Artist & Illustrator
I love everything about summer, except for the end. No matter how my summers go, I’m always left feeling like I want more. That’s how I’m feeling today on the rainy first day of school for my kids, I wish we had more summer.
So here’s what I’m going to ask you to do. Leave me your best memories of this summer in the comments section and I will randomly chose someone to send a signed copy of my new book. That might keep the happy summer feelings going for a little bit longer.
Thanks!
My lovely friend Lesley came by and took some pictures of our installation on Saturday. I’m so glad she did, I didn’t have a chance to even think about taking pictures. Here are just a few to give those of you who couldn’t make it down and a little look around.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around Saturday. It was a great day. So many people and so much joy. People really seemed to enjoy our piece.
The best moment for me was when we were setting it up. It was early on and we just had a few flags up, a little girl came and started running back and forth through them. It was such a simple and sweet moment and she was so lost in it (the moment, not the labyrinth). That moment was just what we were trying to create.
I really wish I could have made it around to see the rest of the exhibits, I didn’t get to see much. We did get visited by the crow parade though, with one tiny little Ila crow.
It was so special to see something we had planned for months finally standing and being enjoyed by hundreds of people. So rarely as an artist do you get such a treat. It really was a magical night.
A big thank you to Art in the Open and all the incredible volunteers for making this night happen.
We are almost there. Art in the Open is this weekend! I didn’t think when I agreed to work with Catherine on this back in the Spring that it would take up my whole summer… but it has.
It feels like we are getting there tho, at least I don’t feel like I’m going to throw up whenever anyone talks to me about it anymore! That must mean I’m feeling more prepared, right??
The weather looks great for Saturday, hope to see you there! If not, I’ll be taking lots of pictures and will share them here afterwards.
Here is a little interview/feature my friend and neighbour Bonnie did on us.
A little sneak peek at what I’m working on for Art in the Open. Catherine and I are building a 65’x65′ labyrinth out of fabric which will be inhabited by all sorts of creatures, toadstools and tree stumps.
Yes, I said 65 feet x 65 feet… I need to seriously get busy!
Summer has arrived, and it’s a glorious thing!
Making: monkey quilt for Ila (out of all her old clothes… and some from each of us too).
Planning: a fabric piece out of this amazing vintage embroidery.
Excited: that I will be making an installation for Art in the Open this year with my studio mate Catherine. It was the most magical night last year, it should be fun to see it from the other side.
Selling our house (!),
meeting my best friend’s baby boy,
doing paintings for adorable people.
The show is up and it looks great!
If you have a chance stop by and take a look (the gallery is open daily 12-5), it’s such a great group of artists. The official opening is Saturday at 7:00, hope to see you all there!!
I didn’t think it was going to happen, but we got a space! There was a cancellation at the gallery@the Guild and we are booked!
It ‘s such short notice, but we still managed to get 13 pairs of artists for the show. I’m so excited and honored to help put this show together.
The amazing poster was made for us by Tyler Landry, I love it!
Small Fancy is a little late this week, but here it is. Now that I’ve thought about it more, I should have maybe drawn me waiting for the bus after work, in the dark, in Vanier, at 15. That was the worst part of this job.
I have so many of these, they might go on for a while… or maybe it is too depressing re-living all the jobs from hell. We’ll see…
I just finished up these 2 custom pieces. The top one is for a little guy ‘s family I’ve done portraits of before. You can see the one I did of his parents here.
The fabric piece is for a couple who recently moved to Chicago. I have them in front of Cloud Gate (also know as “The Bean”) … it was hard to get a good photo of this one. I layered up different fabrics for the Bean and it’s so pretty in the sunlight. I also removed a heart before I sent it off, 4 is bad luck for the Chinese. Oops!
Between illustration jobs and custom portraits I find it fun every once in a while to just play around and do something just for fun’s sake. Here are a couple of fabric pieces I just finished up.
Here are some peeks of something I’ve been working away on. Donnalee gave me a couple of painted boxes before she left to the UK for a year to work on her masters. She wanted me to to create something from them. She mentioned something about pinecones that stuck in my head… and this is what I came up with.
She also asked me to curate a collaborative show for Peake st studios ( a wonderful local art collective)… but sadly I’ve dropped the ball on that. I haven’t been able to find a space, as the Guild (our usual space) is booked all year.
Hopefully we can get something set up for next year. At least my pieces are done!
Some new barns. I tried some fabric barns for the first time.
This week’s Small Fancy is “Birds of the Season”. Mine is dedicated to my father. I find his love and knowledge of birds infinitely inspiring.
Not totally unrelated… I’ve joined twitter. I always felt it a little overwhelming when I considered it before. I spend enough time at the computer, I didn’t want to be spending more. I really enjoy reading other people’s tweets and it’s fun, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m still figuring it out and trying to get the hang of it. You can find me at @lorijoysmith.
Lori Joy Smith
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