Busy Fall

Man, it has been forever since I have been here.  Sorry about that but life has been extremely busy the last few months.  I'll begin with the Barge Festival,  a fun time but only visiting.  Very few people in Winnipeg know what this "festival" is all about and so don't come expecting to see fine art and certainly not to buy.  But we did have some quality visit time with relatives and friends which counts for a lot these days.

In Sept. Dawn and I combined with her sister and hubby and one of her cousins and took off for Iceland to see what the world was like in the beginning.  Volcanic eruptions, earth quakes, hot springs, geysers, ancient lava flows, glaciers and Vikings.  What a unique place on this earth.  We also hooked up with Dawn's Icelandic relatives who were so kind and gracious in their desire to make connections and show us another side of their culture and take us to where Dawn's grandmother was born.
In November we went to Churchill on a sightseeing and educational trip.  We stayed at the Churchill Northern Research Centre located where the old rocket range was headquartered.  Had a great trip, viewing the polar bear migration and seeing what has changed in Churchill since I worked up there in the late 1960's.
In the between times I did manage to finish a commissioned piece ( loon and two chicks ) and began a single adult Loon.  I also started a pixilation painting of White Pelicans.  Just finished that and will take to my Friday art group for critique.  They always give me an honest opinion and suggestions for what they think will improve the overall impression.
Should also mention that we are working on a new computer so I am not sure how to add pics but will try.

Another week of work done and pieces almost ready for The Prairie Barge Festival, neither had I until the Sask Craft Council received an invitation for Sask artists to participate.  Since Winnipeg is a city that has a long history with stone carving I thought that it would be a good place to reintroduce my work there.  There was a time that I had galleries there to sell my work but as goes the world of art they disappeared or dried up and then there were none.
Now the recent work has focused on smaller pieces since this is an outdoor sale at The Forks, not a gallery.  There was a definite lack of lower end pieces in my home stock. 

I like the leaf, turtle and beluga whales the most out of the completed work.  These are all smaller pieces and ready just in time for Winnipeg.    Hopefully the weather is great and there are loads of folks out.  If not we will just have to visit with the relatives and enjoy their company.  So next blog will be after that show and we will let everyone know what The Prairie Barge Festival is all about.  By the way there will be no barge involved this year due to high water, now that is really strange.....

August already

Has anyone figured out where the month of July went?  Seems that the summer is on the decline and I did not know we have had it, but you can sure see it in the daylight hours we now have.
After a work slack month and a half, it is back to work and the last two weeks have been concentrating on getting smaller pieces ready for the Prairie Barge Festival in Winnipeg at the end of August.  Really there is such a festival and the are promoting the arts at The Forks along with many other activities.
I also did a trip to Canmore AB to change my art at the All in the Wild Gallery there.  We incorporated a couple of relative visits at the same time and that really made the trip much more enjoyable.
So all for now but next week I will introduce you to the new carvings through pictures and hopefully show some stages of the next carving, I thought that might be more interesting than just seeing the finished product.
Enjoy the rest of summer.

Another show done

Yes the 2014 edition of the ReginArt is done and to rave reviews of both guests, sponsors and the artists themselves.  I would like to thank all our sponsors, Wolfond Financial, Dilawre BMW, Eyes on Hamilton,  Bravo Tango Designs and Western Litho, for their support.  We are now beginning the planning process for the 2015 show so keep posted and I'll try to be more regular with my posts to keep folks updated.
Our next project is a Gala Benefit for Prairie Wealth Management Group in Saskatoon.  They are raising funds in support of a new leadership program being introduced in Saskatchewan schools.. that will take place at TCU Place on October 24 with the artists extending the show to the 25 in the same venue. 

Work wise I have been concentrating on rehabbing a piece that I felt was not up to scratch.  I carved a female figure of wood but the grain of the wood made the face look ugly.  The harder I tried to get it right the worse it got.  I left it while working on the ReginArt show and then decided the rest of the piece was to good to scrap.  My solution was to remove the face and do one in stone.  This of course created other problems but the results were much more satisfying.  I still need some touch-ups but the pics will give you some idea and you can judge for yourselves.

A busy week ahead in preparation for the second annual ReginArt show and sale..  Please join us May 16 between 1 pm and 8 pm and /or May 17 between11 am and 8 pm. You will be amazed at the one of a kind/ original works of art and it is FREE.  Well entry is free,  the artwork not so much.  The show is at the Conexus Arts Centre in the Jacqui Shumiatcher room which will be set up like an art gallery allowing folks to wander and see it all or stop and study one or two pieces.

I do have another new piece called Old Man On His Back.  I depicts a man trudging along with this weight or man on his back.  Teenagers will undoubtedly interpret this differently than adults might so having highschool students view it will be interesting.

Thanks for reading and I'll try to give a brief review of the show next blog.

May ReginArt show and sale.

Spring is here ( I have been wrong before) I believe.  Have spent a good deal of time trying to get the art show set up and the pieces to make it run smoothly.  It is coming together but not much art work getting done.   The above are the two wood pieces I completed from the fir beam that was found along the side of our house.  The grain worked really well on the owl but poorly on the female figure.  Still learning new things.  I used Danish oil finish on both pieces. 

I have just posted the show invitation on Dawn Trasks facebook page,  have a peek for an idea of what we produce in the ReginArt world.

Spring News

Well, spring is supposedly here though as I write there are white flakes coming down.  makes outside work a little chilly but I have been out there doing just that.  Last post I mentioned that I was carving wood, fir to be precise.  I did get the two pieces done and am now looking at a chunk of soapstone.

Nouveau Gallery in Regina have picked some of my work for a spring show of Regina area artists and a small retrospective of Ted Godwin's work 1961 to 1988 ( one member of the Regina Five).  The show is called AWAKENINGS. Nice to have gallery representation in town. 

Also a somewhat frantic time for our ReginArt group and the spring show on May 15-17.  Trying to find sponsors , get info organized for printing invites, booklet, etc..  I think we have a phenomenal group of artists and we really want to make this a successful show for all of us.

The pictures are of  the two almost complete wood carvings.