My Cityline Dream Comes True.

I was down at City TV studios yesterday to see a taping of Cityline. It's kind of the icing on the cake that they taped this home day show (which airs my segement) on the 30th anniversary of Cityline. I've watched this show from the beginning and it's become a part of my life. If you'd like to catch up on my Cityline adventure you can read this post. The show has aired. You can see the episodes here.

This process began a year ago when I connected with Sharon Grech through Twitter. She was doing a color talk for Benjamin Moore that I wanted to attend. I mentioned that I'd be at her presentation and would like to introduce myself afterwards. And so I did. We had a nice chat and I boldly told her my idea for a Cityline segment.

My paintings had been used as props on Cityline before, and I even got a very special mention (see this post).  I was especially excited to see them included in two house tours with Sharon, as well as in the Benjamin Moore Colour Trends brochure, twice. As far as coincidences go this was a BIG coincidence.

Sharon liked my idea and thought it would work nicely. An artist that lives and works in the same space and would like to have clients in to view/purchase the art, but the space is in a constant chaotic mess. The art not displayed (in fact not on even hung on the walls). Walls painted with a harsh cold white paint that made the whole area too stark and cold.

She helped me choose paint colors for the wall and got me excited about hanging my art. It was alot of work but well worth the effort. Now I won't be embarrassed any more when clients come in to consult for commissioned work or to purchase my art.

So here we are almost a full year later and (my) design segment is finished. This has been a dream (goal) of mine for years. As a loyal viewer of  Cityline  I just knew that one day my art (and in this case myself) would be included. I am so thankful and grateful that this dream is now complete. Special thanks to Sharon, Fiona, Diane, and all the behind the scenes crew involved. I'm popping the champagne and celebrating for a bit and then I'll be back to work at my easel.

Studio Changes.

My studio has certainly changed from the time I decided to turn my passion for painting into my career. 

I started out painting very small paintings on the dining room table.

When we moved into a larger apartment there was more space available to me and I progressed to larger works and invested in an easel.

A few years later we moved again this time purchasing a loft/condo in the entertainment district, in downtown Toronto.

I now have a cozy little corner studio that I work from. It's on the southwest corner of the building so I get plenty of beautiful sunlight. My morning commute is fantastic. It's about 6 steps.

Technically my studio space is smaller but it seems much larger thanks to 10' high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows.

It's also easy for me to move furniture out of the way in case I have to spread out and work on the floor. I've done this for some larger paintings and mixed media work.

Next year in June it will be 4 years that we've lived here and my little studio space has been changed quite a few times.

Yet, I've still to purchase proper lights to paint by during these  gloomy cloudy and dark days of winter.

Changes are coming once again. Walls have been painted and some new furniture has been purchased.

My special collaboration with Sharon Grech is coming along and a date for the 'after' shoot for our Cityline segment has been set.

I'm really getting excited about it as it's now all coming together. It won't be long now.

Paintings Are On the Move.

It's always exciting when a painting sells. I spend hour upon hour putting my inspiration onto canvas, and it's so rewarding to me when someone 'gets it'. When they experience the feeling or mood I've conveyed and genuinely appreciate the painting and my hard work, I know I'm doing what I'm meant to do.

Last week Early Morning and The Journey Home were both purchased and are being packaged and shipped off to Calgary to hang in a new condo development. Early Morning is a very special painting as it was included in the Benjamin Moore Color Trends Brochure 2012. A special thank you to Albert Chow and Harbour Landing Business Park.

 Early Morning  36x48  acrylic on canvas

SOLD

The Journey Home  30x30  acrylic on canvas

SOLD

So What's Next?

A great big thank you to all that attended our multi artist studio clearance sale last week. It was a huge success and many pieces of original art made their way out to new homes. It's a cloudy, rainy Monday and I have that 'so what's next' feeling I sometimes experience after something big has happened. 

Today is a day for putting things away, clearing up the mess, and planning for new projects. After spending the last few weeks (months) working on cityscapes and small 'subway' paintings, I'll be needing a break from painting hard lines.

I feel the need to paint natural, organic shapes for awhile. Play time. Exploring some abstracts and just letting the paint do what it will on the canvas.

It's also time to get back to this project and finish up loose ends. In no time, Sharon Grech and her team will be back to film the 'after' part of my Cityline segment. Off to see how this day unfolds in the studio. Enjoy your week!

Studio Update Part 2.

Hello. Did you miss me? I know I've been a bad blogger lately :-( With so many different projects on the go, travelling about, and an ill family member, it's been a challenge keeping up with social media.

Changes are happening and they are all good. The website is coming along nicely and I am the one causing delays. As soon as the new paintings are finished they will be photographed and then it's all systems go.

The work for my Cityline segment is getting done in a timely manner. Walls were painted this past weekend and they look gorgeous. Amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do. The floor cloth was a bit of a challenge in the end and that will be a whole other blog post. Stay tuned.

So with all the cleaning and organizing that comes along with painting the walls, I've realized that my small live/work space is being overrun with paintings and artwork. I'm in the process of organizing an open studio sale with artist friend. I'll post details as soon as we get them all worked out.

Studio Update.

It's been business as usual here in my little corner studio since our return from Vegas last week.

Here's a sneak peek at the floor canvas I'm working on right now. My inspiration, those fabulous 'modern art' carpets that I see in all the home decor magazines. They are way out of my budget so a perfect excuse for a DIY.

To get the very textured paint effect that I want, I applied some acrylic modeling paste very lightly and haphazardly all over the canvas.

I've used seven different Benjamin Moore paints and layered color over color. I had an idea of how I wanted the finished canvas to look, but as I painted intuition took over and I just went with the flow. If an area looked too dark, I went over it with a lighter color. If an area started to look to neat, I splattered and flicked the paint.

Four of the paints I purchased at my local paint store and the rest was graciously provided by Sharon Grech and Benjamin Moore.

Here are some of the tools I used. I especially like painting this textured effect with a brayer instead of a brush.

The painting is now finished and I'm really pleased with it. All that's left to do is to turn under the edges and give it a couple of coats of Benjamin Moore's Stays Clear to make it really durable. 

The reveal??  You'll just have to wait and see the finished floor canvas when our segment airs on Cityline later this year.

Back to Work.

The weather is perfect today to start a new project. Humidity is gone and there's a great breeze happening so I can paint with the balcony door and windows wide open. This huge piece of canvas is for the Cityline segment that I'm working on. You can read how my 'dream project' came to reality here and here. When complete, it will be a one of a kind floor cloth.

In looking at this photo I kind of feel that I've bitten off more than I can chew at this point. The piece of canvas I'm working with is quite large, about 6'x7'. So far I've only used this painting technique on stretched canvas that was 4'x5'.

As the canvas is much larger and un-stretched I'll have to paint it on the floor. It will be a bit of a challenge painting it this way but I'm definitely up for that. I don't want to share too much of my process as I want to save it for the big reveal. Stay tuned.

My Cityline Segment.

This past Monday, Sharon Grech and her crew were here filming the 'before' part of my Cityline segment. I still have to pinch myself when I say this. My Cityline segment. Dreams do come true!

I thought I would be nervous but I was ok. It was fun watching the crew set up shots and run through what we were going to say. I was enjoying being in the moment so much that I forgot to take photos.

So now the fun begins. I get to do all the dirty work. I'm not going to give away all that we are doing for this segment, but I will be sharing sneak peeks every now and then. The 'after' will be shot in the early fall and it will air sometime after that. I'll keep you posted.

Special Collaboration Reveal.

So I've hinted that there is something really big happening here. In a previous post I wrote

I have a special collaboration in the works but its much too soon for any real details yet. This is going to be BIG and I'm over the moon when I think about it. It's something that has been on my mind for a few years now, and a few months ago I decided to get off the fence and just go for it. Special things do happen when you step out of your comfort zone. So grateful for all the new and exciting opportunities lately.

I also posted a teaser a few weeks ago but didn't want to reveal what's going on until I was more certain that the project was a go. Now, enough of the details have been worked out so that I'm comfortable revealing what the big secret is. Drum roll please.............

I am working with Sharon Grech of Benjamin Moore and Cityline fame. (Yes me!) She has graciously agreed to feature me and my live/work space dilemma in a Cityline design segment. Sharon will be here in my studio/home filming the 'before' in just a few weeks. Then I will be busy doing the dirty work for the 'after' to be filmed sometime later this summer.

I'm pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming all this and yes I am wide awake. Stay tuned to follow along as Sharon helps me transform this somewhat dysfunctional live/work space, into a spectacular home/studio space. I'll post the air date as soon as I hear.

Buried Treasure.

Today is Buried Treasure on the Altered Page. Seth Apter has asked participating artists to re-post their best blog posts. Not an easy thing to do and I'm not even up to 500 posts yet. I've chosen three posts that were very special moments for me.

Cityline March 2010. Kimberley Seldon discussing 'toille' with Tracy Moore. Kimberley included one of my small paintings in the design segment (and even pronounced my name correctly!) You can read the entire post here.

Sign Sign Everywhere a Sign is my second choice. I have a serious love of Vegas, Old Vegas, and neon. You can read the entire post here.

My third best blog post is Eclectic Elegance. I was thrilled to see one of my paintings included in the 2012 Benjamin Moore Color Trends brochure. A second painting was used in a home tour with Sharon Grech on a Cityline episode. The entire post is here.

So now head on over to the Altered Page where you can see all the participating artists. Happy reading!

Living and Working in a Live Work Space.

We moved into our loft/condo in June of 2010. It was a fairly quick process in that we started looking in April and ended up closing the deal and moving in June. Because I have my studio space in my home, it was important that I 'set up house' and my studio rather quickly. As it happened it was about 2 weeks of organizing, packing, moving, unpacking and not painting.

I wanted to get back to work as quickly as possible so I organized the space as best I could in a hurry. Unpacked boxes and put things in their new place. I even made use of the few screws that were left in the wall to hang artwork thinking I could get to it in time. 

So here we are three years later and not too much is different from when we moved in. I'm still not really happy with the 'flow' of the layout. Thanks to the builders vision there was certainly not much choice as to how I arranged the living area, working area, pet area etc. We Have beautifully large windows (which I love) but very limited wall space for hanging artwork. This is a bit of a problem as on occasion I have clients visiting to purchase my paintings. I want my space to be a reflection of the beautiful spaces in my fave decorating magazines where my artwork has appeared.

Living and working in the same space can be crazy and chaotic but it provides a lot of freedom as well. Much time is spent preparing to paint, searching for supplies and cleaning up afterwards. After all my work table also doubles as our dining table. 

So I've set a goal for myself to tackle this design dilemma once and for all. I know there is much I could do with my live/work space to make it more conducive to creativity and visually stunning. I've made myself a binder to keep all my tear sheets of design inspiration, ideas, and paint chips. I'll be updating some shelving in the studio and I'm finally getting work together and framing some pieces for an art wall that I've been dreaming of for years now.

This will be a big job but one that I'm finally ready to take on. Although I have no problem making decisions about paint colors in my art, and I think I've done a fairly good job of making use of the space we have, I think it's time I called on a professional for help. Stay tuned.

Color and Paint.

Last weeks finished DIY is still hanging in the master bedroom and I couldn't be happier. The colors are so soothing and 'beachy'. Thank you to everyone that commented, tweeted and sent emails. I still have a carpet (floor cloth) to paint but I think I'll be using darker colors. Maybe jewel tones as they would be more suited to the long fall and winter months.

They say diamonds are a girls best friend? Not so at least for this girl. A Benjamin Moore fan deck would do very nicely thank you.

The week so far has been a mad house. I've been enjoying long days of painting in my tiny little corner space that is my studio. I'm working on a few projects that I can't share until I get the final word from my publisher, but I can tell you that they are fun, fresh and full of color.

Note to self-when painting with a breyer and red paint, be sure to use a drop cloth and have a wet rag handy. Otherwise the place starts to look like a crime scene very fast. Ciao for now. :-)

One DIY Project Completed.

Last week my studio was a little crazy. While working on my summer DIY from my previous post, in a burst of creative energy I started on two more projects. I even grabbed my camera (yes, I was fearless!) and started filming my progress as I worked. I held the camera in my left hand as I painted with my right hand all the while describing my technique. I don't think any of it is good enough to share, at least not without a lot of editing, but with the right set up I could definitely get into it. Is Youtube in my future? Perhaps. Maybe a few segments on Cityline? now that would be fun. But enough daydreaming...

Here is the inspiration that started this whole project. These gorgeous carpets from Modern Weave. They are sooooo beautiful but not in my budget at the moment, so I decided to make my own.

I had an old abstract landscape painting that I painted a few years ago, on a stretched canvas. A good size for a carpet at 48" x 60". The idea was that I'd paint it and then remove it from the stretcher to use as a carpet.

The look/feel I was going for is from the Modern Vintage collection. I used my fave Benjamin Moore paints and instead of a brush I used my trusty brayer to apply all the paint. By using the brayer all the textures and even some of the original painting show through giving it that vintage look.

From the Benjamin Moore Colour Trends 2012, Earth & Sky I used Wythe Blue, Sharkskin, Fresh Olive, and Battenburg. I also used Crown Point Sand and Lemon Chiffon. There are only hints of the old colors (cobalt blue and unbleached titanium) of the painting showing through in spots. By using the Benjamin Moore paints it will hold up to the wear and tear that a carpet would get.

I could have started with a large piece of new canvas but it made more sense to me (and my wallet) to recycle and re-use the  painting that I didn't want anymore. In this detail you can see how painting with a brayer picks up on the texture from the previous painting on the canvas.

Here is the finished canvas. At this point I could remove it from the stretcher and fold the ends under and use it as a carpet as I had planned, but I decided to put a wire on it and hang it in the bedroom just to see how it looked.

Well, you guessed it. I think it looks great here and works well in the bedroom. I like it so much that I'm having second thoughts now about using it as a carpet at all.

I think I'll live with it for awhile and perhaps it will stay on the wall for good. Then I'm back to square one and will have to paint another canvas to use as a carpet in the living room. Stay tuned.

*Please note you can see the colors I used as well as all the colors in the many Benjamin Moore collections here in the color gallery.