Rollingdale Winery-blast from the past!!

If you watch really close you might see an ARTIST you recognize!!*
These guys make exceptional artisanal wines. Give them a try!!

Crowded ART Show!!!

The students of HIDDEN TALENT have wonderful support!! We had over 300 guests in a 3 hour time frame and over 100 artworks.

  

Children's Art at Hidden Talent!!!

Some of our shining stars at Hidden Talent!!

This CAN'T be student art!!

I look forward to our Annual Student Art Show every year! My favorite part is greeting guest at the front door of our little Spot Light Gallery and see first time visitor's chins hit the floor! Yes! we are truely hidden talent! but not for long.
Yes! These incredible artworks are done by students! Many established and emerging artists are working out of Hidden Talent School/Studio! Yes! We are having an increasing number of students putting their efforts up for sale!
A special thank you to all the students who stepped up and helped with the food, clean up etc. With over 300 people jamming our Gallery, it was a bit hectic.

Our group display celebrated St. Albert's 150 Anniversary with over 25 artworks. Throughout the Gallery we saw children, teen and adults works as varies as cars to lillies, bunnies to bouquets, travel sites to exotic animals.

St. Albert Display

THE RESULTS OF HAVING TOO MUCH FUN!!

BEACH HOUSE 18X24
ACRYLIC BY L.WATMOUGH
$500

The CAVA art show is coming fast. Wednesday is drop off day! I'll have 17 very different artworks to share with you....only here and only once! I'll have 10 acrylic dimensional doorways , three abstracts, and 4 Garden Divas!
I thought I would break to unwritten code and show experimental art in a variety of styles. I admit this is not that great for marketing (confusing the brand etc) but there were some interesting stuff happening with acrylics. It is still NOT MY FRIEND, but I am making headway in a round about way..... I welcome your insights! See you at 9102-95 Ave Edmonton Friday 7:00-9:00
ps. There are many artisans selling sewing, pottery, jewellery, sculpture etc so the visiting the gallerytshould get you in the holiday gift giving mood.

A Little Secret!!

SMALL PEEK AT THE NEW MYSTERY ART !!

I'm letting you in on a little secret! I have spent most of today ALONE in the studio creating a series of unique fun and wild art especially for the Nov. 18th art exhibition at CAVA. Hopefully all 12 that exist in my imagination will make to canvas by that time. These creations are as far away from what I teach and normally paint as you can get....whimsical, funky, and totally LOOSE and TEXTURED.
Now, I teach realism and I love realism. BUT, these little painting somehow escaped from my brush and will only be allowed out on this one occassion......you have to come to the show to see what all the fuss is about! And, it will be worth it! Besides I have Jeannette Sommers showing all her recent automobile oils and heritage painting for the first time at the Centre D'Art Visuel. Double plus- they serve great food and wine at CAVA and I know some of my relatives marked their calendars 6 months ago!
Expect the unexpected!

LIVING AN ARTISTIC LIFE

I asked the universe for a' more interesting life', and maybe, just maybe I should have added a few qualifiers!
This is my summer/fall so far...
EXPERIMENTS:
The summer is always the time to try something different. The classes are more relaxed and informal so we tried doing impasto and texture on out paintings.....wow, we went through a ton of acrylic paint! The results were overall positive. I think there is a longer learning curve to this process than I thought. Over working is the biggest problem- colors were more lively if still marbled when applied.
I have travelled to Waterton National Park and followed the Cowboy Trail to Calgary to see the art at the Calgary Stampede. I have so much respect for the REALISTIC ARTIST there. I'll be back next year...the art auction is not to be missed!

I was in floral heaven when I visited Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island with Pearl Der. What a great creative, art filled weekend we had!  From Lavender Farms to cideries we had a great time and wonderful opportunities to experience the beauty of Victoria. ( so much to paint, so little time!)

A few days at home then off to Paris! Well, Ed and I sure found out that Europe is the place for us...a painting everywhere you turned. I couldn't get my camera working fast enough!  I couldn't paint...way to much to absorb and I couldn't sit still and paint and miss what was around the next corner. Ed was a sweetie, he  made it through a manic Louvre visit, D'Orsay pilgrimage and went to Monet's garden without a grumble! We walked miles instead of taking the metro so I could take 200+ photos
of exceptional doorways and cafe/bistro scenes begging to be painted!
We took the high speed train to Bordeaux and continues our wine theme and visited St. Emillion and Medoc. AHHH, the French really know how to live.
We then Flew to Milan for the Italian part of our amazing vacation.
( more next post...)

ARTISTIC HOME, MATISSE STYLE!

PERFECT  art studio or home office!

How can you beat this? Kelvin, inspired and innovated home builder marries Yvonne, goddess of home decorating, ( in her spare time!).
Ed and I visited their wonderful home, their co creation from Matisse Homes in Calgary. We were blown away!

Dining room/ Library

Front Room/ stairway

Floating fireplace.

The sleek lines, the thoughtful touches were everywhere. Kelvin is a born problem solver and thank goodness he's into building homes. I LOVED his idea of floating everything above the floor, including the fireplace and toilet. This resulted in a visually very clean ( and easy to clean) spaciousness in the home. He very cleverly hung large heavy privacy doors on rollers to insure a private retreat/ sound proofing for the media room as well as the dining room which doubles as a library. Pretty clever idea!
Upstairs the impressive master bedroom has a real his/hers bathroom, complete with sinks on each side of a pillar. Two very well organised bedroom are complete with their joint bathroom.
 A totally independent living space is above the garage and doubles as Kelvin's home office . NOW, I'm thinking this is the greatest studio I've ever seen!-large windows facing north, full sink/fridge/dishwasher, a separate bedroom (or art supply storage!!) and a separate entrance from the front of the house.
They choose a very interesting lot that will be kept in it's natural state- bushes, tall poplars. There is no upkeep ( lawn mowing)  and the modern clean lines of the home are softened by the casual, almost cabin like setting.
Yvonne is a natural. She's always has a very refined sense of style that perfectly suits this home. Not only is this a show home, it is also her family home, everything is well designed and decorated, and it is totally functional for a family.
 Her color choices are silver and black with splashed of bright lime green. Accents of  wood, especially the kitchen cupboards with their intriguing horizontal grain, warm up the living areas. The tile choices are incredible...a work of art in themselves. Actually, Matisse homes is appropriate. These homes truly are a work of art!

Grand kitchen with wraparound deck and HUGE island

Horizontal grain in cupboards.

Master Bedroom

FLOATING tub, sinks. Second sink behind pillar.

Home in it's natural setting

Every home is unique- some modern,some traditional, some arts and crafts. You never know what exquisive homes Kelvina nd Yvonne will create. Tell then I sent you!!!
Matisse Homes