Spirit Festival 2011

It was only a few weeks ago that a group of artists started meeting to plan and prepare for the Spirit Festival at the Shatford Centre. I was lucky enough to be part of that group.

And last night at the Opening Celebrations the Great Hall was filled with funky music, fabuoulous dancers, and amazing painting and sketching. It was incredible to be part of this process.

I wandered through the crowd capturing the evening’s events with my camera. These images were then downloaded to a computer and projected on the wall. I’ve included a few images to get a sense of the evening.

Creativity Workshops, Lunch Jam Sessions, and Drop Ins are being held throughout the week of February 21-26 giving people a taste of what the Shatford Centre has to offer.

Topics include:
- Drumming
- Vegetarian and Vegan cooking
- Painting
- Pastels
- Photography (I’m doing this with Kevin Dunn)
- Theatre Games and Improve
- Song Writing
- Dance
- Arabic Music
- Music with String and Wind Instruments

There is also an Open House on Saturday, February 26th from 10 am to 3 pm at the Shatford Centre. For more information you can go to www.shatfordcentre.com.

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Watch out 2011! Here I come.

I’ve never much been one for New Year’s Resolutions but this year I thought I’d try something different and set some goals for myself.

The first was to make sure I’m in my studio creating everyday. During November 2010, I got into the groove of playing with my acrylic paints on a more regular basis even if it was for only an hour a day. I felt like I was missing something those days I wasn’t able to paint. There’s a word I’m looking for to describe this – dedication… determination… commitment.

Besides how can I show off new work, if I’m not painting much. So expect to see new works posted throughout 2011. Which is another of my goals – to have more artwork available for sale and to showcase the new works on my website.

Speaking of which, just before Christmas I was privileged to have a print of my aspen painting purchased as a Christmas gift for my friends, Mike and Josée-Anne. It was a new adventure for me to digitize my painting for a high quality giclée print.

Thanks Kim for spurring me on to make it happen. Now I know that I can make prints of my artwork on request.

Here’s the painting, entitled “A place where my heart can play”. It’s based on a photo of an aspen grove I visited while living in Fort St. John. Aspen groves always seem so magical to me. I expect a fairy or little critter to peer around a trunk and wink at me or something.

So to get ready for the year of big painting, I cleaned my studio, rearranged some furniture and got rid of items I’m not using. It feels good to get rid of the cobwebs, mentally and in real life!

Here are a photo of my cleaned up studio…

Note the exercise bike. It’s so retro. We are fast becoming friends. I picked it up beside a dumpster last year and started riding it in the winter when it was too cold ride. It represents my commitment to losing weight and getting into better shape. France last June was very good to me, if you know what I mean.

P.S.

Karina asked for me to post an image that I sold through the Penticton Art Gallery’s Christmas show – Under $300. So here it is…

Helping a community group help others

Recently, I was lucky enough to work on a creative project for the South Okanagan Victim Assistance Society here in Penticton.

SOVAS provides counciling and support to both women and men who have experienced domestic violence. Check out their website.

They wanted an image that represented hope as the support they offer helps people become the individual they want to be.

The image appears on SOVAS’ Gift for Change card. Anyone can make a donation to SOVAS’ programs in someone else’s name as a gift. Similar to buying a goat for a family in a lesser developed country, your donation goes towards supporting someone who has experienced violence in the South Okanagan.

I really enjoyed working on this project. I was able to use my creative talents towards a cause I believe in. Very rewarding!

I found the process of creating the image very easy. I searched through my photos and found images that felt calming, hopeful, supportive. Then put those images together in a digital collage. I had three draft images to choose from. The winning image has birds that remind people of doves, often a symbol of hope.

I hope all my projects will be as fulfilling as this one.

Upcoming Show: Transcending

Hi Folks,

I’m getting really excited about the show.  I just saw some of the printed images for the first time yesterday. They look great! So very different enlarged compared to what I’ve been creating on my computer monitor.

The show, titled Transcending, stems from my love of our planet and the natural world. I have a lot of images that I think highlight the beauty of our world. There are other images that encourage activities that can help us lighten our impact and shrink our ecological footprint.

Transcending is about changing our perceptions about the beauty of the world, moving to a different way of living on the earth, and blurring the boundaries between what is considered photography and fine art.

The show opens on Tuesday, May 11 at 7 pm at the Dawson Creek Art Gallery. It will be on display until June 6.

Hope you enjoy this sneak preview.

Olympic Torch banners decorate Penticton

Through my connection with the Okanagan School of the Arts, I’ve been involved in a Olympic Torch Relay banner painting project with students from the local school district. The Olympic Torch Relay will travel through Penticton on Monday, January 25th.

I have been working in a team of artists with Judith Rackham and Cindi Tomochoko. We worked with students to design images related to the Olympics that were transferred to banners. The banners were painted some of the students and are now hanging along the end of the Torch Relay Route.

I’ve enjoyed being back in a school setting. I worked with the Art Club students at KVR Middle School, mainly Grade 7 and 8. The students were fun to work with and seemed to enjoy the process. I wish I could have worked longer with them. I’ve included some images from the student banner painting session below.

I’m of two minds about working on this project. I’m disappointed that so many provincial services and organizations have had their funding cut to pay for the Olympics. But then I’m one of those artists who was able to benefit financially from the Olympics. I agree with the core Olympic values of encouraging world peace through sport, and striving for your own personal excellence. But with the move to include professional hockey players it seems Olympics have moved far from these values.

I can’t help feeling that I’ve sold myself out. But then how do I establish myself as a professional artist unless I’m involved in projects like this that allow me to get my name out in the community?

KVR Middle School students painting banner

Re-Imagine Street Art Festival in Penticton

So, I took the summer off to take care of the garden and visit with family and friends, although I did have artwork on display at Tinhorn Creek Winery in Oliver and Lang Winery in Naramata.

With autumn’s touch bringing a crisp, cool scent to the air and decorating the leaves with yellows, oranges and reds, I’m back into the swing of creating art.

Most recently I took part in Re-Imagine, Penticton’s first Street Art Festival. I had a blast, literally, spray painting a door and wall behind Fibonacci’s Coffee House.

My theme was endangered species of the Okanagan-Similkameen. The image included four riparian species: Lewis’ Woodpecker, Western Screech Owl, Tiger Salamander and Painted Turtle. All of these species live around riparian areas like ponds, rivers, creeks and lakes.

Before...

...After eight hours of spray painting. Boy my trigger finger is sore!

I received special recognition for my image because of my theme. Thank goodness because my point was to highlight the impact of water use and habitat loss for these species.

I’ve included some images below plus the first, second and third prize winners.

Can’t wait until next year!

First place - Reasha Wolfe (my co-worker at the Penticton and Area Women's Centre).

Second place – Tim from Australia

Third place - Ms. Ludington from Penticton

Handtastic Painting

This month I took part in the Hand-tastic Music and Arts Faire organized by the Penticton Academy of Music, Okanagan School of the Arts and the Penticton and District Community Arts Council, three of the tenants of the Leir House in Penticton.

In addition to working with Jenny Long and Endrene Shepherd at a painting station, I was asked to paint while student and faculty singers, musicians and dancers were performing. I’ve included photos of me painting and the final creation below.

Painting to music

It was a little nerve-wracking to be ‘performing’ in front of a crowd, but while listening to the lovely voices and violins, I was carried away in the process of putting paint to canvas.

I’m also excited to say I’ve been given the opportunity to teach adult digital photography courses through the Okanagan School of the Arts this August and September. I will also be teaching two half-day workshops for tweens, one on printmaking and the other on papercrafting.

The focus of the classes, as the Mission statement for OSA says, is to “assist the awakening and expression of the Creative Spirit”, so I’m looking forward to the sharing my knowledge with others and finding out what I will learn from their experiences.

I’m curious what you would be interested in learning about using your digital camera. Drop me a line and let me know…

Finished work

Group exhibition scheduled

I signed up for another round of Jenny Long’s course. This time the course is self-directed. I’ve been experimenting with techniques, so it’s taken me some time to paint something I’m proud enough of to show off.

I tried my hand at portraits and used a sketch I did in Playa del Carmen one year. It ended up too much like a caricature for my liking. People are definitely not my forte but it was a good start. The next painting involved playing with the watercolour-like qualities of acrylics. By adding enough water they start to run and flow like watercolour paints but are permanent once dry.

Another painting involved using a putty knife as a palette knife. I’ve included a photo below of the painting, which I call ‘Emerging’. It’s hanging on our wall at home and quickly becoming a favourite. I would, however be willing to part with it if someone wanted to give her a good home.

The most recent work is a landscape of a stormy day on Okanagan Lake looking north from Penticton. I did it entirely from memory with a palette knife! I love the sense of wind and motion. I call it ‘Sometimes memory surprises’.

Jenny has organized a group show for her students. Thanks, Jenny! I will have one, maybe two paintings in the show. The details are below:

“VERSIONS”
Selected works by Okanagan School of the Arts students and their instructor, Jenny Long

June 1-July 4 at THE CAN COFFEE COMPANY
(301-1475 Fairview Road, Penticton, BC)
Open Mon-Thurs 7:30 AM to 8 PM; Fri & Sat 7:30 AM to 5 PM

Exhibit Opening: Tuesday June 2, 2009 at 7 PM

Hope to see you there!

Emerging

Sometimes memory surprises

Moving adjustments

Saying the move to Penticton that started about the same time as my last post has been a transition is an understatement. But rather than get into the boring details about why I haven’t posted, I’ll just post some recent work I’ve done recently.

Paintings completed at a painting course “Free The Artist In You – Abstract Acrylic Painting” with instructor, Jenny Long (www.longlivepainting.ca). I’m taking the course through the Okanagan School of the Arts (www.osarts.com/index.php).

I was surprised how easily the motions of acrylic painting came back to me after many, many, many month-long hiatus. It feels good to be inspired again.

The first one (Refracting) was an exercise focusing on colours. Playing with the many combinations found by mixing cool and warm colours. With the second one (Grounding for a restless spirit) the exercise started by thinking of a colour and a memory to that colour. Then I was to paint whatever came out from that memory, whether it was abstract or not. This memory is from a trip to Seattle I made to visit a good friend, when I was 16. We were at a park and the sun was setting. The trees were back-lit with a golden hue I don’t ever remember seeing before.

As always, you can send me a message to tell me what you think.

Thanks for visiting.

Refracting

Grounding for a restless spirit

Chandra’s website up and running

Well, it’s taken some time, but thanks to Mel’s help I am proud to share my new website with you.

What you are seeing are my most recent creative endeavors in art and photography. The images you see on this website represent some of my favourite pieces.

You can browse through my paintings, drawings and photos by clicking on images or using the navigation bar at the top of the page. On a display page, place the mouse over a thumbnail to see a larger image.

I would love to hear your thoughts, so please send me an email via my Contact page.

If you would like to see images from my previous art exhibition about the Peace River region, please go to www.pris.ca/chandrawong/