Still Dreaming of Summer: Ghost Canoes

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New painting drying in my studio at the Williams Mill in Halton Hills. It is the second oil painting in the Dreaming of Summer Series.  Night brings a surreal look to the canoes tucked away for the evening. There are 9 paintings planned for this series, but who know how many more will be dreamed of along the way.

New Exhibit Opening & Art Event at the Big Daddy Festival on Father's Day

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Saturday, June 18th , 1 - 4 p.m. join the Williams Mill artists and me at the opening of our annual show "Where Art Comes to Life" (formally our annual "Spring into Art" show) in the Williams Mill Gallery. I have 3 paintings in the show, and you will a diverse selection of the Williams Mill Artists work - oil, acrylic and watercolour painting, glass, ceramics, wood, stone sculpture, jewellery and more.  Refreshments will be served.  Then, take a look at all the studios where this fine art work was created! Our studios are always open to the public Saturdays (Fridays, too) 12 - 5 p.m.

Then on Sunday, don't miss out on a unique and creative way to spend Father's Day! On Father's Day, Sunday, June 19, 2011,  11:00 am - 4:00 pm, art comes further to life at the Williams Mill. Demonstrations, Workshops, Discussions & Interactive Displays – pick up your detailed brochure and guide at the Williams Mill Gallery. FYI In the top left photo in the flyer above, that's yours truly in my old studio.  I will have my studio open on Father's Day - rare indeed!

Activities include:

  • Free Demonstrations: Clay Wheel Throwing, Clay Pressed Moulding & Handwork, Cut Glass Creation, Working Stone, and Wood Carving Techniques
  • Free Discussions of Work: Painting, Graphic Arts, Jewellery, Illustration & Painting
  • Free Interactive Activities: Hand Building, Soapstone Carving , Pyrography/Wood Burning, Watercolours, & Leather work & Children’s Book Readings
  • Free Historic Tour of The Mill with owner Doug Brock: 40-minute tour of the Mill at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, & 3:00 pm learning about our artists and its history (meet at the Gallery)
  • Pre-Booked Workshops with Take-Home Art – 10 sessions starting at 11:00 am (register at 905- 873- 8203/ gallery@williamsmill.com): Also Adult Glass Blowing – $20.00/30 minute session Father & Child Hand Casting - $40.00/30 minute session

Dreaming of Summer (or a cottage would be nice)

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Like many places across Canada, the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) hasn't been having the greatest weather. A lot of dull skies and rain. My secret (well, not so secret)  longing to own a cottage with which to enjoy nice weather inspired this 48" high by 36" wide oil painting - still wet on the easel.

Art Show & Art Cook Book Signing at the Williams Mill

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You are invited to the "Art Show &  Book Signing" for the fine art cook book "Recipe for a Good Life" Saturday, May 28th, 2011 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. in the studio of Sheri Tenaglia at the Williams Mill Arts Centre.
I am proud that my pastel drawing "Soya Beans" (Soybeans)  is in this wonderful cook book that is also a fine art book.  Fine arts and artisans from Murphy's and Friesen's myriad of artist friends created images inspired by the ingredients found in the book.
On Saturday, May 28, 2011, join Paulette and Dawn in the Sheri's studio at the art show opening of the original paintings & drawings found in the book, including mine. You will be able to buy this inspiring cook book of recipes tested by a nutritionist, and have the authors autograph it too! Portions of sales of the book will be donated to support cancer research and/or treatment centres.
Sheri's studio is in the Parkside Level of the Yellow Building, just across the parking lot from my Stone Building Studio.

Like Summer, Art is Just Around the Corner

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Just when it seemed winter would never end, suddenly it's almost June! And June is a busy time at the Williams MIll Visual Arts Centre. This is the second year for Halton Hills Big Daddy Festival and once again the Williams Mill figures prominently in the festivities. The Mill will be open as usual Saturday, June 17, 12 - 5. But on Father's Day June 19, you won't want to miss all the special art related activities being offered to Dads and their families. http://www.bigdaddyfestival.ca  The Williams Mill schedule of events is not up yet but the day starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. See you there!

Following the Big Daddy Festival is the MAG (Mill Artists Group)  Exhibition in the Williams Mill Gallery. I will have new paintings in that show.

After the MAG Show is the 5th Annual Eye Full Salon!  I put forth this concept in 2006 before I left the Mill to work at home for almost three years. The Eyeful Salon will run all July. And I will have more art work in that! Think of me kindly, as I have helped hang this show 3 times now, at about 100 paintings each time, and will probably help again this year. Bonus? I always get an exclusive preview!  lol

As well, I am now offering selected work on Fine Art America & Xanadu Gallery Online. Or for more art, see column to the right "Where to buy my art".

Of course, you are always welcome to visit me in my studio most Fridays and Saturdays 12 - 5 p.m.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other

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The large 48" x 48" cat painting seen at the top of the photograph is an original oil & oil stick painting entitled "Who's For Dinner?!"

This graphic painting with a bit of dark humour to it,  has received so much  positive attention from visitors to my Williams Mill studio in Halton Hills that I am now offering a giclee reproduction on canvas print of it.

The original painting "Who's For Dinner" is 48" x 48" . It is a black, silver & white oil stick and oil painting on gallery mount canvas. The edges are painted black. Please feel free to contact me about the original painting's price.

There are two sizes of giclee.

36" x 36" giclee on canvas is at the introductory price of $300 Cdn + HST.  The  slightly metallic silver oil paint looses this metallic sheen in the reproduction, but as you can see above, the two are remarkably similar. The print is also on gallery mount canvas and the edges are black. Only for the original will be 48" x 48".

12" x 12" giclee on canvas is at the introductory price of $79 +HST. It is also on a gallery mount canvas.

Perhaps, the poor Golden Lab "Guilty",  should be "Concerned".

What do you think?

What the Cat Saw

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"What the Cat Saw",  an exhibition of 13 cat art works, is on display at the Dragon Fly Arts on Broadway Gallery in Orangeville, Ontario, until the morning of May 24th, 2011. The majority of the art work are oil paintings but there is  also an original lithograph.  You can see part of the black and white original litho "yes?!"  in the bottom right of the photo  above.

What's a lithograph you ask? Although the term lithography is often used in reference to posters or other fine art reproductions, that is NOT what this is. This type of lithography refers to an original work of art, the way an original etching or serigraph is. I drew this cat in reverse on a big piece of limestone that had to be sanded perfectly flat.  The drawing was then etched on the stone, and special lithography black ink was rolled over it. Arches paper I had torn to size was placed on top of the inked image, a cover felt on top of that and then the whole thing was run through a press, ONCE.  Details, texture and values are achieved through the accurate etching, the quality of the drawing on the stone, and the careful inking. I did this 13 times to achieve an edition of 13. The drawing on the stone was then ground off. The resulting 13 prints are the art.

It was great fun to set up in the window of the Dragonfly Gallery, a first for me. Why the Dragonfly Gallery? Quite a few reasons actually. I don't mind selling amongst potters and jewellers at all. At the Williams Mill, I am quite accustomed to working alongside professionals who work in all media. The Dragonfly is a mini Mill type gallery with studios at the back.  A bigger reason through is Joan Hope, the owner of Dragonfly. She LOVES her artists. She is proud of them,  can talk knowledgeably about what they do and she looks out for them.  As well, she values her customers and works hard at knowing what they want!  In fact, she  won the the 2010 Hills of Headwaters "Best Customer Service Experience ". Plus, many local hardworking, creative artists I know and admire  sell out of the Dragonfly. So, count me in!

As the work went up in the window, many a passerby would stop, watch, and comment, too. A young man enquired about the 5 foot high "Silver Light" painting, and the slightly smaller "Blue Eyes Inside". After a pleasant conversion about my art, we discovered, he was the great nephew of the iconic Joyce Wieland, often regarded as Canada's foremost female artist and the late wife of  the equally important artist Michael Snow. It was a long time ago, but when I did lithography (the lithograph Yes?! is an earlier art work), I did a residency at St Michael's Workshop in Newfoundland. At that time it was located in a small village about 30 minutes outside of St. John's. The previous tenant who I had just missed?  Joyce Wieland.  When I left, if I could have stayed just a few hours more I would have had the privilege of meeting Christopher Pratt and his then Wife Mary Pratt. How great would that have been!

Oh, life and its mysteries! lol

And speaking of mysteries.. if you would like to solve the mystery of  "What the Cat Saw" visit Dragonfly Arts on Broadway until the morning of May 24th.

Only a Bloomin' Bud for Mother's Day

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Magnolia bud, No bloom. Mother's Day 2011 Copyright Christine Montague The past few months have been gloomy, rainy ones in the Greater Toronto Area. So much so, that for the first time ever, my magnolia tree is not in bloom on Mother's Day!

The fact that magnolias in this area are always out and sometimes even finished by Mother's Day, inspired me to paint a magnolia portrait entitled, you guessed it,  "Just in Time (for Mother's Day")" .

The weather today, Mother's Day 2011,  is so glorious, the bloom is not off my day, by the lack of Magnolia blossoms. It simply means Mother's Day should be extended a few more days, don't you think?

Happy Mother's day!

My Salmon Runs to the AGM

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Today I delivered my finished salmon "The Invasive Species" to the Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM). Although,  it was officially unveiled 3 days ago on "daytime"  a Roger's television show, these are the first photographs I've publish of the finished sculpture. The rain finally let up enough for me to photograph the work outdoors. Here is the summary of my proposal:

Through my Salmon Run Project, I wish to provoke thought on how urban development has been "built on the backs" of the Credit River salmon.  The increase of impermeable surfaces such as roofs, patios, and roads means rain carries debris, oil, gas (from roadways) and silt through the hundreds of Mississauga storm sewers directly into the river.  This black and brown water stresses the salmon, kills the insects they feed on and buries their spawning grounds.  I will attach miniature houses  with acrylic gels (representing tar & oil) in clusters similar to those of an invasive species such as the zebra mussel.  These clusters will represent development that has the potential to impede, choke, and threaten the salmon with death, if not controlled. 

Salmon Run project: Invasive Species by Christine Montague

Salmon Run Project: Invasive Species. "Zebra Mussel" House. Detail by Christine Montague

Eye-to-Eye With a Salmon

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Since I am an artist who usually works 2D, I found myself hesitating for a second when I picked up the brush to paint the salmon cast. But I quickly realized I should use the same approach to this sculptural fish as I use with any portrait painting on canvas. Start with the eyes! The ol' the "eyes are the mirror of the soul thing".  As soon as I did this, I found my "connection" to this pre-made form. I only had salmon photos off the internet to use as reference. Thus I realize, for any salmon aficionados out there,  the salmon is probably not exactly like the Coho. Apparently,  the cast itself is not quite correct, the fins are too small, etc. But that's not really the point. To create what I proposed, all I need to start with is a shape that is easily recognizable as a healthy salmon, no matter the breed or  how exact its representation is.

My poor salmon. He only stayed "healthy" for one day. Stay tuned.

Even in Art, Development a Problem

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Painted Monopoly houses will represent suburban development in my Salmon Run Project . In the picture to the left are some of the almost 200 houses lined up to be spray painted.

How to spray paint plastic? As an oil painter, working with acrylic paints and plastic materials is more or less new to me, too. First, the plastic must be cleaned with mineral spirits. A base coat spray paint for plastic is available, but I figured I didn't need it. A wide variety of colour topcoat spray paint for plastic is available, but I only needed black. I will also use Rust-oleum's Stone accents for the illusion of a roof shingle's surface.

One should wear wear a protective mask, gloves, and goggles when using spray paint. And the work area,  well ventilated.  My "well-ventilated"  area is my unheated garage with its doors open. And, as spray paint works best when the temperature is above freezing, the uncooperative GTA cold weather, delayed my project's progress. But, hey, delayed progress? As the past owner of two new homes that were not ready on time,  it's all in keeping to the spirit of building development.

I  love using spray paint, and if I was a lot younger, my art path might have followed a different path. But after putting a fair bit of work into the research for my proposal, and discovering how building development affected the salmon in the Credit River, with hindsight,  a project that uses fiberglass, spray paint, plastic, mineral spirits, electrical power, sandpaper and rags, is a contradiction to its intent.

The 3 e's of Art Apply to The Salmon Run Project & Credit River

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If you live in Mississauga you may have heard of the Salmon Run Project, a call to artists to decorate casts of the Coho salmon to be displayed in the Civic Centre Grand Hall early in May.  Mississauga is stepping up its support of the visual arts and this is the first project between the City's Cultural Office and the Art Gallery of Mississauga. But why salmon?

Three types of salmon inhabit the Credit River, the southern Ontario river that starts above the Niagara Escarpment and winds south  through multiple Mississauga communities before it empties into Lake Ontario at Port Credit.

The Port Credit Salmon and Trout Association volunteers recently put 5000 young Chinook into a holding pen to acclimatize them to Lake Ontario. These 6 month old baby salmon are part of an ongoing project to increase the salmon population. About 85,000 salmon will enter the Credit River each year. Meet Sally, the salmon that tried to get away from that process here.

The Credit River Anglers Association, another great volunteer organization, has done fabulous work in protecting both the salmon and the Credit. Every year they collect the migrating salmon at a point in the river that impedes their journey, and drive them safely up to Norval where they are returned to the water so continue on their way. How impressive is that?!

At one time the Credit River was so thick with salmon, it was said one could walk across the river on their backs. However, by the end of the 1800's, their numbers in Ontario rivers had been dramatically depleted.

Despite efforts to reintroduce the Atlantic salmon, they are still very rare. Reintroduction of the Pacific Salmon, such as the Chinook, has  met with much more success. The original call to artists stated we would be decorating casts of the Atlantic salmon, but what we all received was the Coho or Silver salmon.

Whatever "salmon" we work with, the lessons are the same, salmon are remarkable creatures, if we mess with nature it take a lot of time, effort, and good people to correct,  and art, like nature,  has the amazing ability to engage, educate and entertain.

The Salmon Run Project, Sanded at Last.

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Salmon Run Project
Salmon Run project. Shaping the fin.

I don't know what tools a taxidermist uses on fish casts such as this, but I found a drywall saw effective  for the edges of the fins and for cutting out the mouth. I also used a small hand saw, a metal file, a box cutter and sand paper. Below you can see the scooped out mouth and a sample of the cut out material. The whitish edge is plaster and fibreglass. The fish is not hollow, but filled with the yellowish substance that is some type of foam.

So finally, the fish is sanded. Next step?  To attach the fins, and drill the holes for the stand. Then hurrah, the project actually begins!

A Bridge to Beauty: Gushue Cove

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I'm working in a blurb book about a trip to Stephenville, Newfoundland I had in the summer of 2010. This photo of the a bridge at "The Gravels" just beckons one to cross, don't you think? There is a mystery to it, but not a threatening one, certainly not in hospitable Newfoundland.

"The Gravels" is a  breathtaking walking trail about 15 minutes out of Stephenville, at Port au Port. Lots of tuckamore trees, wild roses, forest, stunning coves, huge fossils in the rocks and a well maintained path to boot.

Salmon Surprise: Don't Eat (Or Inhale) this Fish

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Ta da! A salmon surprise, indeed! Revealed to you at last! This is the salmon form the artists chosen for the Art Gallery of Mississauga's & Office of the Arts "Salmon Run Project" have been given. #158415 is mine, all mine! But there are more surprises in store!

Surprise #1. I was expecting an artist designed cast , not the taxidermist model this is. Still happy this project is up and "run"ning. A community sculpture project first for Mississauga!

Surprise #2. Fellow participants Sonja Hidas and Carmen Hickson were curious as to what I was going to do with the extra fins. Fins? What fins? Well, ah ha! Under that cardboard at the tail, guess what I found -

Surprise # 3. This should be called BIG surprise #3., GIANT surprise #3. There are seam lines from the casting process all over the fish! And the fins! This is a lot of prep work, people! This cast appears to be of fibreglass (protect your lungs!) , possibly some  plaster and filled  with foam. Sanding will have to be done in a well ventilated area, i.e. outside and with proper tools and protection. So, I readied my Mastercraft reciprocating sander, my mask, and my goggles. And it's still winter here, folks, so I wore somebody else's coat .Wasn't going to get my own "resiny"  LOL.  So here's a sight that would definitely scare the neighbourhood children, not to mention the fish.

Here's the tools in action.

Here's me in the cold in action.

Salmon Run project More sanding Copyright Christine Montague

Surprise #4. Quite possibly to you, but not to all the professional visual artists out there. Creating art for a living requires discipline, a broad selection of know how, tenaciousness, the ability to laugh at life (in Canada, we sure can't laugh because of the  money)and remain ever optimistic (the tenacious part). I will laugh out loud as I spend a second day in tenacious hope that this flipping fish will be "fin" ished (Dam it, Jim, I am a painter, not a sander) so that I can actual begin my proposal, submit it and get back to the studio.

No surprise there.

Little portrait painting #6

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Sold.  Above is portrait #6 completed March 18th, 2011.  Started number #7 today. Only ninety-three and a half 6" x 6" portraits to go for my "100 Little Portraits" project.

Salmon Run Art Project Begins

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Salmon Run Project Art Gallery of Mississauga. Salmon Run Project leaves city hall. Copyright Christine Montague

Today I went to the Art Gallery of Mississauga to pick up my salmon for the Salmon Run Project.

AGM's Jaclyn & Gail, behind the "fish counter", so-to-speak, handed over my wrapped salmon, while found object artist Carmen Hickson, another salmon recipient looked on.

For some added scale: here I am outside Mississauga's Civic Centre,  the home of the Art Gallery of Mississauga.

Stay tuna'd.

Another Call to Artists: Through the Eyes of the Artist

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The application for the Lakeshore Arts' annual juried show "Through the Eyes of the Artist" is now available to be downloaded http://www.web.net/~lakearts/threyes.html

Hard copies are available in the office 2422 Lake Shore Blvd., Toronto M8V 1C4 (416)201-7093.

This year's jurors are photographer Jeremy Sales, painter and last years first place winner Sharon Moon, and jewellery maker / digital provocateur Danielle Holke.

Deadline for entry is May 5th – 5 pm. Lakeshore Arts would appreciate if you passed the good word.

Good news. Entry fees have not gone up & are the same as last year: $20 for members and $25 for non-members.  Two pieces may be submitted.

100 Little Portrait Paintings Begins

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Baby Portrait Painting Copyright Christine Montague 2011 Last fall, I created a 6" x 6" cold wax portrait oil painting in an inspiring cold wax workshop with Janice Mason Steeves. The little monochromatic portrait received a lot of attention in class, on my blog and in the studio. At Christmas I was commissioned to paint a 6" x 6"  Siamese cat portrait oil painting. Not only did I enjoy creating this little portrait, it was surprising what a little treasure a portrait this size is. So for the sheer joy of it I decided I will paint 100 6" x 6" portraits over the next few months. I have other painting commitments so I won't be following the theme other artists have followed, for e.g. 100 portraits in 100 days, but I hope you'll keep checking back to see what's new. Better yet, subscribe to my blog and those portraits will arrive in your mailbox!

Meanwhile, I have other exciting news. My concept for the Salmon Run Project was accepted. This show opens June 9th, Art Gallery of Mississauga.  As soon as I pick up my "salmon" I'll start posting on that art project, too. Stay tuna! lol