September News!

Can you believe that summer is over??? It was such a weird summer for me with the cold rain, hot dry and smoke, I spent a lot of the time inside, and didn't even get out to paint plein air once!  It was an interesting summer for my garden however. I rented a plot at our local community garden where I planted some things I had never tried before: potatoes, red carrots, spagetti squash, celery and broccoli. That garden did great and it was so nice to get to meet other gardeners in my community. In my home gardens, I planted beets, potatoes, snap peas and carrots, which were all attacked by VOLES! One day I went out to check on my 3' high pea crop and it was like someone cut off all the plants 2" above the ground. They didn't eat them, just destroyed them! I now have some bait traps in place to try to rid myself of these destructive rodents, but not before they decimated my entire beet crop. The tops looked great, but when I dug them up, they were all eaten around their centres. As if it isn't hard enough to garden here with Chinooks, cool nights, hail and early frosts! But we gardeners persevere -a nutty bunch. In order to try to get my art 'out there' to a new clientele, I decided to try the 'tent show' gig this summer. I am now a pro after having 5 of these shows: 2 in Rosebud, 1 at the Leighton Art Centre, 1 at Okotoks and 1 in our community of Oakridge. Now let me tell you, it is a LOT of work, but it was sure fun to meet people who were new to my work. I absolutely loved the comments "What a breath of fresh air!" and "Oh my goodness, I LOVE your colour!!" Here is a pic from one them:

And here is what my tent looks like:

New for this year were boxed sets of Hastinote cards with my artwork on them -a great size when you don't want to say too much, but want to show you care! I will have them again at the Elma Street Artwalk (see below), and then they will be available at the Leighton Art Centre.

Exciting News!

I have shared with you, in the last 2 blog posts, about my new series of work based on the sketchbook class I took in the spring. Well the collection has now grown to 17 paintings completed as of today, and a couple more to come hopefully. The largest one is 30x30", which is a big size for an encaustic painting. I have decided to launch this work as a COLLECTION on my website on Saturday, September 11. All the work will be on a special page with links to be able to purchase. As my very special friends, you will have first dibs on the paintings! Also, there will be a special bonus to those who purchase in the first week. If you join my newsletter list now, you will find out all the details. Just go to my website at https://www.sharonlynnwilliams.com and fill in the form. Then you will get a  newsletter on Friday announcing the link and all the details. ❤️ I love a little bit of suspense, don't you?

Exhibitions

I have 2 big showing opportunities this month. The first one is the Elma Street Artwalk in Okotoks.

The second one is my BIG show at ACCLAIMED FINE ART on September 18 & 19 at Crescent Heights Community Association. I will have a TON of my art there. I hope you will mark it on your calendar and plan to come to the show and have a chat with me all about ART!!

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Cast is off, so now it is time to PAINT!

           


Hello all! I hope this finds you happy, healthy, and enjoying summer! I can hardly understand where the last months have gone, it is all sort of 'in a fog'! But Q3 is on our doorstep and it is time to get back down to 'brass tacks' as my dear Mom would have said (what does that even mean anyway??)

So, in case I forgot to tell you, I had surgery on May 11 to remove a bone in my hand, as severe arthritis was causing me a LOT of trouble. Apparently, removing the bone that my thumb was having trouble moving against, is the permanent fix for this type of thing. And I am right in the majority who need it: female over 65 who uses her hands for her livelihood. After 5 weeks in a cast, I am now castless, and no doubt overusing my hand! But it is gardening season (my garden has never looked better!), and I have SO many paintings inside me to come out!

I did get to do a few paintings in the last while, learning how to do things with my left, very uncooperative hand. I did the above painting ("Wild Beauty", 12x12" acrylic and collage) with one brush in my left (non-dominant) hand, and another in my right, stuck into my cast, using both hands at once -kind of fun, as long as I wasn't expecting anything to turn out. But I am pleasantly surprised how this one turned out. It will be available at the newly opened Leighton Art Centre, as part of their Summer Salon. In the meantime, I have the 5 paintings below in the Clothesline Sale -click HERE to see the show.

Blessings!
Sharon

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"When Life Gives You Lemons", oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"When Life Gives You Lemons", 12 x 16" oil on panel
$695 framed -click here to purchase after May 3/14 if still available

I just found out that this painting has won 3rd prize in the upcoming FCA Calgary Show! I entered 5 paintings and they all were accepted with excellence. It is a VERY good day!

Enjoy!
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You are Invited!

Federation of Canadian Artists 30th Anniversary Show

Seven of my paintings will be included in the 30th Anniversary, Federation of Canadian Artists Show. The show runs September 17 and 18 and is being held as part of the Calgary Art Walk. I will be doing an oil demonstration beginning at 12:30, until 2pm on Sunday, and would love to have an audience!

Hope to see you there :)

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En Plein Air -One Artist's View is ready to go!

This is my stack of paintings (almost all of them anyway) ready to be delivered to the Leighton Centre tomorrow. Now to figure out how how to fit them all in my car, and then how to hang all of these spread out throughout the rooms of the gallery so they make some kind of sense!
If you are anywhere in the Calgary area during the five week run of the show, I hope you will come by and see the show. I will be signing copies of my new book at the opening as well.
And here is the invitation. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you think might be interested :)

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Upcoming Show Information!

This is the poster for my upcoming show of the best of my plein-air paintings from last season. I will have 32 images in all, and they can be seen here. I am very proud of the work, and I hope a lot of people show up. If you are in town, please drop in -the show will be up until June 20th.

Edmonton Show Invitation

Hello all. If you live in, or are visiting, the Edmonton area this weekend, I would like to invite you to come and see my show at the Centre d'Arts Visuels de l'Alberta gallery. The opening is Friday night from 7 to 8:30pm and the show runs until Nov 24th. I will have 19 framed and 18 matted paintings on display. This year I packed them all up and shipped them via Greyhound Bus Courier to save me the 6+ hours it would take me to drive them up myself. Certainly a good idea as nothing arrived damaged!

I am in the process of trying to find my studio after a hectic show season. I will post some photos when it is done as some of you are curious to take a peak.

Also, I have been notified by other blogger friends, that sometimes their blog posts that their subscribers received in their inboxes had formatting issues, with the text being superimposed over their images. I would appreciate it if you would let me know if this has happened to any of you. Thanks.

To talk to me or to commission your own painting, please email me.

Upcoming show

I want to invite you to the next show of the Federation of Canadian Artists, Calgary Chapter. I have three paintings in the show, one of which won a juror's choice award (honorable mention). The opening is this Friday night from 7-9pm and the show is up until July 26th.
Cheers!