BWS Impressions Exhibition and Sale 2012 Video

Hope you enjoy this short video slideshow of our Exhibition at Boynton house last month.

Ona

Raising money for Charity

Shirley Scoble was one of the contributors at this years Vinifera Gala held at the A.G.O. Her painting Autumn Dance...

 ...was part of their auction which raised $ 17,000. The auction was part of a larger event put on by B.M.O. And Women In Capitol Markets. Funds raised benefit Financial Independence For Women and The Heather L. Main Scholarship Fund.

Our 10th Anniversary Celebration!

 We would like to remind you that our next meeting is coming up soon. Please mark it down in your calendar now -

                         APRIL 3 , Tuesday 6:45pm

                                      Langstaff Community Centre

Apart from an inspiring acrylic demonstration by our long time member, Steven Wolk (www.stevenwolkart.com), we will also be celebrating  the 10th Anniversary of Bayview Watercolour Society.  You will meet some of the Artists who have demonstrated for us in the past 10 years and other guests who have been supporting us all this time.

Here's the Program for the great evening:

6:45pm         Registration

7- 8pm          Demonstration by Steve Wolk

8- 9:30pm 

• BWS 10th Anniversary Party kick-off
• Red carpet ceremony
• Mingling and Refreshments   
• Mini art show*
• Photo-taking
• Cake cutting

As we have a pretty packed program, please kindly arrive at 6:45pm as Demo will start at 7pm sharp.

Hope to see you all!

Beauty of the Hills at Risk Exhibition!

Joan McGivney (President, North York Visual Artists) and  our very own Tony Cook  were among 30 or so artists who trekked north last July for a paint-out in Melancthon Township in protest against the proposed MegaQuarry.

On February 3 and 4, 2012, Artists against the MegaQuarry will mount their debut Toronto City show and sale, with all proceeds going to support the fight against the quarry.

Tony hopes you can come and support the cause against destroying this beautiful landscape so beloved by Ontario artists. Click on the image below to see a larger version.

Ona

Demo night photos and a video to share!

What a fun and informative evening we had yesterday. Thank you Valentine for sharing your tips, experience and knowledge with us.

Jean has sent me some of the photos she took of us all enjoying the evening together. Thank you Jean :)

It was so good to meet and share our love of art. As I watched the following link that a friend sent me today I thought of us all yesterday just enjoying the process of making art... it truly is theraputic isn't it. 

As Jane Freeman suggested this morning. It doesn't need to be a long art/painting session... those few moments for yourself to do just a wash or two really can help your sense of wellbeing as can our monthly meetings.

Thank you everyone
 Ona

Introducing January's Artist of the month!!!

As a special celebration of our 10th Anniversary this is an exciting new feature for our blog for this year. It's a chance for you to be able to get to know some world class professional watermedia artists, be able to chat to them personally right here on our blog and ask them questions by posting right here as a comment!!!

This Month's Artist is the very well known North American Watercolour artist Jane Freeman TWSA!

I hope you will all welcome Jane to our blog :)

Isn't her above painting just gorgeous. Its called  'At Attention!'

Jane has very kindly taken the time to write you all a personal message. Thank you Jane!

"I guess I am your first "artist of the month"! What an honor to be asked to begin this new adverture of yours! Since blogs are more informal this will be alot of fun for all of you as you get to visit and ask questions of different artists.

I have been painting in watercolors exclusively since the mid 1980's. I found it challenging as a medium at first but also less toxic than my oils so was the perfect choice to use while raising a family. Little did I know that I would be hooked for a lifetime and no turning back!
I paint mostly still life and floral as that is what I know and have access to. I raise alot of flowers and paint the things in my house given to me by family members from the present and past. I do not believe in painting unfamiliar things as there is little personal connection to them and I believe that shows.

I have been published internationally in books and magazines and wrote my own book " A Celebration of Light" for North Light books. I still am amazed when people know me and my work. I think that is the most enjoyable part of what has happened to me. I have met such wonderful people and artists and it still continues to be an important part of my life. We tend to be very isolated to do our work but now through the internet, I have a circle of artists whom I can call friends and that has been wonderful to find at this stage of my life!

This is another of my paintings. Its called 'Pears on Movil' 

I hope you will visit my website at www.janefreeman.com. It needs to be updated but I have to learn a few new things in order to do that so it is on hold. I do alot of step by step demos on my blog at http://watercolorist.blogspot.com/ and I am active on Facebook and Artcolony which is a blog I developed for some of my artist friends at http://artcolony.blogspot.com

I will be happy to talk with you through the month and answer any questions that I can. It will be fun to get to know you. Thank you so much for this opportunity. "-

Jane Freeman

Jane is going to take a peak into our blog each day this month so post any questions you would like to ask her by clicking on 'comment' at the end of this post. Type your comment or question in the white box. If you haven't got a blog account, choose anonymous in the drop down menu and then post your comment but make sure you write your name at the end of your post so Jane knows who she is talking to :)

So... to start us of. I have thought of a couple questions to ask Jane for you :)

1. Do you have a favourite colour palette that you use for your paintings or do you select your colours according to each painting?

2.  If you could give just one  piece of advice to someone who enjoys painting in  watercolour what would it be?

This is a unique chance for you all so please don't miss the opportunity to chat to these artists each month by being shy:)

Ona

Change of Artist for our demo on Tuesday 10th

We are in for a very different but fun evening next Tuesday as Russian born artist Valentine Ioppe will be replacing our scheduled artist Donnah Cameron who unfortunatley cannot make it due to illness.

Valentine plans to use two easels, one for him and one for one of us working progressively along with him!!!!! What an amazing experience for all you acrylic artists!

He says: "Art is a unique activity where you don't need assistants, bosses or colleagues, you can do everything from the beginning to the end from the idea to the product by yourself and you are your own boss responsible for the quality. It is difficult to compare art with architecture or movie production with the croud of people involved. "

If you would like to look at some of valentine's work before our demo next Tuesday please visit his website at www.artvalentine.com

Hope to see you all on Tuesday

Ona

7 strategies sell your pitch!

Marion, Lizbeth, Jean, Pauline and I had a very interesting day yesterday at the Creative Arts symposium at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts. One of the speakers, Dianne Buckner, host of CBC's Dragon's Den, gave us 7 strategies to get people to buy into your creative vision and I thought it would be interesting to share these with you all.

1. Sell yourself, be confident in yourself and your vision. Be honest, reputable, gain credibility (credentials) name drop:)

2.Target your market... do your research... who is your buyer, what do they need/want Why does this person want to help you?

3.Tell a story...make yourself human, give a glimpse into who you really are, your personality.

4. Don't let your emotions get the better of you. Emotion is a good thing. Its great to be passionate about your work but don't get carried away.

5. Lead with your strengths but also understand your weaknesses. Be prepared to answer questions creatively, show you have thought about your vision.

6. Watch for trends and shifts in human behaviour. Use social netwroking sites like blogs, Twitter and facebook not only to get your message accross but also to keep up to date with others in your field.

7. Keep it simple and clear... think carefully about what the most compelling detail is and focus on this. Don't get bogged down by all the details.

so why do we need to remember these things?

as artists there are many times that we have to sell ourselves, our work, our vision...... to the customer/client.... to galleries.... to the Arts council when applying for grants/funding.... to the press when we want publicity....the list goes on.

I also want to take this opportunity to review how to subscribe to this blog.

Click on the e mail notification box and type in your e mail. (This will be totally confidential) and click on submit. Another window will then pop up and you will be asked to type in a series of letters. This is just a safety feature to prevent automatic computers subscribing to anything. Then click on complete subscription request. You will then receive an e mail asking you to verify. Click on yes and then each time any of the blog team posts on this blog you will get an e mail notification reminding you to check the blog.

Don't forget the blog is interative too. At the bottom of each post is a comment tab. Click on this and then type whatever comment you wish to make in the white box. When you have finished, sign your first name and then click on 'post a comment'. If you do not have a g mail account or you wish to remain anonymous other than your first name, click on the comment as box and  in the drop down tab at the very bottom is anonymous. Click on this to post your comment.

Ona

Demo by Nancy Newman

We have a very exciting demonstration planned for Tuesday's meeting. Nancy Newman will be showing us the art of negative painting in watercolour.

 

Nancy Newman is an award winning artist and teacher, living in Aurora, Ontario.

 

  She says, " I have been guided by a quotation given to me by Dr. Frank Brathwaite, a respected Canadian educator. “Those who continue to grow, despite their age, are always in a continuous state of gearing up for life’s next challenge. They maintain a forward momentum and are infectiously enthused about life, which is after all an adventure, not a guided tour”.

My challenge is to learn something new every day and to create a reflection of the small things in life which bring me joy and spark my imagination. As an educator I believe in and practise lifelong learning. Art keeps me enthused and allows my adventure to continue."

What a great philosophy! If you would like to see some of her work please click on this link to her web site.

So what is negative painting?

 Negative painting simply means creating the form you want by painting the area around it instead of the form itself. In other words, if you were painting a leaf, but wanted to leave it white... paint what is behind that leaf to actually shape the leaf itself.


Hope to see everyone on Tuesday. Non members are more than welcome to attend too. See you around 6.45pm at the Langstaff Community Centre on Tuesday November 8th.

Ona