Call for Visual Artists Juried Shows Dec. 2011, Jan. 2012

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Here's the most recent "calls for entry" for visual arts juried art shows in the Greater Toronto Area. I'll gladly post any others you know about. Just leave me a note in comments. Good luck!

Deadline Dec. 1, 2011.  For OCAD University alumni "Where They Are Now!" http://www.ocad.ca/Assets/pdf_media/submission+form+2012.pdf   Note: 2 years at the college/university qualifies for alumnus status

Deadline Dec. 18, 2011. Artists Network  "MonArchy". As a playful acknowledgement of Queen Elizabeth II DIamond Jubilee in 2012, Artists Network are asking artists which side they align with. http://www.artistsnetwork.ca/node/330

Deadline Dec. 20, 2011.  Visual Arts Mississauga 34th Annual Juried Exhibition. Art Gallery of Mississauga. FYI : art work must be made in 2011 - 2012.  Application: http://www5.mississauga.ca/agm/agm_root/downloads/VAM34.pdf

Deadline January 24, 2012. Ontario Society of Artists (OSA)  139th Annual Open Juried Exhibition. John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto.  Theme: "Darkness and Light" http://ontariosocietyofartists.org/member_events_exhibitions/open_juried_exhibition

Deadline January 31, 2012 World of Threads Festival .Fibre Art.  http://www.worldofthreadsfestival.com/submissions.html At least seven venues in  Toronto and Oakville, including Abbozzo Gallery (Oakville), Joshua Creek Heritage Centre (Halton) and the Sculpture Society of Canada Gallery (Toronto).

Deadline Feb. 2012 Paint Ontario Art Competition, Sale & Show http://www.paintontario.com/form.htm Lambton Heritage Museum, Grand Bend, Ontario

A Timbit Paints Another Polar Bear Portrait

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"Polar Bear Portrait 1" is an 8" x 8"  head on portrait of  Inukshuk, the male polar bear at the Toronto Zoo.

It is the first of four studies in my  new miniature oil paintings series of polar bear portraits. By painting this little canvases, I' ve improved my understanding of the polar bear face and head.

Polar bear eyes are brown, close-set and face forward. I've learned that their eyesight is similar to our own, and that they are fortunate to have a protective membrane over their eyes may shield them from ultraviolet light. No snow blindness for them.

The polar bear 's rounded ears lie flat against his head when underwater.

And the polar bear does not, as I believed , hide that terrific black nose,with either his left paw (or the right one) when  hunting. You can learn more about polar bear myths and misconceptions at this Polar Bears International page.

Don't you just love the mighty Inukshuk's great big, handsome, snuggly toy of a face? Don't you just want to hug him? But I'm not fooled. I know in Inukshuk's eyes, I'm just a  Tim Hortons timbit in waiting. Better make that a Boston Creme.

Related articles

Alert! Mini Portrait of a Big Bear

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"Alert"  is the fourth oil painting in a new series of miniature polar bear portraits.  Meet Inukshuk, the big male bear in the Toronto Zoo.  He's quite the character . I am familiarizing myself with these wonderful bears in preparation for working further on the fantasy  series "Polar Bear Dreams". See the first painting of the series here.     

 Canada has put Polar Bears on  a "Special Concern" list. Here is the Toronto Star article http://bit.ly/s9FZGu 

Remembrance Day: It's Not Black & White. Red Poppies, Art & Stories

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          The 24th Ottawa War Memorial 
 
On November 11, 2010, shortly before 11 a.m., I stood alone at the cenotaph near my countryside artist studio. Thousands of miles away, my first-born son  was stationed  in a FOB, i.e. a forward operating base in Afghanistan. He had been gone for months, and still had a couple of months yet to serve in his extended tour.

I have always observed Remembrance Day,  but never gave it deep thought. In school, I liked to draw poppies and was often the one chosen to recite "In Flanders Field" at assembly. I appreciated that my children's elementary schools put great effort into their Remembrance Day ceremonies, and sometimes I helped. But other than that?

Well, my age is showing. When I was born, in the dawn before internet and satellite tv, heck, colour tv would have been good, anecdotes about any war were ancient history to me.  You might as well have been talking about ancient Egyptians (except they were cooler).

When I was an older teenager, my mom  revealed to me, like a guilty secret, instead of the sad story it was, that she had been married before. Her husband, who she had adored, had been killed in WW2 and was buried somewhere in France.  Even though this was obviously a pivotal event in my mother's life, my teenage brain saw this as a tragic, romantic tale of love, not a story about war.  Still, my mom was old , and  this was all before my time, so even that  story got filed right along those of my WW1 & WW2 veteran family members.

But oh, what a difference  30 years and a truckload of hindsight makes.

My children are now at the age that my grandparents, parents, and their siblings were when they had their wartime experiences.   I can better imagine my predecessors as young people, now that I have a houseful of them myself. Much easier now to imagine them enlisting for idealistic adventure.  Much sadder to imagine the danger,  loneliness, sorrow, exhaustion, terror, and trauma they faced thousands of miles from home.

Now the stories make more sense. Stories of  obedience, endurance and perseverance, and of camaraderie, compassion, and bravery. And if they were lucky to come home, and not all my family members were, they brought secrets, war wounds and, sometimes, a war bride.

Oh, WW1, WW2, Afghanistan.

That is what I thought of as I stood, now joined by a few others, at that cenotaph that day. I snapped a photo of the cenotaph with my phone,  e-mailed the pic to my son telling him I loved him with all my heart, and that the good folk at the cenotaph wished him well.

To my amazement, he answered me right back.

War is the blackest foolishness, but iPhones, black or white, are mighty handy in wartime.

If you would like to send a Christmas wish to those military still serving overseas, click http://www.sears.ca/custom-content/operation-wish?extid=050211_ca_Vanity_EN_Unknown_Operationwish

Blue Sky in Cold Wax Art

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Every once in a while I  experiment with cold wax and oil paint.  So when I had some spare time a couple of Saturdays ago,  I created these little "Yellow Mill" blocks.  I painted (squigeed, is more like it)  them en plein air, except I was working from the comfort of my Williams Mill Stone Building studio. This is the view from my studio window. The Yellow Mill (an 1850's lumber mill by the Credit River) was freshly painted this summer  (an enormous task as this is one big building) and its yellow clapboard now glows against the bright blue sky. The sky really is more blue here at the Williams Mill. It 's gotta be all that "blue sky" thinking we do. lol

I made four of these cold wax panels. One sold before I had even signed it, and I received commissions to do two more.  All this before they have even appeared in public  in  the "Big Show, Small Works" art exhibition & sale  at the Williams Mill Gallery, (along with my chipmunk panels & Scotsdale Farm paintings) opening Nov. 9th, 2011. They are happy little paintings, aren't they?

Big Show, Small Works & Chipmunks

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As one of the professional visual artists at the Williams Mill Visual Arts Centre, I take part in the annual Christmas Big Show, Small Works show & sale, Nov. 9 - Dec. 24., in the Williams Mill Gallery.

Every year I create a themed small painting series specifically for this show. The first year, the koi paintings on 3"x5" wood blocks were popular. Last Christmas, I sold abstract landscapes in cold wax and oil paint on wood panels. This year, my muses are the chipmunks of the Williams Mill gardens. An aspect of this series that remains consistent with my usual work? Even though the wood panels are small (8" x 10") the chipmunks painted on them are larger than life!

Please scroll down for the invitation below. I hope you can attend this holiday art show, perfect for shopping for unique one-of-a-kind fine art gifts & collectibles.  As well as my paintings, there will be other watercolour, acrylic & oil paintings, jewelry, blown glass, ceramics, fibre art & more in the Williams Mill Gallery. Be sure to drop by my studio in the Stone Building behind the gallery. Gallery hours: Wed. - Sun. 12 - 5 p.m. My studio hours: Fridays, Saturdays 12-5 p.m. Saturday Nov. 19th 1-4 p.m.  Opening Celebration with light refreshments

Invitation to new exhibition. Big Show, Small Art. Williams Mill Gallery Art Show. 2011

New Art: Polar Bear Dreams Swimming in the Night

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In my new oil painting, Swimming in the Night, a polar bear swims among the stars. The aurora borealis (northern lights) glows in the sky beyond. The wistful feelings and the ambiguity of water and sky in my  Lake Dreams Series inspired this painting's mood and story.

Recently, I made the journey to the  Toronto Zoo for one last look at the elephants before they're sent away. (Read that story here). But what's a trip to the zoo without a visit to the polar bears?  I love polar bears, an intelligent, beautiful, and mighty creature.

Only one bear was out that day. As she swam idly in the pool below me,  she watched me out of  the corner of her eye.

In Swimming in the Night, the water my Toronto Zoo polar bear swims in becomes the night sky. Reflected light and water ripples become the northern lights and stars. A portrait of a very real bear (Thank you, Toronto Zoo polar bear), this oil painting is also a sad testimony that this spirit in the sky may someday be all we have left of this endangered species.

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Canoes in Fog & Other Lake Dreams

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"Canoes in Fog' a 24' x 48" oil painting, is the latest  in the Lake Dreams Series, my series of paintings of canoes &  water at the dock's edge.

Torn between labeling the series Dreaming of Summer and Cottage Dreams I did some  "dream"  research online. A dream about a lake that has still water represents a reserve of inner peace and spiritual energy. Such a dream provides solace and  security, as well.

My longing for an end to the gloomy spring and for escape to a lake (any lake!) inspired these paintings.  It wasn't the hot, noisy, splashy days by the water I craved. I dreamed of  those still and solitary moments at the water's edge. Those moments alone on the dock, reflections of clouds and blue sky leaving me wondering which world is real. Or the quiet of early morning, before the others are awake. The mist or fog not yet cleared, and the world  dreamy and undemanding. Time to contentedly reflect and contemplate, the spirit replenished.  Yes, these are definitely Lake Dreams paintings.

But what about canoes and dreams? A canoe in a dream represents serenity, simplicity, and independence. I don't know what six canoes overturned represents though. Normally in art, odd numbers of items, make for more interesting composition. Artistically this still applies to my work, as the overlapping canoes read as one shape. Squint and you'll see what I mean. (See some other canoe paintings here & here)

However, there are six of them. In dreams, "six" stands for co-operation, balance, tranquility, perfection, warmth, union, marriage, family and love. Mental, emotional and spiritual states are in harmony.

And the fog? Positive changes are afoot if the fog clears in the dream. In this painting, Canoes in Fog, the fog is lifting. The promise of clear day, with time spent on the water, lies ahead.

Fall is now officially here. I never did get away this summer, or was anywhere near a lake. These paintings, and  the paintings of "dreams" to come, will have to give the solace I need until next summer.

This winter, if you need solace, or a reminder that summer will return,  you are welcome to see what "Lake Dreams" are in my Williams Mill studio most Friday and Saturdays 12 - 5 p.m..

Doors Open for Small Arms & Big Vision

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This Saturday, October 1st, is  Doors Open Mississauga 2011, and Day 2 of the  Canadian Culture Days.  If you have even the slightest interest in anything having to do with the arts, heritage, your family, your city, real estate, entertainment , or, quite simply, being wowed, you owe it to yourself (and your family and friends) to seize this chance to tour the remarkable Small Arms Building, 1352 Lakeshore Road East, Mississauga (416) 661-6600 ext.5223 (Free parking, wheelchair accessible).

Built in 1941, this 144, 000 sq. ft. office and small arms inspection building was part of  Small Arms Ltd, a World War 2 arms manufacturer. The company has an incredible wartime history. Tens of thousands of women came from across Canada to work there, and the dormitories and houses built for them revitalized the Lakeview area of Mississauga. The Arsenal Lands upon which it sits  was home to the Long Branch Rifle Ranges, to Canada’s first aerodrome and a military flight training school.

So what does this have to do with you, your family, the arts, real estate, and everything else I listed?

A dedicated volunteer group, The Lake Legacy Foundation (with whom I've had the privilege to work with), has worked tirelessly to lay the ground work for Small Arms to repurpose it as a centre of arts and culture.

You may be wondering, what, exactly , is a centre of arts and culture, and what does it have to do with me?

Well, for starters, this space will offer much-needed affordable work and performance space  for Mississauga's artist and cultural groups. Mississauga is just over 30 years old. Older buildings with minimal dollars per square foot rental are pretty well nonexistent, so independent artists must leave our city to live and work. This venue will offer studios of all kinds: from personal, affordable live work space for visual artists (painting, ceramics, sculpture & more) to  practice space for theatre, dance and music. Theatres for performance and galleries that both show and sell, will introduce us to our artists.  Small Arms has the potential to help Mississauga keep its creative people (especially the young ones), and to  attract other cultural sorts to the city as well.

The building itself, now saved from demolition,  will be a living museum with creative tips of the hat to its historic roots and its Rosie the Riveter inhabitants throughout.

The Lakeview community will have a long overdue cultural jewel in its crown.

All of Mississauga (and the GTA and beyond) will have an inspirational venue to visit , and I mean inspirational in every way!  A cultural venue where you can shop, learn, teach, exhibit, view, entertain or be entertained, work and sell, and become involved.  A place to hang out alone, or with family, or your peers.  Time spent there may be contemplative or celebratory. High ceilings, big windows, at the edge of a great lake.

Don't miss this chance to see what could be.

Call to Artists: Toronto, Mississauga & Elora Juried Art Shows

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Immediate Calls to Artists! If you know of any other shows it would be great if you added them in the comments section. Thanks!

  • Deadline Sept. 22. Insomnia. Red Head Gallery yearly salon specially created for Nuit Blanche. Theme is insomnia. Show runs Sept 28 – Oct 2. www.redheadgallery.org

  • Deadline September 23.  Timeless An Exhibition Curated by Moses Znaimer. In collaboration with the Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts. Exhibition at Zoomer Show 2011 & Twist Gallery http://www.propellerctr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=230:call-for-submissions-timeless-an-exhibition-curated-by-moses-znaimer-deadline-september-23-2011&catid=29:submissions&Itemid=27
  • Deadline Sept. 30. Canadian Federation of Artists 70th Anniversary Open Juried Show. For members. Non- members & emerging/ student artists. http://artists.ca/submissions/index
  • Deadline September 30. Colour and Form Society 59th Annual Open Juried Art Show. Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery. Show runs Nov. 3 – 25, 2011. www.colourandformsociety.org
  • Deadline October 4. Shirley Dilworth Jaychuk Competition. Elora Centre for the Arts. http://www.eloracentreforthearts.ca/index.cfm?page=gallery_dilworthCom

A bit more time to submit to these shows!

  • Deadline December 1, 2011. 2012 OCAD University Alumni Exhibition: Open to all alumni from the Faculty of Design and the Faculty of Art. This juried exhibition & sale encompassing all of the university's twelve disciplines. Opens March 9, 2012 at the Gladstone Hotel.
2012  Jurors: 
Dr. Patrick Shaw Cable (Chief Curator and Curator of European Art at the Art Gallery of Hamilton), Simon Glass (Associate Dean, Faculty of Art, OCAD University) and Tony Taylor (Multidisciplinary artist).
Submission deadline:  December 1, 2011. Contact http://www.ocad.ca/alumni.htm
  • Deadline December 20, 2011 Visual Arts Mississauga 34th ANNUAL JURIED SHOW OF FINE ART. Art Gallery of Mississauga. http://www.visualartsmississauga.com/news.php
  • Visual Arts Mississauga 4th Annual Juried Show. http://www.visualartsmississauga.com/news.php

Have a story to share online?  Visit:

Peel Heritage Complex & Art Gallery of Peel: http://www.peelregion.ca/heritage/passages/#/l

Lakeshore Arts (Toronto) acts of arts http://1000acts-of-art.ca/category/acts-of-art/

 

 

Now what? No. 9 of 100 Little Portraits Project

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Just finished this new 6" x 6" portrait oil painting on canvas of a teen, "What Now." (said as a statement not a question) just long ago today for me to snap an iPhone photo of it and post it! Here it is http://wp.me/s1rNWY-68

Just a friendly note, the  link above simply takes you to my other Wordpress art blog 100 Little Portraits Project.  http://100littleportraits.wordpress.com

 

Cat Not Out of the Bag...Yet

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Any one who has owned a cat, or even been around one for a while, knows that cats have a thing about bags. If a bag is open, the cat will do its best to make its home. Well, this seal point Rag doll cat, has set up house in a paper bag, his "cat cave", if you will. He figures that if  he can't see you, you can't see him, and all is well with the world. From the safety of his trusty paper bag he will watch the world go by until he succumbs to a nap.

I finished this larger than life cat painting of a Seal Point Rag Doll cat in a bag, today. It is the latest in my series of big cat paintings. As you may have surmised, by "big cat", I don't mean tigers and lions (and bears, oh my). The reference is literal in meaning. Domestic cats painted big. Very big.

These oil paintings pay homage to the character (talk about character) of our feline friends, by the fact that we look up at the subject portrayed. But  the cat, himself?  He probably thinks that these paintings show us in our true light as something much, much smaller (see "Who's For Dinner?").

Whatever the case, this cat,  drying on the easel in my studio in the Williams Mill Visual Arts Centre, is not yet ready to be out of the bag and on the wall.

 

Night Canoes

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Night Canoes. Latest work drying in the studio! 24 inch tall by 48 inch wide oil painting on gallery canvas. Glowing in the moonlight these vessels are in limbo between yesterdays adventures and tomorrow's excitement. I wonder what their masters are dreaming of? Where they were, what lies ahead or a jumbled story of both.

Please note: The colour isn't quite correct in  this iphone shot.

The 24th: Art & Legacy.

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In a short while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will pay a visit to The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the National War Memorial "The Response" in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Great War is a part of our shared history and with many of us still connected to a family history of relatives who fought, this striking memorial is a testament to all we have here in Canada now. When I painted this work of my son climbing on this striking memorial as a surprise gift for  his 18th birthday, little did I realize at the same time he had enlisted as a reservist. There are 23 larger than life figures on this dramatic statue and he is the 24th. His freedom symbolizes what these young soldiers fought and sacrificed for. The grandfather of a visitor to my Williams mill studio had been one of the models for this work. I wish I  had thought to ask her more questions, like his name, so it too, could live on.

New Painting "To Valinor"

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Through the looking-glass of the lake, there is another world. Like  passage into Valinor, this indigo world patiently awaits your visit. Can you feel the stillness? The relief and solace from the difficult world beckons. It is time to go.

Still Dreaming of Summer: Ghost Canoes

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New painting drying in my studio at the Williams Mill in Halton Hills. It is the second oil painting in the Dreaming of Summer Series.  Night brings a surreal look to the canoes tucked away for the evening. There are 9 paintings planned for this series, but who know how many more will be dreamed of along the way.

New Exhibit Opening & Art Event at the Big Daddy Festival on Father's Day

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Saturday, June 18th , 1 - 4 p.m. join the Williams Mill artists and me at the opening of our annual show "Where Art Comes to Life" (formally our annual "Spring into Art" show) in the Williams Mill Gallery. I have 3 paintings in the show, and you will a diverse selection of the Williams Mill Artists work - oil, acrylic and watercolour painting, glass, ceramics, wood, stone sculpture, jewellery and more.  Refreshments will be served.  Then, take a look at all the studios where this fine art work was created! Our studios are always open to the public Saturdays (Fridays, too) 12 - 5 p.m.

Then on Sunday, don't miss out on a unique and creative way to spend Father's Day! On Father's Day, Sunday, June 19, 2011,  11:00 am - 4:00 pm, art comes further to life at the Williams Mill. Demonstrations, Workshops, Discussions & Interactive Displays – pick up your detailed brochure and guide at the Williams Mill Gallery. FYI In the top left photo in the flyer above, that's yours truly in my old studio.  I will have my studio open on Father's Day - rare indeed!

Activities include:

  • Free Demonstrations: Clay Wheel Throwing, Clay Pressed Moulding & Handwork, Cut Glass Creation, Working Stone, and Wood Carving Techniques
  • Free Discussions of Work: Painting, Graphic Arts, Jewellery, Illustration & Painting
  • Free Interactive Activities: Hand Building, Soapstone Carving , Pyrography/Wood Burning, Watercolours, & Leather work & Children’s Book Readings
  • Free Historic Tour of The Mill with owner Doug Brock: 40-minute tour of the Mill at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, & 3:00 pm learning about our artists and its history (meet at the Gallery)
  • Pre-Booked Workshops with Take-Home Art – 10 sessions starting at 11:00 am (register at 905- 873- 8203/ gallery@williamsmill.com): Also Adult Glass Blowing – $20.00/30 minute session Father & Child Hand Casting - $40.00/30 minute session

Dreaming of Summer (or a cottage would be nice)

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Like many places across Canada, the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) hasn't been having the greatest weather. A lot of dull skies and rain. My secret (well, not so secret)  longing to own a cottage with which to enjoy nice weather inspired this 48" high by 36" wide oil painting - still wet on the easel.