Arlene Saunders, Watercolour Artist & David McCord, Metal Work Artist, Elora-Fergus Studio Tour & Enter your name for a free draw

Arlene Saunders, is a painter, primarily in watercolour.  She is drawn to subjects that evoke memories or thoughts of a more simple and quiet time.  " A peaceful feeling" are words that she hears most from her visitors viewing her work.  Arlene says that "it is the spontaneous reactions that the right mixtures of paint and water make that I find most intriguing, and incorporating these Gifts of the medium, without overworking them is quite a challenge."

Arlene will also be on the Elora-Fergus Studio Tour again this year, please pay her a visit to see her lovely serene filled work. 

David McCord, is a traditional and contemporary metal work artist using the plastic properties of hot metal.  He will be showcasing his work in the Elora Mews during the studio tour.  Visit him and see how his art form takes shape.  

I would love to hear from you, thoughts you might have about the upcoming tour and/or in general about this blog.  All comments until Oct. 5th will be entered into a draw for a piece of work from my studio and/or etsy shop.

Inspiration surrounds us, keep your all your senses wide open to catch some of it...enjoy!

Showing up at the Studio & Being Open to the Creative Muse

Here are some new pieces in my Etsy Shop....As you might know from my post a few days ago....I have been feeling a little off kilter, so to speak, rhythm has been off....So here is my attempt this week at trying out my new "Modus Operandi" ...To help kick start a routine and get in touch with getting art work to move from within the vessel, onto the page, or onto the substrate....

Wake up 5:30 bells ( or more like 6:00 bells)

Declutter kitchen, putter around 

Make some beautiful dark roast organic free trade coffee from the Peruvian Cooperative, "Cafe Feminino", a cooperative run by all womyn ...If you haven't tried this coffee, try and get some, it is to be savoured and enjoyed...

6:00 - 7:00 am - read, journal with my lovely coffee

7:00 - 8:30 Morning routine with my lovely girl

8:30 - 9:30 Off to school - brisk walk to school, venturing up the hills of Fergus

9:30 - 1:30 Studio Time

Lunch (sometime during studio time)

2 - 3 - Gym

4 - 6 Time with Maya, homework, supper

Of course I do want to keep this open enough that it can be flexible and change..but for now I think this is a routine that might help to get the creative juices flowing again...and for some work to be done for upcoming and past deadlines..wish me luck...

Don't forget there is a free draw for a piece of my work, being drawn Oct. 5th....good luck to all...enter as many times as you want, make a comment, add your name. 

Art of Barry McCarthy, 22nd Elora-Fergus Studio Tour, Free Draw Continues

Barry McCarthy's new art studio.

Barry McCarthy is opening his new art studio, in time for the 22nd Elora-Fergus Studio Tour.  

In Barry's own words, " When I was about 5 years old, I got a rocking horse and cap guns for Christmas.  Since then I always wanted to be a cowboy.  I couldn't and didn't so I decided to be an artist."

Barry enjoys working in watercolours and oils full time.  His favourite themes are still life, florals, seascapes, architecture (especially the Cape Cod Style) and landscape particularly the Elora Gorge.  This theme has always intrigued him as he enjoys doing paintings from his travels but does not have to go too far to find paintings in his own back yard.

Barry works on 7 to 10 ' canvas sizes...he likes this challenge and finds the impact from the viewer rewarding.  Barry feels that the life force in any canvas is what brings the viewer closer to the moment and that's the job of an artist.....to heighten this integral force, break away from the ordinary and mundane and bring the viewer to a different reality.

Come see first hand Barry's new studio and his fabulous large dimension work.  

What are your thoughts on what the artist's job is?  Is it to story tell?  To capture reality? Or fantasy?  There are no right or wrong answers are there...as an artist's life and purpose is as varied and diverse as there are types of art...I am so interested in hearing your thoughts on what you like art to provide for you in your life.

Any comments with your name will be placed into a free draw prize for a piece of my work.  Draw will be done Oct. 5th at the end of the studio tour...Please comment as many times as you like.

Hope to see you on the studio tour..

Jerre Davidson, Glass Artist Drawing Inspiration from the Layers of the Natural Environment

Glass artist, Jerre Davidson, a member of the Elora Fergus Studio Tour 2008, has been working diligently as an executive member of the studio tour committee this year.  She is a glass artist working in kiln forming techniques.  This shot of her is one where she is "combing" glass at 1660 degrees fahrenheit.   

Jerre finds her inspiration from the layers and structure of the natural environment, fire, rock and water all hold her fascination.  Particularly she finds the colour and beauty of the landscape, structure and rhythm of the towering rock formations and strata in Elora Gorge inform her work.

Her most recent work involves working with glass powders and frits to create imagery in glass panels, such as the ones posted here.  In Jerre's words, "The Ontario landscape pulls at my senses and evokes a multitude of different emotions.  Every relationship has a specific tempo.  It could be slow and sensuous like the waves lapping the shore or harsh and staccato like an up thrusting rock formation.  I use the fluid properties of hot glass to explore the various rhythms found in the natural world and how they are echoed within our relationships."

Plan to pay a visit to Jerre's glass studio and get the opportunity to see first hand the art of glass kiln forming during the studio tour, Sept. 27th & 28th and/or Oct. 4th and 5th, 10- 5 p.m.

How about yourselves, from where do you get your inspiration? What natural environmental formation gives you joy, inspiration and feeds your creativity?  For me it is undoubtedly 'trees'....I love the way the branches reach out to the sky and the roots draw energy from deep within the belly of the earth ...The way trees flow into each other, sometimes mangled and narly, sometimes light and airy....Trees all around the world are magnificent and stand as a testimony of our great universal energy and the endless possibility of sustainable life.

Let me know your thoughts on what you find inspiring from our mother earth's creations, gifts and blessings....Any comment made with your name, will be entered into a free giveaway draw for a  piece of my work ending Oct. 5th.  

Ode to my Creative Muse!

This week has been an odd week, feeling out of sink with my natural rhythm, at a loss and my creative muse was no where to be found....So today, instead of fighting this, I began the 'art of allowing' and just let go...So instead I sat back this afternoon, made myself a great hot lemon, ginger and honey concoction...and read and journalled to my hearts desire...I followed my heart's bliss, my soul's beckoning....

One of several books I'm reading right now is the delightful book by Rice Freeman-Zachery, "Living The Creative Life"...it is a fabulous read for ideas and inspiration from other working artists...and the one tip I began today was the one about taking myself through a sensory experience...This is a particularly meaningful activity ...as the piece I am trying to break free is a piece for the Elora-Fergus Studio Group Show, for which the committee has chosen a theme this year related to creating work to do with the "SENSES"...

Also in this book, chapter 4 explores the idea of inviting your creative muse to dinner...and I loved it...as I do feel like my creative muse is the one that is with me in the studio, creating magic.....I have missed her this week, so here is a little ode to her, for fun and encouragement....

When I let myself go

Get out of my own way,

Declutter my spaces

She graces me with her presence.

Guides my hand, soul & passion

Letting loose

the fires roar, waves collide, stars shine.

And beauty happens

All because I've released control

to her - my muse 

I'm merely the vessel for her stories.

This time of relaxing, journalling and reflecting has helped me feel less stuck, ready for a new week of creating ... What do you do to inspire creation? Do you have a creative muse? How would you describe your muse?

For the period of this month until the end of the studio tour, Oct. 5th, any comment will be put into a draw for a giveway for one of my pieces of work.

Love to hear your thoughts.

Inspiration Abounds, Heather Wood, Glass Artist and Free Giveaway from my Studio

This is the work of local glass artist, Heather Wood.  She is part of the Elora Fergus Studio Tour this year, isn't this piece magnificent!  Come pay her a visit at her studio on the tour weekends.  You may also check out her work at her online bridgestudio or contact Heather at hwood@bridgestudio.ca.   

"We do not always acknowledge the symbiotic relationship that exists between ourselves and our environment.  The imagery I create with the use of natural materials evokes an ethereal delicacy and references the fragile balance that exists between ourselves and our habitat." ~ Heather

This piece depicted here is a beautiful portrayal of that symbiotic relationship between ourselves and our environment and exudes the ethereal.

Heather's work is sometimes low relief, combined painted surfaces with glass layers, or it can be an arrangement of multiple free form glass elements.  Painting, sandblasting, slumping and fusing are some of the techniques she utilizes in her response to the transparency and fluidity of the glass.

For more about the other studio tour artists opening their studios this year, check back here.

Also, leave a comment with your name and I will be collecting all names from comments for a giveway from my own body of work.  Draw will be made at the end of the studio tour date, Oct. 5th, all you have to do is enter a comment to any of my posts, enter as many times as you want.

What inspires your creativity?  What do you enjoy about studio tours?

Love to hear from you!

The Altered Page: The Pulse: Artist Registry

Check this out: The Altered Page: The Pulse: Artist Registry