARTY!

Me & Featured Artist Brandy Lynn

Me & Featured Artist Melissa Jean

Brandy Lynn and Melissa Jean being young emerging artists, brought in a refreshingly younger crowd to the gallery. I had the opportunity to meet lots of their family, friends and new collectors. Every time I turned around Melissa was introducing me to another one of her cousins. She has a large family, many of whom are also living creative entrepreneurial lives.

One of Melissa's cousins happens to be award winning photographer Joel Ross. Joel and his team are known in the community mostly for wedding photography but also handle engagement, maternity, newborn, baby, kids, family and commercial photography. He's a young guy to have already built such a successful photography business. This morning Melissa dropped off a disc of fun photos Joel snaped at the opening last night. Check them out below! Also visit www.joelross.com/blog/ to learn more about his professioanal photography.

Jerrod, Melissa, Joel

Me, Melissa, Rick

Me & Ryan

Here's a couple silly shots...

Trying to take a nice photo - Take ONE

Trying to take a nice photo - Take TWO

In an upcoming post I am excited to share more about another one of Melissa's cousins who's company converts reclaimed wood into beautiful hardwood flooring, architectural design, furniture and ART projects.

Wearable Art by Cathy Sutton

2010-11-03T13:45:00.004-05:00

The other day, Cathy Sutton, a jewelery artist I represent in the gallery brought in a couple fantastic new pieces. She is so creative and I absolutely love her work!

These two most recent pieces are fold formed copper roses surrounded by tortured copper with silver applique.If I don't sell Autumn Rose soon I don't know how much longer I'll be able to resist buying it myself.

Autumn Rose Necklace by Cathy Sutton

Deep Rose Necklace by Cathy Sutton

Here are a couple more of Cathy's pieces I fell in love with. Fingers crossed she'll bring them into the gallery.

Montana Agate on sterling silver, tortured copper and large sterling bail by Cathy Sutton

Tortured Copper with cut out and beaded edge by Cathy Sutton

What do you think? Aren't her pieces just so unique? You can view more of Cathy's work here on my gallery website or here on her Facebook page. She also just started working with a jewelery shop/gallery in West Vancouver for any fans in BC.

Please Excuse The Mess...

2010-10-30T15:56:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday was the last day of Rick Bond's solo exhibition in the gallery and Thursday November 4th is the opening for the 'New Gallery Artists' show. So this week, was what I like to call transition week, the week in between shows.

Normally I like to keep the gallery fairly tidy but transition week is a totally different story. No matter how hard I try, it's inevitable that the gallery gets a bit cluttered. New paintings for the upcoming show are arriving every day and we are getting ready to frame and hang all the featured works. Meanwhile pieces are still coming in from other gallery artists and we need to find places to hang or store the unsold works from the previos show. Here's a visual...

I find myself saying "please excuse the mess" multiple times a day with a short reference to the transition between shows. I always want to make a good impression on gallery visitors and I would hate for any newcomers to think it's always this way. This also gives me an opportunity to introduce myself and the upcoming show. However, in a way, some people seem to love the clutter and chaos. I think it gives them the feeling they are part of an unveiling of new works.

As much as it feels like we're never going to find places to put everything and get it all done, it always works out just in time for opening night.

The 'New Artists 2010' exhibition featuring Melissa Jean, Brandy Lynn and Peter Wyse opens on Thursday November 4th. If you live in Winnipeg please pop by Woodlands Gallery at 535 Academy Road between 6:30 to 9:00 pm to help us give these three new artists a warm welcome to our list of represented artists. Melissa Jean and Brandy Lynn will be in attendance.

Fall at Butchart Gardens, Victoria, B.C., Canada

2010-10-21T11:22:00.001-05:00

I received these lovely images in an email this morning. I thought I would share.

All images via

Have a beautiful day!

Fall Buzz

2010-10-15T12:29:00.000-05:00

It's the Fall BUZZ in the gallery! Fall is a great time of year to decorate your home with new artwork for all your upcoming holiday gatherings. As artwork is leaving the gallery and finding new homes we are constantly bringing in new pieces from all of our artists.

It was just last Thursday that we had the opening reception for Rick Bond's solo show in the gallery and planning has already kicked into high gear for shows in November and December. It's a crazy, busy & fun time of year! Here's a sample of some of the new pieces coming in...

Earlier THIS WEEK I received a shipment of 11 new paintings by Quebec artist Melan, one fantastic new painting by Regina artist Carl Schlademan and a bunch of new fibre art pieces from Brandy Lynn.

Energie Lumineuse, 30x60 acrylic on canvas by Melan

The Way You Smile, 20x60 acrylic on canvas by Carl Schlademan

Campfire Moon, 17x17 Fibre Art by Brandy Lynn

TODAY I'm expecting 10 new paintings by Quebec artist Gerard Lapointe.

Coloration d'automne, 30x36 oil on canvas by Gerard Lapointe

TOMORROW Melissa Jean is driving in from Kenora to give me a few new pieces for the upcoming new gallery artists show.

Norman Park, 18x36 acrylic on canvas by Melissa Jean

In the NEXT TWO WEEKS I'm expecting 3 new paintings from B.C artist Peter Wyse, 6 new paintings from B.C. artist Angela Morgan and 7 new paintings from Winnipeg artist Hugh G Rice.

The Lion Tamer, 24x24 acrylic on board by Peter Wyse

There's an ant in every giant, 60 x 40 oil on canvas by Angela Morgan

Plain Peace, 30x36 mixed media on canvas by Hugh G. Rice

That's 50 new pieces of artwork in about three weeks! It's so exciting when we get to unpack all these fabulous new works of art from all over Canada! I better get busy moving more Rick Bond paintings out the door to make room for all the new work.

Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be in my glory unpacking new artwork for the gallery :)

Morning at the Park

2010-10-11T17:55:00.002-05:00

What a beautiful day to spend at the Park! This morning I met some out of town family at the Assiniboine Park, which is just a short walk from home.

The first photo was taken at the end of my street at 9:20 AM. Across the street, there is a footbridge that crosses the Assiniboine River leading to the Assiniboine Park.

Walking towards the Assiniboine Park Footbridge

Looking East on the Footbridge

Looking West on the Footbridge

A Walking / Bike Path at the Park

The Assiniboine Park Pavilion
(inside is Terrace Fifty-Five Restaurant & The Pavilion Gallery Museum)

The Boy with the Boot, Bronze by Leo Mol
Entrance to The English Gardens & Leo Mol Sculpture Garden

Swing and Reflecting Pool, Bronze by Leo Mol - 1980

...going to the zoo...

My cute little Cousin

Ground Squirel

Monkeys

Cuties

Leopard

Peacock

Zeebras

Camels

Lion (my favorite)

Pretty Berries

How did you spend this lovely Holiday Monday?

Opening Success!

2010-10-09T10:16:00.001-05:00

Thursday night was the opening reception for MOSAIC: A Solo Exhibition of Paintings by Rick Bond in my gallery.

The opening event was a success! There was a steady flow of visitors and Rick, in from BC, had the opportunity to chat and spend some time with a few collectors and followers who were thrilled to meet him in person. And of course we made some sales!!!

Me and Canadian Artist Rick Bond

MOSAIC: New Paintings by Rick Bond

2010-09-28T15:52:00.002-05:00

I just added more than 20 new paintings by Rick Bond to the gallery website! These fantastic new arrivals will all be featured in his upcoming solo exhibition MOSAIC, in the gallery from October 7th to 23rd, 2010.

An exhibition of rugged landscapes, European eclecticness and urban jazz unite to express human emotion in the most brilliant form.

Branches of Kalamalka, 36x36 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bons

Getting ready for a gallery exhibition is a ton of work. Depending on the size of works, solo or group exhibitions (in my gallery that is) can feature between 20 and 40 pieces. This one in particular has been on the calendar for about a year and has been in full planning mode for more than 8 weeks. I'll share the step by step exhibition planning details in a future post. For now, here are some of Rick Bonds newest paintings to enjoy!

Birds of Estuary, 11x14 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bond

Edge of Spirit Lake, 36x12 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bond

Cobblestone Streets, 24x20 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bond

Romantic Notes #1, 36x12 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bond

The Red Tree, 24x30 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bond

To view all 27 paintings featured in this exhibition please visit the MOSAIC exhibition page. If you live in Winnipeg and are interested in seeing this work in person the exhibition runs October 7th to 23rd at Woodlands Gallery, 535 Academy Road. Please join us at the Opening Reception on Thursday October 7th from 6:30 to 9:00 pm to enjoy refreshments and meet Rick Bond in person. He lives in BC and will be in Winnipeg for this one night only.

Airport Art

2010-09-27T22:17:00.000-05:00

On our way to and from San Francisco we spent some time SFO (San Francisco International Airport) and YVR (Vancouver International Airport). There are some really fantastic pieces of artwork in both airports.

This was the first piece that really caught my eye in SFO...

I managed to find some information on the piece on the SFO website. The artist is Mildred Howard and it's called "Salty Peanuts". Quite appropriate :) Here's a detail shot.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any information on these SFO pieces...

Vancouver International Airport has a "spectacular visual display of award-winning art and architecture". Here are a few great pieces that I came across along the way...

The artwork images from YVR are from the YVR Art Foundatio n website. I photographed the images from SFO.

These larger than life pieces of artwork are certainly awe inspiring and amazing, the last piece measuring 16 feet in diameter. The images hardly do them justice. I think these works also add an element of comfort and beauty to sometimes uncomfortable wait times and layovers.

Have you noticed any artwork at airports in your travels?

Beautiful Fall

2010-09-27T20:52:00.000-05:00

We got home late Saturday night from our trip to San Francisco & Sonoma Valley. We had an absolutely fantastic time, which I'm sure I'll share bit by bit. There was so much to see and do in SF that a week wasn't close to enough. Wine Country was as beautiful as it was delicious!

Sunday was such a great day to relax before going back to the daily routine today. It was warm, sunny and the leaves are just starting to turn and fall. Isn't Fall beautiful?!?

Surprise To My Love...

2010-09-14T10:18:00.002-05:00

Recently I shared that my hubby and I are leaving soon for our honeymoon in San Francisco and that if we're lucky this might be our first of two (I'll get to this part later).

A Little Background Info: My husband Ryan was born in the San Francisco Bay area but only lived there for a few years before moving to Canada. He was raised Roman Catholic and even went to Catholic schools growing up. But the number one Sunday ritual in his house was 49ers football. He watched every game with his dad and his whole family were fans.

Ryan has only been back to San Francisco a couple times since he moved here and has never been to a 49ers football game. Here's where I come in....

The Surprise: Since we got engaged I have been planning my wedding gift to him. The gift had four parts to it and when he opened it the day after our wedding, he shed a few tears.

Gift #1 - WestJet Buddy Passes

(almost free passes to any westjet destination)

Gift #2 - San Francisco Travel Brochures

Gift #3 - Matching 49ers Jerseys and 49ers Hats

At this point he still couldn't guess what the 4th gift was... he was too blown away that we were going to San Francisco.

See the Huge Smile?

This is when the tears came :)
Gift #4 - A 49ers Home Game Schedule

& Tickets to a 49ers Home Game!

Even though we'll only be going to one game, I ended up getting season tickets. Yes I'm crazy! But I'm selling the rest (and I only have 3 games left to sell). I wasn't sure when we would be able to get away so I wanted to leave the options open as to what game we were going to. I also wanted to make sure we got reasonably good seats at a reasonable price.

He was pretty excited to say the least!

He could not believe how I had pulled this off as a surprise and never would have imagined that I would get him tickets to see a game.

A virtual view from our seats

Fingers Crossed: Originally this trip to SF was only going to be a weekend trip to see the game. Well shortly after the wedding, Ryan got a new job and his vacation time is pretty much nil for the first year. So because this trip was somewhat already planned we've decided to extend it and stay in Sonoma Wine Country for a few days as a mini honeymoon. We plan to tour some local wineries, try some delicious wines, eat fresh cheese and other farmers market goods and book some services at the luxurious hotel spa. Our original honeymoon plan was to escape to a tropical beach resort sometime in the winter but we can only keep our fingers crossed that we will get vacation time for this one too. Wouldn't it be lovely to have two honeymoons? I can dream.

What kind of surprises have you received or planned for someone you love? I would love to hear about them!

Fabulous Friday!

2010-09-10T12:39:00.003-05:00

Even though is cloudy and pouring rain out today, it is a great day for at least three reasons!

1. I sold that Marcel Cote painting featured in yesterdays post!

2. I finally got the link to view all my professional wedding photos online! There are 961 absolutely stunning shots all taken by Mairen from Luckygirl Photography! I'm all finished crying now but was a bit of a sappy mess when my client came in to buy the Marcel Cote painting. Here's a quick peek at some photos...

3. I just received 5 boxes of paintings shipped from Rick Bond in BC. I have a solo exhibition opening for him on October 7th and he promised to send at least 20 new paintings. YAY! It's just like Christmas getting shipments from my artists. I can't wait to get started on this....

Here's a few paintings by Rick Bond so you can see what I'm so excited about! You can view more of his work here. The new pieces will probably be posted on the website in a couple weeks.

Minnewanka, 36x48 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bond


Romantic Notes #1, 36x12 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bond

Cobblestone Streets, 24x20 acrylic on canvas by Rick Bond

Well it's almost the weekend and so far it's off to a great start (except for the weather)! Are you having a Fabulous Friday? I would love to hear about it!

Painting of the Day

2010-09-09T12:53:00.000-05:00

In the last couple of days this has been the "painting of the day". There have been a few people in the gallery who have just loved this piece. Of course I can see why... it's beautiful! It's such a bright, happy painting and the little flowers are like a breath of fresh air. I know this is more Spring than Fall but I wanted to share anyway.

La musique est joie, 30x36 acrylic on canvas by Marcel Cote

So pretty! You can see more Marcel Cote paintings on my gallery website here. It's almost the weekend, happy Thursday everyone!

San Francisco in Jell-O

2010-09-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

I'm getting so excited!!! Our honeymoon in San Francisco is coming up very soon. This will be the 1st of 2 if we're lucky - we're hoping to escape to an all inclusive beach resort sometime in the winter.

I love planning trips and doing research so that I make the most of the experience. I'm quickly learning that you could probably spend a lifetime in San Francisco and not experience it all. So needless to say it's tough trying to squeeze it all into one week. Last night while I was reading Fodor's San Francisco 2010: With The Wine Country and came across a web site with this description "... for photos of a model of SF made from Jell-O"

Hmmm this sounds interesting... Immediately I reached for my iTouch and searched the address. WOW! The coolest most colourful artwork popped up. You can click on the images for more detailed views.

View from Alcatraz, 2007, C-Print
12"x38" 26"x84"
editions of 20

Liz Hickok is a San Francisco-based artist working in photography, video, sculpture, installation, and currently, Jell-O. Read more about Liz here and her extensive resume here. The following is a quote from her artist statement "I create glowing, jellied scale models of urban sites, transforming ordinary physical surroundings into something unexpected and ephemeral. Lit from below, the molded shapes of the city blur into a jewel-like mosaic of luminous color and volume." Read the rest of her statement here.

After she makes the molds and fills them with jello, she creates installations for public viewing as well as professional photographs that are made into prints available for purchase.

The City, 2005, C-print
16"x30" (sold out) 35"x65" (sold out)
edition of 12

Alamo Square, 2004, C-print
12"x16" (sold out) 30"x40" (available)
edition of 12

Bay Bridge, 2005, C-print
12"x24" (sold out) 30"x60" (available)
edition of 12

Palace of Fine Arts, 2006 , C-Print
12"x16" 36"x48"
editions of 12

There are so many creative people out there! Beautiful art can be made even from Jell-O!

Fabric Inspiration for a Sweet Side Chair

2010-09-05T20:45:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about fabric. Ever since Lenore at Lather.Write.Repeat posted Etsy Love: Skinny Laminx showing some beautiful fabrics she ordered, I've been thinking about what fabric I'll use to recover a sweet side chair I inherited from my grandfather.

I went over to my parents place earlier this evening to take this photo (I store a few pieces there that are waiting to be refinished one day) and I learned a neat little piece of info about this chair. When my dad was little, my grandfather (Papa, to my sister & brother and I) actually took this chair from a neighbors trash. He refinished the wood himself and had it professionally re-upholstered. So it seems I am not the first one to take in this little chair and give it some love.

I plan to sand it and either re-stain or paint it dark and re-cover the seat with something more contemporary. I would like to use the chair in my living room. However, we'll be painting and redecorating in the next couple of years (let's hope I get to it before then) so I'll probably stick to a primarily black and cream pattern. With this in mind, here are some of my favorites...

I found this one here

This one here

This would be a great splash of colour!

This one here

I thought this one was really neat

This one here

Wow I could spend hours browsing fabric online. There are so many neat designs and project ideas. I would love to make cushions, tablecloths, bags, curtains... ooooh the inspiration.

Have you ever re-upholstered anything before? Which fabric do you think best suits my side chair?

New Artist Melissa Jean

2010-09-03T17:13:00.002-05:00

Welcome Melissa Jean to Woodlands Gallery's list of represented artists. This morning Melissa came in with 5 new paintings. She's young, vibrant and she has such a great energy. I'm so excited to be working with her. We discussed dates for a Fall group show to include a hand full of new artists I've added this year. I just love the bright colours and unique perspective in her paintings.

Summer Reflections, 24x24 acrylic on canvas

Autumn Canopy, 40x40 oil on canvas

Deep Forest (triptych), each 24x18 oil on canvas

Morning Light, 24x48 acrylic on canvas

White Towers Blue Sky, 24x48 oil on canvas

Happy Long Weekend!

Prairie Abstractions by Hugh G. Rice

2010-09-02T15:28:00.002-05:00

Last week 15 new paintings arrived by local artist Hugh G. Rice. His series of abstract prairie landscapes are created entirely without brushes.

The Road I'm On, 48x48 mixed media on canvas by Hugh G. Rice

He uses sprays and a variety of other applications instead of the traditional paint brush, also adding, removing and moving the paint around with found objects from his studio.

Coming Into The Open, 48x48 mixed media on canvas by Hugh G. Rice

Not Moving From Here, 40x40 mixed media on canvas by Hugh G. Rice

Much like the weather on the prairies these days, these new works are very moody. People in the gallery are commenting that they see storms coming, storms clearing, northern lights and lots of movement in these pieces. You can view more paintings by Hugh G. Rice here.

Can you relate to the moody weather in these paintings?

New Frame = New Look

2010-09-01T15:22:00.001-05:00

On occasion clients will call me for advise on what to do with older framed pieces of artwork that they don't like anymore or that no longer work with their decor.

To start, I usually ask what it is about the piece that doesn't work for them anymore. Most of the time the reply is something like...
- "The frame is too large and clunky" or "... too small"
- "The colours don't work with our new decor"
- "It's too dark and heavy looking"
- "There is not enough wow factor" ...etc.

Often, most of the issues they have are about the frame and they don't even realize it. So I always ask... "Have you thought about updating the frame?" An old frame can really drag a piece down. My first instinct is that, at one time they probably loved this piece but perhaps some of their decorating tastes have changed. You can make a world of difference for a piece of artwork just by changing the frame.

Recently a corporate client came to me with a series of beautiful original paintings by a local artist depicting Winnipeg's history. The frames were a thin gold aluminum, there was only one mat and they just looked blah.

They wanted to refresh the look of the paintings to fit into a newly renovated space in their building. We decided on dark (almost black) wooden frames that would stand out against the walls. The frame has a more traditional profile to fit with the subject matter of the paintings, but a clean smooth finish to fit with the texture and lines of the space. We also changed the matting using two mats instead of one, with an accent mat in a similar colour to the frame.

I didn't get a chance to photograph the space so these photos were just taken in the gallery.

This probably isn't the most dramatic update I've done but overall I think it has enhanced the painting and given it more life. Stay tuned for more frame updates in future posts.

Do you have any old tired pieces of artwork that you've fallen out of love with? Have you considered a frame update?

Mmmmm Cheese

2010-08-30T10:18:00.000-05:00

On Saturday a friend had a birthday/house warming party and the theme was CHEESE. Mmmm my favorite, what a great idea!

Immediately I knew the place to go. G. J. Andrews (formerly Stephen & Andrews) is a local specialty food & wine shoppe on Academy Road near the gallery. They sell everything from your everyday grocery needs along with all sorts of delicious gourmet foods, a lovely selection of wine, perfectly tender & aged meats, fresh fish and seafood and an overwhelming selection of Canadian and imported cheeses. It was so hard to decide what types of cheeses to buy so they let me sample a couple... like that made my decision any easier.

Here's what I went with...

Red Dragon: A Welsh cheddar with mustard seeds & Welsh ale aged for 3 month. The mustard seeds add great flavor and a delicious amount of spice and texture. Would go perfectly on a roast beef sandwich!

Port Salut: A creamy, semi-soft cheese made from cow's milk. Perfect for cheese & crackers and of course a nice glass of wine.

Blueberry Wensleydale: A traditional British cheese aged at only 3 weeks. It's moist, a bit crumbly, has a bit of tang from the blueberries and a honey like after taste. A great dessert cheese.

There was a mouth watering selection of cheeses at the party from brie, gouda, wine marbled, blue cheese and so on. My two favorites that I had never tried before were...

1. Thai Curry cheese which I could not stop eating. It was the texture of a mozzarella or cheddar, looked just like a spicy yellow/green curry sauce and had an incredible flavor. Yum!

2. A Dark Chocolate cheese... YES I said CHOCOLATE! You could have fooled me because this cheese had the taste and texture of a real dark chocolate fudge. Now this is a dessert cheese!

On my next visit to G. J. Andrews I will sure be checking to see if they have these two unique flavors. I know you'll be checking your local cheese shop too!

Smiles for Baby Feet

2010-08-30T08:39:00.002-05:00

Last week one of my best girlfriends welcomed her first little one into the world. It's A Girl!!! A wee 7lb 15oz little girl. We got to visit them in the hospital at just 30 hours old. She was so beautiful and perfect! Whenever I see a new little baby I just can't get over their wee little hands and feet. The perfect little fingers, toes and nails amaze me. So miraculous! Here's a shot of the little toes to add a smile to your Monday.

Unconventional Art

2010-08-27T12:53:00.001-05:00

What is art? I think if 100 people were asked this question, there would quite possibly be 100 different answers. Art can be found in music, theater, film, literature, photography, painting and sculpture but there are also so many different forms of unconventional art. We just need to be open to finding it.

This post was inspired by this mornings post on Other Than The Weather titled playing with dirt about dirty car art. Artist Scott Wade uses a paint brush to make paintings on the windows of dirty cars.

Another artist who's works may be considered unconventional is Italian body painter Guido Daniele. He paints models for advertising shoots and commercials, fashion events and exhibitions. Here are a few of my favorites from his "Handimals" series.

How cool are those?!?! Another amazing unconventional art form is pavement drawing. Julian Beever has been drawing/painting on pavement for over 10 years and has done pieces all over the world. Can you believe some of these?

I love this stuff! Stay tuned for more posts on unconventional art. We're visiting San Francisco in September and I hear there are some great murals in the Mission District.

Aperture

2010-08-26T16:28:00.002-05:00

Aperture - Defined by Wikipedia as... "In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels."

In a camera, the aperture is the opening of the lens. The lens of a camera can be compared to our eyes... On a bright sunny day, our pupils will get very small only allowing a limited amount of light to enter. In the dark our pupils open wide, letting in more light, which helps us to see better.

In photography the aperture is used to control light exposure and depth of field. You can change the aperture to allow for a longer or shorter depth of field.

When photographing landscapes or wide angle shots a narrow aperture will allow for more depth of field so the entire scene can be in focus from the flowers in the foreground to as far as the eye can see.

Narrow Aperture f/29

(the foreground and the background are in focus)

For portraits or photographing small objects a wide aperture will shorten the depth of field allowing your subject to be sharp but blurring the background for less distraction.

Wide Aperture f/4.5
(the subject is in focus and the background is blurred)

The aperture of a camera is measured in "f-stops" (i.e. f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/8.0, f/11, f/16, f/22). The smaller the aperture number or f-stop the wider the aperture opening.

Below are a couple more examples of how aperture numbers affect depth of field in a photograph. The exercise on aperture in my first DSLR lesson was to arrange several same size objects evenly spaced away from the camera lens. For both sets of images I took one photo on each of the aperture settings. I put 4 of each together to show the aperture range.

Click on the images for better resolution and more detail.

Top, Left - f/4.5, Top, Right - f/7.1
Bottom, Left - f/14, Bottom, Right - f/25

Top, Left - f/4.0, Top, Right - f/7.1
Bottom, Left - f/11, Bottom, Right - f/25

For both sets of images... The first image (top, left) is a wide aperture, creating a shorter depth of field (see how the the objects in the foreground and further in the background are out of focus?). With the last image (bottom, right) a narrow aperture opening was set for more depth of field (the larger focal plane allows for more clarity on objects near and far).

Next lesson... Shutter Speed here I come.

Digital SLR Guide

2010-08-26T16:27:00.000-05:00

I mentioned at the end of my last post about some Digital SLR lessons I downloaded online. This website Digital SLR Guide has turned out to be a fantastic resource. The website is run and the content is written by Chris Roberts, who has outlined everything from the difference between a point and shoot and an SLR camera, the advantages of an SLR and choosing the right camera & accessories for your photographic style. He has also put together a series of more in depth Digital SLR lessons for beginner and intermediate photographers.

With the beginner package I downloaded 5 lessons... 1. Aperture & Shutter Speed, 2. Exposure, 3. Metering, Histograms & ISO, 4. Complete Camera Control and 5. The "Rules" of Photography for only $14.95 US. What a deal!

In the Window

2010-08-21T17:23:00.001-05:00

Sitting at my computer desk this afternoon, I noticed the light that was coming in the front gallery window was really highlighting the texture on some new paintings by Sheila Kernan and Sonja Kobrehel. Excited to keep testing my new camera, I tried to take some shots without the flash allowing the natural light to show off these great pieces.

After The Rain, 36x15 by Sheila Kernan

I managed to get some really cool detailed shots. I love the bright colours, the thick texture and the unique painting techniques both Sheila and Sonja use. The following are close up shots taken from the side of Sheila Kernan's "After The Rain". The light coming in from the window really shows off the texture. To see more of Sheila's work click here.

The details are great little abstractions in themselves. Below are a couple shots of Sonja Kobrehel's painting. There is something very whimsical about Sonja's work. To see more of Sonja's work click here.

#338, 11x11 by Sonja Kobrehel

These paintings are fun, fun, fun! It's also fun to try new things with my camera. I purchased some written lessons online today about how to use and take better photos with you digital SLR camera. I haven't gotten into reading them yet but I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a great weekend!

Aspiring Amateur Photographer

2010-08-19T22:50:00.003-05:00

On the weekend, I splurged on a super nifty camera! It has so many cool features to learn and play with, but it's most definitely going to take some reading and a lot of practice to get comfortable using any setting other than 'auto'. Fortunately some of my university photography courses may come in handy, as many functions of digital SLR (defined below) cameras have the same basic applications as manual film cameras do... I say 'do' here because to my surprise they actually still sell film cameras.

In a new segment to my artful blog... I will share my trial and errors as I learn the different features of my camera. Today, I'll share a bit about my camera history and the basics of my fancy new digital SLR.

For starters... WOW! Digital cameras have come a long way since my last camera purchase. A few years ago my 3 megapixel, 3x optical zoom Pentax Optio 330 camera was stolen from my car. Can you believe that when I purchased this camera in 2002 it was one of the best compact digital cameras available for between $500.00 and $1,000.00? It has now been obsolete for years. I don't even think they sell anything under 10 effective megapixels anymore. A review from 9/22/01 on Steve's Digicams states...

"The Optio 330 is billed by Pentax as "the world's smallest and lightest 3 megapixel, 3X optical zoom digital camera available on the market (compared to all other 3-megapixel digital cameras with a 3x zoom as of June 28, 2001)."

In 2001 small measured 3.6" wide, 2.3" high, and 1.2" thick and weighing in at 8.5 ounces which today would be clunky for a compact point & shoot.

Shortly after my camera was stolen, my dad upgraded his camera and passed on his Canon PowerShot S2 IS, 5 megapixel, 12x optical zoom camera to me. At the time, an even better camera, also now obsolete. The print resolution from 5 megapixels is great up to at least 8x10 and the zoom was so much fun. I used this camera on several trips and at the gallery for recording artwork for the website.

My weekend splurge: Canon EOS Digital SLR Rebel T2i with 18-55 mm IS lens.

estore.canon.ca states "...Canon EOS Rebel T2i brings professional EOS features into an easy to use, lightweight digital SLR that's a joy to use. Featuring a class-leading 18.0 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor and increased light sensitivity for low light photography, the EOS Rebel T2i also has an advanced HD Movie mode for gorgeous Full HD movies. Able to capture up to 3.7 frames per second, it's ready to go the minute it's picked up.... With some of the most advanced features of any digital SLR, it's simply the best Rebel Canon has ever created."

There are several differences between a digital point-and-shoot camera and a digital SLR (single-lens reflex) camera, many of which I will learn and re-learn with research experimentation. The first difference is in the name... Single-lens reflex refers to a mirror system allowing the photographer to see the exact image that will be recorded on the digital imaging system. A point-and-shoot camera has a separate viewfinder and lens so there may be a slight displacement between what is viewed and exactly what is captured. For most everyday uses, I don't think the added features of an SLR camera will be significant. Nevertheless, I took the plunge and now I am challenging myself to explore them and do my best to take some great photos that may not have been possible with my previous cameras.

Wish Me Luck!

Gallery Made Over

2010-08-18T13:49:00.001-05:00

Finally the gallery make over is complete and it was a nice sunny day for me to take photos of the completed exterior. Our new landlord had all the stucco repaired and painted, all the wood trim stained and some new windows installed. I may have chosen different colours myself, but all in all it's a huge improvement on the faded wood and cracked peach stucco. Here's the before and after...

Before

After

Earlier this year we also had the interior of the gallery made over. We had new carpets and tile put in and painted throughout. Click here for the before and after photos.

A Crisp Morning & A Delicious Dinning Experience

2010-08-16T09:50:00.006-05:00

Waking up this morning, the air outside the covers felt so chilly. It’s a little early for fall but the crisp, cool, fresh air reminded me of the first day of school. This feeling was very fitting as today is Ryan’s first day at his new job. After 10 years of driving only 5 minutes to work, he will now be taking the bus downtown. He was like a little kid this morning, nervous and excited and he would hate me for saying this but so cute. He looked so handsome and smart. I so badly wanted to walk him to the bus stop and wave goodbye as it pulled away. I managed to restrain, however I could not resist taking a picture of him before he left with my brand new super nifty new camera. More about my new camera later….

As a celebration of starting his new job, Ryan and I went out for a special dinner on Saturday night. We went to Sydney’s at the Forks, which is such a treat and one of the nicest restaurants I’ve been to in the city. I say that not because the chef & owner of Sydney’s, Michael Schafer is a friend of Ryan’s from way back but because it is truly a fantastic dining experience.

The rich warm ambiance puts you in the mood to get comfortable and enjoy a delicious 2 to 3 hour evening. The five mouth-watering courses are a culinary art. Each course comes out beautifully presented, colourful and arranged on the plate. Here are a few pictures I took from Sydney's website.

You can read the current dinner menu selections here. Ryan and I both had the "exotic game" as our main selection. It was Elk which I had never tried before but it went very well with the Lost Valley Thousand Hills (Australia), 2004 Shiraz that our server suggested. Yummmm!

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening out at Sydney's. The food and wine was incredible, the service outstanding and an overall memorable experience. Click here to read a bit more about Sydney’s at the Forks and here to view a super fun video tour of the restaurant.

Enjoy!

Prairie Girls

2010-08-11T17:50:00.007-05:00

Recently new artwork arrived in the gallery by three local artists. These three women were all raised and still reside here in Manitoba. There is an element of prairie influence in all of their recent work.

Marlene Cowell works with acrylics on canvas, builds her own gallery wrapped stretchers and paints completely around the edges of each piece. A country girl at heart, Marlene’s paintings reflect her love of nature.

Abandoned, 12x42 acrylic on canvas by Marlene Cowell

Cathy Sutton has been making jewelery for about 3 years. She started off making necklaces & bracelets to incorporate her own lamp-worked glass beads. Now she is metalsmithing with gold, copper and silver and working with semi-precious stones as well as lamp-worked glass. This latest leaf series incorporates a technique called repoussé as defined by Wikipedia as "a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side."

Repoussé Leaf on Fused Copper Pendant by Cathy Sutton

Tara Tuchscherer's passion for the last ten years has been hand-built pottery. Surrounded by the inspiration of the Canadian prairie she tries to incorporate its beauty in each ceramic piece with the use of handmade stamps, found objects and collected weeds, grasses, leaves, and flowers from the prairies. The texture of each decorative piece is further enhanced with a variety of glazes and stains creating a truly unique piece of art. Tara's most resent series of ceramic owls are an absolute HOOT!

Moody Manitoba, ceramic by Tara Tuchscherer

Small Ceramic Owl by Tara Tuchscherer

I hope you've enjoyed and possibly learned something new from these new prairie influenced pieces of artwork.

Crafty Mementos

2010-08-06T11:23:00.001-05:00

I couldn't resist taking a few photos of the crafty decor elements I made for our wedding.

A few detailed shots of the seating chart I made.

The flower I wore in my hair.

The flower came from Boutique Unique on Corydon and I added the pearl & crystal pin.

Ceremony Programs

Menus

Favors

Place cards on the Wedding Party tables

I can't wait to see the professional photos taken of the entire day. I'll be sure to share some.

I'm Back!

2010-08-04T15:08:00.001-05:00

It felt like I was off to a good start for a beginner blogger. I managed to add about 3 posts a month in April, May and June so I bet all of you out there are wondering where I've been since June 5th. Well let me fill you in....

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding!!!

On Saturday July24th I got married! It was the most beautiful day of my life! Everything was perfect and we are so happy. Above is a great shot by a friend of mine of our entrance to the reception hall as Mr. & Mrs.

The whole day & evening was better than we could have asked for. On Wednesday July 21st the weather forecast was 100% chance of rain. Have you ever heard of such a guarantee? Well lucky for us they could not have been more wrong! Saturday July 24th was an absolutely beautiful day with 100% blue sky & sun and 0% rain.

Now getting to my excuses for the lack of blog posts... After a one year engagement I was sure I would have had everything all planned out ahead of time so the last couple of months before the wedding could be a fun and exciting lead up to the most important day of my life. Well... I should really know myself better than that by now. I've always been a bit of a last minute gal and I know I work hard under pressure but wasn't expecting how much work it would be. Aside from the day to day activities at the gallery I have been living, dreaming and breathing wedding for the last two months.

In addition to all the regular last minute meetings and details that need to be taken care of while planning a wedding, a couple of weeks before I decided that I would make all my own ceremony programs, table menus, seating chart, place cards for the wedding party tables and assemble all the favors. I love doing crafty stuff like that so it was lots of fun... but lots of last minute work. Luckily I had lots of help. For about a week our living room turned into craft central with a very efficient assembly line of volunteers. Here's a shot of the seating chart I made. More to come when our professional photos are ready at the end of August or early September.

In the end it was ALL worth every minute! It was the most perfect day with all the beautiful details I could have dreamed of.

Gallery Updates...

The gallery was closed for the last two weeks of July so we could have some time to prepare for and unwind from the wedding. I'm back now and excited to focus on all the new artwork coming in and prepare for a few upcoming Fall shows. Before I left for holidays new pieces came in from Marlene Cowell, Cathy Sutton and Tara Tuchscherer. These pieces should be up on the website by the end of the week.

I'm also looking forward to receiving new work from Sheila Kernan, Angela Morgan and Hugh G. Rice in the next few weeks, hosting a Rick Bond solo exhibition in October and welcoming a few more new artists to the gallery representation this Fall. There is lots going on and I can't wait to share it with you!

Stay Tuned for more Artful Musings from The Gallery Gal!

Live! Without Rain

2010-06-05T16:54:00.005-05:00

A fun filled day on Academy without rain. Here are some pictures I took of what was going on right near the gallery.

Across the street new business Mad About Style asked passers by to write on her windows. The question was "What are you Mad About?" The windows look great!

Balloons at Bejeweled Accessories

Weiming Zhao finishing up his painting of the street fair in front of the gallery.

Academy Road Live!

2010-06-05T11:55:00.003-05:00

The fun and activities are about to start for the 11th annual Academy Road Live! street festival. Side-walk sales along the street started at 10:00 am this morning. Activities for the whole family start at 12:00 noon including mini golf, carnival games, face painting, mascots, live music, street performers, and much more. Tony of Tony's Academy Auto Service at 432 Academy always goes the extra mile with a family fun zone carnival. A horse drawn wagon will be on hand to transport people from one end of the street to the other, however the street will remain open to traffic.

BINGO was such a success last year, that it's on again! Pick up your bingo card from one of the following BIZ members: GJ Andrews Food and Wine Shop (384 Academy), Pilates Manitoba (390 Academy), Lake Life (440 Academy), Woodlands Gallery (535 Academy) and Glitz (586 Academy). Complete the card by getting stamps at participating businesses and enter to win a $100 gift certificate at a BIZ business of your choice.

This year again Woodlands Gallery is hosting gallery artist Weiming Zhao as he sets up an easel in front of the gallery to paint en plein-air. Come check it out! Click here to view more of Weiming's work.

Come join us for a day of fun... rain or shine!

Gallery Makeover

2010-06-03T15:31:00.012-05:00

This week our gallery building is getting an exterior makeover. It's about time! The stucco is cracked and falling off and the wood trim is water stained and faded. The new building owner has really stepped up to fix all these issues along with replace some windows and paint the entire exterior. The colours are not exactly what I would have chosen but they are better than peach stucco and discoloured wood. He has chosen an off white for the stucco and a chocolate brown stain for the woodwork. It think it will be an enormous improvement. Below is a "before" picture from last summer. When it's all done I will add the before and after pictures of the building.

Earlier this year the gallery also had an interior makeover. We decided it was about time to not only paint the whole gallery top to bottom but also pick some new colours for the walls. We replaced the carpet throughout the gallery and the ceramic tile in the front entrance. We even changed the floor in the washroom and added a beautiful framed mirror.

Here are some before and after photos...

In this before and after set you can see we opened the doorway between the main area and the side room.

New front entrance tile. The old tile was pink with blue specs.

Nice new washroom with fancy framed mirror and new flooring.

Hopefully next week I'll have some pictures of the completed exterior makeover.

My Sunshine On A Gray Day

2010-05-28T13:55:00.005-05:00

Was anyone else up all night listening to the rain and the wind? I tossed and turned all night and did not feel like leaving the house this stormy gray morning. But I remembered I had something exciting waiting for me at the gallery this morning.

Just before I left yesterday a much anticipated box of paintings arrived by yet another new artist to the gallery, Sheila Kernan. Sheila is a young vibrant artist using lots of colour and playful techniques in her painting. I am soooo excited to have her work in the gallery!

I am like a kid at Christmas opening up boxes of new paintings from artists. This mornings box was particularly rewarding because of the gloomy day it is outside. Seeing Sheila's work in person just makes me fall in love even more.

I've included an image of one of the new paintings called "Roadside" and some detailed shots of the painting techniques.

I absolutely love the dots, the masking and especially the glitter!

Don't these cheery bits of colour give you a warm sunny feeling on this stormy day? I actually do see the sun trying to peak out just a little bit now.

The box I opened this morning contained 4 of Sheila's landscape paintings. She also does figurative and cityscape works. She promised to also work on some cityscape paintings for the gallery so I think I'll wait and add her work to the gallery website all at once. If you can't wait to see the new works you'll just need to visit the gallery in person.

Hope to see you soon!

Fibre Art

2010-05-27T16:37:00.002-05:00

I love walking into a fabric store and looking at all the patterns and textures. I get this from my mom. She used to make a lot of her own clothes and made me, my sister and my brother a few outfits and costumes as kids too. My mom and I both appreciate how much more excited Brandy Lynn must be when she walks into a fabric store.

Brandy Lynn is the newest addition to our artist list at Woodlands Gallery. Here's a short excerpt from her artist bio.

"Brandy Lynn is a budding fibre artist captured in a whirlwind of passion for her art. Her most recent body of work is a vibrant series of fibre art landscapes.

Her portfolio includes custom fibre art landscapes, abstract designs, photo imaging, and mixed media pieces with fibre, paint and foil. She has also designed an adorable line of baby blankets that bring back the once cherished idea of heirloom comfort, quality and charm."

You can also check out Brandy's website to view more of her creations. I have 17 of Brandy Lynn's small fibre art landscapes in the gallery. The are very reasonably priced from about $150.00 to $250.00 framed. Click here to view more images of her work on the gallery website. Here a snapshot of the display in the gallery.

A Small World Encounter with New Gallery Artist Peter Wyse

2010-05-18T14:10:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite pass times and distractions is browsing the web for artists, artwork and art galleries. It usually starts by looking up one artist or piece of work suggested to me by a friend, client or another artist. This one search often starts a ripple effect leading me to browse the entire collection of work by the artist in question, then on to browsing the entire repertoire of artists at that gallery, then moving on to search other galleries that represent the artists that have caught my eye. It goes on and on.

A few years ago one of my clients from B.C. was in the gallery and was telling me all about a gallery in her hometown that she deals with on a regular basis. She was telling me about the artists she collects and that I should consider for my gallery.

One of the artists that caught my eye on this gallery website was Peter Wyse. He was just emerging into gallery representation, but right away I was drawn to his unique playful style. At the time his works included minimal depictions of little boys and girls, dogs, cats, and little houses. Each piece told a story or captured an emotion. Here are a couple examples of his earlier works...

So I book marked his page and from time to time I would check it out to see what he was up to next. The more I got to know his work the more I thought he would be a great fit here at Woodlands Gallery. However I didn't know how to get in touch with him.

Earlier this year I was out with some friends and was delighted to hear that I had a small world connection with Peter Wyse. My friends E & D were telling me about an artist, who is a friend of a friend of theirs out in B.C., who was asking about my gallery. OF COURSE they put in a good word for the gallery and me. Imagine how excited I was to hear it was Peter Wyse. So for a few months I've been anxiously waiting to hear from him or get his contact information so I could ask him to join my gallery.

In early May I finally got the email I was waiting for. It was Peter Wyse asking if I would be interested in representing his work. So I called him up and told him I would be thrilled! He mentioned to me that he had my gallery website book marked as well for quite some time. Even before he found out about our friends of friends small world connection, one of his collectors, who turns out to be the same client I mentioned earlier who first introduced me to Peter's work, had also put in a good word about me and the gallery. YAY!

Last week I opened a box of 6 new paintings from Peter Wyse. They are acrylic paintings on MDF board mounted 1 1/2" wood frames to create a seamless boxed look. Opposite to so many artists he paints his edges white which really works well with his style. The completed paintings are sanded, clear coated and varnished which creates a very subtle but interesting texture that can only be appreciated in person by viewing them at the right angle. I have one hanging right beside me at my desk and I love it more and more every time I look at it. I'm sure it won't be long before I add a Peter Wyse to my personal collection.

Please come in to see his works in person. They are really really fantastic!!! Here is a peak at a few of the pieces I have in the gallery. The rest of the pieces and details can be viewed on the gallery website.

Potential New Artist

2010-04-29T14:51:00.007-05:00

This morning I had a visit with a lovely young artist, Melissa Jean from Kenora, and her husband Bill. She contacted me last week by email asking about gallery representation. I really liked her work so I called her up. We spoke on the phone for a short while and she came in for a visit this morning.

Melissa is a young 30 something emerging artist looking to expand her representation and have a gallery in Winnipeg. She is full of energy and excited to show and talk about her work. She is professional and is open to learning about how gallery representation works. She paints landscape-based work in oil and acrylic with unique perspective and use of light. It was such a pleasure to meet Melissa and Bill. I’ll be looking at my calendar to see when I can fit her in. Stayed tuned to hear about the possibility of a show for Melissa Jean in the next 6 months to a year. Here is an example of her work.

They Never Cease to Amaze!

2010-04-24T14:49:00.005-05:00

This week I received a shipment of 6 paintings from one of my very talented gallery artists, Carl Schlademan. I have been representing Carl in Winnipeg since 2005.

Ryan and I had the pleasure of meeting Carl in the Spring of 2007 when we took a road trip to Regina and Saskatoon. In addition to visiting a bunch of galleries, what inspired us to go was the grand opening of the Assiniboia Gallery's new location, also representing Carl Schlademan.

Here is a picture of me and Carl with one of his famous wine paintings at the grand opening.

Carl Schaldeman paints in high realism. His fruit, flowers, wine & landscapes take on a life of their own. The lighting is always dramatic, giving his still life paintings a very theatrical look as if the objects are about to perform or take a bow. To me his pears even have personalities. Carl's landscapes take you back. They evoke a memory of a moment or a feeling or simply let you escape to a different time and place.

Here are a few examples of paintings that just arrived in the gallery this week. The details will be posted on the gallery website early next week. Enjoy!

Insight & Art

2010-04-14T08:05:00.006-05:00

With my first real post, I am excited to spread the word that Woodlands Gallery got the feature article in the latest issue of Academy Road Insight (The Academy Road BIZ e-newsletter).

This is my third year as chair of the Academy Road BIZ volunteer board and fifth year as a board member. In the past five years we have come leaps and bounds into the world of technology and now have a great website including a directory of all businesses on Academy, as well as an e-newsletter and a twitter page. The first issue of Insight was in April 2009 and is released every couple of months to the BIZ and the community.

On the one year anniversary of Insight I am very proud to have recognition in the feature business article. Please click here to read the April 2010 issue of Insight. There is an introduction from myself as chair, then a couple new business write ups, followed by the fantastic article on Woodlands Gallery written by Robert Mensies of Edge Business Strategies. Enjoy!