Still another couple of weeks? Oh good! (Can you guess I'm no where near ready?)
 
On Saturday I helped out at the Cumberland Lodge Christmas Bazaar that my students at the Lodge wanted to do. I did four sessions with them, making cards, ornaments and things to sell. They decided that all proceeds would be put towards art supplies for future classes and raised enough money to do just that. I was thrilled! Staff at the home also contributed baked goods to the bazaar. What a great team!
 
We did it the same day as the Cumberland Farmer's Market Christmas event. This has become quite the event in the village as other organizations and churches also open their doors to sell crafts and foodstuffs etc. There were cars and people everywhere!
 
Special thanks go to Dan Blais, owner of Weekly Flowers at 5303 Canotek Road, and http://www.WeeklyFlowers.com, who printed and donated the signs to point visitors to the village in the direction of the bazaar. Great job Dan, and they worked really well! Much appreciated! By the way, if you need flowers this holiday season, these are the people to call. They have a team of excellent designers and shop staff that take great care of each and every order (613-748-0000).
 
From the bazaar I dashed over to the New Edinburgh Square retirement residence in New Edinburgh to give a Silk Scarf Workshop. We had almost double the number of attendees that I was expecting, causing a bit of a scramble for me, but it all worked out in the end and everyone made two beautiful scarves that they were all pleased with. I also had some inquiries asking if we could do another Scarf workshop after Christmas. No problem, but I have to restock my totally depleted scarf inventory first!
 
And if you are a last minute shopper, like me, I have a suggestion for you... Why not give an art class or a gift certificate towards a class? Art classes are a gift that lasts a lifetime. Once a person has been exposed to art it becomes a part of their life, forever. Even if they don't practice art for years, most eventually go back to it after a change in their lives... retirement, an illness, a tragic event or something else, because art is a way to express feelings without words... just colours, strokes of a brush and emotion. The gift of art classes is truly a caring gift!

This Week's Painting Tip:
As an art teacher I often find that my students want to duplicate a photo on their canvas. In fact I used to do this so successfully that people who saw photos of my paintings just assumed that they were photographs not paintings. When I did the art fair circuit people would come into my booth and exclaim that my work was amazing... then go to the booth next door and purchase a more "painterly" piece.
 
While working in the studio I often tried to remind myself that, "Susan, it's a painting, not a photograph. It doesn't have to be an exact replica." I was finally able to break the habit by embracing abstract art.
 
Now, I tell my students that they are the artist and they can improve on the photograph that they are working from. As photographers we are limited by what is before us, or spend hours, days or eternity waiting for the conditions to be perfect to get that once in a lifetime image. As artists, armed with the knowledge of colour, perspective and composition, we can take a ho-hum photo and turn it into a spectacular painting and to illustrate that I have one of my student's paintings and original photograph to show you. Cathy Dempsey did this amazing painting from the photograph shown. She definitely improved on the photo, wouldn't you agree?

Painting Update:
This week I did the backgrounds for the two appliquéd maple leaf paintings. The first background started out with the last of my tube of Prussian Blue, but there wasn't enough so off to the art supply store I went, and picked up a jar of Phthalo Blue, a very similar dark blue "cold" or green-blue colour.
 
The first canvas I did in a traditional rippled water pattern, while I did the second with a more textured appearance. The ripples and texture were enhanced by using interference blue paint. I love interference colours. They add a shimmer and life to my work, although they should be used judiciously as there is a very fine line between an interesting piece of art and kitsch. Trust me on that one!
 
Next week we will see what happens when the leaves fall from the trees and land on the watery backgrounds. I hope you will join me then!
 
Best wishes,
Susan

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
 
One of my favourites, that one seldom hears anymore, none the less, it came to mind while attending the Arteast 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner last week.
 
For those of you who aren't familiar with Arteast, it is an organization of both amateur and professional artists in Eastern Ontario, generally based in the east end of Ottawa. This is one of the largest and most active art organizations in the area and they have lots to offer artists... many exhibition spaces, monthly meetings with remarkable guest speakers, juried competitions, tours to places like the Musée des Beaux-arts in Montreal and other venues that appeal to members.  It is a fabulous organization to belong to if you want to learn about art and being an artist. http://www.arteastottawa.com/
 
I joined Arteast in the early 1990s and got talked into being president in 1994 for a two year period, which I willingly admit was a wonderful learning and growing experience for me. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn the ropes in the art world as well as skills for the real world.
 
So, back to Auld Lang Syne... It was great to see so many people that I had lost track of over the years. Former members, presidents, directors and event coordinators were there. There were also many who weren't there for various reasons, and of course those who are no longer with us... people like Brita and Wolfgang Budde, Alice Alexanian, Margaret Clyde, Klari Karpati and many others of whom we think of and remember with fondness. Throughout the whole event there was an ongoing slide show of photos of members at events. It was amazing and took us on a wonderful walk down memory lane. Memories that mean more to me than I ever imagined that they would.
 
The dinner was excellent, the door prizes were amazing, there were presentations to all of the volunteers who kept the organization running like a fine-tuned spinning top this year. And then there was dancing. Well, talk about bopping to the oldies! The DJ had us pegged.  It was impossible to keep some of those former presidents off the dance floor! (We have pictures!)
 
The event was in the planning stages for a year and a half, and volunteers put in many, many hours to make it perfect. And they achieved absolute success... without a doubt! Well done everyone!
 
For those of you not in Arteast's area, you might want to consider joining an art organization in your own area, or if there aren't any, why not start one? Creativity doesn't have to be a solitary thing! And come this New Year's Eve we can all tak' a cup o' kindness yet, for the sake of auld lang syne.

Today's Painting Tip: Glass Christmas Tree Ornaments
 Every art and craft store that I go into these days has a display of clear glass ball ornaments in a variety of sizes and shapes. Several years ago I bought a bunch of them and my granddaughter and I decorated them. We offered them for sale at my studio open house, and they sold out quickly. Being the season, I thought I'd share this simple but very effective technique with you.
 
I use liquid/soft body acrylic paints, which I thin slightly with water so that they flow a little easier, but not to the point that the paint is runny. Sorry, you'll have to experiment with this to get it just right.
 
Pour several colours of paint into the glass ball, being sure to apply each of the colours in different areas of the ball. (Pipettes can be very useful.) Then start to slowly swirl the ball to spread the paint completely over the inner surface. I find three colours work best and if you can get your hands on them, TriArt Spectoral paints are fantastic for this as they give the appearance of glitter, which creates a very festive looking ornament.  Metallic acrylic paints also work really well when combined with regular paints.
 
I then set the ornaments top up, with the metal hanger not in place, to dry. Some people prefer to set them upside down in a disposable plastic drink cup to drain the excess paint. This helps them dry faster, but I find if you leave the paint in you can swirl it around later if you find a thin or bare spot. Six of one, half a dozen of the other really. The choice is yours. 

Painting Update
 This week I painted the appliqué leaves. Because the background will be quite dark I wanted to make them less transparent, so I painted the back side of each leaf with Cadmium Yellow Medium. I chose this particular colour because of it's opacity and also because yellow is a colour that works with the fall colouring of the finished leaves, in case there are areas where it might show through the leaf.
 
That done, I painted the front of the leaves, starting with green. If you have looked at fall maple leaves you will see the green undertones from the glory days of summer just trying to hang on a little longer. Over that I applied browns, oranges and reds until I had a leaf that I was happy with, always leaving some of each of the previous colours showing through.
 
Once that was dry I brushed on a thin coat of Interference Orange paint to give the leaves a bit of shimmer, and then finally brushed some metallic gold over the texture high points for a bit of bling and to enhance the texture. The results are below...