Bragg Creek Artisan Sale 2012

Another great sale is finished. It is always so much fun to visit with friends and customers at this time of year. Sales were particularly good. My community of gnomes and reindeer is much smaller as many moved on to new homes. 

 

 

Lots of other Creektures moved in with new families. Tristan seems to have stretched his wings the farthest and will be making his new home in China! 

 



Tristan (2012)

Tristan has an innovative home heating business idea. With a pet dragon in your house - who needs a furnace? Tristan has designed a comfy dragon nest that connects to standard heating ducts and can easily keep a family home toasty warm. It is the ultimate "green" energy scheme. He hopes to appear on the "Dragons' Den" to ask for financial support. Heaven help Kevin if he torches the idea.

Slate Pictographs - the inspiration



Font-de-Gaume cave

Last September I was thrilled to travel to France to see something that I have been captivated by since childhood after reading about the discovery of prehistoric art in caves.

Font_de_Gaume is the last cave in France open to the public where you can see prehistoric polychrome cave art. I waited in line several hours, but finally scored a ticket to get in and it was worth every second of the cold early morning wait. I also saw Lascaux II, a replica of the famous Lascaux cave, and many other artifacts at the local museums. These were amazing as well, but there is nothing quite the same as standing in the same place and experiencing the same context as the artists did 10s of thousands of years ago. There has understandably been an effort to limit access to these caves to preserve these precious works of art - I feel very blessed to have been able to experience them first hand. 

There is something hauntingly familiar about prehistoric art - it leaves me with a sense of historical connection, wonder, and awe. What inspired these ancient artists to create these skillful works and what is in our genetics that makes them so appealing? Why do they appear throughout our primitive past? Albertans might want to check out some local examples. I highly recommend Writing-on-Stone for a remarkable experience - the geography and petroglyphs are stunning.

About 14 years ago we decided to install slate floors in our home. I spent way too much time marvelling at the beauty and diversity of the stone that was revealed as each piece was washed. Distant mountains, blowing sand storms, and abstract beauty appeared before my eyes. It wasn't much of a leap to think about creating paintings reminiscent of prehistoric art on these stones. Since then I have been cutting stencils and creating wall plaques, coasters, ornaments, and trivets. I progressed from using a stencil brush to an air brush which lends more scope for shading.




The feedback that I here and popularity of these pieces confirms that there is something inexplicably captivating about these images.
 Early on I had requests from people wanting me to design fireplaces, backsplashes, and showers. I found the concept enthralling but daunting and the closest I came was a commission for a number of pieces that were incorporated into a shower.



However, a few years ago I got brave enough to do some tile designs for our guest bath. It has become one of my favorite places - a "woman cave" perhaps?

Landscapes - some examples

I have been painting landscapes for as long as I can remember - it seems like time to post some examples. One of my favorite activities as a teenager was to visit the McMichael Gallery which features the Group of Seven - obviously a significant influence on my style.



Healy Pass - 36X24" Acrylic

 

Earth, Wind, and Fire - Triptych totalling 72X18 inchs Acrylic



Dolomite Pass Whimsy - 20X6 inches Acrylic - Sold

Icefield Parkway - 18X1 inches' Acrylic - Sold





Birdwood Mountain - Sold



Prairie to Mountain - Acrylic - Sold

Sunshine Meadows - Acrylic

Group of Four #4 - Acrylic



Ramparts view from Healy Pass - Acrylic

Spirit Island - Acrylic - Sold

 

Group of Four # 2 - Acrylic

Lauchie Fleming, an accomplished artist and fellow member of the Bragg Creek Painters inspired me to start painting with a pallet knife. Definitely this forced me to do things differently, but somehow, that Group of Seven influence still seems to come through. 

 

Acrylic - Sold

 

Acrylic - Sold

 

 

Three - Acrylic - Sold

Maple Stream Triptych - Acrylic - Sold

 

Maple Lace and Stream - Acrylic 5X3'

Bragg Creek Artisans Sale Coming Up!

Time for the annual Bragg Creek Artisan sale Nov 17 and 18th!
Here is a link with information about the sale.
http://www.braggcreekartisans.com/monthly-events/

This is a wonderful group that I have belonged to for about 17 years. I have met some amazing people and artists over the years and had a lot of fun. Their website also has general information about the group and examples of artists' work in the gallery. Mine is at ...  http://www.braggcreekartisans.com/gallery/fay-hodson/

The sale itself is very special with amazing work by local artists. It is fun to attend and participate in - my personal goal is to sell at least as much as I buy.

I have been busy painting and felting. I am hoping to get to do some more floral abstracts. A few years ago I took a  great String Gel workshop with Roni Jurgensen and I was hooked. Golden makes a medium that can be tinted with acrylic paint and drizzled on to canvas. It produces a very free-flowing, raised look that forces me to loosen up, which is a good thing (I think). I particularly like the effect of tinting it with metalic paints. In the images below, I painted the background colour first, drizzled tinted String Gel to outline the leaves and flowers, and then filled in the petal and leaf colours with regular acrylic paint.

Wool Hengers - a new batch of needle felt ideas

Busy busy summer! More on that another time - just a quick update for tonight. I've been working on a new line of needle felt creatures. They are a little looser and some have armatures which generally makes them quicker to make. The deer antlers and legs are stove wire - bending wire is almost as much fun as needle felting! 

 

What do you get when you let wool be inspired by a little Neolithic mysticism and funky charm?  

... Wool Hengers!!!

Bragg Creek Painters Sale - Another Great Event

What a wonderful weekend we had at the Spring Painters' sale. I always enjoy getting a chance to see what everyone has been doing and chat with fellow painters and admirers of art. We could not have a better venue than the Snowbird's Chalet - a beautiful log cabin nestled in the woods. Thanks to everyone who came looked and bought! Whoohoo - I get to go shopping for more paint!

Upcoming Painters Sale

Busy busy busy! This is going to be a fun weekend with the upcoming annual spring sale of the Bragg Creek Painters. This is a great group and we really support and motivate each other. I've been a member for 17 years and have met some amazing artists who have really impacted my art. If you want to check out the group or the sale, click on the link below. I have a small gallery of paintings in there as well. Thanks to Roni for her great work on the new web-site!

braggcreekpainters.com

A skunk by any other name ...



Two more new additions on request! I'm really going to miss them and was hoping they might want to move in under my front porch like a few of their relatives had tried. However,  they're anxious to go to their new home.



Radar and Nancy (sold)

Radar and Nancy are best pals and are looking forward to finding a home together that will welcome their little idiosyncrasies. Their favourite pastimes are dancing in the moonlight and watching black and white movies after midnight with plenty of popcorn. They hope to open their own perfume company called "Common Scents."   

Calyx Sale was so much fun

The Calyx Sale was so much fun! Thanks to all who came and browsed and shopped. From my point of view, it was a wonderful experience to meet a whole new group of artists and participate in a different show. The organizing folks have it down to a fine art (so to speak) and were a pleasure to work with. It was also great to be motivated to create a whole new flock of Bragg Creektures - 29 in total.

Each little guy starts developing a personality as she/he is being made - each one is named and comes with  a little bio. I fully admit that I give free reign to my inner corniness when writing the bios. Here are a few of the gang - clearly they started taking over my house and poor Hobbes has been a bit mystified and traumatized.




Sanford (2012)

Sanford has persistence down to a fine art. He has yet to find a bird feeder he can't crack or a puzzle he can't solve. He hopes to find a career that will use his skills (CSIS or CIA?).

Cecilia (2012)

Cecilia is a trapeze artist and hopes to start a travelling circus called Cirque de Squirrel. "I hope to establish a venue for delinquent squirrel youth to show their talents rather than getting into trouble vandalizing bird feeders".



Larry (2012)

Larry works as window cleaner by day and a nightclub singer at night. Other than that, he just likes to hang-out with his friends.

Scarlett (2012) 

Scarlett is planning to be a professional hypnotist. She discovered her talent while living with Hobbes. " He used to chase me around until I stared into his eyes and repeated, "I am friend. not lunch" while swaying back and forth - we've been buddies ever since." Lion taming is another career option.

Melissa and Misha (2012) 

Melissa's favourite movie is Cinderella.   It inspired her to start sewing - no one can do finer needle work. She is hoping to become a couturiere and move to London or New York.

Misha is all about breaking down stereotypes. He and his friend Hobbes are planning to open a cheese shop. They are the perfect match. Misha has a refined palette for selecting only the best cheeses and Hobbes will be responsible for preventing inventory shrinkage.

Bento (2012) 

Bento was recently awarded a medal for bravery by the Japanese Government. He nibbled free a fisherman trapped in a net. Bento and the fisherman became best friends and opened a vegetarian box lunch restaurant. "Seems like destiny," he says. " Who better for making vegetarian box lunches than a box fish."







Needle-felting: Adding Some New Twists

The first few years that I was making needle-felted Creektures, I wanted to make them totally by needle-felting - no using embellishments such as glass eyes, or armatures, or sewing etc. Everything was needle-felted, including the eyes, tails, legs etc. I did sometimes use yarn and uncarded curly wool for mains and tails but these were applied by needle-felting. Partly this choice was to make sure that the "guys" were safe for small children, but also to avoid the distractions of sourcing and learning a bunch of things at once. Besides, it felt a bit like cheating at that point. This was a great learning process and forced me to figure out what is and is not possible - it is amazing what can be achieved in terms of detail and structure using this single technique.

Now that I know these boundaries, I have added some techniques that allow me to do things that cannot be done by needle-felting alone - hence, not cheating in my mind!

I have been reading and taking some courses on wet felting which is another whole story. I have used wet felting to make clothing for some Creektures (e.g. a coat for a wizard, leaves for a modest wood-elf). Wet felted "points" work very well for porcupine quills and spines for fish, unicorn horns etc.  

It is possible to make supportive legs with needle-felting alone, but I find that thin legs get wobbly with time. It requires a lot of needling to get the wool very tight and works best with thicker legs - for example elephant legs. Armatures add a whole new range of possibilities. They do not have to be complex and can take only a few minutes to make if you keep them simple. Burrito has a simple armature of 22 gage galvanized steel wire to support his legs.  

A series of squirrels, tree-frogs and geckos got me thinking that it was time to defy gravity. Rare-earth magnets help them clammer around my house.   

It is all fun and great to have a broader repertoire!

Right in front of your nose landscapes



Dancing in the Shallows of Lac Beauvert



Jasper area is one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. I love to sketch and paint there surrounded by majestic and interesting mountains. A few years back, sketching on the edge of Lac Beauvert, I happened to look at the shallows right in front of me and realized that I had been missing one of the most beautiful scenes. I did some preliminary sketches and photos and finally got around to painting it just recently. Just goes to show that you always need to look for unexpected surprises.

This Maple Lace painting is one of a series. It is a 5X3 ft acrylic painted primarily with a pallet knife - definitely a challenge to control because of the quick drying properties of the paint but a lot of fun and outside of the box for me.

Needle felting is fun but time consuming

Needle felting is very time consuming! The down-side is that it takes a long time to make each guy, but the plus side is that you get to know each one very personally. From the get-go, as each one evolved, so did their personality and story. I include a name and story with each beastie. I have to admit that I am shocked at how corny my imagination can get at times - it is not about thinking, just free association goofiness. Thankfully this seems to resonate with most folks.

This is a fella from my 2005 collection. Lucky Frogarotti aspires to be a world class tenor but is reluctant to give up his privacy for fame. His favorite pastime is researching ways to eliminate West Nile disease.
Lucky has found a good home with a very dear friend.

Some of my first beasties

Chicklet, Charlie, and Chelsie -sold

Just thought I'd put up some photos of some of my first needle felts - all have gone to good homes.

COME ON - you can't have just one chick! Along came a flock in a flap over the sky falling.

Morris - sold

Morris was a bit of a challenge. Getting the felt tight enough to stand on is no small accomplishment - I cheated in the end with starch for Morris, but more recent long legged guys usually have armatures to support them.

Bunjamen - sold

Ralph - sold

It is a lot of fun (and sometimes challenging) to get everyone into comfortable, stable positions.

Carmen - sold

Isaac - sold

Ella - sold

Percy-sold

Billy - Sold

Sid- sold

Lloyd- sold

Lloyd came about from a personal challenge to use up some bits of different colours.






Bye for now - got to get back to felting!

Bart - Sold