Overdue Post: Open House (August 23) and Update

October 03, 2015

Among the craziness of making the big move to Winnipeg, I completely forgot to write a post about the wonderful Open House event which my parents hosted at their townhouse! It was a lot of hard work but thanks to my parent's passion and enthusiasm they were able to put together a wonderful day of art, family, and friends. My mom prepared an amazing arrangement of summer appetizers (with the help of Jillian and I) and desserts. Together my mom and dad both helped with the visual display and installation of my works all around the townhouse and even in the backyard. It really was spectacular! I am so thankful for everyone that was able to make it and come say their farewells before I headed off. The whole thing was so eventful that we forgot to take pictures of everyone who showed up! However, if you were unable to make it here's some of what you missed:

Things are going well in Winnipeg, again thanks to the support of my family here in town! I'm working hard in my studio almost every day whether it's painting, reading, or research. My studio space at the school is amazing and I can't wait to share it with all of you! Stay tuned for a post including a video showing the making of my newest mural!

Nuit Blanche - Winnipeg

September 27, 2015

Sunday, September 27, 2015:

Last night was my first Nuit Blanche Winnipeg and here are my thoughts on the experience. I found the concept of the event very intriguing, a night full of art and entertainment spanning across the various districts in Winnipeg including Downtown, the Exchange District, and St. Boniface.

I started my night out around 7:30pm at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The first thing I saw were some dancers in front of the gallery dressed in toga like attire. The dancing was done in silence and with the element of the wind, I'd have to say that the whole thing was quite beautiful.

I entered through the VIP lineup as I have a student membership with the WAG. They checked my ID and I was given a blue wrist band to indicate that I was legal drinking age and could order an alcoholic beverage. This is when things got a little tedious. I then had to get in line to buy a drink ticket which was $6 for one drink. Next, I took my drink ticket to the bar where I attempted to order a drink. I asked for a glass of red wine, however I was informed that they don't serve red wine as the floor in the gallery is porous and would soak up the red wine if it were to be spilled. I then opted for a Screwdriver instead. Inside the WAG there was a DJ playing electronic music which was more enjoyable than I would have predicted as electronic music isn't usually my forte. I walked around the gallery, however the exhibitions on display were ones which I've already seen as they've been up since I got my membership 2-3 weeks ago.

Next I made my way down Graham Ave hoping to begin the bigger adventure of the evening. I came across several things which weren't as exciting or eventful as I thought they were going to be. I was quite disappointed at the crowd turn out, as I was expecting the numbers in attendance to be way more than it was.

Finally, I made it to the Exchange District and the area I believe people were calling the Cube. This was also a bit of a let down as I expected more excitement and activity happening in the centre of the Exchange District which I thought would be one of the more eventful parts of the night.

I hit up a bar called the King's Head Pub, which was quite an experience in itself. Ordering a drink from the bar was a whole new endeavour since there were two bartenders taking orders from either end of the bar and there were two lines of people waiting to order a drink. I've never "waited in line" for a drink at the bar. The lines were not moving quickly either which added to the list of let downs of the night.

From here I made my way over to St. Boniface where things were low key. There was an interesting exhibition in a gallery which I've shown some photos of below. I also came across a band playing some live music outside of a coffee shop. The music was dying down by the time I had gotten there but I liked the laid back aspect of the intimate mini concert setting with the band and small audience.

All in all I enjoyed roaming the streets looking for art and finding other things that the night had to offer. I only wish that I had seen more as I look back now and see the list of events and feel as though I saw only a glimpse of what there was to see. I only hope I am able to see more the following year!

Canada Day by the Bay 2015

July 02, 2015

Wednesday, July 1, 2015:

Today was my first time ever showing my art at a vendor booth. Canada Day by the Bay was a great experience and I learned lots about what to do and what not to do. First off location is key, the organizers of the event positioned my booth just west of the pier which is where the majority of the pedestrian traffic is concentrated. However, this section of grass has a fairly high ledge which takes a solid effort for people to actually step up and come into the booth. This definitely was a negative, as the demographic of White Rock is mostly seniors, and of course families with strollers and small children.

Another challenge was that the grass where my booth was located was on a slant. Therefore, I had to be make sure that my canopy and easels were set up so that they would not blow over when there was a large gust of wind. I was able to secure the canopy, but we had a couple moments of panic when paintings and easels went toppling over. Note to self: bring bean bags to weigh down the easels. The easels and paintings weren't the only things we had to worry about. Everything that I had laid out on the back table such as drawings, prints, and frames, would blow away when it was really windy. We ended up taping the drawings and prints to the table but this didn't work for long either. A better solution would have been to use some sort of paper weights.

My favourite part of the day was painting live in my booth. I started out a little shaky because I was a bit nervous painting where everyone could see me, but I'm almost positive that the wind had something to do with it too. Afterwards, I was able to focus on the painting and I really got into it. I would hear people walking by saying "Oh, look she's painting!". It was a pretty cool experience. Sometimes I could feel that someone was watching and I didn't want to be one of those anti-social artists so I would say hello. However, a lot of the time once someone knew that I knew that they were watching me paint they would scurry away as if they weren't supposed to watch.

It was a challenge working with paints in the heat and humidity since I had to work fast so that my paints wouldn't dry out. I brought a small travel container for some water, as well as a small syringe, which I used to add water to my paints when they needed to be rejuvenated. I finished the painting earlier than I had expected and I wish that I had brought other canvases with me to paint because I finished the painting before the biggest rush of the day. Once I finished the big painting I painted a couple small paintings on 6x6" cardboard. After that I drew a pen drawing on a postcard and painted it with watercolours.