Tradition and Innovation art show

Pink and Orange. Monoprint by Flora Doehler, 2011

Two of my pieces will be in a printmaking show that opens tomorrow (Saturday) at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia - Yarmouth branch! I just finished them last week and framed them a few of days ago. The show includes work from printmakers at two South West Nova Scotia studios. One is in Yarmouth and the studio I use, Le Manivelle, is in the basement of Saint Anne's University in Church Point.

Iris. Monoprint by Flora Doehler, 2011

This is the description of the show:

Tradition & Innovation – an exhibit that invites the viewer to think about print-making as an evolving art form- opens in the Community Room, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Western Branch, on January 5 and continues until February 26, 2012. The opening reception will be held Saturday, January 7, from 2 until 4 p.m.Works are from the two print shops in South West Nova Scotia: La Manivelle in Church Point and Th’YARC Print Shop in Yarmouth.
Print makers represented include Cecil Day, Ruth Rideout, Denise Comeau, Bonnie Baker and others who have worked at one or both of the studios over the past decade. 

Iris - detail

The title ‘Tradition & Innovation’ describes the way in which traditional print-making techniques are used as well as the evolution and discovery of new methods of creating images. At the exhibit, viewers will be introduced to a variety of techniques, some old, some recent, and some recent extensions of traditional methods.
Four workshops, tied to techniques in the show, will be given over the course of the two-month exhibit.
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Western Branch is located at 341 Main Street, Yarmouth; gallery entrance is from Alma Square.
Gallery hours: Thursday – Sunday . Noon – 5:00 p.m. Information: 902 749-2248

It's VERY exciting to exhibit with accomplished artists and I'll tell you all about it when I get back from the opening. I also want to share with you the technique I used.

Scenes from the Garden - Paintings at the Mym Gallery

Scenes from the Garden. Showing September 24 - October 12, 2011.

I am showing a selection of paintings of my garden at the ARTsPlace Gallery in Annapolis Royal starting today. It's a great feeling to see my work on display in such a sun-filled space.

That Day in the Garden. 30" x 36"

The Gallery is open from Tuesday to Friday, 9 - 4 pm., and on weekends from 1 - 4 pm

I will be at the Gallery on Saturday, October 8th from 1 - 4 pm, after the last outdoor Annapolis Market of the season. Please drop by!

Here is a video of the work in situ!

And here are photos of all the paintings. Clicking on the images will enlarge them.

Crocosmia. 7" x 9"

 

Blue Horizons. 10" x 12"

 

The Dancers. 10" x 12"

 Dahlia and Nicotiana. 9" x 12"

I added black and white photos of my flowers to the display to give the viewer a sense of the setting I'm in.

 

The Studio. 9" x 9"

 

Flowers in a Blue Jug. 11" x 14"

 

Red Gladiolas. 9" x 9"

 

The Blue Jug. 9" x 9"

 

Iris Seed Pods and Zinnia. 11" x 14"

 

Gladiolas. 9" x 12"

 

Joe & Tansy. 9" x 9"

 

Cordelia's House. 22" x 22"

 

Nasturtium. 9" x 12"

The price list for the paintings is here. 

Paintings can be purchased through the Gallery or you can contact me at flora.doehler@gmail.com.  

Painting Zinnias in September

I have a little art show coming up in a few weeks at the Arts Council in Annapolis Royal and I am moving around my garden painting the September flowers for the show.

Zinnias, marigold and golden rod replaced the iris and bergamot.

 The paintings are small, for the room is tiny. I am painting each scene twice using first watercolours and then acrylic because I think it will be interesting for viewers to see the same scene using two different mediums and approaches.

 These photos show the watercolour steps I went through in painting the zinnias.

...and this is what the acrylic painting looks like so far:

acrylic painting 11" x 14" by Flora Doehler.

 I am so enjoying spending this time with the beautiful colour and blooms in the garden and listening to the birds while I paint. And being under a bit of pressure about it is a good way to keep on task!

Flora Doehler Paints the Town

My favorite colour combination.

 I believe that the fewer the colours in a painting, the better. Still, it's tough to limit them when you love colour as I do. Now I want to use these 5 colours in a new painting that I can spend more time developing.

This past weekend I painted up a storm in the Historic Gardens in Annapolis Royal. The event, Paint the Town, is an annual fundraiser for the Annapolis Regional Community Arts Council (ARCAC). The resulting silent auction of the hundreds of paintings, sculpture and blacksmithing that is created also benefits the 75 participating artists.

Last year was my first time at the event and I blogged about it here.  It's a wonderful chance to paint in heavenly surroundings and to meet artists from all over Nova Scotia.

My set-up at the Gardens.

Like last year, I spent the first day in the colourful Begonia labyrinth garden and the second day at the lower pond listening to the tiny waterfall and the wind in the trees. As relaxing as that sounds, I focused intensely on my task of painting many little canvases to be taken back to the gallery at the Legion for the auction.

Paintings from day 1: the begonias. (The iris were painted beforehand at home)

Here is a display of all the paintings from the weekend. You can see more detail by clicking on the individual image.

I used two different approaches to painting these small paintings. Either I mixed the paint with a lot of matt medium and scraped lines with my rubber-tipped tool, or I used a marker to draw a line-drawing on the canvas, then painted watered fluid acrylics overtop to create a soft, watercolour feel. Those paintings I sealed with matt medium.

All but one of my paintings sold. The painting with the blue blooms and the pink background came home with me along with a charcoal sketch.

I bought a beautiful monoprint from Nova Scotia printmaker Bob Hainstock. I love it and I will post it here soon.