An evening for artists

We are hosting an evening for artists in our area, tomorrow night. The idea behind it is to help artists prepare submissions to galleries, etc. Most of us are flying by the seat of our pants on this one. After talking to Zhe it appears that it is a common malady amongst artist as she gets long wordy bios and CVs, vague artist statements, poor photos, etc. Some artists have mastered the business end of being an artist which includes the above, but many leave it because they are uncomfortable with writing about themselves and their artwork, or they would rather just make art.

As secretary for Gallery 96, I will be taking notes for posterity and will give you an outline on another blog entry. This should be an informative evening.

A “HOW TO” Evening with... ZHE GU

INVITES YOU TO

A “HOW TO” Evening with...
ZHE GU
Executive Director
GALLERY STRATFORD

WHO:
An invitation to all artists!

WHAT:
The evening will commence with a 40 minute talk on writing proposals to art galleries, building a portfolio, letters of inquiry, biography and resume writing, et al.

A Question and Answer period will follow.
You are invited to bring your samples, of above, for possible discussion.

WHEN:
Wednesday, November 24 at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE:
Factory 163, 163 King St., Stratford, ON

Info:
Wendy O'Brien  obrienfibreart@hotmail.com

Talent Next door

Well this is really my week, "The Talent Next Door", a book compiled by Craig Musselman, is coming out . Page 103 is all me and my artwork, not that I"m blowing my horn or anything. It's  a great book showing the work of many talented artists in this region and I"m delighted to be a part of it; along with two other Gallery 96 members, Wendy Orr and Glenn Elliott. You can see some of their work at

wendyorr.blogspot.com
http://web.me.com/glennelliott/glennelliott.ca/welcome.html

Award of merit

I'm  so excited, the piece that was chosen for the show at the Glenhryst Gallery has won and Award of Merit.I've really just started submitting some of my work to public gallery exhibitions, so this is an big bonus.

I'm ready to try a few more. Part of the trick is to having something to submit that fits the galleries agenda. As lead time can be short , you have to have work on hand. I guess that means, nose to the grindstone.

VineArt Donations

VineArt is this Saturday and I finally got my donations done and photographed for posterity. It seems like we are running from one deadline to another. Both these pieces are on the theme of " The River". The first one is machine appliqued woo roving, yarn and bits of glitzy stuff from and old Japanese obi I had made for a theatre production, years ago. It's called "Down River", for lack of a better title. Every piece has to have a name, but sometimes it's tough to come up with something, or it's a last minute thing done under pressure. Thistime it was under pressure as they needed label info and I hadn't even made the piece yet.

The next one is encaustic on canvas with beads, wrapped around cedar branches. It's called "River Run", as the branches look not unlike a boat skeleton. Rather a dark photo so I"m adding some close ups.

 

VineArt

Saturday November 20th is Gallery 96 annual fundraiser VineArt, an evening of fine food , jazz music, miniature art auction and this year beer tasting of specialty brews. A little change-up for this year. I will add photos shortly of my contributions to the effort.

 

Foundation For Enriching Education

I started my school tour for The Foundation For Enriching Education this week. The Foundation sends me to schools in Huron and Perth counties to teach art. Each term it's something different. This time it is  a class for grade 4s on dots and dashes, a class about using the element of design line. The inspiration is the art of the Australian Aborigine and the New Zealand Maori. Great fun, I really like this age group.

 

 

Glenhyrst Gallery

It was a busy weekend. Saturday I had to take a piece to the Glenhyrst Gallery in Brantford for the up coming show "Forces of Nature." This piece is called "Sentinel" and is made from an old bird cage, clay, fabric, drawing, wood and show lasts and contains a nest with eggs.

The gallery is on the old Edward Cockshutt estate. Anyone familiar with farming will know the name of the one time tractor manufacturer. Wonderful architecture located on great grounds.

As the gallery didn't open until 1 pm we took a side trip to Kitchener to an Art /Craft show.Stratford glass artist Brad Jesson was showing his pendants vases and most spectacular marbles. You can see them here, http://www.glassartists.org/bradjessonglassart or he is on facebook. Unfortunately I seem to be having an issue trying to download a photo for you, so you will just have to check him out yourself.

After Glenhyrst we went to Cambridge to the gallery there to see the "Fibreworks" exhibit, that I didn't get into.  My work has a different feel to the work exhibited. Some I loved , some I just didn't get.

http://www.cambridgegalleries.ca/cambridge.taf?section=3

Again no picture as it tells me I have an incorrect URL, how can that be when I have copied it directly from the website. Don't get it.