the universe smiled too

We had THE BEST WEEKEND!!  My eldest daughter Holly was married to Jeff in our yard on Saturday, and we were just so lucky to have things ALL fall in to place...my middle daughter Rachel who is 36 weeks pregnant and partner Matt  made it from Halifax to join us, and back home again afterwards.  

The weather co-operated and remained sunny during the afternoon AND the rain held off until after 2:30am when the heavens opened and let us have the thunderstorm that had been forcast...but by then all the guests were gone, and we were in bed! 

Everyone seemed to have a great time. 
One of the most moving moments (brought tears to me and many)was the brides entrance to the tune of "A Thousand Years" accompanied by solo violinist Jimin Shin who played an extraordinary touching arrangement. 

 The caterer's food was exceptional and timed just right(thank you happy Jack!). 

The event tents were enormous...way grander than I had anticipated, so there was heaps of room for all. Lots of mingling and socializing, no segregated groups, and dancing...o yes there was lots and lots of dancing. fun!  
During the bride and groom's first dance everyone lit giant sparklers; a truly magical moment. 

Sometimes life's moments are art; for us this was one of them.

my lil book

A couple of years ago I created a small picture book with text that welcomes the reader to our little city of Kingston.  The images I selected to illustrate it came from several years of me painting in and around the Kingston area.  It took me a long while to find the words to fit the images; the paintings were after all the catalyst for the book.  It took even longer to sort out a version that agreed with me aesthetically, that was also possible for my pocketbook when it came to self-publishing it.  The book is an 8x8 soft cover, 20 pages in colour.  It was a fun project, and it's nice to have a record of the paintings in print, a compact memento that fits easily on a shelf.  It's rather old news but the new news is that this week I posted the book on my website so folks can purchase online.  
Wedding preps are in full swing around here, this Saturday is the big weekend!

new gallery for me:)

work in progress

Kingston Glass Studio and Gallery will be showing some of my larger unframed works. I'm delighted! Their space is bright and contemporary...and in Kingston too,which is a bonus for me as a lot of my work takes inspiration from where I live.  Kate(gallery manager) came to my studio on Monday to choose some pieces, and I was happy because she chose the very ones that I would have chosen...which means we're on the same wavelength which is really nice when collaborating with a gallery.  Hooray for Kingston Glass Studio & Gallery!  I am looking forward to working with them.  
Here's a peek at my block in on the easel for another bike path painting...concept is a lakeside path,backlit dandelion clocks...its very green at the moment, but a glaze will tone that down some I'm hoping...

reasons art changes

Cow Study - oil on panel - 6 x 8 inch

I read an article here by artist Tania Dibbs about moving from realism into abstraction. Many things rang true as I read about her reasons for seeking new ways in her art.  I identified because I know my own art has changed significantly over 30 years of painting, and will likely change more as time goes on.   Often I hear people say they prefer my 'old work'.  I smile.  It is a common thing for an artist to hear. Sometimes I will go back to old ways to fulfill a commission request for my business, but I have to admit at that point it becomes a job. In my head it's quite different from the reasons that drive me to create in the first place.
I'm working on another bike painting; while blocking in,  I turned it upside down to 'read' the design better.  It allowed me to see the areas I needed to be more passive, and other areas which could use some activity...it seems to me a far more interesting way to work than worrying about how it is rendered.  I hope to continue in this style moving up and down the ladder of abstraction to bring it to fruition...stay tuned for that one.
Meanwhile here's my other small panel cow study.

mid July

Close of Day - oil on linen - 18x14"

Summer seems to be flying by...only 2 weeks until my daughter Holly's wedding...and only one month until my daughter Rachel will have her baby!  this weekend my daughter Jane is coming home from Toronto for the weekend to lend a hand helping with some of the prep for the wedding. It will be nice for a little family time before the main event.  It's an exciting summer here at the Chupick's!  We are having the wedding outside in the yard...the vows by the fence officiated by a good friend, and a tent out back for the soiree. The dance floor will be under the stars and fairy lights  between the house and the barn.  Hope we have good weather, it would really be sweet if that happened...fingers crossed...we've put in our request to the universe;)  Here's a picture of the plumbago window boxes(taken in the early morning) lined up along the fence where Holly and Jeff will say their vows. I got them from Sun Harvest greenhouses, I put in my order early in the spring, and only picked them up last weekend, as they needed time to come into flower in the greenhouse. Plumbago likes it hot. It's a plant with special memories for me of our time in Australia...we had a front hedge of it at our home in Point Lonsdale.

In the art department...I felt like changing things up a little when painting the sky in my landscape above; it was more fun than sticking with same old, same old.

 

Cow Studies

Cow Study 2 - oil on panel 6 x 8

Time for a few cow studies to keep my brush wet...not much time for much else in the painting department these days.  
The preparations for the wedding of the year(for us) are in full swing.  I'm doing a lot of gardening and odd jobs most days.  On Saturday Holly & Jeff came and put up lights in the backyard.  My oh my, did the garden look like a magical fairyland when we flipped the switch on that night!  well...that is for about 2 minutes until every mosquito from miles around noticed the lights too, and the human buffet underneath them! yikes.  
We have since been reading online and have discovered a new product called Mosquito Barrier (natural organic mosquito control)and we've ordered a gallon of it from Amazon to treat the yard and hedges!  We also bought 20 citronella torches too, so hopefully all will be well on the big night.

cow study work in progress

Water - group exhibition -White Flag Gallery, Brockville Ontario

Wetland, Pool - oil on canvas - 36 x 30

My piece, 'Wetland, Pool' is part of this upcoming group exhibition:

Open invitation from White Flag Gallery Please join us at the opening reception of "Water", a juried exhibition of water inspired art. Opening Reception is this Thursday July 10th  6-9 pm All are welcome! Light refreshments will be available. Water runs from July 11th to August 16th, 2014 White Flag Gallery  9 Sheridan Mews, Brockville, ON.   613 342 5548   Need inspiration for your design? Here’s what other MailChimp users are doing. http://www.whitflaggallery.com

Summer Eve

Summer Eve - oil on linen - 18x14"

It was a little cooler in my studio today; not so humid as yesterday.  The sun didn't really make an entrance until about 2pm so it didn't have time to heat up...which was nice as I was itching to get painting.  I made a start on this a couple of days ago, but ran out of steam, so it was a good feeling to get working into it again this afternoon. I really wanted to work in unexpected (but somehow believable colours)...so chose a palette that was short on blue.  I didn't want boring blue water.  I was eyeing the raw umber in my paint drawer and decided that might change things up.   I would like to ground that sailboat in the front a bit more with some dark at it's base but otherwise calling it done.  I really like working on 18 x14 size, I think it's becoming my new favourite size, especially for my Kingston paintings.