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| Jude and her paintings at the Spring Showcase |
At the beginning of this year, I joined the Nanoose Bay Studio Tour. This is a group of artists and artisans on Vancouver Island that hosts three art events a year -- a Spring Showcase, a Thanksgiving Studio Tour, and a Christmas Crawl. In 2017, I participated in the Thanksgiving tour as a guest artist.
The Spring Showcase is a weekend event held in the community centre. All the artists set up their booths in this central location and welcome the public to the event. This year, we also held an opening reception on the Friday evening, with wine, a caterer, and live music. Donna from Retirement Reflections, and lots of other friends attended.
The other two events are studio driving tours. Over each weekend, people take a driving tour to the participating studios. The advantage of the showcase is that everything is available in one place. The advantage of the tours is that people get to see the studios where the artists work, and their private galleries.
I am thrilled to be part of this wonderful group of artists. The group is super friendly and supportive. There is a wide range of beautiful art represented, including glass blowing, stained glass, pottery, jewellery, bonsai, woodwork, metal sculpture, mixed media, and photography, along with painters such as myself. One of the highlights for me on the showcase weekend was getting to know the other artists a little better. It also was fun chatting with all the people who came by to look at my display.
Rob's hoardings that he built for displaying my paintings were easy to set up and they looked great painted black. I forgot to take a picture of them before hanging the paintings! But if you look at the photos carefully, you can see them.
On the last day of the showcase, my daughter Erica and my friend Wendy came over from Vancouver to see the show.
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| Erica and Wendy at the Spring Showcase |
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| Celebrating after the show |
I am thrilled to announce that my new studio and gallery, Notch Hill Art, will be open for business at the beginning of June. I have hung the paintings and set up the gallery space.
Erica has built me a wonderful artist's website for Notch Hill Art. To look at my collection of paintings, click here.
If you are in the area and would like to come and visit me in my studio, you can contact me through the website to arrange a time. The website includes a blog where I write about my current art projects and shows. Also, my paintings are available for sale via the website. I have provided a link to the Notch Hill Art website in the sidebar of my blog, so you can find it easily.I will be participating in the Nanoose Bay Studio Tour's Thanksgiving Tour and the Christmas Crawl this year. It is exciting to embark on this new adventure. There are so many gorgeous views in this area and I am looking forward to painting them.
Hi Jude. I've been going on studio tours several times a year for twenty years. It's really wonderful to see where an artist is inspired and how she sets up her space for work. The next time I'm on Vancouver Island, I'd love to see your space and your art up close and personal.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on a beautiful new website (well done, Erica!); on an extensive collection of interesting and evocative paintings to fill that website and gallery; on a simple and effective logo and, most especially, on the launch of Judith 2.0. Retired life is certainly agreeing with you, Jude. Love that big, relaxed smile in your photos.
Hi Karen. Studio tours are so much fun. When I first moved to Lethbridge, I went on the fall Art Walk, and that was how I began meeting the artists’ community in that area.
DeleteWhen you make it to Vancouver Island one day for a visit, I would love to show you my studio. Maybe we could also go on a studio tour in the area. There are several formal art tours each year in different communities on the Island and the Gulf Islands. As well, lots of the artists, like the ones in my group, are happy to welcome visitors to their studios at any t8 e of the year.
Jude
Wonderful! I saw a taster on Donna’s blog as you noticed. Studio tours are a great idea, we’ve followed them here too, in Perthshire. You get a day out in lovely countryside too.
ReplyDeleteDonna and her husband and sister in law came to the opening reception of the Spring Showcase. So, of course we took the opportunity to snap some photos of the two of us at the event! The Showcase was fun, but I agree that it is especially interesting to be able to see the artists’ work in their own studios. You also get a sense of the landscape that inspires them.
DeleteJude
Wow, Jude! I went to the website with your paintings and they are just beautiful! You look so happy and content. I'm sure there is stress along the way as you create but the end products are worth it!
ReplyDeleteVicki, thanks for taking a look at the Notch HIll Art website, and for your kind words. It is funny to think that all of those paintings were created during my busy career years. I don’t find painting stressful, but actually exactly the opposite. It is almost zen like for me, in that I am totally in the moment while I am painting.
DeleteJude
I went to your website to see your work, and I too say wow! There was one picture in particular that caught my eye in the gallery above from the art show - centred between your daughter and friend. I found it again on the website ... the bridge with the partial ice and reflection in the water. Love!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and best wishes! Your creative energy is alive and well!!
Joanne, thank-you so much. The painting that you are referring to, “Henderson Lake in December,” is one that I am especially happy with. It is one of my largest paintings. There is a beautiful city park in Lethbridge where Henderson Lake is situated. There is also a lovely Japanese garden there. When we lived there, we used to walk or cycle around the lake often. This painting is based on a series of photos that I took one cold December afternoon when I was out for a walk. I used the photos for reference, and painted the painting later in the studio. Some of the other paintings (the smaller ones) were painted on location rather than in the studio.
Delete“Henderson Lake in December” was especially fun to paint because of the rocks, and the reflections in the water. It was also challenging because of the perspective in the arched bridge. I spent a lot of time with the initial drawing in order to get the bridge right!
Jude
The spring showcase must have been a joy for all the senses. What a wonderful experience to exhibit, have friends come and support you, and meet fellow artists. I’m in awe of what you achieved on a creative and organizational level since your move to Vancouver Island, Jude! Wow.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on participating in these events, creating a website (bravo to your daughter as well), and a studio with everything that involves. The paintings on your website are fabulous. I’m drawn to the nature scenes (like another commenter said, the one with the bridge and the reflection in the ice-free water is fantastic and unique), but also to the abstract scenes. I just love the colors and the paint strokes the way you represented them on canvas. Can’t wait to see them all in person one day, hopefully soon. :-)
Oh, Liesbet, you are very kind. I feel so fortunate and grateful to be able to have the time in my life now to spend in creative endeavours. As you can see, I was painting during my busy work years too, but I had very little time for it. I did not have time to show my work or participate in the artist community.
DeleteYou are right that it took a lot of work to document and photograph all the paintings and create the website. I am so lucky that my talented daughter built me the website (she is both an artist and a website designer). Also, getting organized for the show was time consuming. Now that I have done all that, I am hoping that I can refocus on painting.
Although I am mostly inspired to paint landscapes, I also love to paint abstract paintings. I am glad that you like the abstract ones. A friend was over the other night for a preliminary peek at the studio, and one of her favourites was one of the abstracts too.
Hopefully you and Mark will be here in the fall, and you will see the studio then.
Jude
Congratulations, Jude, for a successful Spring Showcase and your new Notch Hill Art web site! Beautiful art work!!! Your daughter did an excellent job creating the web site, too. It's so wonderful now that you can focus on painting, and enjoy your studio space.
ReplyDeleteThanks Natalie! I am glad you like the paintings. I am so lucky to have had the help of my talented daughter in creating the website.
DeleteJude
Hi Jude! Congratulations on your show and your new studio. How exciting and fun! If I lived closer I would definitely come by and see you and your work. We have a local studio tour that we always try to attend just because I love being around artists and their work. May your new endeavor be everything you hope it will be! ~Kathy
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Kathy! It is fun, and being part of a Studio Tour Group is a totally new experience for me. Because my worklife was so demanding, I haven’t been showing my paintings much at all for the last 15 years. Prior to that, I was part of an artist’s coop, and I used to show my paintings regularly in group and juried shows. I also had a number of solo shows back then. When I moved here, I had no idea how I would begin to connect with local artists, and I am happy and grateful to have met so many already, and that they are so welcoming.
DeleteJude
Congratulations on your show - your paintings are beautiful! I love the idea of a studio tour so the public can see where the artist works, but seeing many artists at once is a real treat too. I'm curious, do you work mostly from photos or do you paint on location?
ReplyDeleteHi Janis. Thanks! Generally I take photos and and work from them as references when I am painting in the studio. So when I am out and about, I am always thinking about possible future paintings as I take photographs. But I also like to paint on location. Especially during the last few years, I have done a number of en plein air paintings, and participated in in some paint out events. When I work en plein air, I tend to do small studies because there isn’t time to complete a larger canvas in a single day. Whereas, some of my studio paintings are up to 30x24 inches in size.
DeleteJude
Hi, Jude - I am thrilled that I was able to attend the Art Show. It was incredible! Enjoy Chicago. I look forward to catching up again soon!
ReplyDeleteHi Donna. I’m on the ferry and on my way. Following your good example, I packed light this time!
DeleteJude