Thank you!

Last weekend’s Welcome Back to Otterville studio tour was a great success.  We had beautiful weather and a constant stream of activity in our galleries and studios. It was wonderful to meet so many newcomers!  Thank you to everyone who took the time to come out.

Here are a few photos of my gallery last weekend, in case you’ve never been here or it’s been a while:

I have a new online presence at a site called ParkBench.com.  They did a promotional video for the tour which didn’t exactly air prior to it, but if you’ve never met me… well, I am the one being interviewed in my gallery.

Here is my profile page on the site: https://parkbench.com/directory/naturaliart.  As you will see, there are hours posted to the side for my gallery.  Don’t be discouraged by the number of “closed” days – I am, as usual, open by chance or appointment after 1 pm on most days.  But not all of them!  I am starting a new part-time job which will take me away a bit more often.  So, I am going to try to post “definitely open” times, on a week-by-week basis on the ParkBench site.  They will appear at the bottom of the daily hours as special dates.  You can also check my artist page on Facebook or my Twitter posts for these special times.  Otherwise, just contact me or drop in if you’re in town and you would like to check out the art.

This weekend! Welcome Back…

Just a reminder – this weekend is our 23rd Annual Studio Tour here in little historic Otterville.  The weather has cooperated to make Otterville look exactly as it does in the image on the postcard. That was not my intention when I designed the postcard!  Sorry folks… but guess what?  The forecast for the weekend is – SUNNY!  So the snow currently present should at least look pretty.  And most of all, you shouldn’t have any trouble driving here!

Once you arrive (here is a map of where I am), if you haven’t acquired a postcard from the multitude of places we’ve all left them, or printed a map from either here or the website, just look for the yellow flags to show you where participating studios are.  There is no admission charge, and each of us will have some postcards available.   Sometimes there are extra places open in town just for the weekend, which is great too, but the yellow flags indicate those who have actually paid for our advertising, so we hope you will definitely visit all those with flags.  You never know what unique and perfect item you might find if you go, or miss if you don’t!

Just click on the image below, and then save and/or print:

Look for the yellow flags!

This is my most recently completed painting.  It’s what some of the countryside around here looked like earlier this fall.  I shared it on social media as soon as it was finished, and had interest from more than one potential buyer.  It has now sold, and they’ve chosen to frame it themselves.  They’ve even been kind enough to leave it with me until after the tour, so that I can have it on display.  Although… I’m not sure where I am actually going to do that, as I have so many other recent paintings and fractals to show you!  It’s been a very creative year.

Three Kilns. Watercolour on Paper. 11×15″. Artist Lianne Todd.  SOLD

 

Canada Day Art Show

The long weekend is upon us and if you happen to live in Norwich township, Oxford County, Ontario, you might be thinking about going to the annual Canada Day celebrations which are in Burgessville this year.  I just wanted to let you know, their volunteers have organized a venue for several artists in the township to exhibit their art!  It will be in the barn at Malcolm Excavating, which is on the south side of Highway 59, east of the main corner.  A big thank you to them for offering their space for this, and to the volunteers for coordinating everything, providing chairs and tables, etc.

The exhibit will be open for viewing after the parade, which begins at 11 a.m.

Happy Canada Day!

Here’s one of my paintings that is truly Canadian – it’s the view of George Lake in Killarney Provincial Park from the campground, in the morning.  I’ll bring it with me!

“I remember when rock was young…”. Watercolour on paper. 15×22″. $475.00. Artist Lianne Todd.

Local Exhibition

It is a pleasure for me to be a part of the local artistic culture of Norwich Township.  For the next six weeks or so, a few pieces of my work, both watercolour and digital and a combination of the two, will be on display at the Norwich Museum along with the work of 27 other artists from the area.  The show opens today at 5 pm.  Why not stop by if you are in the area?  You could also take a quieter day, perhaps with your kids or grandkids, and view both the exhibition and all of the other interesting things the museum has to offer!

Details below:

Welcome Back to Otterville

It’s November again and the next couple of weeks will be busy with finishing up paintings, framing, cleaning house, and that sort of thing as I prepare for this year’s studio tour in our little town of Otterville.  Where is Otterville you ask?  We are quite close to  Norwich, Delhi, and Tillsonburg, not far (half an hour) from Woodstock, Ingersoll, Simcoe, and Brantford.  And we are easy enough to get to (about an hour drive) from London, St. Thomas, Stratford, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge,  and Hamilton.

Otterville has changed a little bit since last year – we have some new landscaping by the falls, generously donated by members of the community.  Our beloved corner store, Otterville Variety, closed at the end of summer.  Now we have a new store there which just opened a few days ago – Market by the Falls.  I haven’t even been in there yet but it looks really nice!

Here is our press release for the tour (composed by Shirley Hokke, Sue Goossens and myself).  If you keep scrolling, you’ll find a condensed version of the information and a map of the tour – all contained on our postcards which you’ll find at kind local businesses, libraries, and tourism offices.

Welcome Back Studio Tour Press Release 

The artists of Otterville invite you to experience a full range of unique artistic visions at the 21st Annual ‘Welcome Back to Otterville’ Studio Tour November 18 & 19.  
This year, the artists highlight traditional paintings, original mixed media pieces, photography, art cards and jewelry that represent an artistic vision for the meandering spirit. Functional bird houses, outdoor furniture, and engraved items all encompass a wonderful lead in to the winter holidays.  You will be pleasantly surprised to find diversity, yet warm hospitality, in the historical village of Otterville.  The warm scent of hot apple cider or cranberry wassail brewing, and home baking at some of the studios, adds that extra welcoming touch.

Trudy Verberne creates one-of-a-kind greeting cards often with matching envelopes. She is exhibiting with artist Linda Hoffman. Located just minutes away is Shawn Pinnoy, owner of Stix and Skids, selling up-cycled décor including wreaths, bird houses, barn-board signs and much more.
Ralph Moore & Sons specialize in birdseed and seed mixtures. They offer a variety of bird-feeders including Droll Yankee, Squirrel Buster, Perky Pet, Pinebush, Going Green, Chapelwood, and some handcrafted by local artists.
Nordale Woodworking specializes in the production of solid wood furniture and outdoor poly lawn furniture. (They are not open on Sunday.)
There is a new studio on the tour this year. Tammy Gould does creative laser engraving. She creates gifts on glass, wood, and metal. Custom designs are available.
Jillian and Kaleb Driedger, owners of In Bloom Designs, create handmade bright and earthy jewelry. Their designs feature beautiful gemstones and mixed metals along with exotic and recycled woods.
Sue Goossens, Shirley Hokke, Mae Leonard, Linda Hoffman and Lianne Todd are professional artists compelled to create with completely different styles – artists who welcome you into their home studios to share their passion.
Sue has a large collection of watercolours both on paper and canvas. Landscape, architecture and a few florals!
Shirley paints from her heart in conceptual oils and watercolours.
Mae puts her whole imaginative spirit into her acrylic paintings.
Linda paints with watercolour and oil on canvas and has a unique creative outlook.
Lianne skillfully explores nature’s patterns with vivid watercolours and digital art, in many different and surprising ways.

All are welcome to visit each studio in Otterville on November 18 & 19 from 10am to 5pm. Watch for yellow flags at each location. Maps are available online at www.WelcomeBackToOtterville.ca, or pick up a postcard at local businesses. A special thank you is extended to the Township of Norwich.

Oxford Studio Tour

May 6 & 7 is only two weeks away!  Some of you may have taken the opportunity to drive around the countryside of Oxford County, Ontario in previous years, so you know what a fantastic selection of original art can be found.  You also know how much fun a daytrip or weekend jaunt like this can be if you pair up with a friend or family member, or gather a carload of them.  We have 18 locations featuring 38 artists, and our brochures are available all over the county in libraries, tourist offices, and businesses, as well as at each studio.  Admission is absolutely free, and all you do is follow the maps and the red signs to get to each studio.  Then you just wander in!  The artists will be there to answer any questions you have (we love when you ask questions), and will leave you alone if all you want to do is enjoy the feast for your eyes.

Below is a small sampling of my own art, in case you are new to it.  I paint traditional subject matter with watercolours and I also do fractal art, all on various surfaces.  Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll stop by my open studio/gallery, at the back of my home which is Location #3.  I’m in Otterville, which is a little off the beaten track for many travelers but it’s worth the drive.  I’m easy to find, on Main Street near the historic mill and waterfall.  And my good friends Sue Goossens and Rhonda Franks, whose work I admire very much, are nearby at Location #4, along with Ashley Beecraft.  I’ve never met her but she makes really cool looking ‘misfit beasts’.

See you soon!

Tour Story

A friend of ours who happens to be a good writer and photographer put together a story with a picture for us.  Pretty nice, huh?  Looking forward to this weekend!

“Discovering artistic inspiration can be a combination of search and being open to unexpected rescue.
Professional Otterville-area artist Sue Goossens regularly sources its vibrant interpretation through natural scenes from The Muskokas to British Columbia, but has also found it in patterns of light and shadows along the edge of a woods in her own rural backyard.
“We can forget Oxford County is a beautiful place to live and find inspiration.”
It can also strike in the most unlikely of circumstances, tangible and imagined potential represented in an abandoned farmstead igniting a creative spark.
“In a sense, it was kind of finding something in the middle of nowhere,” said Tabitha Verbuyst whose route to an unrelated destination happened to coincide with a derelict house surrounded by a few trees in the middle of a field, stark solitude speaking silently to her through shattered windowpanes.
“I’ve always been drawn to the architecture of broken, abandoned and forgotten things,” she explained of a resultant mixed-media piece in ink and watercolour. “It always intrigues me, you wonder what happened, what stories are there here?”
There is no definitive roadmap to inspiration but the 9th Annual Oxford Studio tour does provide one to a wide-ranging exhibition of the county’s artistic community’s creative minds, spirit and processes Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
Thirty-one artists are sharing their passion and vision in an event which from inception has been a tour of artists, driven by artists who this year are displaying works including oil, watercolour, acrylic, coffee and walnut ink, and mixed-media paintings, sculpted, thrown and decorative ceramic works, unique and functional stoneware, artisanal jewellery in precious metal clay, gold, sterling silver and precious stones, fine-art photography reflecting international travel or exploring Oxford’s own rural scenes, to ‘funky, folky’ creations from a potter with a passion for primitive rug hooking, and woven creations featuring fibre, beads and paint.
“The common denominator is artistic creativity,” says Deb Beard, General Manager for Tillsonburg’s Station Arts Centre, as well as an exhibiting potter. “You will see diversity in the type of media and types of work presented and because of that, people will be able to connect with various artists through work on different levels.”
Tour participants tend to be a mix of newcomers and returnees says Beard, mostly day-trippers who may visit half the tour’s artists one year and half the next. They represent a wide demographic as well as range of ages. Those seeking physical roadmaps can find them via the tour’s website www.oxfordstudiotour.caor on glossy full-colour flyers including brief bios and contact information for each artist.
Flyers have been distributed from Toronto to Windsor and as far north as Owen Sound, and are available at the Station Arts Centre, Tillsonburg’s Annandale National Historic Site, Ingersoll’s Creative Arts Centre, the Woodstock Art Gallery, Woodstock Library and Tourism Oxford at the Woodstock Quality Inn and Suites, Museum London and Panache Gallery, libraries or art centres in London Westmount, Paris, Dundas and Stratford, the Glenhyrst Art Gallery in Brantford, as well as a range of retail outlets in those communities. Interested persons may also call 519-842-6151 for more information.
Geographically, artists are exhibiting from New Dundee in the county’s northeast, Thamesford in the west to Tillsonburg in the south as well as many points in between, which provides mixed challenge and opportunity.
Heather Benton was a newcomer to the county five years ago when she took her first Oxford studio tour.
“I’m a city girl and from a city girl’s perspective, Oxford looked like a lot of flat land – and then you realized there are all sorts of back, country roads. The tour took us into farms, country houses, little hamlets, it wasn’t just discovering art, it was discovering Oxford County.”
Participating artists are very friendly, very welcoming, says Benton, who felt ‘no pressure to buy.
“A nice introduction to the artistic community and certainly a beautiful introduction to springtime in Oxford.””

Some of my artist friends outside the Station Arts Centre.

Oxford Studio Tour next weekend

It is that time of year again and the studio tour begins one week from tomorrow!  I usually blog about it before this, so I apologize if this is the first you are hearing about it.  We do have posters and brochures out all over the place, and banners as well.

This year we have thirty-one artists on the tour at seventeen locations, so it’s a little more manageable than other years.  Spring is finally here to stay and Oxford County’s fields are really greening up.  You are in for a nice drive if you do venture out to see us.  As usual, I’m at my home in the south end of the county.  Here’s a map of the tour – I’m the purple pin near the bottom, Stop #6 on the tour, in Otterville.  It takes about 45 minutes to get here from south London, 40 minutes from Brantford, 30 minutes from Simcoe, Ingersoll, or Woodstock, an hour from Stratford, an hour from Hamilton, an hour from Kitchener/Waterloo.  So, a pretty nice day trip from a lot of locations!

I have new art to show and I’m excited to have the opportunity to meet more new people who have never seen any of my art before.

One piece you won’t see at my gallery is this one, which I’ve finally finished and which is being delivered today to the couple who received a gift certificate for a commissioned piece for their wedding.  They took the reference for it on their honeymoon.  I wish them many happy years enjoying the memories that will reside on their wall!

Venice 2015. Watercolour on Paper. 15×22″. Lianne Todd.
Commissioned.

This Weekend!

It’s that time, the third weekend in November.  Welcome Back to Otterville!

I just wanted to remind everyone and give you a preview of a couple of new pieces I’ll be showing.

This one is a scene inspired by one of my many cross country ski outings on the frozen Otter Creek at the end of last winter.  We’ve had a beautiful November so I hope you don’t mind a little snow to look at.

Spring is Coming. Watercolour on Paper. 11×15″. SOLD.  Private collection.  Artist Lianne Todd.

This next one is one that I finished yesterday morning.  I photographed the painting, framed it yesterday afternoon, and posted an image on Facebook last night.  This morning I sold it!  Sorry for the Studio Tourists not having a chance at buying it, but it will be on display for you to look at, at least.

A Pair of Slippers. Watercolour on paper. 15×22″. SOLD.  Private Collection.  Artist Lianne Todd.

For details about the tour, please see my previous post or visit our website.  Have a nice weekend no matter what you decide to do!

Oxford Studio Tour 2015

It’s April!  Hopefully no one is fooling you today, or if they are, it’s all good fun.

There are still a few days left in A Fractal Universe at the Station Arts Centre in Tillsonburg.  I’m not sure what their hours are on Easter weekend so if you are thinking of going, please check with them.  They are not usually open on Sundays, anyway.  I’ve been very pleased with the turnout for the show and feedback from my peers.  Thank you to all who have taken the time to view it.

Soon, many of them will be home again, though a few have been designated for elsewhere.  Then it’s time to get my studio and gallery ready for the Oxford Studio Tour!  There will be a few new fractal prints ready for the studio tour, as well as some new paintings.  I hope that many of you are making plans to come.

Here is the poster with some information.  For more, please visit our website.