​Well, it's been another busy week, but at least I have time to write to you, which I love doing.
 
First, I must tell you I was moved to hugs and tears by my students at the local village retirement residence where I have been volunteering my skills and knowledge as an art teacher.
 
In the Spring I was able to set up a weekly program for them, thanks to the generosity of a group of clients of Lynn Cain, of Cain & Osborne Associates http://www.cainandosborne.com/, who each donated $20 to provide the art supplies for the program. The program culminated in an exhibition of the participants work. Each participant was able to have one piece of art framed, thanks to the generosity of Karen at Sienna Gallery in Rockland http://www.siennagalleryandframing.ca/. The students were so pleased with how the exhibition went that there started to be talk of a Christmas Bazaar to sell their other creations.
 
The enthusiasm was contagious and with the help of Cheryl, the program coordinator, we extended the program to include Christmas crafts.
 
Weekly Flowers http://www.weeklyflowers.com/ has very generously offered to donate the signage for the event, which will be held on Saturday, December 5, from 9 to 11:30 AM, to coordinate with the Cumberland Christmas Market.
 
I hope you will take the opportunity to visit the Bazaar and the Christmas Market. It's a great event in the Village of Cumberland!
 
So, what touched me so deeply was that the participants in the program created a very special piece of artwork to thank me for working with my very generous sponsors and donors to provide this program for them. It is a piece that I will hang with pride in my studio and treasure forever. 

Today's Painting Tip: White
 
As artists we usually choose Titanium White as our standard white, but there are other options and it's interesting to see the results we get from each of them. I suggest that you set up a chart on a piece of heavier weight paper or canvas paper, depending on your medium,  and test some of the various whites with your other colours to see what results you can achieve.
 
The ones that come immediately to mind are Titanium (PW6) of course; Zinc White (PW4), often called Mixing White; Flake White (PW1) which is a good pigment in oils but not so much in other media. There are a number of others, but they are not readily available these days, having lost favour in the colour pigment market. Alternately there are whites with other influences, such as Titanium Buff, Unbleached Titanium, Warm White and  a few others that offer interesting options.
 
If you create a chart with your usual colours down one side and a range of whites across the other axis, you will be able to see what additional colour variations can be achieved with the various whites. I think you might be surprised! Let me know what you think.

 
The New Painting: Appliquéd Leaves
 
I have been working on fall leaves to create a fall painting. I'm using gel medium to create leaves with substance, that will give the painting addition dimension rather than just painting it.
 
I started out by drawing shapes of leaves and scanning them into my computer. I did this so that I can print them in any size that I need, depending on the piece I want to produce.
 
Having printed off sheets of the leaves I wanted, I then taped a piece of waxed paper over each sheet of leaves. Then I applied an even coat of gloss gel medium over the leaf drawing, on the waxed paper. I let that dry completely and then I outlined the original leaf drawing, on the dried gel medium with a permanent fine marker. Then I applied a second layer of gel medium, but this time I created texture on the leaf outline as well as defining some of the leaf veins. This will create visual interest in the appliqués for the final painting.
 
When the second layer is dry I cut out the leaves, with a pair of scissors, which is why I outline them with the permanent marker.  Once that is done I spritz the wax paper backing with water, let it sit a few minutes and then peel or roll it off.
 
More next week, but don't forget that your comments, suggestions and requests are always welcome at http://www.susanashbrook.com/blog.
 
Best wishes,
Susan

 Welcome November!
 
Whew! What a month October was! I felt like I was running from one thing to the next everyday,  all month. Regular classes of course; some added classes for retirement residences; Charlie Spratt's workshop, which was a fabulous success; meetings; appointments, some unplanned such as an emergency trip to the dentist and then the dental surgeon; preparing for Art School Fair and my presentations there; and trying to squeeze in my bits and pieces of personal life into the mix too!
 
Well October's done now, and I must say I seem to have actually achieved quite a bit! Now I'm looking to slow down a little bit, catch up and settle back into some semblance of routine... oh yeah, right!
 
I do have a confirmed date, time and place for Denise Pelletier's Knife Painting Workshop, for those of you who have expressed an interest in attending. It will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2016, from 9 AM to 4 PM. The location is St Columba Church at 24 Sandridge Road in the Manor Park neighbourhood of Ottawa and the fee is $120. A materials list will be provided to students when they register, and registration is now open. Just contact me directly and I will do the rest.
 
Denise is a phenomenal teacher and makes the day a lot of fun while imparting her extensive knowledge through demonstrations, some really enjoyable exercises and then helping students with their own knife paintings. Students who have already taken the workshop often sign up again. Denise takes this into consideration when creating the workshop exercises, to offer new learning experiences for those returning students.

The very first Art School Fair http://www.artschoolfair.com/ has come and gone, and I have to say that I, and everyone I have talked to, chalked it up as a raging success... we want another one next year! Congratulations to David Lidbetter http://www.dlidbetter.com/home#.Vjqq7rerRII and Crystal Beshara http://crystalbeshara.com/, who organized it in such a professional manner. Congratulations to their team and all of the wonderful volunteers, teachers and exhibitors who did such a great job. This art conference is focussed on the student and the learning process of art. There were workshops, lectures and demonstrations, as well as opportunities to talk with reps from art material manufacturers and services as well as being able to purchase products. (Good thing because I left my Self Levelling Gel for my demo on Contemporary Acrylic Techniques and Processes, on my work bench in my studio! Whew!!)

So, October, overall, has been a prolific month as well as a very tiring one... but Win-Win all round!
 
Now that it's November... or rather "Movember", I would like to say to all you gentlemen participating in the Movember Movement https://ca.movember.com/, "You go guys! My hat's off to you all! Make a difference... because you can!"

Today's Painting Tip
 
This week my Acrylic and Oil class will be doing a thirty minute workout. I bring the subject matter and they have thirty minutes to cast it to canvas. It's a fun exercise that causes one to loosen up, by using large brushes and having a time constraint. I also like to show students how to use the shape of their brushes to quickly create the shapes and forms of their subject. Many students fear doing their first one, but once the thirty minutes is up they readily admit that they learned a lot from the exercise. It is also something that you can do at home by setting up something as simple as a potted plant, putting a timer on for 30 minutes and going for it! If you get it done in the 30 minutes then you need to cut the time shorter by 5 or 10 minutes for the next one. By the way, you will surprise yourself with what you can produce in this workout, which will give you greater confidence for future paintings. Give it a try and let me know how it worked out for you.

The final fossil paintings
After adjusting the final paintings by mixing up a sand and self levelling gel mixture, I applied it with a palette knife to soften the edges of the stencilled fossils, to give the suggestion that they have been burried in the sand over time. And finally, I used a permanent marker to create shadows around certain areas of the fossils and then signed them with a metallic gold pen. Here they are...

​Next week I'm starting on a painting using appliquéd acrylic leaves which will be applied to a canvas background. It will be a lot of fun and I hope you will follow along through the process. It is the process of creating a painting such as the ones below.
 
Best wishes,
Susan