Paintings Available in Studio.

Did you know you can arrange a studio visit? If you're in the Toronto area and are interested in purchasing directly from the artist (that would be me) you can arrange an appointment to come and view the paintings I have available for purchase in my home/studio.

 Coastal  12x36x2

acrylic on canvas  

$1500.

I've just updated the 'Available in Studio' page. Scroll down to see a select list of landscapes and abstracts that are available for purchase. 

I have many smaller works on canvas as well as works on paper. There are just too many to post. These will be available at the next studio sale, but if you just can't wait contact me to arrange a studio visit.

Still don't see quite what you're looking for? Customization is available and can be as simple as changing the size of the piece or color palette. I'm happy to create a completely custom commission just for you. Drop me an email to discuss.

3 Artists Studio Clearance Sale.

3 Artist's Studio Clearance Sale

401 Richmond St West

#216

Friday November 15

11am-7pm

Saturday November 16

11am-5pm

All art is original.

paintings in acrylic and oils

watercolours

silkscreens
etchings
monoprints

pastels

mixed media

some works are framed

With the holiday season quickly approaching, this is an excellent time to stock up on original art for gift giving. Or get a gift for yourself. Get a few! All the art is priced to move. Please feel free to tell your friends and share this post.

We look forward to seeing you

We are Having a Studio Clearance Sale.

The studio clearance sale is happening!!!! Friend and fellow artist Lynn Kelly is joining in and has graciously offered up her studio (at 401 Richmond). We will both be clearing out lots and lots of original work. Paintings in acrylic, watercolors, illustration, and mixed media. All works are original and one of a kind, created by Lynn Kelly and Rita Vindedzis (me). Our studio clearance sale is taking place mid November.  I'll post more details soon. This is just a teaser. Stay tuned.

New Cityscapes on the Way.

Wonderful news came this past Saturday. A painting had sold. Yay! Perfect motivation to get started on some new cityscapes.

Before I start painting on the canvas I try to get an idea of what colors I'll use, and work up some small color charts.

It seems almost appropriate that on such a cloudy day I end up mixing grays. You can get some very beautiful, subtle grays using Payne's Gray, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Black and White.

Most of the cityscapes I've done so far are in cool tones. Grays and blues, very dramatic and moody.

Always challenging myself, I'll be using warmer tones in some of the new work. A very limited palette of White, Black, Burnt Sienna, and Yellow Ochre sounds like fun. On the easel is a small 12x16 study for the larger painting.

Here, I've started the under painting for two new cityscapes. This is just the beginning and these canvases will go through many layers of paint before they're complete. Stay tuned as I'll post when finished.

Winter's Song

Winter's Song

Altered Book, part of Inner Works 

Mixed Media 2009

Things are getting back to normal here today. I need my studio space back. I need to start painting. As I pack away the decorations and wrapping and take down the tiny tree, I anticipate the year ahead. The next few days will be spent cleaning out the studio, getting supplies ready, making plans and setting goals. 

Do you make resolutions for the year ahead? 

Inspiration Overflow.

Last week I dug out my inspiration board from our downstairs storage locker. It's been over two years since we moved and it's been sitting down there ever since. My inspiration board is a purchased cork bulletin board that I framed in a some what ornate frame.

I pulled from my many files of torn magazine pages and paper bits that I've saved over many years. After setting up a pleasing display of pictures, images, and colors that are inspiring me at the moment I set them with clear pins.

These pages come from my mountains of magazines, a nice combination of art, design, home, decor, craft, food, travel etc. etc. The 'Warhol' is a mixed media piece I created just for myself. You can see my process here.

Inspiration comes from everywhere lately. It seems my mind is racing overtime with creativity. If I wake up in the middle of the night I find it hard to get back to sleep because almost immediately I'm thinking of what to do in the studio the next day and what to paint. A nice problem to have.

Inspired by color, the season, changing and falling leaves, the sky, magazines, walking around my neighborhood, nightlife, bright lights, great music, learning new things, love, an occasional Ghirardelli square, blogs, books, inspiring people, life.

And of course my studio cats Iggy and Nami. They are the perfect companions to long quiet days alone in the studio.

I'd love to hear what your inspiration is.

Old Masters Painting Class Update.

Here are a few photo's of the studio where I'm taking the old masters oil painting class. The second class was all drawing.

We had to go back to basic drawing skills (drawing 101) and refresh ourselves with perspective and measuring.

Here is the still life that we are working with. It's quite traditional, draped cloth, a silver vase, and a few pieces of fruit in a wicker basket. That basket is quite old and cracked and definitely a challenge to draw.

What I've done so far. Considering that I don't usually draw in this manner and my last official drawing class was some 30 years ago (yes, that's brutally honest!) I think it's quite good. Next time, we'll be finishing up the drawings and learning how to transfer them onto the canvas. Stay tuned.

Halloween Owls.

Have you noticed that owls seem to be a very hot trend in home decor lately? Perhaps it's because they've been on my radar, but I see them almost everywhere I go.  It's a trend that seems to come back every so often (I remember in high school in the 70's they were big) and so the saying goes-everything old is new again.

I was asked to do some illustrations of owls this past summer. This pair of owl paintings are 18x18, mixed media on canvas. A perfect opportunity to use up some textured papers and play with some mixed media techniques. The cool gray tones and hits of bronze give them a rather moody feel. Almost spooky, so with Halloween coming up I thought I'd share them.

The publishers ended up using 2 other owls that I painted in the series and I'm left with 4 paintings of owls.  In fact there are paintings and illustrations crowding the shelves and the floor of my studio/living space. Perhaps it's time for a studio sale.

Birches, Birches, Everywhere Birches.

Over the past few years I've created many paintings of birch trees. Indeed birch trees have been and still are a very popular subject. They can be seen everywhere from original art, illustrations, posters, home decor items, the list is endless. I just love the way they look. "Spring's Promise"  is the very first one I painted and thanks to Art Interiors, it not only sold but also made it into the pages of Style at Home magazine, October 2007. 

I feel it's time to move along creatively and have been concentrating on other subjects, so I will now be painting birches by special request or commission only. There are a few available through my galleries and a few left here in my studio (I have a few more that aren't pictured here) Feel free to email me with your purchasing questions.

 Standing Tall  

Acrylic on Canvas

36x60x2

$3800

Upward Reaching  

Acrylic on Canvas

36x60x2

$3800

Create Mixed Media

I received some wonderful news yesterday. Next month I'll have seven of my mixed media paintings featured on Create Mixed Media. I have been asked to do "the week in art" and I am both thrilled and honored. I was introduced to this site through this post on The Altered Page. If you haven't checked out the site yet you're in for a treat as it's chock full of inspiration and information. If it has anything at all to do with mixed media you will find it at Create Mixed Media.

I'm off to the studio now to dig out my supplies and get creative. This is the part that I enjoy the most. Just playing with the art supplies and letting them take over. It's a very intuitive process for me. I know I'll have to remind myself to stop and photograph my process to share with you in a future post.

Fashion Illustration, Old School.

I found my old portfolio today with my sketches I did way back in the day at OCA-when it was still OCA and not OCAD as it is now. Sadly, I lost much of the work I did in school due to a flood we had in the basement of a rental apartment we used to live in.

These drawings were all done in Sunny Choi's fashion illustration class. I was very much into fashion back then and Sunny's fashion illustration class was my favorite. She would set up easel and draw during the class too. I loved to watch her draw, the way she worked her pencil or chalk line was amazing, and still is to today. Check out her website here.

We drew from live models. Here I sketched three separate poses by the same model on one page. I guess I thought this was really creative back then.

In looking at this sketch now I realize that for fashion illustration, the brides bottom half is too short and I should have made her legs longer.

I still love this dress the model wore that day. I had a similar one and actually I had the same earrings and hair. Hey, it was the eighties!!

I'm happy this wasn't destroyed with the other work. This sketch was one of my best pieces and yes, I did get an A on it. :-)

Checking In.

I sat down here with my laptop while waiting for paint to dry so I can continue and paint another layer on top. As I sit here catching my breath and thinking of what to write, I realize that I have nothing really to say. It's been a crazy few days and I've been running on full speed. We were in Montreal over the weekend tying up ends and attending a funeral. Chatting with friends and family that we don't see often and wrapping and boxing items. It was rather surreal and sad at the same time. I know it's the cycle of life and death and we all move on, so I put my memories close to my heart and carry on as close to normal as possible.

I'm attempting to get in to the studio as often as I can these days but the interruptions continue. The landlord has to show our apartment and so I'm forced to stop and tidy up at the worst times (like I've just mixed up all this paint and about to get it on the canvas and the phone rings). So I stop, tidy as fast as I can and the phone rings again, appointment cancelled. Back to painting and then in a while the phone rings again and I'm back to tidying. Smiling and trying not to freak out too much.

29 days until we take possession of our new condo. 35 days until I need all the paintings finished and varnished. 44 days until we move. 44 days until I have to deliver paintings to the gallery. 47 days until the opening reception. Yikes!! It's back to work for me!!

A painting Demo Part One

Very well worn brushes

preparing the canvas

Stage 1 preliminary painting in

I've gotten many requests into showing a bit of a painting demo as to how I achieve my "soft focus" effect in my paintings. If you're a regular to my blog you may remember this post from last year where I showed you one painting from start to finish. I find demos awkward to write up as much of how I paint is intuitive and when I get "in the zone" I find it hard to stop and take photos. I think demos are best done in person when you can actually see the demonstrator doing their thing. I've always loved the idea of doing workshops at a beautiful resort-hhmmmm, perhaps that's in my future at some point?

I generally start with a pre-primed canvas and paint it with a warm base coat, usually red oxide. Then I "sketch" in the darks with thinned acrylic paint and one of my favorite "scraggy" brushes. To achieve my soft focus effect the most important thing for me is having the right brush. I buy very inexpensive brushes and wear them in until I get them just right. The more uneven the edges become the better they are for softening the edges. A combination of dry brushing and many layers of coloralso helps to soften the edges.

Stay tuned for the rest of this demo. I'm in studio this week working on new paintings for this upcoming show and I've got my camera right by my side, ready to shoot as I paint.

Technical Difficulties!!!

The last few days have been crazy here. I finished up the last of my custom orders on Thursday which was a good thing. Friday brought the first real snowstorm of the season. An all day event, we got 25 centimeters of snow (8 inches) and frigid temperatures. Thankfully we didn't receive any freezing rain. I woke up early to check my email and read some blogs and I couldn't get the computer to start up. Frustrated, I turned on the morning news and waited patiently until it was time for my husband Egils to get up for work. Finally up and in a bit of a rush to get off to work ahead of the coming storm, he had a look to see what the problem was. Insert curse words here! Off to work, the problem would have to be looked at later. Today, this is what part of the studio looks like. So as you can see, I'm having technical difficulties, to say the least. Hopefully I can get back some of what has been lost and it's business as usual in the new year. The brighter side of all this is that there are a couple of laptops that I can use in the meantime and I'm learning how to use a different operating system.