Hellooo!!

Today I wanted to share with you some things I’ve been working on over the last little while for a big group show that happens annually here in Halifax at Argyle Fine Art.  The opening is this Friday at 7pm if you are nearby, and features the work of many, many talented artists! The works are all the same tiny size, 4″x5″ and each sell for $175. The opening is always jam packed full of artists and friends.

I was really inspired by the sea this winter when it came time to make my little works for the show. During my trip home for the holidays I visited an amazing new aquarium in Toronto, where I got to see so many beautiful sea creatures that completely blew my mind! In the spirit of the sea, and storytelling, and pop-up books, I decided to get make a return to a way of creating that I hadn’t explored in a while.

My awesome family gave me a new set of brushes and watercolours, and when I returned to Halifax I  bought my tiny canvases, some chipboard, and some vellum and got immediately to work!

My method for the pop-up work involves reducing a stretched canvas down to just it’s frame and building layers within it. I started out by making tiny watercolours of my subjects, then I decided what type of setting I’d place them in within the frame and got to work building the set.

Building and painting within the frame is really fun. It’s just like building a stage. I decided to build up some layers of seaweed and I created a blue/green and gold background for the whale to rest on top! In the end this is what the whale piece turned out to look like!

Tiny little guy! I’ll share the rest after the opening on Friday night (or just stop into Argyle Fine Art to see the WHOLE AWESOME SHOW!)