A Few of the Artist's at the Quaaout Lodge Art Festival

Riley Charters setting up her paintings, cards and jewelry. watch your step as you step into the bridge. Dave McKeown is in a booth behind Riley with his dream catchers, drums, beading and more.

Nelson Leon, I made the mistake of telling him he looked so cute, I had to take it back and say how manly he was, loved the colors,  he was the MC and singer, drummer.

Alisa Nielsen sparkled as much as her lovely glass work. Spirit Wolf Design.

Maynard McRae sits proud among the colorful bead work produced by Maynard and Janie. Sun Eagle Bead work & Designs.

Shirley Babcock, loving what she does.

It was difficult getting close to Melissa Nasby's booth, her felting was extraordinary. Soul Fiber Studio.

Dewey Smith, with his carving tools laid out on the table, he carves away at a mask.  The totem smiles and smirks for the camera.

Rikki Kooy modeling her designer vest. Spirit Elk Design Consulting.

Meagan Louis, such a beauty, I hope one day I see her wearing her beautiful bead work, I can imagine the amazement.

Lisa C. Dunphy with her painted landscapes of bright, bold colors.

Cam, Bear Skin Art & Design, native prints and apparel.

I was thankful to Bill Lowe for taking the time to call and tell me about this show, I would have enjoyed staying if we could have, the lodge was beautiful. Visiting with Riley and Bill was a inspiring. The lunch was good and sitting across from us was Hilary and her husband, Hilary and I sing in a Bulgarian folk choir together. The Quaaout Lodge was a wonderful setting for this art festival, now I know where it is next time they have an event I may be interested in. Just not the Golf.

Little Treasures Art Show at The Courtyard Gallery

Can you believe November is here. This morning the temperature was below 0, 6 degrees below 0. I was happy to have the hand me down snow pants from my daughter Yolanda. She stopped wearing them when she was 10. They keep me warm, that is what matters.

Sunday the 9th I took a large box of my art work into the Courtyard Gallery 61 pieces, photo greeting cards, small fabric zippered and lined bags, for jewelry, makeup, travel, great for small gifts, watercolors, wood and acrylics canvases. One of the Artist and writer Howard Brown built a tree to hang the glass painted ornaments, I hear it is beautiful, and the gallery is jam packed with small canvases, pottery, felting, glass, wood, books, jewelry, and much more.  

It can take days just to prepare a canvas. This 8 x 10 is being prepared for the small canvases with the dragonfly and flower.

Saturday the 15th is the opening of the show, after we vote for whom we feel is going to do the best job for our community, we plan on hanging out at the gallery. Virginia says she is bringing chocolates, how can I not go. 

The finished work.

This 8 x 10 canvas has many layers of experimentation, creating interesting textures and crackling effect. I painted what I saw in the textures.

4 x 4 canvases. Steve was sitting at the table admiring my small canvases and he started laughing. He said "It's like a totem, that tells a story, went for a sailboat ride, walked on the beach, had a heart attack.
  

I took this picture on November the 11th, In memory of my nephew Ian, this morning the flowers were frozen.

Hope to see you at the show, enjoy.

What Is Your Favorite Art Medium?

 Last night on the way to Armstrong for a Humorous speech contest, I was asked what my favorite art form was. I rattled off, fiber arts, fabric paint, watercolors, foil, wood, acrylics, I couldn't say what my favorite was, but I do like popcorn and chocolate.  Food being slightly off topic, we decided chocolate was an art form, and I will be making vegan chocolate truffles today. I thought I would try them with quince. I forgot to mention photography, I have been busy clicking  flowers still blooming, pumpkins, squash, works in progress. Singing is another art form I love, no favorites, that is why I am the "Master Dabbler" 

I have been busy working with my favorite things, the artist of the Courtyard Gallery are all busy getting ready for "The Little Treasures Show" in mid November,  Courtyard Gallery click the link for more information about the gallery. We had a Monday workshop and hand painted glass ornaments. I have been making rust dyed scarves, painting dragonfly's on wood and sketching for a painting on canvas. Tuesday is Toastmasters, Wednesday is choir practice and the yard is just about ready for winter.

Steve has been busy fixing our leaking car port, It no longer leaks, thank you Steve and his helper Louis.

Small sunflower planted by the birds, the water barrels still need to be drained.

White pumpkin, squash can be so much fun to make into soups, pies, patties and very good for the dog. They make such a lovely arrangement in the kitchen.

Works in progress, wood and foil.

Rust dyed unity scarf, with a view of the cliffs in our back yard.

Lots to do, I just hope I can finish all the projects I have planned. Do you have a favorite art medium? What would that be?

Who won the Humorous speech contest? Enderby's Museum Curator Naomi Fournier. She will be going on to Golden next week, congratulations.

Until December 5 or when we get enough signatures I will be collecting signatures for a petition to hold a referendum to vote on the decimalization of Marijuana. Karina of the Healthy Chocolate Company and I share a booth at the Armstrong and Enderby Farmers Market.  It has been cold in the mornings. 

Wow, 300 people walked through the new Courtyard Gallery in Enderby on this full moon evening. Take a deep breath and smile. Thank you all.

It was a long path to get to last night, from years of talk about it, to lets do it, to a lot of hard work and dedication. This is a group effort, the Gallery will be open today Friday April 26, 2013. Displayed is a variety of art, paintings in water color, acrylic, oil and mixed medium, jewelry of glass, semi precious stone and bone, sculptures of once upon a time chairs, paper  mache dragon,  flags of global and ancient water symbols, photography, felting, and more, you must go see. Hours are 11:00 to 4:00 Tuesday to Saturday. But if you can not make it on those days, let us know, we can work something out.
For more info about the artists check out Courtyard Gallery

Hope to see you there.

The Courtyard Gallery has been a busy place lately. The art is all in, the task of placement is now in order.

The grand opening is 

Thursday, April 25 7-9 PM

104-907 Belvedere Street, Enderby BC

Hope to see you there

Showcasing the original works of local artists.

Hats, Hats and Hats

Hats have been on my mind lately,  they are much smaller to work with and fit in a big box to be transported to and from home and markets. I had fun with Steve's old worn out jeans designing a landscape around the worn knee. My next project is for the ARTBEAT of Enderby, for more information on the art show fundraiser click on Artbeat. 

Cloche with Garlic scape detail.

Medieval inspired with bleached and painted cotton knit and a rocket on top.

The Bee.

Floppy patchy.

Aviators helmet.

This was a special order for The Healthy Chocolate Company.  This symbol is the Mayan symbol for Chocolate.

The symbol on this side is the Mayan symbol for Healthy.

All together, in the foreground are Celtic belt/headbands, and the big dragonfly hat in the back I am still working on.

Had to have something for the Red Hat Ladies.

Cloche with grape vine tendrils. The fabric was dyed and painted by Anne DeVerteuil.

If you have any hat ideas for your own head let me know..............

What's New?

The Fox "N" Star greet you as you approach the new location for the Farmers Market on Cliff Avenue off of the highway. 

The Enderby Farmers Market has moved the last three markets have been on Cliff avenue. Each time they have set up in a different way, last Friday was in my opinion the best. They set up down the center of the street back to back, it was easier to get around and the businesses on Cliff were more visible. It was also wheel chair accessible. We had a big storm on Friday and the Market got wet around tear down time. It poured and the wind wanted my umbrella, I just ducked into the Museum for a brief visit with Naomi the new curator. 

Green Croft Farms

Dalarose has some elegant hanging baskets.

Fun Buns tasty too.

Music of the country

On July 21 Grindrod had a Music and Arts Festival, they set up two stages a main stage and an open mic stage for the 15 minuets in between acts. A variety of music was performed on the stages.  

I set up a booth for the Green Party and brought art stuff I had crowding the corners of my sewing room, to do crafts with the kids. They made pins for Mom, rings, hair doodads, necklaces, dolls, and had a great time. some of them kept finding things to make

The sky's have been interesting lately.

The artistry of the dugout canoe  in front of the Chamber of Commerce is a welcome inspiration.

The traditional Splatsin dugout canoe was carved by Tony Antoine , the rock work was built by Fred Koenig.

Thank you for this historical, finely crafted attraction, adorning our park and Chamber office.