Year End in Review

The year is just about at it's close and 2015 has been incredible for me.  It marks the end of my third year as an exhibiting artist.  This year I had two solo exhibitions, numerous commissions, lots of teaching and the usual yearly shows/sales including Gardenscape, Artisan and Sundog. I have never been busier in my life. Looking back through my calendar for the year, I realized that I haven't taken any amount of time off since February, so it's time for a bit of a break. Well......maybe not exactly a work break....maybe more of a playtime break.  It's time to try some new techniques and new materials. 

I also need lots more photos for inspiration, especially winter photos. This winter has been a mix of very mild and lately, rather cold. But the mild weather produced fog and hoar frost and the opportunity to take my camera to two of my favourite haunts for some photos.  

This first photo is of my favourite and much stitched tree at Beaver Creek.  I can actually see this tree from my living room window.  I think I've stitched this tree in more pieces than anything else over the last few years.  It's formed the basis for about 10 pieces and has been dressed up to be an apple tree,  a moonlit tree to name just a few. It's no longer alive, but I really hope the Conservation Area people never cut it down as to me, it's the perfect shape. 

This is a group of branches from a thick grove of trees along the roadway just north of where I live.  The snow has stuck to the branches and accentuates their shape. I interpreted this photo in black and white and am considering stitching it that way.

  This is a field down the same road as above. I love the lines and the starkness of this photo. I'm pretty sure this will get stitched as well.









Again, across the same road. There was just enough snow to accentuate the lines.











A shrub thick with frost in our yard.


There's something very appealing about the monochromatic color scheme of winter.

This past year I stitched several pet portraits, one of which follows.

This is Colbourg. I stitched his "sister" last year. Colbourg was a very sweet, mushy, but serious dog.

















 A Cranberry Flats lily.














Dandelion Fluff!

 A Cranberry Flats shrub.A scene at Blackstrap.

And finally, a view across the river at Borden.

















These are some of the pieces I completed over the past year.  These have all sold except the lily and the dandelion.

I'd like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere gratitude to the people who bought my artwork this year.  Without your patronage, my walls would be very full!  Thank you to "J" who bought Late September, to Jody (Lichen Study on a Maple Tree),  to Joyce (Bird's Eye), to Betty (A Field Near Borden), to Judy (First Snow), to Jane (Flaming Chokecherry), to Colleen (Jogging Path), to Roger (River's Edge) (incidentally, happy anniversary), to Bernice (Lakeside); and to Marigold who purchased A Painted Field for her daughter, to Cathy (the Wagon Wheel), to all the people who purchased my work at my two exhibitions and through the SK Craft Council Boutique and the Handwave Gallery (sorry, I don't have your names), not to mention the numerous mini pieces and cards, etc.  Thank you all so very much.

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to June of Handwave Gallery for your support, to Donna at the Craft Council for answering to my numerous questions and last, but never least, to my wonderful husband Adrian for the cooking, cleaning, and constant support that you supply without question.  Today marks our 30th anniversary and I'm looking forward to the next 30!  You people have made my year!!

I'm looking forward to 2016 very much and the chance to try some new work.  I hope you all have a great holiday season and a very Happy New Year.  Until then.......remember.......

(yes it will!!!)

Closing in on the End of the Year

Show season is now over for me.  This past weekend marked the 41st Sundog show and sale and my third time in attendance.  I had the usual thread paintings and Christmas cards but this year took along a couple of artist books, mostly to see what the reaction to them might be.  Generally speaking, people liked them, so I'll be working on more of them to add to my line of stitched goodies.  I had also managed to stitch up a few new larger pieces after the Artisan Show and took them along as well.  So, as well as many others, the following is a brief example of what I had at Sundog this year:

These are a few of the postcards, which were primarily Christmas-type cards.

 This is one of my newer pieces.  It's titled "Moss" and shows a fallen log covered in moss.

This is titled Lichen Study II and is one of several trees that I photographed out at Blackstrap.  For some reason, these trees were covered with lichen, moss and fungi and were all in a group together. There was very little of the actual bark showing through.  I seem to have a preference for lichen, fungi and moss. 

These are two of the artist books.  The covers are silk paper and they're held together with ribbon or decorative cord to make them easy to refill.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who purchased my art at both the Artisan show and Sundog.  Your very positive feedback keeps me working and striving to get better.  Your wonderful compliments and encouragements are music to my ears. 

This marks the end of my third year of showing and selling. I have one or two commissions still to complete and after that, I'm excited to get back to some playtime and experimentation.  I've been doing animal portraits in the past year or two and the coming year will see me stitching "people" portraits too.  Also I've been working on 3-dimensional pieces and hope to be able to have this technique perfected to the point where I can produce vessels, boxes and other things of this nature. 

With that in mind, I'm looking forward to the coming year very much.  I'll likely do one more blog post this year with a look back at some of the work I've produced, but that won't happen for a couple of weeks yet.   

This coming Friday, December 11th will be the Reception for the Dimensions Show which will be held in Saskatoon at the SK Craft Council's Affinity Gallery from 7:00 to 9:00 PM.  Come out and have a look at some wonderful Saskatchewan artwork. 

Until then, enjoy our mild winter and drive safely.