San Francisco shop

Here's another San Francisco shop image. It took a bit longer than I planned to get another image completed. I do feel like I was productive this week, just not in this area. And now that I look at it on here I think the "Wok Shop" is distracting even if I love the name of the store. The main focus should be the Eastern Bakery. I love how this bakery looks like it probably did from its opening.

More to get on with for the Christmas show in November...

Lola

Just one more. Taken in San Francisco at the Presidio. I got my only glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge from here (half covered in fog or half visible) after meeting with the people from the California Watercolor Association and seeing their fab National Exhibition at the Officer's Club there. I spotted "Lola" in one of the parking lots.

San Francisco

Just starting to get some time to go through my San Francisco pictures. I feel like I haven't even looked through my Spain and Montreal photos properly. I plan to sit down with them, possibly Friday, and really go over them - see what will become photos with some tweaking and what may become inspiration for painting. I have a sale to plan for before Christmas and I really just need to get back in the game. And before you know it, that will be upon us.

Continuing the shop theme but with a change of scenery is this shop from San Francisco. More to come!

Update

Well, it's been a long time since I posted anything. I wonder if anyone has even noticed. If you had, here's a update on life since I disappeared from blog-land.

Shortly after putting up the last two shows I got a request to show 4 more works at a show in an Vintage store Love Me Two Times. That show is still up and running since it's had some great comments.

After dropping off my work for that show, I left for San Francisco for a week. There I met up with members of the California Watercolour Society who were having their national show out at the Presidio. It was an amazing show and so nice to hear how another watercolour society is run and organized. I think we can learn a lot.

Back from that and I got some freelance work on an touring exhibition. I may tell you which one when it gets installed. I also had a painting commission from my mother-in-law of my in-laws' house (as shown above in detail and nicely framed) and a husband going back home so I needed to get that done quickly so he could bring it with him. That was the only painting I've done since the library show and my paintings from Spain.

But I have loads to work with and a plan to hold a sale in November. There's been so much inspiration from this year's trips and another planned for France in the fall. Now I just need the time and the focus to sit down and work through them. It feels weird not creating lately. But the approach of Autumn I'm sure will change that. Even the cooler weather has me inside doing this today on Labour Day weekend. My photography club will also be coming off its hiatus. I also realized it's been over a year now since this little blog experiment has started and I don't want to see the finish of it.

So more soon!

Another Show is Up

In less than an hour it was all done, pictures, labels etc. On at the Woodside Square library until August 4th.

The Show must go Up!

So yesterday morning was spent putting up a display of my photos at the Cozy Cafe on the Danforth in Toronto. This isn't far away from where I displayed my watercolours during the Art of the Danforth. I went with a cafe/bakery theme so lots of photos of boulangeries in Paris and even cafes in Berlin (as seen above).

Still working on shopfront photos. I'll include one here that I particularly like from Barcelona. I think I'll also add in some of the modern day shops aka "big box stores." I'm still working out how to present these. They are driving so many individually owned stores out of business. Luckily in many parts of Europe this hasn't happened like it has in some small towns in the states. It really is more to do with the make-up of the town and how far away the big box stores have to be there to find the amount of land they need. It's also a different mentality although that has changed too. My "aging" of these stores to look like they're from the past might become reality sooner than we would like. It's even becoming harder to find the more traditional shop front since many are becoming so modernized with huge marble tiles, lots of glass. Anyway rant over.

New Work - and it's not Spain

I have a show coming up at the Woodside Square Library. Since I had less than a month's notice, I'm including some of the work I showed at the Art of the Danforth and creating 3-4 new pieces. I'm going to show 7 in total, so that's not too bad. I had sent images of the pieces for AofD for my application. I was intending to do more specific archival images for the area of the branch but since it's in a relatively new area of town, this wasn't as easy so I've included one image taken from an archival photo showing a theatre around Yonge and Queen in 1913. The other shows workman not far from the current location of the branch where this will show. The other is a bus from the Toronto-Markham-Stouffville route (the branch is near Markham, yes I'm reaching here!).

I also worked on some shop photos from my trip to Barcelona. They're meant as a possible wedding present for a friend so I'll show them later. Happy Wedding day to them! Hope the weather gets better.

And...Spain

Did this one a few days ago but only getting a chance to post it now. It's based on an image in Tarragona.

Feeling particularly lazy today. I did get some cleaning done so check. Rewashed the hair after getting it cut and starting to feel better about it so check that off the list. Still no grocery shopping done. Guess the humidity and the possibility of a thunderstorm isn't helping. Got to get some artwork done, though, and that I can do indoors and in the cool.

Spain again!

Yes, Spain again. Still working on images but not sure if they will get used. I'm enjoying it, though. I must move onto images needed for a show next month, though.

Here's the main train station in Valencia. It was beautiful inside.

So much to do, so little time.

More Spain

From top down:

Tarragona's Roman amphitheater. Valencia's town square. It's all about the detail in Barcelona as shown with this window. And Montserrat.

Spain!

So did I disappear off the face of the earth? No, not quite. I did go to Spain, though, for a week. It was my second time in Barcelona but this time I was also in Valencia, Tarragona and Montserrat. Expect to see more Spanish subjects in the future. Here's just a taster for now. The top one is from Montserrat and the bottom is a detail from a shop in Las Rambla in Barcelona (an old umbrella shop). Everywhere was just beautiful!

Mother's Day

Well today is the first day that I didn't have to be somewhere or do something for awhile (basically since the last time I blogged) so there was some sleeping in, some reading of the newspaper from yesterday, a good workout at the gym, chores, and now working on my own stuff. Bliss. I'm not ditching my daughterly duties but there was another plan for that. I will wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day here instead and happy birthday to my brother as well.