Apparently time has a way of continuing and sometimes you don’t realize it! I forgot to post the paintings from my Land & Sea exhibit last fall, so I figured I’d put them all in one blog post to get a feel for the exhibit if you didn’t get a chance to see it at the Kariton Art Gallery.
So many people came out to show their support. I’m blessed to have such amazing family and friends! The gallery showing went well, and I’m happy to have one exhibit under my belt : )
So excited to announce that I am one of two artists participating in the Land and Sea exhibit at the Kariton Art Gallery starting later this month. I have been working tirelessly on completing eleven new paintings for the show and am pleased to say they are finished! I am looking so forward to sharing them all with you.
The opening reception for the show is Saturday, October 29 from 6-8pm at 2387 Ware Street in Abbotsford. Come on out and join us for a lovely evening! If you can’t make it that night, no worries! The show runs from October 29 to November 15….So please stop on in to take a look!
I just finished a long (but rewarding) process of card making! I jumped into the project without the foresight of how much effort truly goes into the process when you start from scratch….Researching, planning, drawing, painting, photo editing, layout designing, print ordering, folding, cutting, and packaging. Whew! It’s exhausting just listing off all the steps, let alone actually doing them.
Several months ago I was approached by a dear friend of mine to make greeting cards to sell in the shop she manages (Brooksdale Farm and Gift Shop). This shop is a part of an international Christian organization called A Rocha. As their website states, it is an “organization which, inspired by God’s love, engages in scientific research, environmental education, community-based conservation projects and sustainable agriculture.” How could I pass up this opportunity which combined so many of my interests into one?
So the ball started rolling when my friend gave me a personal tour of Brooksdale Environmental Centre (a flagship project of A Rocha) in Surrey B.C. The property is a unusual but delightful mix of wildlife habitat, agricultural land, and architectural history. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend checking the place out — you can book a tour or even stay overnight!
After taking photographs and sketching out ideas for cards, we settled on seven unique designs all featuring different structures on the Brooksdale property.
The next step involved drawing images in pen and then painting them. To achieve a watercolour effect, I just thinned out my usual acrylic paints with some regular old tap water.
Next I photographed the finished paintings to have digital copies with which to work. Typically I’d scan the images; however, I tried that and ended up with inaccurate and washed-out colour readings. So even though it was a lot more work to photograph each image and edit it in photoshop, I was very pleased with the end result.
I then created the layout for each greeting card, including a brief description on the reverse about the history of each building provided by my friend and her co-workers.
Once the prints were ordered online and I picked them up from the store, my robot brain kicked into overdrive. I hand-cut, scored, and folded all the cards myself, and finally packaged them with their envelopes. And just like that I have 280 greeting cards completed and already selling at the gift shop!
All in all it was a very involved project (to say the least)! But it was extremely rewarding — both in the fact that it was a new challenge to tackle and that the profit from the cards goes directly back into A Rocha. I know I must have enjoyed the labour-intensive project because I already have plans in the works to create greeting cards featuring my own paintings…stayed tuned for round two!
It was never my intention to be M.I.A on this blog or my facebook page, but it looks like that’s what happened for the past several months 🙂 Even though my blog says otherwise, I am very much alive and creating! Right now, I’m in the middle of preparing for an upcoming exhibit at the Kariton Art Gallery. It’s a dual show (exhibiting with another artist) scheduled to take place during the end of October/beginning of November. Currently I have completed seven of the ten paintings I will be submitting. I’ve tried to stay on top of getting paintings done so that it’s not a mad rush at the end….We’ll see if I stick to my plans ; )
The theme for my work is the coastal landscape–inspired by my travels and experiences on both the west and east coasts of North America. Shortly, I will be going on a road trip with my oldest sister down to the north and central coast of California and then meeting up with the rest of my family on the Oregon coast. In addition to enjoying family time, I’m hoping to gather more inspiration for my last few paintings from these travels. We’ll see what those days hold!
On a different note, I have jumped into the foreign land of Instagram! My hope is that this will motivate me to document my adventures but also be more intentional in my creative endeavours. And let’s be honest…I finally upgraded my 7-year-old flip phone to a smart phone, so I’m actually able to take photos and access the internet with it. Welcome to the 21st century! : ) If you’re inclined to follow my work and travels, please do so here!
Last October I answered an open call sent out by the Abbotsford Hospice Society in conjunction with the Abbotsford Arts Council and The Reach Gallery Museum. The email asked for artists to propose a work of art for the walls of the new Holmberg House, Abbotsford’s first residential hospice facility. The theme for the project was “Oxygen for the Soul”. The following description was what I submitted in my application:
The theme “oxygen for the soul” spoke to me immediately. It conjured up images of a coastal landscape—a place of refreshing and rejuvenation. Being near the ocean engulfs the senses: the cool breezes that dance across the skin; the scent of seaweed in the briny air; the rhythmic waves lapping against the shore; and the expansive sky with ever-changing clouds. This is what I hope to capture—a painting that transports the viewer to the sea, evoking memories both familiar and peaceful.
A few months after I applied to be one of the thirty selected Fraser Valley artists, I received an email notifying me that I was accepted! Once I picked up my allotted canvas, I set to work on my painting. After much planning and searching through my reference photos, I had a clear vision of what I wanted the painting to look like. This made the process that much more enjoyable–knowing what I wanted to achieve but still allowing for the painting to develop organically within these parameters.
Now that the painting is submitted to be framed by House of Fine Art, I can breathe a sigh of relief that it’s now out of my hands. I am so looking forward to seeing everyone else’s interpretation of the theme and getting a chance to view the works on display at the Kariton Gallery and at The Reach.
Seaside Cadence 24×30″ (acrylic on 1 1/2″ canvas), R Luymes (c) 2016
To date this may be one of my favourite paintings. Unfortunately the photographs don’t do the painting justice–you lose a lot of the colour variation particularly in the sand and water close to shore. That’s probably my fault–I’ll have to figure out a better way of taking photos of my paintings on rainy days when I can’t go outside like I normally do. Maybe that will be one of my new year’s goals : )
This painting was commissioned for a client’s wife as a Christmas gift. He wanted some specific elements included in the coastal scene: trees, ocean waves, orange and blue-tinted sky, a soaring eagle, and a starfish. As much as this painting was about those requested items, it was also inspired by his wife’s favourite Bible verse:
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
As the New Year approaches, what a spectacular promise to hold on to! May you be blessed by the scripture inspiration just as I was as I worked on this painting!
Waiting 24×36″ (acrylic on 1 1/2″ canvas), R Luymes (c) 2015
I am excited to share this painting with you all! I just delivered it to the owner this morning, so I can now post it here! It is always an honour to have someone commission a painting based on a special place. I do feel the added pressure (self-inflicted) to make sure that I do the location and the memory justice. But it’s often this added pressure which motivates me to grow as an artist!
The location for this painting is Crescent Beach in Surrey, B.C. I loved visiting the area and getting a feel for the landscape. It’s a peaceful place where you can walk along the water or just sit and relax (or in my case, sketch!). Being able to visit a particular location gives me a better connection to both the terrain and to the meaning behind the painting. It is my hope that this then translates into the finished piece.
Final Flight 24×48″ (acrylic on 1 1/2″ canvas), R Luymes (c) 2015
Beneath the Skies
16×20″ (acrylic on 1 1/2″ canvas), R Luymes (c) 2015
After a long hiatus of posting nothing on this blog, I am back with another painting! And this particular painting has been in the works for WAY too long! I’m so happy it is finally finished and off to its new owners as a belated wedding gift.
I started this landscape with significantly more land taking up the majority of the canvas, and as I was working on it I wasn’t feeling inspired…so I took the plunge and slapped three coats of gesso over top of the painting, turned it upside down, and began again. I’m glad I seized that small moment of bravery–it’s hard letting go of something you’ve put so much effort into even if you’re feeling less than inspired by what you’re creating. I am a thousand times more pleased with the end result now, so it was definitely worth the risk! I am fairly certain that my new-found inspiration had much to do with focusing on that big open sky filled with billowing clouds. I can never get enough of the sky!
Last year I participated in the Anonymous Art Show held at the Kariton Art Gallery in Abbotsford. You can see my painting here if you’re curious to see what I did last summer. I have become a member of the Abbotsford Arts Council since then, so this time around I was eligible to submit three 12×12″ paintings instead of just one. I decided to keep a similar theme throughout all three images, focusing on sea and sky. I actually took the reference photos for these paintings at Quissett Beach in Cape Cod. I really love how they all look together, but with the nature of the Anonymous Art Show they were purchased by different people. But that just means the beauty of the coast is spread a little further!
The overall visual of this painting has been on my mind for a while now…over a year and a half actually! I was first inspired by a university trip to San Francisco back in December 2013. There is something special about San Francisco that I can’t put my finger on. It must be the combination of unique elements that makes this city stand out. From its eclectic architecture to its cable car culture….The Golden Gate Bridge to the island of Alcatraz….All of these features call the steep rolling hills of “The City by the Bay” home. It was partially this hilly terrain that inspired this painting.
This painting is about three main things for me: the distinctive San Fran geography; the interaction between the man-made buildings and the natural light; and finally the meaning behind the word “chasing” in the painting’s title. The first two elements are fairly self-explanatory, the third one maybe not so much. So let me explain… : )
I thought for something different (and because I finally remembered to take progress shots!) that it would be fun to post sequential photos of my painting process (you can see them at the bottom of this post). As you can see I forgot to take an initial photo since I already blocked in some colour, but at least you get the picture (pun not intended). If you look close at the first and second images in the slide show you can see that the car in the foreground changes. The reason behind this was my dad took a look at the painting’s progress and asked if the car in front was special for any reason. I replied with a “no”. He made a passing comment about how it would be neat if that car could look like the Ford Mustang from the 1968 movie “Bullitt” with Steve McQueen that was set in San Francisco. Being slightly younger than my father, I had no idea what movie he was talking about let alone what car! So I proceeded to run with the idea and do some research on this movie (which I discovered is arguably one of the best car chase movies of all time). Thanks to Youtube I had the chance to watch the car chase scene…boy did those cars take a beating flying up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco! So needless to say, I changed the car and then made reference to the well-known (to some) chase scene in painting’s name. Thanks to my dad for the inspired idea!
ROSALIE LUYMES STUDIO 