Accepted: the Cheaper Show No 9!

I'm very proud to announce that I have been accepted to be one of 200 artists to participate in The Cheaper Show No.9. They had 950 submissions so I am really excited that I made the cut!

Happening on June 26th, the Cheaper Show is one giant art exhibition featuring 200 artists with 400 pieces of artwork, at $200 each. I think its an amazing concept that allows emerging and established artists to showcase their work side by side, and introduces art to a public that might not know much about buying art, at an affordable price.

According to their website, last year they had an incredible 5,000 people attending the massive warehouse in Gastown, Vancouver - I'm thrilled for the possible exposure and opportunities, and I can't wait to see all the other talent. Save the date and join me!

I'm so happy and grateful to be a part of something so fun and so big :) thecheapershow.com

Messed up studio!

I've spent the last three days trying to spring clean my studio, and I'm almost there. My man found a free desk that we've dragged into the studio, which is great because I get a NEW desk to put more artsy stuff everywhere, but not so great because sadly for me this means even more room to spread the mess... This brings the studio total to 3 desks!

Before launching my new etsy shop, I spent a lot of time trying new designs on lino and softer type squares to print onto greeting cards. Unfortunately, there are days where things just don't work - my prints just wouldn't turn out. I tried using a professional baron, which didn't work, then I tried a marble rolling pin, nothing, a wooden spoon which was probably the most effective method. I even tried the piano and kitchen stools to press the lino onto my paper! The ink would not come off evenly. A very frustrating and exhausting process.


So while I look into new printmaking equipment, I spent this week being inspired by the gorgeous cherry trees in and around Vancouver. They are so pretty, with their pink flowers bunching up on branches like popcorn or fairly floss, the soft petals blowing through the wind. Spring is here! So to celebrate, I created 4 greeting cards which I am selling on etsy. Here is the whole collection on my new desk. I created the illustrations using diluted ink.

Stay tuned to hear more about the printing dilemma.

Relentless Rain

It's been raining what seems like forever in Vancouver - 10 days, 12 days? I don't know anymore.

It's been very dark, wet and depressing and I'm trying really hard not to let this weather bring me down so recently I began imagining what it would be like if the rain was rainbow coloured!

Here is an illustration I created today showing multicoloured raindrops - so much fun :) Not sure if I'm finished with this yet, I might add more drops or a background hue. What colour would the clouds be? What would the windows look like? Would the drains be filled with rainbow water? I used water-soluble pencils for the blurry, watery effect.

What would our world be without imagination and art? I hope this picture inspires you to walk down the street with your brolly (umbrella) and see what I see - glorious colours.

Enjoy!
Maja

Tree again!

Today I'm stretching and priming a 30x30" piece of canvas... not sure what I'll paint on it yet but I feel like getting my hands dirty and I wanted to use some materials I have left over from Costa Rica.

So, while I wait for the first coat to dry I thought I'd share another tree I drew a couple of weeks ago. This one is an actual tree that is on the corner of my street. I used shellac based black ink on some left over printmaking paper - probably not the best surface to use inks on as it is quite thick and sucked up all my ink instantly so was a little hard to have a nice flow.

Anyway, here it is. I'm really enjoying looking at and sketching trees (when it stops raining in Vancouver) so I think I'm going to continue and start a little tree collection.

Back to priming!

In my sketchbook

Hey its Friday and I'm stretching canvas in my studio, getting a bit distracted...

Lately I've been sketching all sorts of things in my sketchbook, so I'd thought I'd share some of them here.

I'm still fascinated by trees and their bare branches... here is one sketch i did recently. Instead of solid colour I used crosshatching lines to fill it in. I did this randomly but I think next time I will try to follow the texture of the tree.

I've seen a lot of bird illustrations around, I think they're really cute so I had to have a go at one myself. It took me a number of versions to get to this simplified form of an Australian Blue bird (that's me missing the constant chirp of birds and parrots that is prominent all over Australia.) After a few sketches I created a final colour version with my shellac based inks and brush on paper (this time just plain white drawing paper).

I'm also working on creating some Christmas illustrations. Instead of buying cards I thought I'd make them myself this year for family and friends, and that way I will build up a portfolio of images for this season, to submit to greeting card publishers for next year. This one is inspired by my boyfriend Marc-Andre who is an elf this Christmas!

Gotta go and get back into it now - enjoy!

My prints have a new home!

Following the Drift festival, my gorgeous lino prints from Costa Rica were in search of a new home - I didn't want them to just collect dust in my house while I hunt down potential buyers.

Cambie Village Massage Clinic (Suite 203 - 3256 Cambie Street Vancouver) was looking for some new artwork for their premises, and when I sent them a photo of the prints, they immediately contacted me!

I'm really excited to see them hanging proudly again, gaining exposure to the public, and a clientele who is apparently appreciative of art. I think they suit the surroundings quite well - bringing out that peaceful vibe. I have three hanging in the main foyer hallway and three in one of the massage rooms.

Thank-you to Stephanie, Coleen, Nimira and Isaac for supporting local art and artists. I might have to return the favour and book in for a massage...

My butterfly collection and a couple of other paintings that were exhibited during the Drift are still on display at Balance Acupuncture & Massage Clinic at 4338 Main Street - two places at once!