Creative Summers Round One
August 17, 2020Art classes, staycations, daily challenges, memories, gardens, family, escapism … despite the challenges of 2020, all different sorts of things are inspiring you this August! It’s really uplifting to see such an extraordinary array of fabulous, imaginative art pile into our Creative Summer Gallery. Here’s a small selection of some of the magnificent work you’ve been submitting.
Kathryn Lancashire – Lake Day
Lake chicken looks super dangerous but also crazy fun. Aren’t the best things in life? I remember all the local pools used to have “no chicken” signs. When you’re a kid that sort of thing prompts more questions than answers.
Cindy McMath – Square Collage
I’m making a square collage on paper each day for the month of August – just for fun.
Belle Perez de Tagle – Woodburning
I’ve found an alternative to classroom learning for my four grandchildren aged 9, 13, 14 & 19 during this Covid-19 lockdown. Twice every week, I’ve taught them acrylic painting, wood burning, baking, cooking and sewing. Here are some of their wood burning projects.
Pamela Hamilton – Princess of the Jungle
Wild and Free… I just love painting cute little animals and flowers and I love my vibrant QOR watercolours that bring everything to life. I had an awful procedure today and spent the whole morning feeling anxious about it. When it was over, I thought about how afraid I was of a quick moment of extreme pain. Some pain is over and done with in a flash and some pain weighs on your heart a lifetime. I’m taking all this discomfort and letting it fuel my creations. Today, art led me to the jungle and I imagined a sweet tiger princess roaming free amongst giant flowers.
Nina S Moore – Nita Lake Island
This is the second painting I’ve done from in the water, using ‘ze aquabule’ – a floating easel! A couple of upgrades included a raised block for my palette so it didn’t get wet and an extra long brush so my arm didn’t get tired. The movement makes it a looser painting than usual, but I don’t mind as the process is so much fun! I was very glad of the wetsuit though, seeing as it is an extremely cold lake!
Wendy Siddon Gibson – Cone Flowers
Loving these sunny summer days for painting outside on the deck or in the yard. Cone flowers are one of my favorites, although I don’t have any planted… no room, lol! But painting flowers just makes me happy.
Brian McRae – The Colour Of Wind
Just north of the highway on my parents’ ranch is a grove of poplars, full of childhood memories. Inside the grove there is a stillness, away from the constant wind blowing down over the Rockies. Despite this seeming calm, the wind is in constant play over the tops of the trees, creating a vibration that is unique to poplars. The colours forged by sunlight bouncing off the leaves, combined with the sound (halfway between a tinkle and a rustle), is mesmerizing. This is the largest painting I’ve done to date and reflects an attempt at a more impressionistic style. It’s also the first canvas I’ve ever stretched myself. I’ve learned that green is a very difficult colour, and painting trees is about as much fun as spring cultivating (driving around in endless circles while you try to keep your lines from overlapping).
Amelia-Ahn – Manga
I’m posting this on behalf of my eleven-year-old daughter, Amelia-Ahn.
‘This drawing was inspired by my interest in manga for over a year or so. I find their features to be unique and not like the typical profile of a person. They are really fun to draw!’
Reta Grill
I am taking an online class from Deb Weiers and she has been passing on brilliant creative processes to her students. I am a new painter so it has been so much fun!!
Andrea England – Big Day Out
I always find it hard to choose favourite paintings. Each one is full of memories – of the moment that inspired it and the feelings I felt as I painted it. ‘Big Day Out’ takes me back to Telegraph Cove and Blackfish Sound. I’ve been lucky enough to meet, sketch and photograph the Northern Resident Pod who frequently visit the area and some of my pictures were clear enough to show the individual patterns on the males’ towering dorsal fins.
Thanks so much to everyone who’s been taking part. If you haven’t already submitted, there are still a few more weeks to go before ‘back to school’ – still plenty of time to win a $50 Opus Gift Card. And if you’ve been uploading your work, please keep it coming! Just remember, it’s as much about the description as it is about the art. Click here to visit our Creative Summers landing page for more info. We can’t wait to see what you come up with in round two. Happy creating!