Sentiments from our Art Is A Gift Virtual Gallery
December 28, 2021Art is a gift – it connects us, moves us and engages us, enhancing our lives and the lives of others. It feeds our imagination, inspires and challenges us. It makes us feel, think, and act in new ways. No matter how you look at it, art is a gift.
To end this year we asked what “Art Is A Gift” means to you, the Opus Community! For some, art helps them get through challenging obstacles, others experience art as a personally-made gift to give, receiving happy reactions in return. We wholeheartedly agree that it is a gift to be able to create and let our creativity run free.
Below are some of the heartfelt sentiments we received in the #OpusArtGift Gallery. Those artists whose stories and artworks are featured below will be receiving a $50 Opus Gift Card! We would encourage you all to have a look through the stories included in the featured entries as well as the remainder of the submissions under #OpusArtGift. Thank you all for participating this year – in this gallery and the others before it!
Nat The Bat 🦇, A spirited soul that enjoys capturing creative moments
Art is a gift in my life because it allows me to explore and express my creativity and imagination while experimenting with various mediums – in this case frisket and watercolour. Art means so very much to me because it not only makes me very happy, but also my friends and family that I gift my artwork to. I like to think that I have art galleries all around the world! 😉🎨🖼🌎
Instagram: @spiritedsnaps
Marie Santos, illustrator, Showing the beauty of the world with colour!
“There’s so much that I can say about what Art means to me. It’s gotten me through the last 2 years that were one of the toughest I’ve gone through and still going through it. When I paint, all my problems get pushed aside and gives me the pause I need. It’s the reason why I choose to paint colorful paintings. Seeing the colors in my painting uplifts me and I always hope that I can lift other peoples’ spirits who view my work – art can be so healing and therapeutic!
It’s a miracle that we as artists can create some amazing works of art with paint, pencil, pastels, ink on paper or canvas or other type surface! From a thought concept in the invisible to an actual physical object! Through our artwork we let people inside our minds and permit them to see what we see!
It’s a form of language and expression that artists can speak and I feel so privileged to be a part of the art community!”
With this painting this time I tried to be semi abstract and focused on putting down color notes instead of detail – changed my brush to a Stroke brush and creates softer paint strokes!
This painting will be available on my website or Daily Paintworks ☺️
5” x 4″ Winsor and Newton Gouache on Strathmore Tan Mixed Media Paper– Princeton Aqua Elite 1/2” Stroke brush
Instagram: @msantosart
Website: www.msantosart.com
Erika Lax , Lover of all things art and making. Diving head first into creating abstract art using alcohol inks and mixed media.
Making this year’s holiday cards was like therapy for me. My husband was having his third tongue cancer surgery – the second in 3 months, and when the newly grafted tissue failed, he had his fourth surgery. In total he’s had approximately 16 hours of surgery since Thursday morning, and is currently in intensive care. Having something to focus positive energy on while he was in his surgery was an enormous help. So for everyone who receives one of these this year, please know that they are the result of lots of positive thoughts and energy.
It ceases to amaze me how art can help us get through challenging times – it’s good for the heart and soul, healing for our mental health — I’m so thankful I’ve got art in my life.
Here’s to a speedy and thorough recovery for my husband, Allan!
These cards are made with pinata inks, sakura pen, gelly roll pens winsor and newton, legion paper, yupo paper, strathmore mixed media cards and molotow liquid chrome marker and a whole lotta love.
Instagram: @erika_lax_artist
Talitha Roffel , Artist from the Langley area
To me, art is a gift that continually gives. It brings delight and purpose to my own life, and more amazingly – joy to others. I have always been fascinated with the colours and textures of life around me and I take delight in being able to express what I see and feel through painting. Living on the beautiful west coast, the richly vivid vistas of our coast, valley, mountains and sky are a constant inspiration. With the pace and transience of a busy life, I find that I revel in the small moments of each day and do my best to soak up the nuanced details of the elements around me. I like to say that I am inspired by nature’s palette, and I believe my deep love of nature helps brings life to each canvas though an artistic expression of colour, texture, and form.
Instagram: @talitharoffel
website: www.talitharoffelfineart.com
Linda O, Creating one of a kind fluid acrylic paintings for home or office decor.
This is my submission for the Art is a Gift Virtual Gallery #goldenpaints#gallerywrappedcanvas “When human life is viewed as a work of art, filled with shades from dark to light, the contrast reveals the beauty of a life engaged.” It has been a life gift to be able to let go of outcomes and simply create ~ to not let thoughts of imperfection destroy the ability to simply explore.
Instagram: @linda_o_art
Gloria Lim Russell
Art is a gift that I am forever grateful to have received. It has carried me through my years of shyness and feeling inadequate to the joys of my recent retirement. During these recent pandemic years, it has allowed me to stay positive, safe and still connected to family and friends. It gets me up in the morning, wanting to get to my workspace or out to discover new ideas, perspectives and inspirations. Art opened the world to me and has become a part of my soul. For me, the ability to share my emotions and imagination with others is the most valuable gift from Art.
Instagram: @glorialimrussell
Cindy Lou
Art is a gift and therapy. I worked on this beside my moms hospital bed as she was in palliative care for cancer. She would watch me and point out little adjustments. She loved looking at it as we went through the process and giving helpful tips. I finished it about a week before she passed. I hung it on her wall. It was the last painting of mine that mom saw. It’s more than art, it’s a memory of a loving mom and daughter, it’s a connection that can never be broken. Art is a gift that created some of my most precious memories of the last days with my mom.
Instagram: @cindyloupaws4life
Giang, Watercolour Artist
Massive swirling clouds coats the sky with vibrant purple and reds. Hints of yellow spark the horizon as it silhouettes and solidifies the leading road, the jagged rocks, and the towering lighthouse. There’s something charming about this composition, with some notes of playfulness.
I make art, because it gives me the gift of being able to see people’s mixed responses as they enjoy my art, that I have been able to add a little more love, a little more emotions, and a little more thoughts into life using art. But moreover, art is a gift to me because it guides me on the laborious mission to seek inner peace, showing me in moments I disbelieve myself the most, that my patience, passion and persistence gained from days and nights spent to create are not for nothing.
Participating in @opusartsupplies “Art Is A Gift” virtual gallery, I want to showcase this artwork called “Lighthouse”, which in fact, is one of my very first attempts with watercolors that I made as a gift for my grandfather around this time 3 years ago. It’s hard for myself to not be ashamed of the child-like manipulations of colors, shapes, shadows,…But the second I saw my grandfather smiled, I was content.
My afire love for my dear companion, art, has only gotten more inseparable through all these years. The gift of art was given to me by faith, and it is my privilege to make the best out of it 🙂
Instagram: @giangtran_0901
Lianna Klassen, Painter and Potter
The Way Through Mixed Media on Canvas 36′ x 36″ x 1.5″ Art is a Gift is an opportunity to work alongside other artists and individuals who have a heart and passion for the arts.
Instagram: @liannaklassenart/
Website: www.liannaklassen.com