"Wood & Stone" at the Carnegie Gallery until May 27th in Dundas, Ontario.
Here are some pics that were sent to us as we only had a disposable camera when we were down there that took terrible photos.  We were interviewed on the radio while we were there which you can hear on this INDI 101 podcast.  We were pleased that some of our work sold on the opening night!  One more week left to see it.

New sculptures emerging

I am very excited about these stone figures that have emerged from salvaged Indiana Limestone. A female who is sundreaming and a male diver. Still work to do on them, but I wanted to share them. The man will be pinned to the diving platform so he will not get knocked over. Now for the big question "should the man be swimming in the nude or in a suit?"

Spring Rain

Last month I was lucky enough to attend a fabric collage workshop taught by action artist Rhonda Nolan at The Art Space in Huntsville where her amazing art show "Changes" was being held. I learned from Rhonda that you can use gesso to glue fabrics on to a board which you can later draw or paint over. She was very inspiring and I had fun creating this little piece with some snippets of fabric I brought, as well as the blue Dragon fabric and full moon from Rhonda's offerings. The spring rain falling today reminded me I needed to complete this piece so I just finished it today by adding some stamps and covering the whole thing with semi-gloss gel. When I got home from the workshop that day I had so much fun writing poems inspired by the piece. Here's my favourite from that day:

Summer Rain was coming soon

And the Blue Dragon's watery breath

Might send her to the Moon."

Upcoming and Recent Events...

GROUP OF ART SEVENTH EXHIBITION

CULTURE SHOCK

Opening Friday, February 3rd 7-9 pm at the Bohemian Cafe and Gallery, Bracebridge.

I chose to sculpt a shockingly pregnant torso carved in Indiana Limestone for this challenge. I am always in awe of a pregnant belly. They definitely stand out and are memorable. I remember when I was pregnant that complete strangers would touch my belly like it was common property LOL! I think as nudes, the pregnant bellies are really shocking - what alien(s) resides inside - especially when you can see hands or feet pushing or kicking. I know it is a beautiful miracle despite the shock.

CELEBRITY PORTRAIT event at the Bohemian opened January 20th, 2012.

I was one of five artists who did a portrait of "Peaches" aka actress Robin Clipsham. I called my Chinese Soapstone sculpture "The High-Flying Peaches" because her sunglasses looked like flying goggles. The money from a silent auction of the portraits goes to the Children's Foundation of Muskoka. All the portraits were amazing and although Peaches picked another one to take home, she did say at the opening that my sculpture made her feel like a beautiful flower. As always, Peaches was very entertaining at both the opening and at the sitting where I sculpted a clay model of her to work from later in stone.

Papier Mache Minotaur Pinata

In January I posted about making a Medusa Pinata for my daughter's birthday party. This week I made a Minotaur Pinata for my other daughter's party (both wanted Greek Mythology themed parties). This time I papier mached a punching baloon twice (let dry in between layers) using paste made from cooking 2 cups flour and 1 cup water. Now is the time to secure jute wrapped around the pinata & taped down, tied at the top with enough jute to hang the pinata. Then I built up features using a paper towel roll, bunched up newspaper and lots of masking tape. I papier mached another layer. Once dry I made a small slit to stuff the goodies in, taped it up well and proceeded to paint it. I painted little Chakra Vyuha Labyrinths in his eyes for fun and a gold bull ring. It took many hits before it opened up!

Celtic Cross Commission finished & installed

Monday November 7th was an amazing sunny day. It was perfect for installing the Celtic Cross I carved from Indiana Limestone. It went on top of a rocky ridge overlooking Lake of Bays. Four of us pushed and pulled the heavy cross on a dolly up the ridge. I had dug a hole for the quick set concrete around the bottom of the cross which had holes and anchor bolts to secure it once the concrete set. After it had set a water based colour enhancing sealer was applied to the stone to make it look ancient as per my clients wish. The tiny fossils in the stone actually pop out more now because they remain light grey in contrast to the darker grey. Everything went so smoothly with the installation and my clients were so delighted with the cross, they even gave me a bonus!

Group of Art Challenge #5 at the Bohemian... Natural Instincts opens Friday

Yesterday I had fun carving local rocks for the 5th challenge at the Bohemian Cafe and Gallery in Bracebridge. The theme was to be inspired by nature and I was not only by fallen leaves in particular Beech leaves, but also by the beauty in surrounding boulders on my property. These two carvings go together, one a leaf shaped rainwater vessel, the other simply a leaf shaped stone which I carved the veins in to. The opening of the show is on Friday November 4th at 7pm. There will be 11 challenges in all and the artist with the most points wins a solo show at the Bohemian for 3 weeks!