Caricatures On Saturday

On Saturday last, Aaron was at the local grocery store's food bank drive festivities doing caricatures for children.

He was kept pretty busy from the moment he arrived. Some sitters weren't too happy sitting.

Aaron kept drawing even after the tent was taken down!

Aaron's friend, Guy Wales, "the 3D Chalk Guy," was present doing one of his 3D chalk drawings. You can even see a YouTube video of one of my favourite drawings here.

He had lots of attention from curious onlookers and even put some of them to work, filling in the larger areas with colour.
Although this is incomplete here, you can get the best 3D effect from the correct vantage point. "X" marks the spot.

A Little More of Aaron's Artwork

Recently there was a music festival in Maxville, Ontario. TheEdge3. Aaron did the artwork used for the advertising, tickets, posters and T-shirts,etc.
Sorry these look a little washed out as I took the picture of them on the kitchen floor. I think they are pretty neat!

Aaron and a friend went to take in the festival and really enjoyed it.

Aaron's Illustration Comes To Life

Aaron did the illustration for EdgeFest3. Here are the posters. Pretty cool, eh?
Aaron and a friend head out Saturday to take in the music and check it out. They had a great time and really enjoyed it. They came home with the t-shirt too. It's always cool to see your hard work come to life.

Professional Illustration, Graduation Show

I hope everyone enjoyed the last long weekend of the summer. We had a good weekend and Marty spent some time stripping the hard drive and reloading it so I had no access to a computer for a few days.

Here, long overdue, are a few pics of Aaron's grad show in Ottawa last Monday evening.
Each student had a display of their work and a portfolio along with business cards to share.

Here is Aaron with some of his friends, Winston, Damian, and Vanessa.

After the group photo of his class.

It was amazing the work each person presented, all good and so incredibly different from each other. Nice evening. Congratulations Aaron!

Self portrait.

I Was Tagged

Ronna was tagged and then she tagged me so here is the tenth photo in the first file of pictures on my desktop. It is a painting Aaron did last spring. For a while he was painting Lemons in unusual places. This one is on his easel.
This is the Lemon in my old slipper. It is inspiring as it reminds me to look at things differently and think outside of the box, if I'm feeling a little hesitant to try something new.

Tour Weekend

The weather was pure perfection! Gentle breeze, cool temps and warm, bright sun. We had our usual warm cider in the old Heinz Bean warmer. Joshua wired up a funky old speaker with fun, vintage sounding music from the Good Lovelies.
We left the dogs in the house but Gumdrop barks so and get the others going and Odelia was quite beside herself, missing out on all the action. When Marty brought her out, she just sat, and didn't say a word with all the traffic. What a good girl.
Even Isabella, the dress form, was ready to greet people.
We set up a tent to handle the extra art we wanted to share with people. I even hung up some of Aaron's pieces. A few folks who know him were happy to see his work. It's been well attended this year, so far. I met new folks and even had a surprise visit from a faithful customer. Thanks!!
I'm almost out of apple cookies. Must make another batch this morning!

Under Pressure

Tuesday found Aaron and I in Alexandria for a chiropractic appointment following the car accident. Good thing we finally got there too. Good to feel a little better!
Today I was on the phone with insurance companies, doctors, health units to update immunization records, the college to clarify things and even a chat with an old friend. All that after driving Aaron to his "Summer Company" breakfast meeting and picking up Jacob and bringing him back home for the day. Needless to say, any creative thoughts revolve around issues like, "what's for dinner?" and "I should really vacuum up all the fluffies floating about from the dogs. Superwoman I ain't!!

I must share the link to Aaron's new blog called Painter's Progress, which shows some of his work as he creates it.
Oh, the picture above is Odelia hanging out with Marty watching television. She really thinks she is a lap dog and isn't happy unless she is touching you.

Shakespeare Festival

For eight years now there has been a Shakespeare Festival in Prescott. The plays are outside or under a tent depending on the weather. The actors come from all over and the results are pretty darn impressive. A classmate of Aaron's had been given the job of painting the sets this year. A big job as there are sixteen panels altogether for the two plays.
Since we moved here we have volunteered to hand out programs "front of house." This year we had decided there was just too much going on the take part, but I did get to "help" with a couple of panels yesterday. This is Guy Wales, the man with the task of creating the sets.


Here is Aaron putting his mark on a panel.

The centre two panels are complete. This year they are presenting the "Taming of the Shrew" and "Measure For Measure."

Market Day

Note: the blue cast on the photos is from his tent which is blue.
Aaron is participating in the "Summer Company" program where students returning to school in the fall start their own small business for the summer. This includes writing up a business plan along with all the other details that go into planning such a thing. He is selling his art and taking commissions for portraits at the Brockville Market. He is there three days a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. 8AM to 1 PM.
This is his third morning. If there is rain the market is closed. He has to deal with the wind though which can get pretty gusty off the St Lawrence whistling up through the buildings. with some simple engineering, he and Marty created a system that should keep him well secured for the season. This Tuesday was cool and sunny. Perfect.
With his leftover paint he has created little "Gallery Cards" for sale. He just did the miniature of Odelia. It's three inches square.
Each morning he is there, he plans on having a new piece to show. He has also got some cards coming made from photographs of some of his paintings.
The folks down at the market are very supportive of each other and he has received some encouraging words from passerby. A good beginning.

Getting Things Done

I am finally feeling caught up on all those pesky appointments and things on my "to do" list. This week is half over. YAY! A quick trip to Cornwall today and then prep for my brother's arrival on Friday. Good to have another long weekend before us. We definitely need more of those, don't you think?
Thank you to all you of you for your lovely and encouraging comments regarding the show. I especially like the "surprised" emails form friends back home who just happen to watch the show each week and found us there.
These are delicate little butterflies I cut off a very tangled mobile I found at Goodwill. Sometimes it is good to not throw out something that looks too far gone. I think they are great and certainly worth the ninety-nine cents I paid for it.
Something else I found a while back, was a slightly battered vintage chocolate box. To my great pleasure it was filled with these hand made clay flowers. Not as fine as the porcelain ones from England and Germany, but lovely nonetheless.
I've begun adding some bits and pieces from my doll collection to the shop as well. Don't these Kewpie-look-a-likes make you smile?
Drop by Aaron's blog, if you have a moment. He is doing the "painting a day" thing. The Lemon is having great adventures. Be sure to check his older posts to catch it from the beginning.

Graduates' Art Show

In spite of attending a conference for the day, elsewhere, Marty and I did make it out to the student show at the gallery. Here is Aaron next to one of his pieces.
Here are the two pieces of Aaron's that got accepted. The hand on the right is made from Crayola modeling compound.

Student Show

I can't believe my two oldest are graduating this spring! Two years have flown by. Those graduating from the Fine Arts program are having an exhibit at the gallery attached to the college. The gala is next Thursday, March26, at the Marianne van Silfhout Gallery from 5-7PM.
I've had a peek at the show and there is a lot of really neat stuff to view.

Happy Surprise

Aaron has been training for his new job and in the midst of that needed to get some of his art to
the gallery in Brockville for the student show in July. He was surprised to find one of his pieces on the invitation. His is the picture on the right - his Rothco-inspired piece. Too cool! (Okay, if you go look at Aaron's other pics that I have posted, yes you will notice that this is pictured upside down. Well, that's abstract art for you.) The show runs from July 8-28 in the gallery at St. Lawrence College.

Aaron's Art in Toronto

Well, the boys have completed their first year of college. Aaron has submitted two paintings to an exhibit at the Varley Art Gallery in Unionville, ON. Above is a piece he did from a shot of himself and and a friend boxing.
This piece is from an assignment to create a Rothco-type painting. I really enjoy this one. It's 3x5'. For anyone in the Unionville area the gallery is located at 216 Main St. The contact number for information is: 905-477-9511.

Aaron's contribution to my Art Journal

Aaron has also contributed to my art journal. He's not officially part of the round robin but I have plenty of extra pages in my journal so I wanted him to add to it. His favourite medium is the pencil. When you look at the two pages together, side-by-side they make a little more sense.

Aaron's art and My Altered Chess Pieces

This Aaron's 8'x8' drawing pretty much finished, except for some little finishing touches. I think it turned out great for his first effort at this scale. My husband wants to put it up in his workshop when Aaron's done with it. That's really the only place it would fit!
For the Creative Underground's blowout end of year swap we each chose a chess man to alter. I'm the White Bishop. For the longest time I was drawing a blank but with all the holiday activity I figured I would make him into a tiny winter character. I also have to alter the square he stands on and then make copies. I'm curious to see what everyone else does. I'm feeling a little uncertain about my efforts this time. I found it tricky as they really aren't very big, and that limits what can be done. Their little beards are made from mohair and I used mica flaked gel medium to create snow at their feet.

Someone in the House is Making Art

In Aaron's (son #2) Fine Arts course each person is supposed to create a drawing that is eight feet by eight feet. After some brainstorming with his dad, it was decided to do it on some lighter weight plywood, hinged for easy travel. Here is the beginning...
Here is a little more progress. I think I'll stick to baking cookies for now.