Newsletter

I am not sure what happened but I apologize for the  avalanche of email.

Sue

When I began sending out this newsletter in 2016, it was with the intention of sending it out monthly. In 2022 I intend to return to the once monthly format. It should arrive in your mailbox on the 15th of each month.

 It was such a treat to show work in a physical location at Westland Gallery during their Square Foot Show. I was delighted to have sold two of the three paintings I entered. Thank you to the lovely people who made the purchases and a huge thank you to Karen and Al and Danielle for hosting this show.

The pandemic has caused a great many art shows and exhibitions to go online. I appreciate the effort so many have made to facilitate these exhibitions. The opportunity to share my work has been appreciated. I find, though, that I miss the energy and excitement of show openings and the chance to visit both with collectors and with other artists. I miss the immediate feedback. I miss the camaraderie. I miss the excitement of red dots.

This is a photo of my current talisman against despair. It began life as an amarylis bulb in a box, ready to be planted. When I opened the box I discovered that the bulb had already grown and formed a flower bud. It was pale greenish white and had curled around the bulb. I didn’t hold much hope but planted it any way and watched as it began to turn green and flower, albeit hanging upside down out of the pot. I cut the stem and put it into a vase of water so it had a chance to show off! Today I noticed another flower bud and stem are emerging from the bulb. Growth is so uplifting.

In spite of the box that Covid has placed many of us in, I will choose to begin to work in my studio again in the hope that opportunities to display and sell will present themselves and to prepare for my solo show in October. 

“HAPPINESS is not by chance, but by choice.” Jim Rohan  

As always, thank you for your support, your patience and for taking the time to read this. 

If you would prefer not to receive this newsletter any longer please simply send an email with the message unsubscribe.

Take care, stay healthy and create in whatever way you choose.

Sue

At last I have something to tell you!
 

Since the pandemic began, although I have been busy working in my studio, sketching on location with Urban Sketchers and gathering inspiration on walks and country drives, there have been few real life exhibitions taking place.
Currently, I have work in one real life venue and also in two online exhibitions. I hope you will visit online and, if you are able, in person. 

The Ontario Society of Artists, a professional association of elected visual artists, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. I am an elected member of this group and have a painting in this exhibition, an anniversary celebration. Glenhyrst is a lovely venue situated on remarkably beautiful grounds and well worth the drive to Brantford. The exhibition is taking place from October 2 to November 28.
Hours:Tues. to Fri.10am to 5pm;  Sat. And Sun. 11am to 4pm; CLOSED MONDAYS

I am an elected member of The Colour and Form Society, a group of elected visual artists living in Ontario, established in 1952. I have had two paintings juried into the CFS’s annual Open exhibition which is an online show because of the pandemic.

https://www.colourandformsociety.org

 
I am an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour and have had a painting selected for Open Water/L’Eau Claire, CSPWC’s most prestigious exhibition and one of the largest in Canada. It is open to watercolour artists from around the world. Again this year, the exhibition is online because of the pandemic. 
https;//CSPWC.ca/open-water-21/

UPCOMING:

Locally, I have entered three paintings into Westland Gallery’s 10th Annual Square Foot Show. Many of you are familiar with this gallery located in Old South London’s Wortley Village. This show will take place both in the gallery and online.

As always, I thank you for your interest and support.

My studio is open by appointment. (Masks and proof of COVID vaccine required.)

To book an appointment, email me at sgarrington@rogers.com.

Thank you.

Sue

                      Brian and Sue

While I have been working away in my studio, exciting things have been underway.

Each year The Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour holds an international watercolour exhibition called Open Water. This year there were 350 entries from around the world and 63 were selected by the jurors. I am delighted to tell you that my painting, Along The Way, was one of those selected. I am very grateful to the jurors, Marc Gagnon and David McEown. The entire exhibition may be seen online at www.https://cspwc.ca

I have also submitted six miniature pieces to St.Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre's Miniature Show. There will be 340 miniature artworks on display and for sale. For information about hours and covid protocols go to the website www.https://stepac.ca

And finally, the greatly anticipated Westland Gallery's Square Foot Show will have hundreds of pieces by local artists, including three of mine. The exhibition will soon be available for viewing online at www.https://westlandgallery.ca and in person by appointment from November 14 to the end of December.

Thank you for your ongoing support. I hope you enjoy viewing the artwork either online or in person.

Stay safe. Wear a mask and practise social distancing.

I have not sent out a newsletter since just before the Pandemic Lockdown. For nearly two years I had been in my studio working on paintings for the 2020 club shows, the London Artists Studio Tour and my own solo show at STEPAC. The Pandemic caused cancellations and postponements and, I have to admit, took the wind out of my sales. After much deliberation with my family and my Tour Helpers, I came to the conclusion that I could not safely open my home and studio to visitors and so withdrew from the studio tour.

For consolation I turned to my kitchen where I could create new dishes for my family. This served several purposes. It gave me an outlet for my creativity not in any way associated with painting. Secondly the nutritious and, even if I do say so myself, delicious food I produced kept us healthy and in good spirits. And, Lastly, the enticing fragrances of home cooked meals, freshly baked bread and treats made our home a comforting and pleasant place to pass the lockdown together.

Time not spent in the kitchen was spent on the Internet exploring. I found new artists to admire and reacquainted myself with others.

One of the artists, Karen Stamper, from Cornwall U.K., introduced me to working in a concertina sketchbook.I enjoyed this very much. Here is a portion of the sketchbook.

I also discovered an American botanical illustrator, Lara Call Gastinger,  who introduced me to the idea of a perpetual nature journal. For me, this seemed an act of faith as well as both hope and trust in that it required working on it for several years, returning to pages time and again to make additions. so this is the first year of my perpetual journal! Look her up on the Internet if you wish to find out more.

Zachary Login, a Canadian artist from Sakatchewan, is another artist worth investigation. I saw his work a few years ago on Instagram, and was intrigued to find some of his work included "After Mary Delany" in the titles. Mary Delany is one of my heroes and lived from 1700 to 1788, taking up botanical collage in her later years. Zachary's contemporary paintings are filled with botanical images, beautifully rendered and have been exhibited internationally.

Eventually my Internet explorations and my sketchbooks allowed me to return to my studio and to paint. Three pieces will be in the Westland Gallery's Square Foot Show, November 17 to December 24 by appointment and online.

Square Foot Show  

Process and Products

I entered paintings into the OSA Member's Exhibition of Selected Works and was delighted to have one painting juried into the exhibition.This is an online exhibition and is available to view until Oct. 31.

I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. Stay safe. Take care. Be good to yourself and each other.

WEAR A MASK!

Belated Happy New Year to all of you. Thank you for your patience. I have been so busy checking things off my monthly "To Do" lists that, to my chagrin, "compose and send newsletter" has remained incomplete month after month, often bullied to the bottom of the list by looming deadlines or commitments. My art time, when not spent sketching or painting, has been filled with computer work consisting of me making applications and submissions. I am pleased to share that my computer time has had wonderful results.

To begin with, I am honoured to report that one submission resulted in my election to the Ontario Society of Artists, a professional association for visual artists. Founded in 1872, it is Canada's longest continuing art society. In May I will attend their meeting at The Arts And Letters Club in Toronto to receive my pin and certificate. 

My submission to the London Artists' Studio Tour was also successful. I look forward to welcoming many of you to my studio. You will see some familiar paintings, several new ones in various sizes and price points and several works in progress destined to be exhibited during my solo show in November. I applied for and received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to help with associated exhibition costs and am very grateful. More information about my exhibition will be sent in later newsletters.

As always, I am grateful for your continued interest and support. Thank you.

Happy first day of summer to you!

This evening Brian and I will be attending the ceremony to celebrate our grandson's and his classmates' graduation from elementary school. It seems fitting that it is taking place on Summer Solstice for as one Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood, says of solstice:"This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year's threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath."

The past lets go..... I find myself once again missing life with a wee one, a toddler. First it was his mother and now it's him. I miss watching the world through the eyes of a small child, seeing the exquisite sense of wonder, the sheer pleasure in discovering the world. But I must let go of the past to revel in the accomplishments of both my daughter and her son. They are the future.

The place of caught breath...as an artist I am fortunate to be able to occasionally rediscover that "place of caught breath" while working on location. It doesn't happen often, but when it does "everything begins to yes",(e.e.cummings). In this place everything is sketch worthy. Every tree, rock, path, plant, wildflower, cloud, calls to be examined in wonder. My head spins and even as I am working in my sketchbook on the selected subject, possibilities swirl through my mind. I return home and fill my sketchbook with wonders. Eventually I make paintings.... lots and lots of paintings. This has been known to continue for more than a year. I may leave the place for a bit to paint something else but I always return to the place where the past is becoming the future. And then, just a suddenly and with just as little warning as it started, it is over. And so I continue to sketch and to paint waiting for the next "caught breath" moment. I don't know when or where it will happen but I do know that it won't happen unless I am somewhere sketching, somewhere it can find me waiting.

And so tonight our family will celebrate a milestone in our grandson's life. Brian and I will catch our breath and note how quickly time is passing. We will give thanks and celebrate summer and rejoice in our summer plans and I will quietly and privately give thanks and rejoice that the "place of caught breath" found me waiting and sketching recently.

May your summer be filled with family and fun and the occasional caught breath moment. Happy Summer Solstice.

A very quick message about a fundraiser and group show I am taking part in. The show opens today and the official Opening is June 8. All of the information is here on the poster.

While my time in the studio has been very limited, I have produced a few paintings, some of which you will find at the following shows and exhibitions, along with a few older favourites. I hope to see you at these events as well as during the London Artists' Studio Tour. As I mentioned in a previous letter, I will not be taking part in the tour this year. However, I will be visiting several studios during the tour and hope to see many of you along the way.

The Gallery Painting Group will be starting our paint out season in less than a month and I am very excited to get back out to sketch. My new sketchbooks have been ordered and delivered and my sketching materials sorted and stored in my backpack. I am like a kid waiting for Christmas or summer vacation! Here is one of the paintings I have been working on recently which is a sketchbook inspired piece from a paint out at Coldstream last season.

As always, thank you for your interest in my work and for taking the time to read this.

Sue