Every once in a while a new project with new learning comes along. Who would ever have guessed that the history of King Township would provide the opportunity. Over the past couple of months I’ve learned a lot about Maps, the complexity of History (or Herstory if you wish) in Ontario. How to spell new words, like Haudenosaunee.
The image above is in Muskoka, The place that David Thompson wrote off. The maps will be seen when the King Township Historic Society’s book by Ann Love comes out!
It’s the Heliconian Club's first “arts and letters” show, written and picture portraits.
Portraits can be other and more than just people. Here are three of mine, a fourth is Turpentine the Studio Cat for many years.
They were on view along with many others, in “A Portrait by Any Other Name...” at the Toronto Heliconian Club.
“I’ve Got My Eye On You” has done it again. He will be off to New York to the Salmagundi Club!
I’m honoured to have him accepted into this prestigious historic exhibition and sale.
Now he has gone on to win the Fredrick Wong Prize.
https://americanwatercolorsociety.org/2024-annual-award-winners
After New York he will be part of the traveling exhibit as it wanders around the USA
And, there is an article in Forbes Magazine about the 157th Exhibition.
It’s almost too exciting!
Drawing From Life in Heliconian Hall is all about figure drawing. A guest “I was surprised at the nudes. Then I decided I could look at the works not the pictures”. This tiny work has definitely got a figure. It also SOLD. That was a real surprise. Thank You.
Was accepted into the FCA Water 2023 exhibit. Due to a whole series of the challenges. she did not make it to the live exhibition in Vancouver.
sister Island 9” x 14” watercolour. (private collection Muskoka)
“Up the Hill” 11 x 14” watercolour
Yellow Tree Peonies 14” x 11” watercolour & Pencil Crayon
“Up the Hill” embraces complex greenery and texture as our eye is drawn up the hill to a peaceful summer veranda on Muskoka’s Little Lake Joseph.
We look across waving sunlight into fragile layers of petals as “Yellow Tree Peonies” float in a sea of deep purple mystery.
Let’s just skip winter; …clouds, rain, snow, ice, slush, muck and all that sort of thing. It’s no fun to bike in that stuff, no fun sketching painting anywhere other than indoors. It is fun to picture next year’s garden. The yellow tree peony on the lawn puts on quite a display in the early spring morning sun.
detail “Under the Sun” mixed media W&N watercolour & Polychromos pencil crayon
August was very cool in Toronto. Good for dreaming of hockey. Suitable for painting hockey. Thus a visual history, in watercolour, tracing the uniforms of the Anaheim Ducks for Heritage Sports Art . The Ducks started their life as a Disney movie with what became the team’s name “The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim”, with frankly one of my favourite sports logos, a ducky goalie mask. We have moved on to a ducky golden forward thinking foot.
Contact Scott Sillcox to create your personal art work for your your personal favourite sports uniforms for your art collection
I’ve Got My Eye on You, Mr Sneerfulness, has now also received aa award from the Art of Watercolour Magazine in the 2023 edition of Women in Watercolor. With over 1800 submissions this is beyond a mere “That’s very nice”. The quality of the international competition is outstanding. In 2022 “Arctic Queen, Bee received an honorable mention.
For the full show of 2023 winners please go to
https://womeninwatercolor.com/2023-award-winners/
and scroll down to the five merchandise awards.
Pictures came before words. Depicting animals in art is nothing new, in fact it dates back over 17,000 years to the Lascaux caves. So what keeps me returning to animals as my subject? It’s the challenge of accurately depicting detail and texture of coats, feathers, skin and equipment in pricise glazed layers of pigments, without overworking a subject.
Every year Muskoka Chautauqua comes up with a uniquely creative fundraiser. This year’s a deck of cards of original Muskoka images. The originals will be displayed at the Gallery in the Woods, 1039 Golf Avenue, Windermere Village, ON P0B 1P0 Canada during the Summer Festival, August 4th-13th.
Come, See, Enjoy and take the opportunity to Purchase, one or more these very small original works.
left waterlilies watercolour, right "life drawing” a chipmunk on my knee graphite
Merriweather’s contribution, a watercolour and a graphite sketch of two iconic Muskoka subjects, water lilies and chipmunks.
One of FCA’s most inclusive exhibitions. The Annual International Mail-In Art Exhibition, has returned to the Federation Gallery! AIMAE is an opportunity to explore Big ideas in a small format. The theme this year was "Recovery".
This years theme could go in many different directions, including the recovery from artistic exhaustion, or “A Creative Recovery”. Visit the Federation Gallery in person or electronically to view all these exciting works from July 3rd - 23rd! .
7.5 x 5.5 relief print #2/10. A Creative Recovery
Poster artwork by Shiv Shankar Chokalingam
The Heritage Sports Art Project has given me the opportunity to virtually explore North America’s sports venues as they have developed since the mid 1800s.
Fenway Park, the oldest ballpark, in continuous use, since 1912 is on the National Register of Historic Places. It fills into an oddly shaped very compact city block.
Kauffman Stadium reflects the expansive and car dependent spaces of the late 60s. Together they show just how sports venues have grown and evolved.
Fenway is constrained by history. It cannot expand, only grow up. Kauffman shares a massive parking lot with the nearby NFL Arrowhead Stadium. The adjoining massive parking lots mean massive tailgate parties for both baseball & football. Recently Kauffmann has added a playground outside its stands.
Pictures speak. Pictures came before words. Pictures are timeless. Pictures record our world.