Newsletter

How are you occupying your time during this ongoing rainy weather? I began in the garden shed tidying, sorting and generally making things easier to access. I then moved the tidying and organizing indoors and did my desks, cupboards and various drawers and storage bins. Still on the list are my studio and the kitchen cupboards, but I must admit I am running out of steam and really hoping for some sunny days to work in the garden, sketch on location and….

This summer has been the summer of wee things in our garden. We have had baby cardinals, sparrows, finches, starlings, grackles, blue jays and chickadees. Our yard has become an avian nursery. Along with fledgling birds, we have had baby rabbits and chipmunks. It has been so much fun watching all the young wild things.

I am so happy to tell you that the Opening of my exhibition, Along The Way, at the Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre’s Joyner Gallery, was very well attended in spite of lots of rain. I met several delightful art lovers, some fellow artists and many of the volunteers who make this gallery a success. I was photographed and interviewed by local journalists and approached to conduct workshops. However, the best part of the day was meeting up with a dear friend. Marg. She and I met in kindergarten and have been friends ever since so having her join me there along with my sister, Cathy, and Brian, my husband, made a special day even better.

If you haven’t had the chance to see the exhibition I hope you can make a day of it and travel to Niagara -on--Lake. Afterward, go for lunch or dinner at one of the amazing restaurants, walk along the path by the river, visit the fort or go shopping. The Shaw Festival Theatre is not far from the gallery so perhaps you would like to plan a longer stay. In any case, Along The Way is continuing until the end of the month so you still have time to make plans.

Rain figured into the Westland Plein Air event too. I set up in the alcove (see the photo below) and worked in my sketchbook. Other artists found various places to shelter or used large umbrellas and carried on painting.

There are lots of exciting things on the horizon and I will tell you more about them in my next newsletter. In the meantime I will share that I will be teaching a workshop in the fall at Westland Gallery. All the details are below. Call the gallery if you would like to join us or drop in, see the current exhibit and sign up in person. Space is limited so call soon to be sure not to miss out.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. I enjoy hearing from you too, so tell me about what you have done this summer or will be doing soon or, alternatively, how you have spent the rainy days. Have any of you used the rainy days to catch up on your reading? If so, do you have any books you would like to recommend? 

Take care and enjoy our summer. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue

Our family has been very busy this month. The highlight was watching our grandson graduate from secondary school. This brings to mind the question,”Where has the time gone?”.

I have been busy in my art life as well and will be taking part in Westland Gallery’s Plein Air Event this coming Saturday. I will be painting and sketching somewhere between Bruce and Elmwood on Wortley Road. I hope you can stop by for a visit.

Coming soon is my solo exhibition at the Joyner Gallery in the Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre, taking place from June 28th to July 30th. I hope that you will have an opportunity to see it. There are 25 paintings in all, some old favourites from my personal collection as well as new work. The Opening Reception takes place on Sunday July 2nd from 2 to 4. I am inviting you to come to the Opening! I would be so excited to see you there, to chat about my work and to visit. 

 Summer’s here already! I hope that you are well and enjoying the first days of summer. Take care and thanks for your continued support.

Sue

I must apologize for sending this out a little later than usual. I have been happily busy with a number of events.

I attended the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour held in Toronto at The Arts and Letters Club. This is where the idea of the cspwc was conceived. You have likely seen photos of the members of The Group of Seven meeting here, usually sitting at a long table.

All three London Art clubs, LAA, GPG and B&P have also had their Annual general meetings.

I am showing Dear Flora #3, in the Ontario Society of Artists Western Hub exhibition which is being held at The Gallery, 4452 Queen Street, Niagara Falls from May 31st to June 24th.

In the “getting ready” phase are:

                                                Westland Plein Air

                Along The Way, Solo Exhibition, Joyner Gallery, Niagara , Niagara Falls, June 28 to July 30

The Gallery painting Group has started our on location painting. So far I have been unable to attend but am looking forward to the next location.

I hope to see you over the summer at one event or another or perhaps at a GPG paintout. It was delightful to see many of you at the Brush and Palette Show and The Lambeth Show. 

As always, thanks for your continued interest and support. 

Sue

As i sit at my kitchen table overlooking our garden this morning I am enchanted by a sea of blue. Scilla have carpeted the lawns and gardens reminding me of a long ago trip to Oxford, U.K. where we were treated to woodland meadows filled with English bluebells. The Scilla are a slightly different shade of blue but are beautiful in their own right.

If you are as in love with colour as I am, you should join me today at the Brush and Palette’s annual show at St. Paul’s Cathedral. There are many shades of blue to be found and other colours as well.

I will be working on the cash desk from 12 until 2 and wandering through the show until 4. Hope to see you there.

Sue

Last Friday my daughter and I went to see Imagine Monet and enjoyed it very much. We went for lunch afterward and had a lovely visit.

This morning Brian and I drove to Brantford. A bright sun shining through blue skies almost made up for the never ending parade of trucks. We were going to Brantford to happily deliver a painting. My painting, Heat Wave,was juried into the Glenhyrst Art Gallery’s Biennial Exhibition. This will be the fourth time my work has been accepted.

The exhibition dates are as follows:

March 25 - May 19

Hours: Tues.-Fri. 10am-5

Sat. & Sun. 11am - 4

MON and STAT. HOLIDAYS : CLOSED

Opening Reception and Awards Presentation

Saturday April 1, 7pm

If you missed seeing the Dear Flora show at Westland Gallery, a couple of my paintings are still available to see and purchase. It was such an appropriate name especially for me since Flora is a name that appears in nearly every generation on my father’s family tree. Many dear Floras!

I am busy getting ready for the Brush and Palette Show. Here is the information:

Thank you for your support. I hope to see you at upcoming events.

Enjoy the sunshine but bundle up! It’s not as warm as it looks😊

I hope you had a truly lovely Valentine’s Day. As I type this I am surrounded by the scent of roses from the bouquet which was a Valentine’s gift from Brian.

I am almost ready for my first workshop class to be held tomorrow at Westland Gallery. It will be an exploration of triadic colour schemes and should prove to be interesting and fun too. 

I will be one of the artists in the Westland Gallery’s Floral Group Show, Dear Flora.

Preparations are underway for the The Brush and Palette Show (April 13th to 15th) as well as the Lambeth Art Show (May 4th to 6th). I am looking forward to being one of the participants in both shows.

Lastly, I will be demonstrating at Westland Gallery on March 4th. I hope that you can join me there.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter, for responding, and for your ongoing friendship and support.

Sue

“While I admit to being a great admirer of the English language, sometimes I stumble across a word or an  expression from another language that has no English equivalent, but is so perfect a description of a quality or experience that I collect it. I have a sketchbook purchased years ago that I did not enjoy using for its intended purpose but it is perfect for collecting beautiful words, quotations or phrases both in English and other languages. From time to time I visit, turning pages and enjoying. Today I revisited the Welsh word, Hiraeth along with the Scottish word, Dumfungled.

The first describes a spiritual longing for a home which maybe never was; “nostalgia for ancient places to which we cannot return. It is the echo of the lost places of our soul’s past and our grief for them. It is the wind and the rocks and the waves. It is nowhere and it is everywhere.” I was recently chatting with a fellow artist and I said that all of my paintings start with a lump in my throat, a kind of heartache. Perhaps this is connected in some way to Hiraeth. 

The second, Dumfungled, describes the state of being mentally and physically worn out. Certainly after Christmas this is me for a brief while. I have been dumfungled. You too?

Along with collecting words and phrases I also collect, among other things, rocks, books, art, indoor plants and paperweights and, of course, sketchbooks. I am absolutely unable to pass up the chance to own a new sketchbook.

Do you collect? If so, what do you collect?

I am delighted to share with you that I “SOLD OUT” at Westland’s Square Foot show this year. Thank you to Al and Karen, Danielle, Anna and Michaela for all you do, for your support and encouragement.  Thank you to the lovely people who purchased my paintings. I am incredibly grateful and hope my paintings bring you much pleasure.

Also at Westland Gallery, I will be offering a four week course, working with triads, (Thursdays Feb 16th to March 9th 6:30-8:30) . I am also looking forward to exhibiting at Westland Gallery with a group of amazing artists in The Floral Show (Feb. 21st to March 11th). I hope to see you there.

I am busy preparing for upcoming club shows, ( Brush and Palette Club, April 13 to 15, St. Paul’s Cathedral), Lambeth Art Association, May 4 to 6, Lambeth United Church). Later on in the Fall, the Gallery Painting Group will hold their show.

I will be entering a few juried shows soon and will update you as information is received. I also have been approached to do a solo exhibition and will give you the details in upcoming newsletters.

As always, thank you for your ongoing interest and support. I love hearing from you and hope you enjoy receiving my letters. If at any time you would like to stop receiving them in your email, just unsubscribe. You can always find them on my website, www.susangarrington.com

Take care and enjoy today’s sunshine.

Sue

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support throughout this past year. I am grateful for your responses, purchases and referrals. Some of you have been following this newsletter for several years. It is very much appreciated. I am looking forward to continuing to keep in touch next year and I hope you are too. Take care and stay safe.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sue

It snowed this week. You probably noticed. What was your immediate reaction? In spite of advancing years, when the first snow of the season happens I am a child again. The giddy excitement that bubbles up is momentarily uncontrollable. Visions of ice skates and toboggans and snow forts and snowball fights and snowmen will eventually succumb to the reality of icy roads and slippery sidewalks and shovelling and cabin fever. But before they do, I enjoy my childhood once more and dream of winter’s delights while watching the dreary November garden become beautiful again. That is the magic of snow.

There are magical things happening in and around London’s world of Art. There are currently so many shows and exhibitions to see. Two events that I am included in are the Miniature Show at STEPAC (Nov. 11 to Dec. 22) and Westland Gallery’s Square Foot Show,www.https://westlandgallery.ca . Both shows offer some fabulous art by local artists at reasonable prices. Perhaps you can find a gift for a special someone or one for yourself!

REMINDERS:

CSPWC’s Open Water is still available to see online. If you haven’t already done so and if you love watercolour, go to https://cspwc.ca  You will be glad you did I am sure.

Westland Gallery is hosting several workshops including a watercolour one taught by me. It takes place on four consecutive Thursdays from Feb.16th to March 9th at 6:30 to 8:30pm. The cost is $180. If you are interested, call the gallery at 1-519-601-4420. Please share this information with your friends and anyone who may be interested. Thank you.

Christmas in Bayfield takes place this weekend, Nov. 18 to 20 and Main Street Gallery Bayfield will be open and showing some of my paintings.

To end this newsletter, my hope for you is that you are able to find the magic of this season, if not in snow or art then somewhere else. As always, thanks for your interest in my work and for your support.

Take care. Be well.

Sue