Blog-free Week

Still Standing, acrylic, 9" x 12"

 

Last week, I took the opportunity to spend the last warm day of this year painting outside with my friends Janis and Bob. We enjoyed being in nature and together, even though we were more than two metres apart. 

 

Since March, we have spent so much time in front of our computers that it is even more important to take breaks. Spending time outside or at least away from our electronic devices will help you to re-energize and to avoid computer fatigue.

 

I hope you will get a chance for a break in nature this weekend. I will be back with a new blog post next week.

 

25 Years in Canada - My Immigration Jouney Part 15

 

Sunflower, acrylic, 16" x 20"

Blog 25

Going back to my dairies of the past twenty-five years is exciting, even though my life with two children resulted in more and more blank pages. I wanted to add entries but never found the time.

I started the year with a painting for the Arteast exhibition “Vessels”. I continued going to the life drawing classes and the drawing classes to improve my skill to observe and capture the objects on paper.

I was lucky that my parents came several times a year. During my parents’ winter visit, my dad collapsed at the cottage. We had assumed that my dad had a bad case of the Norwalk virus, but the doctor at the hospital was concerned about his heart health. However, the cardiologist did not detect anything unusual. It took years and other incidents until we found out that he had his first heart attack that day.

Even though my parents and sister usually stayed at the cottage, we debated whether we should start building a custom home on the lot that we had bought in Cumberland. Our townhouse did not offer room for guests, and the many stairs gave me a good workout every day. I could also hardly wait to have my own studio.

In preparation for the sale of our house, we had some renovations done and found out quickly how much fun it was to work with builders. De-cluttering and packing were also extremely stressful.

Planning our new house was a big challenge. I had a vision of our dream house, which turned out to be far out of our budget. Running around to order materials was also no mean feat with two young children. All this stress resulted in me getting one illness after the other.

Whenever I was frustrated, I took out my painting equipment. My goal was to create a new painting for every bi-monthly Arteast exhibition at the Orléans Library. For the May exhibition, I managed to finish an artwork of a bunny in a bed of crocuses.

I was also excited to participate in an exhibition with the life drawing group. At the same time, I stressed about the cost of $600 for framing of my four drawings. The “Skin Deep” exhibition at the Visual Arts Centre in Orleans looked very professional. I felt immensely proud to be a part of it.

Amsterdam, acrylic

 

I also submitted three paintings (Amsterdam, For Sale, and Teddybears and Tulips, renamed The Spring Bears) to the Arteast Budding Artist exhibition. They received a lot of positive feedback from the jury, which made me feel proud. My painting “Amsterdam” received the highest score of the three. I did not even remember the artwork when I looked through old photographs and have no recollection of the date of sale.

I continued to make bears, especially after a visit to the Teddy Bears on Vacation Show as I was brimming with new ideas.

On August 14, we experienced the big blackout. I was just in the middle of writing an email to one of my friends when we lost power. We decided to spend the time at the cottage where we enjoyed the quiet days. It was kind of romantic.

In August, I also started my painting "Sunflower" (see above) that Ingo loved so much that he bought it for his business. The focus was a sunflower in front of a sunflower field. A bee was sitting in the centre of the flower.

At the end of September, we had planned a big surprise birthday party for both our mothers who celebrated their 65th birthdays in the second half of 2003. It was one of the very few occasions when we managed to have both our families celebrate together. The event was not only a big treat for both mothers but all of us.

The highlight of the year was a three-week trip to Germany in November. Dominic, Christine and I flew together and experienced a wonderful pre-Christmas time, even though we missed Ingo and Jessie.

I finished the year the same way I had started the year, beginning the painting “Tranquility” only days before an exhibition that opened on January 6, 2004. I was thankful to be an acrylic painter because most of the time, I finished my paintings only hours before I had to deliver them for an exhibition. I have to admit that this urgency was a thrill, even though it also made me anxious.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Please join me in two weeks for the sequel to my story.

Blog-free Week

Masquerade, acrylic, 20" x 16"

 

I painted this self-portrait n 2011 for the Arteast Exhibition "A Night at the Theatre". It shows me in one of my Halloween outfits. For our family, it is always a double celebration as it is also my husband's birthday. 

 

Even though this year's Halloween will be like no other before, I hope that you will have fun within your social bubble. Create a new tradition that your children will still talk about for a long time. 

I would love to hear from you about your Halloween celebration this year.

My Immigration Journey - Part 14

House for Sale, watercolour, 8" x 10"

Blog 23



In 2002, life was not easy. Our children were almost one year and five years old. Also, we had a very lively Golden Retriever. On makes you feel like you walk two steps ahead only to return where you started. By the time you have cleaned one area of the house, the others need cleaning again. My husband and both our parents had a very traditional mindset when it came to raising a family. The husband was responsible for earning money, while the wife had to take care of house and children. I have to admit that I had imagined our family life differently. I had assumed that we would share the household and child-raising tasks, but the fact that I did not work made it easy to fall into the traditional role models.

Looking for Food, watercolour

My family viewed my creative activities as a pleasant hobby. Only my father-in-law, a great supporter of the arts, was interested in my projects and started buying works for himself and as gifts. When I sold the painting “Looking for Food” to my mom, it was a big deal for me as it was an acknowledgement of my improving skills. The watercolour painting showed a couple of chickadees hanging on a feeder.


At the beginning of March, I joined a group of artists who met Sunday mornings for life drawing. Even though I was struggling with the poses and the proportions initially, I had a lot of fun. The more advanced artists were very supportive. To improve my drawing skills, I started to take a bi-weekly drawing course with a local artist.


When my sister came at the end of June, we went together to the three-day Tom Thomson workshop at the National Gallery of Canada. This workshop was my mini-vacation. Most people had not heard of The Group of Seven in Germany at the time. Therefore, we learned a lot about Canadian landscape art. While researching for this blog, I saw that the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is the first museum in Germany that will exhibit extensive works from important Canadian collections in early 2021.

Oscar, acrylic, 10 " x 10"  and the bear Oscar

I had taken a one-year break from making bears. This passion was, however, revived when my son’s teacher asked me about giving a presentation in his junior kindergarten class about bears and bear making. She also fell in love with my bear Oscar and adopted him.

The princess and the frog from The Frog King

In July, I joined the Grizzly Bear Gang, a bear club in Nepean whose members were artists and collectors. At the same time, I saw a competition for fairy tale bears in a German bear magazine. I decided to create the princess and the frog from the story The Frog King by the Grimm Brothers. I did not win a prize, but it was exciting to see a photo of my bear published in the magazine.

Silence (left), Vegetables (right), acrylic - unfortunately I did not take better pictures

In October, I participated with the two acrylic paintings “Silence” and “Vegetables” in Arteast’s 21st Annual Art & Photo Exhibition. I was so excited when ten days after the end of the exhibition, a client inquired about buying the painting of a canoe attached to a dock in the soothing light of the sunset.


I was delighted that a stranger fell in love with my work. Especially as an emerging artist, the approval of others feels so crucial. I also needed the money. I felt guilty for not being able to pay for my expensive art materials and framing costs out of my own pocket. 

Join me in two weeks to see what happened in the year 2003.