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I heard of an experiment that someone was doing in San Fransisco which they dubbed a "sketchcrawl". The idea is to go out and draw for an entire day everything that you do or things that you see as you go along. I was inspired and intrigued by the idea so I decided to plan one myself! I urge other illustration readers to plan one in their city. It's a great way to meet other aritsts in their community.

EDMONTON SKETCH CRAWL
(18th international)
SAT, MARCH 29th
11am
STANLEY A MILNER LIBRARY, Down town
(in the entrance if it's terrible outside, outside if it's glorious!)

Here's what the founder had to say:

"The basic idea: to record nonstop everything I could around me with my pencil and watercolors. A drawn journal filled with details ranging from the all the coffee I drank to the different buses I took. After a whole day of drawing and walking around the city the name seemed quite fitting: “SketchCrawl” - a drawing marathon. The crawl was more tiring than I imagined but also more fun and exciting than I had thought. Giving yourself this kind of mandate for a full day changes the way you look around you. It makes you stop and see things just a tad longer, just a bit deeper … needless to say I loved it.

I soon figured out it was much more interesting to do the marathon with a group of artists instead of all by myself! And so SketchCrawl turned communal. After a whole day of drawing it proved to be amazingly interesting and inspiring to share and compare other people’s drawings and thoughts. Different takes on our surroundings, different details, different sensibilities.
The next step was making the SketchCrawl a World Wide event: having people from different corners of the world join in a day of sketching and journaling and then, thanks to the Internet, having everyone share the results on an online forum.

Last year I had an idea to raise funds for the Edmonton Humane Society (they are building a new shelter for their animals, called the Margaret Chapelle Centre for Animal Care, named after an Edmonton Artist who gave the largest dontation in history to a Canadian Animal Shelter). I thought: "What if I could gather a group of artists that would create art featuring shelter animals and hold a gala which people could come and bid on said art?"

Well, after much planning and hoping, the gala is going to happen! Held at the beautiful Mayfield Inn in Edmonton on April 12, 2008. It's going to be in conjunction with Coventry Homes for Hounds and the seats are are going to sell out fast. To purchase tickets please contact Leslie or Kara. Please keep in mind that you'll have to pay via cheque or cash (made out to Homes for Hounds).

These fine artists & illustrators have been invited to participate:
Michelle Schwengler, Amanda Woodward, Igor Woroniuk, Nicola Pringle, Rachelle Miller, Suzanne Stevens, Marcus Cutler, Drury Stratiy, Amie Kerman, Danielle Inglesias and Michelle McBride.

I've chosen a rather fluffy black and white cat called Barnes and have already started painting his portrait (I forgot he didn't have a tail so when I went in to photograph him again I was quite surprised... needless to say I'll be painting his tail out of the picture, poor chap!).



Here's the real guy! So shy, but so big and fluffy and huggable!

Here's another plywood painting that I completed and it's process (for greater detail click on each picture).


1• Create a confident drawing that will show you how to create your gradients and values (based on a greyscale drawing). Get it approved by your client.

2•For a painting where the texture is important, choose your canvas wisley. I pulled about a round dozen sheets of pokey plywood off the hardware stores shelves before I found just the right "chunk" for this image. Tell the person who cuts out your block of plywood that it's for art and yes, you know canvases are cheap down at the local art store...!

3• Protect Your Painting before it's even started. Give it several good (thick) coatings of Multi Purpose Acylic Polymer so that weird chemicals don't leak into the painting over the years destroying the values you create. THEN! Protect your paint (it doesn't come cheap after all...) by Gessoing your surface. This will give your paint an extra "grip" or "mile" so that you don't have to layer it on really thick. I paint my gesso on in several layers in different directions so that the brush strokes aren't going to create a distracting pattern. Thing to Remember: Your brush strokes on every layer of every painting can help aid your composition!

5• Block in Dark Colours.


6• Think Details and Light. The concept is to have your darker colours in the "Valley" part of the plywood ridges and the light colours on the "peaks". This will really make the texture pop. For details do what you normally do, fill in the valleys and peaks with similar values.

A unique fundraiser came to my attention earlier this month and I gathered some close artistic friends of mine to help out. The Bissell Centre in co-operation with Crank Pots on Whyte ave has allowed quite a few Edmonton artists to paint a piece of pottery to sell during a silent auction later this month (I'll update you exactly when this happens). Some of the pieces are so good you'll whip out your wallet in a jiffy to buy them up as Christmas gifts.

My piece, in progress.


Mermaid Teapot in progress (the piece will get darker once it's been "fired" in the kiln).


My sister in front along with some other friends painting away, creating masterpieces. Can't wait for the show! I'll post more pictures of the pieces after the auction for those of you who aren't from Alberta and can't make it out.

I have been told the dates I will be at the Downtown farmers market (and I'm so so sorry that my cell was locked in my trunk when two friends who drove two hours to come see me missed me because they thought I meant the Strathcona farmers market!) and hope to see some familiar faces there this weekend! I have made some new funky objects which I had so much fun creating this week around my classes and freelance work (no wonder my house is a mess). These are also available to purchase online via paypal if interested. I can ship them to any country.

DATES for DOWNTOWN market (Jasper Ave & 104th), 9am - 3pm
AUGUST 18, 25
SEPTEMBER 8, 26
OCTOBER 6

Here's a sneak peek of some new items for sale this weekend:

Foxy Bulletin Board (24 x 18", woodburnt and painted) $40 or $45 with three designer tacks.



Teresa Fine Art Bowl (10" diameter, Wood Burnt) $100



Mini Chalk Board, Magnetic (5x7", woodburnt, varnished) $25



click on each image to see it larger. To see more images click on the title of this blog (flickr site).

I'm going to be at the....

DOWN TOWN FARMERS MARKET! (rain or shine)

When: This saturday from 9am to 3pm.
Where: Between Jasper Ave & 103rd Ave On 104th Street

Here's a shot of something I made for a friends wedding a couple weekends ago. It's similar to a couple items I'll be selling although most of the bowls feature girls, not animals and kids. Look for my new and hot item called "BirdyBear pins" which are mini original fine art pins that are woodburnt, painted then varnished. Each one is individual, drawn on the spot on the pin from my imagination. You'll never see clip art on my pins or other artists works copied (eek!). These little treasures should be treated like fine art (they are just really tiny). I really hope to have pictures up soon!

I finally broke down and bought an unlimited "pass" to Edmonton's ReUse Center. If you have not yet been to this amazing place you simply must go (this is a must for crafters, quilters, junk collectors and treasure hunters). It's chalked full of amazing fabric, buttons, binders, magazines, books, cardboard odds&ends, baskets, jars, clothes pins, magnets, pins, seashells and so so much more. It's free to donate items and it's only $2 for as much as you can stuff into your car (or as little) or $20 for a year of unlimited, take all you want pass. I found a book with patterns for stuffed animals in it and it's darling (I also found fun fabric to make these items... hmmm, should have taken some buttons for the eyes, oh well). I found a working music box, some fun pins for my bulletin board (i use pins, not push pins for my bulletin board), thread and a strange looking dolphin floaty thing for my fish tank (no crafting required).

The reuse center is located at 10004-103A Ave (in front of the CN Tower). See the hours and list of items that are found/can be donated by clicking on the title of this blog.

Happy crafting!



*photo from reuse center website*