Webinar this Thursday

In case you missed it, I announced on my Fractaliart.com blog a little while ago that I’ve been invited to be the guest speaker for a Lunch.Chat.Learn webinar organized by UK based Scientifically Speaking Global. It is this Thursday, March 28, 2024, – and if you are here in North America it’s more of a Breakfast as it occurs at 8 a.m. Eastern (Daylight Savings). It is only at noon if you are in the GMT time zone.

One must sign up for this event by “Buying a Ticket” (they are free). So, if you are interested, please do!

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

 

‘Discoveries in the Land of Discoverers’

I will eventually get back to telling you more about my painting travels in Portugal last November. I just want to mention this show as I hung it today (10 pieces are mine) and it’s ready for viewing!

I finished a new painting yesterday, just in time for the show.  It is inspired both by my trip to Quinta da Regaleira, in Sintra, Portugal, and by a book I am reading right now – it dwells a bit on the Grail Romances which I find particularly fascinating.  In fact, the Quinta da Regaleira property’s architecture and structures are partly inspired by alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians, and the Tarot, and many of these have been related strongly to the Grail Romances at times, including in the aforementioned book.  More about Quinta da Regaleira later… (it really captured the imagination) … for now I want you to see the finished painting.

The Stuff of Grail Romances. Watercolour on Gessoed Paper. 15×22″. $500.00. Artist Lianne Todd

You can get a much better impression of it if you actually go to the show, of course!  All of the pieces are ones that have been inspired by Portugal.

It’s at Annandale House (N.H.S), in Tillsonburg, on the second floor, in the gallery there.  Go check it out!

Hours:

Monday to Friday	9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday (July and August only)	12:00 p.m to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday	1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

(Holiday hours may be different)

Address:

Annandale National Historic Site & Museum
30 Tillson Avenue
Tillsonburg, Ontario
N4G 2Z8

Praia dos Olhos de Água

Continuing with my painting holiday in the Algarve, Portugal:

After two full days in the jeep (see previous posts), I was ready for a day that involved walking.  So, I decided to check out another beach within walking distance, called Praia dos Olhos de Água. Olhos de Água literally means “eyes of the water” and refers to a spring there on the beach at low tide (see Wikipedia).

But, just in case you forget which beach you’re on, someone has kindly provided a painting of eyes so you know. 🙂

As you can see, it was a lovely day.  The walk took about half an hour, but I was carrying quite a few painting supplies so it wasn’t exactly an easy one.

Jorge, our jeep tour driver, had suggested a great spot to paint from, so I scoped that out first, but decided to take advantage of the great beach day and do a good amount of sunbathing before starting.

After that, I treated myself to a mango sorbet gelato cone on the patio of one of the little beach restaurants, while I enjoyed the view.  It was lovely!

I also took a few photos of the beach for future reference – one of them I used to begin a painting on a rainy ‘rest and laundry’ day.  I finished it later, when I got home to Canada.  Here it is:

Olhos d’Agua Beach, looking North. Watercolour on Paper. 14×20″. Artist Lianne Todd

I finally got around to plein air painting in the early afternoon, at this spot overlooking the beach, recommended by Jorge.  (A set of stairs leads up here from the beach).

Look for the final painting in another post – I didn’t get to finish it on this day.  When I literally started having to hang on to everything to keep it from blowing away, and noticed that the sun was getting quite low in the sky, I knew I had to call it quits.

On my walk home, I sort of made friends with some cats :).

Cats of Quinta da Balaia

Praia de Santa Eulália

The villa where I stayed had featured, on its website, photos of beautiful beaches.  I love beaches.  So, naturally, I was anxious to determine exactly how close these beaches were, and curious about how warm the water might be at the beginning of November.  Not that I was going to be swimming.  I can’t do that for a while, until both arms are free of adhesive capsulitis, as I would most likely drown.  Maybe in 2020…

When I examined the satellite maps, the closest beach was Praia de Santa Eulália (Praia means beach, in Portuguese).  Upon close examination, it seemed like I could take a path shortcut through the green space directly south of me to the road running east-west and then continue down to the beach from there.  If I did that, it would cut my time walking in half compared to following the roads!  So, as I had passed a couple of the housekeeping staff on their break, I had asked them about said path.  They quickly assured me this was NOT the way to go.  In unison, they pointed the opposite direction and said “Quinta da Balaia”.  I was truly disappointed.  However, the computer algorithms said it was still just a 29 minute walk.  And you know what?  It was a beautiful walk through a nice quiet area, and I really enjoyed it.

Looking back at the villa from the end of the driveway.

 

On the walk via Quinta da Balaia and Rua da Praia.

Further along the walk via Quinta da Balaia and Rua da Praia.

While I was walking, and passing the green space, I tried to figure out where the shortcut would have come to.   I was glad I had taken the long way – it looked like there was a rather big gorge to get over, and also some private property, and at the bottom, a big fence with no opening and pretty big drop-off from the road to the path.

The beach was very beautiful.  As you can see, it was a nice warm, sunny day.  The water wasn’t even as cold as I expected – certainly no worse than a Northern Ontario lake in summertime ;).  I almost lost my sandals to a rogue wave that sneaked up on me while I was painting, discovered my backpack is quite water-resistant as it (containing my nice camera! yikes) was a victim also, and got rope burn trying to get on the other side of the boardwalk safe from waves.  Later on, I noticed rain coming from the north, but not quite in time to not get caught in it on my way home.  I sheltered under a tree, and it didn’t last too long.  And continuing home, I found some cats. 🙂

This is the little tiny watercolour I did that day.  I was much more pleased with it than I was with the one of the sunset the previous day.  It will be treasured in my smallest sketchbook journal.

Praia Santa Eulalia sketch. Watercolour on paper. 3.5×5″. Artist Lianne Todd

Stay tuned for more!

Festive Greetings

Happy Winter Solstice everyone, it’s a good day to celebrate, for me personally, and for all of us in the Northern Hemisphere where we can anticipate longer days from here on in.  Whatever you celebrate in the month of December, I hope you know that you are loved and I hope you receive a gift of some kind.

For me, it’s been a very busy year filled with working for IWS Canada, traveling, learning new things about me as a painter, and coping with a lot of physical pain and limitations that continue but will only last another year or so (I’m told).

One of the main things I focused on this year was painting en plein air, which was something I started doing more of the previous year but hadn’t done a lot of prior to that.   I’ve thankfully reached a point where I do feel satisfied with my results (small though the paintings may be)!  While I do have great admiration for those who paint outdoors, and have met some who paint in really extreme conditions, I have to admit I know now I will always be a studio painter.  My plein air pieces are quite special to me though, as they are filled with the memory of being there for an extended time, the sounds, the smells, the people who stopped to say something… there is definite value in that.

That being said, being a studio painter involves being in the studio, and I found all the computer work that was necessary for the IWS Canada volunteer work kept me out of the studio way too much!  In addition to this, it compounded the physical problems I’ve been having.  In contrast, when I paint, all the pain disappears for the duration of my painting session.  So, I have stepped down from my position as Publicity Director and am leaving it in capable hands, much to my relief.   It has been very rewarding working on the IWS Canada team for the last four years.

This coming year will be spent painting in the studio, creating fractals, and sorting through all the things I’ve been putting off sorting through.

I would like to take a moment and say a huge thank you to all of the collectors who approached me or went to any of my exhibits and purchased artwork this year.  You made everything easier!

In the New Year, I will sit down here and tell you all about my trip to Portugal, and show you some of my paintings from there.  In the meantime, please have a safe, happy, love- and peace-filled holiday season!

A Winter Dawn at the Farm. Watercolour on Paper. 15×22″. Lianne Todd. Private Collection.

 

Exhibit, demos, and more!

I am so looking forward to this Friday and Saturday!

Opening of ‘A Symphony in Watercolour’ International Art Exhibit:

Friday Sept. 28.  Boynton House, 1300 Elgin Mills Rd. E., Richmond Hill.

(see map on home page of IWS Canada)

Official Schedule:

Booths and exhibition will be open from noon until 5:00 pm within the garden area of Boynton House.
12:00 – 12:15 pm: Welcome speeches and official ribbon cutting ceremony by the Presidents of IWS Canada, IWS Globe & CSPWC/SCPA on the porch of Boynton House
The following events will then take place in booths in the fenced garden area of Boynton House or on the main porch of Boynton House:
12:15-12:45 pm Demos of products/talks by QoR and Da Vinci
1:00-1:30 pm Demos of products/talks by Winsor & Newton and RockWell

1:45-2:45 pm Demos by IWS Master watercolour artists Ze Ze Lai (vice president of IWS Globe)

 

and Rainbow Tse (youth juror for our show)

 

2:30-3:00 pm Live music by the Hill Chamber Players on the porchway of Boynton House
3:00 pm Award presentations and speeches on the porch of Boynton House
3:45-4:00 pm More live music by the Hill Chamber Players
4:00-4:30 pm Demos/talks by Daniel Smith and DeSerres
4:30-5:00 pm Chance to talk to people at booths and see exhibition at your leisure.

Burr House Craft Gallery & Tea Room, 530 Carville Road, Richmond Hill.

6:00-8:00 pm: An informal gathering of artists and art lovers; a time to relax, socialize and see the rest of the exhibition. Watch the Burr House spinners, weavers and potters at work. Tea and scones will also be available at a small charge.

Saturday, Sept. 29.

Richmond Hill Central Library, 1 Atkinson St., Richmond Hill, ON L4C 0H5

10:00- 3:00 pm 3rd floor of library: Try your hand at watercolour, an activity sponsored by DeSerres, where we can give back to the local community. Connect with people from Richmond Hill and experiment with simple techniques for painting in watercolour.
10:00-10:50 am Watercolour demo by Michael Solovyev, IWS Canada International Director. Watch him create a painting and ask questions.

10:55- 11:50 am Watercolour demo by Atanur Dogan, IWS Globe President and Founder. Watch a painting come to life before your eyes.

 

 

 

 

12:00-1:15 pm Take in David McEown’s presentation: ‘Water & Light, an Artist’s Journey from Antarctica to the North Pole”. David narrates an entertaining digital show that merges painting, video and photography inspired from travels in the Great Bear Rainforest, Africa, Antarctica and the North Pole. Stories of chance encounters with many creatures including polar bears and emperor penguins are woven together with reflections on the environment, and the inner creative process of painting with watercolour.
2:00- 3:00 pm Watercolour demo by Vera Bobson, CSPWC

 

 

As you can see, there is plenty to keep an artist interested. These watercolour artists that are demonstrating, are some of the best in the whole world.  Almost like attending a workshop only without the fee!  Both days are registered Canada-wide Culture Days events.

Those are just the first two days of the exhibition.  All information that you could possibly want, including maps, are on the home page of the website iwscanada.ca.

I will be there for sure.  Gather a friend or two and have a fun field trip!!  Say hi when you get here. 🙂

This post is pretty much copied from the iwscanada blog post but that’s okay because I wrote it too 🙂

One Month Until Opening of ‘A Symphony in Watercolour’!

via One Month Until Opening of ‘A Symphony in Watercolour’!

Hey everybody, please click on the link above to see the volunteer work I’ve been up to lately.  I’m the publicity director for IWS Canada so anything you can do to help spread the word about it will help me a great deal!

I’m getting pretty excited about this show – not only will I have a painting in it myself, I will get to meet a whole bunch of international artists I look up to that I’ve so far only met online.  I will be there for the full five days of festivities at the beginning.  It’s going to be so much fun!

You are all invited too – Richmond Hill is not that far away if you are in Southwestern Ontario – so why not get some friends together and take a field trip?