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Wes' Christmas baking is soon to arrive. I must work harder in the pool!

Well since the last blog I have been in a couple of shows, one which continues at the moment, at the Penticton Art Gallery until December 20. You can see a huge variety of works under $300, all by local artists, and browse their gift shop as well. I was down there today & it is an amazing show of local talent, at unreasonably low prices.

Tomorrow night I am delighted to be pouring hot mulled apple juice at Seasons Sparkles opening, from 5 pm, at the Summerland Art Gallery Christmas opening. The streets of Summerland will be packed with 6000 expected visitors for the annual "Light Up" Festival and fireworks. I've had a little preview of the gift shop and it has been transformed with works of art and crafts, great Christmas presents and ideas, and a lot of glamour. Come on down & check it out!

Right after that I head to Coquitlam for the Christmas Craft Sale at Poirier Centre

Here's the details on the right. Hope to see you there if you are in the Vancouver area--pick up your 2015 calendar before they sell out, and check out my new work just in time to get things framed for Christmas (or buy yourself something for a change!)

Speaking of new work, I've posted a few things in the "New Gallery" and will highlight a couple of things here.

I've been doing a lot of life drawing with a fabulous group down in Penticton. I think I'm the only one who works a lot in ink--others draw with pencils, coloured pencils, charcoal, conte and pastels.

Recently I've started exploring a bit with some dark Indian cotton rag paper that has a deckled (ie torn look) edge and a lot of texture. Besides working on dark (as opposed to the usual white paper) I've been seeing what inks and drawing materials suit this interesting paper.

Tell me what you think:

I've got a few more examples, but loving how the gold acrylic ink gives a glow, then the India ink with an old fashioned nib (dip) pen creates the line.

And lest you think I've forgotten watercolours and landscapes:

This is part of a series of local scenery I'm starting. Some places we love to take visitors--the Kettle Valley Railway trail system, part of a 100 year old railway bed that has now been converted mostly to biking/hiking trails is one of them. Come up & see it!

I've finished a couple of commissions and one of them was a little tough to do--not because of the "brief" (the subject requested, which was a bouquet of gerbera daisies) but because of the story behind it. A friend's sister was in a bad car accident where the vehicle went into the river and the husband and 12 year old daughter drowned, and the sister seriously injured. The community went all-out to help the sister, as they do, especially in smaller communities, and my friend wanted an original card of her niece's favourite flowers in bright colours, as a remembrance for her sister, and then to have 50 cards printed from the original, as thank-you notes to the people who helped her sister through her recovery (which needless to say is still on-going). I was so pleased to be asked, and to have some small part in helping people through this tragedy. And it reminded me of how personal art can be--and what a joy to share it with others.

This may stir an idea in you for commissioning a small piece of art, or looking through my portfolio to see if there's anything there you may like to have made into gift cards. I have two good suppliers of cards now, and can get them printed in quantities of 10 and more, delivered to your door, for very reasonable prices (3" X 4 1/2" less than $2.50, more for 5" X 7", envelopes included). Some people like the smaller ones so they don't have to write so much!

Well, that's about all for this blog as I've got email invitations to do for those who don't subscribe to the website! Hope your run-up to Christmas is most joyful and that you can stop and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells along the way!

Cheers until next time--by then it'll be the end of the year and time for a little reflection!