Sun Worshipping.

Iggy

Nami

It's been so cold here for the last few days that I'm happy to be "stuck" in the studio painting. I only ventured out for a very short trip to Starbucks with an artist friend on Tuesday. It feels really good to be back in painting mode as I took such a long break last month. I've got five large paintings in various stages scattered about and another four canvases prepared with texture only.

Last year my focus was getting out of my comfort zone and playing more with my art. I happily explored new techniques and styles combining painting with mixed media. I exhibited these paintings in "Metamorphosis" a duo show with artist Anne Barkley at Leonardo Gallery. You can read about that here and here. The round robin altered book collaboration with Inner Works has come to an end and each of us have our books back, chock full of beautiful additions made by the group. I'm not to sure how the final posting of that will happen yet but be prepared to see some awesome mixed media work.

This year I've decided to really focus on my gallery work. That means larger paintings that are more time intensive. Most of my painting has to be done in the early part of day because when the sun comes in the studio window it's much too bright for me. That's also when I lose my space to our two sun worshippers Iggy and Nami. They both enjoy the warmth of the sun as all cats do and I don't have the heart to shoo them away.

Metamorphosis Show Continues

"Metamorphosis" a duo show I'm having with artist Anne Barkley, continues at Leonardo Gallery until July 11. I can hardly believe that we are into the third week of it already. For those of you that missed the opening reception on the 4th, I will be at the gallery again this Saturday, June 27th from 2-4 pm for another artists talk. Please stop by if you can.

"Metamorphosis" Opening Reception

Thank you to all that came out to our opening reception last night at Leonardo Gallery. It was a busy evening starting with not one but two Yorkville art gallery walks. I wish I had my camera handy during the walks as it was a great turn out. The Yorkville art walk is a great opportunity to enjoy the many galleries throughout the Yorkville neighbourhood in Toronto. People meet with the tour guides at a Yorkville location and then walk to ten different galleries to view and consider a wide range of art. After being cooped up in my studio for so long producing the new work, it was fun to give my little artists talk and then to answer the many questions that came my way. Anne Barkley and I had been hoping to have an opportunity to show together for quite awhile now and "Metamorphosis" became a reality last night. Above are a few photos of our paintings hanging, old friends, and Anne and I at the end of the night.

Untitled

He Said, She Said 12x24 Mixed Media on Canvas

Undecided II 12x12 Mixed Media on Canvas

Fly 12x12 Mixed Media on Canvas

Not much time today to do a real post. There's just too much going on at the moment. I did want to share some of my new mixed media paintings, part of "Metamorphosis" at Leonardo Gallery. The show opens next Thursday June 4. How fast did this happen!?! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Chocolate helps me think.

Mmmmmmmm. Look at it, so cool and almost hard to break and yet, as soon as it touches your tongue it starts melting. Sweet deliciousness!! I love chocolate. Who doesn't? And this is the good stuff. Lindt 70% cocoa. The one with the antioxidants that's actually good for you. You'd be silly not to have a piece every day, after all it's for your health. Chocolate helps me think. Really, it does and I'm helping myself to a few pieces as I have a lot of thinking to do. I usually feel somewhat lost when I've completed a body of work as I just have, for my upcoming gallery show. That "what's next" feeling. I've been looking over photos I've taken and sketches and drawings in my journals and sketchbooks. Today as I walked to the bank I looked for inspiration everywhere. Camera in hand, I recorded as much as I could. something is bound to inspire me for a new series of paintings. And later as I'm looking over the new photos, I'll be enjoying my chocolate. Thinking.

Invitations

The invitations to our show at Leonardo Gallery have been printed. I'm going down to the gallery this morning to pick up my share and will start to distribute them. I've also been paying more attention to my poor neglected shop and have been updating with my smaller mixed media paintings. These are similar to what is available in the "Metamorphosis" show but much smaller (and quite affordable!) Stay tuned for some exciting things happening there soon, I promise.

What's for Lunch??

Hi and happy Monday. With all the prep done for an upcoming show, I spent the morning straightening up the studio and organizing my long "to do" list for the week. I sent off an image list and all the images to the gallery, got caught up with emails and started preparations for another gallery show in August. All this and three loads of laundry before lunch-it's great to be able to take care of household chores while working on my biz-one of the perks of having a studio at home. I was craving something really healthy for lunch today so I threw together a little salad with my famous Miso dressing and enjoyed it with two Yves veggie burgers (no bun!). Yes that's a generous squeeze of wasabi-I think it goes great with the veggie burgers. The salad part is easy. I used chopped romaine lettuce, green onions, cucumber and carrots sliced on a mandolin, and lots of fresh mung bean sprouts. Sprinkle with raw sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds for extra crunch. Here'smy recipe for the Miso dressing.

1 tbls. rice wine vinegar
1 tbls. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbls toasted sesame oil
1 tbls. organic miso paste
1/4 packet stevia sweetener, or pinch of sugar
pinch salt and pepper (to taste)

wisk all ingredients together and toss with salad. This dressing is enough for one large salad, enough for two to enjoy.

Now it's back to work for me. What did you have for lunch today???

Getting it Done

Secret Garden 12x24

The past few days have been crazy busy here in my studio. I meant to post my demo but haven't even had a chance to finish it. OK, I didn't start it, but it's all here in my head ready to go. Next week won't be so intense as all will be done. Today I need to get every painting for this show finished, signed, catalogued, varnished, and photographed. It's been a long few months preparing for this gallery show, but now basically all the hard stuff is done and I can focus on the fun part. The schmoozing (actually, that's hard for me, not really a schmoozer) the artist's gallery talk, the opening reception, the champagne, etc. etc. As "Metamorphosis" is a duo show with fellow gallery artist Anne Barkley, it won't be so stressful (for me) as we will each have to speak during the artists talk. Here's what the media is saying about our show.

"Metamorphosis" is centred on the notion of change of structure and transformation; the show brings together Vindedzis and Barkley to explore the process of painting with a new sense of freedom. Through subtle shifts and varying media approaches, the artists give fresh new meaning to painting.

"Secret Garden" (above) is a painting that I posted here a few months ago. It's been hanging here on the studio wall for the past few weeks, not quite finished. I worked on it all afternoon yesterday and now it's done. It will be in the show.

Studio Sneak Peek

detail of a mixed media painting

A work in progress

Another painting in progress

Varnished, drying in the kitchen

Here's a look at what my studio looks like and will probably look like for the next few weeks. I'm in full swing getting ready for upcoming shows. The paintings seen here in my sneak peek are for the Leonardo Gallery show in June. I've got paintings in various stages spread out and on the go. The cats are going crazy. It doesn't help that everyday at 3 pm when the sun streams in the window, they insist on laying in the sun beams, right underfoot of course!! So then I stop painting, brew a coffee and get on to other non painting activities that must be done. I've got to keep focused on the tasks at hand. Last week, I found myself being lured away from my easel too often thanks to Twitter. I did find a new friend in Dr. Lissa Rankin. Check out her blog Owning Pink. Her blog is a must read or my girlfriends everywhere!! I also got some great news last Friday when I realized I was a winner in another giveaway. I was one of 5 lucky winners in the Creative Impulse giveaway from Stampington & Company. A great way to end the week. I've got a couple of surprises planned for later in the week so please stay tuned.

Untitled

Late Summer 24x30 SOLD

I have a gallery show coming up in June that I should be working towards. So why have I been doing everything but this?? I've organized my file folders. Straightened up my work desk. Gone through my selection of paints and have written down what colors I have to purchase tomorrow. I've even painted four new paintings, landscapes, that will not be in this show. Am I procrastinating for some reason? I enjoy working on mixed media paintings and those are what will be in the "Metamorphosis" show this summer. I think it has to do with focus. There are so many projects on my "to do" list at the moment that I'm finding it hard to focus. I've been jumping from one thing to the next. Supria's book, from our altered book round robin collaborative-Inner Works, has been sitting on my table waiting for me to work in it's pages. My galleries are waiting for fresh new work from me. Pressure, panic Time to stop, take a deep breath and prioritize. For now, it's time for me to finish writing this post, clean up the studio from todays work, write a few emails and get our dinner started. Ciao for now.

Road Series

Road Series #2
Acrylic on Canvas 6x6
$150

Road Series #6
Acrylic on Canvas 6x6
$150

Road Series #5
Acrylic on Canvas 6x6
$150

I'm in the mood for a road trip. I've spent days and days in the studio preparing for upcoming gallery shows, painting up a storm. Painting small studies and larger paintings, working on our altered book collaboration, writing an artist statement for the show with Leonardo Gallery, delivering new work, painting new work for my Etsy shop, and everything else I need to do to keep this little art biz up and running. I'm really in the need of a little time off, to kick back and be inspired by whatever comes my way. As a child our family would make the yearly "spring break" trip to Florida. Sometimes I or my sister got to bring a friend along. It was always a whirlwind trip. Three days to get there, a week in the sun and then three days back. I never minded being cooped up in the back seat for so long. I would stare out the window and watch the scenery go by. I loved the billboards and all the different attractions, restaurants and diners that we passed. I still have my collection of hotel/motel soaps, matchbooks, and assorted ephemera that I collected on these trips. In fact, I should probably dig them out of the basement and photograph them. Our trips were in the late 60's and early 70's so these items are quite retro. These trips fueled my love for the open road and to this day I still love road trips. Lots of inspiration and lots of photos taken along the way, inspired my Road Series. Small 6x6 acrylics on stretched canvas. If you're interested in purchasing any of my art please feel free to drop me an email. One of these days a really long road trip is in order-maybe Route 66 to Vegas. Now that would be fun!

Coloring Outside the Lines

I've decided that this year I'll be stepping out of the box when it comes to my artwork. I'll be drawing and painting outside of the lines so to speak. And what better time to do such a thing. Change is in the air. It's a new day and a new year. Now don't get me wrong. I still love painting landscapes and for those galleries and clients that only want landscapes from me, I'll still be providing you with them. But my interest and passion for mixed media has been bubbling over and I can no longer contain it. Working on the altered book project with Inner Works has certainly helped fuel this passion for mixed media. Looking towards the future, I'll be part of a duo show with artist Anne Barkley at Leonardo Gallery this summer. We have both changed things up in our painting and will be debuting new works in "Metamorphosis" June 4-July 17. I'll post more details as they become available. Above is a small preview of some new work that might make it into the show. I've been fascinated with bird imagery for a while now and have been incorporating them into my paintings. I've also used some gel transfers, photo transfers and collage here.

Busy, Busy and Loving Every Minute.

I can hardly believe that just three months ago I was thinking that I'd have a very slow summer (artwise) with nothing much to do but work on some small pieces for my online shop, blog and just enjoy the laziness of the hot and humid days. Boy was I wrong!! I have been going non stop since April, painting and preparing for four shows, keeping up the shop, and trying to post on here more than once or twice a week.

The Leonardo Group show "Out of the Green" is in full swing and goes until August 16th. This past Sunday was a "driving" day and we made the trip out to Bayfield Ontario to drop off my paintings for Marten Arts, which starts this Saturday. The drive was beautiful even with the rain and I took lots of photos for a new series. More on that later. I'm just finishing up the last two paintings for Arts on King and have been asked to work on a commissioned piece as well. After I'm done with that, then I can start on my three 12x12 paintings that I'm putting into The Square Foot Show at Awol. I've got my freshly brewed Starbucks and some great music to keep me going.

Erik (my 16 year old) made up a playlist of music he's listening to these days. Love his playlists!!! Just the right combination of fast and slow to keep me standing at the easel for hours. What am I listening to these days?? Coldplay, The Verve, Radiohead, Beck, some downtempo lounge on Shoutcast Radio, a little Disco (yes Disco!) and of course my friend Jann Arden. How's that for an eclectic mix!!

The above painting "Quiet Drive Home" 36x48 will be at Arts on King. You know I love a good road trip!!

Leonardo Gallery, Arts on King

Sky and Sea, 36"x48" will be available at Leonardo Gallery along with 5 other new paintings over the summer. This painting is a little different from my usual landscapes. I don't usually paint in pastel shades but this time it just seemed right.

I will be showing 12 new paintings at Arts on King beginning Aug 2 until the 31st. Yes, Arts on King is back!! It's re-opened at 165 King St. East, Toronto. I was part of a group show at Wagner Rosenbaum Gallery/Arts on King back in 2003. Exactly 5 years ago. (Really, I mean exactly-the dates were the same!). There will be an opening reception on Saturday Aug 2 from 1-4 p.m. although I'm not sure if I will be in attendance yet. That happens to be a long weekend here in Ontario and I'm not sure if we will be in town. I'll post about that as I know.