Blog

Well, I did say infrequent blogs, didn't I....

It seems like the year is flying by. We have been spending time with family, friends, gardening, sailing, and of course, creativity. Don continues to work on his global water and livestock management issues, and I am getting back into the studio more.

It seems difficult to manage more than a few days at a time in the studio, but I'm at least working. Collographs have been my main focus for the past few months. I've been making plates from plywood, plastic, plaster, glue and found objects, with a few elements of "planned" images cut from paper. The results are often surprising, and the enjoyment of balancing it all is engaging. You can see some of the results on my gallery pages. I've also been enjoying playing with monoprints. They are wonderfully free in their nature of association.

In May and June I facilitated a workshop on collograph for the local Artists group on Pender Island. My friend from Duncan, Beverlee McLeod, also a printmaker, came over to help co-ordinate and brought two small presses, which I am very gratefu for. We are both members of the Printmakers Only Group. There were 12 enthusiastic participants and keeping all questions answered, providing guidance for using the press, and troubleshooting would have been pretty difficult without Beverlee's guidane and knowledge to help. The workshop was a lot of fun, and the participants were a joy to work with. They brought their fun, enthusiasm, playfulness and sense of adventure with them, and some of the results were amazing.

This year has also brought the need to jury for Artcraft on Saltspring Island again. Artcraft is a summer long showcase for Gulf Island Artists and Artians. One of the requirements is to be juried every three years to ensure quality, and this was my year. Happily, my work is accepted again, so a few weeks have been spent pulling prints, matting, framing and generally getting work ready for presentation and sale.

Unfortunately, I didn't participate in the Ground Zero Annual show this year....just not enough time to organize myself, I'm sorry to say. Hopefully, next year I'll be more organized.

Presently I am working on a special project for a show in July. Eve Pollard, a photographer on the island, has invited a select few artists to select photos from her upcoming show, and respond in their own medium to her photos. The photos selected by me were black and white, and quite graphic in nature....I'm responding by developing linocuts based on these photos. I'll post photos when the prints are finished and printed.

That is all the news I have for now,

Cheers,

Bev