My First Ever Juried show @ the Art Gallery of Mississauga

... It started on the 9th of January... It was the day of the submissions and I had woken up far too early... All submissions were due at noon & I thought I had enough time... By 11am I could not find my hanging wire... I went into complete panic and ransacked my looking for it; it looked like a tornado hit... I raced to the mall which is luckily across from the AGM and got some gardening wire from dollarama... Put it together & Voila... Ready to go...

... Standing in line was torturous as I was the youngest one there... It was like my VAM class all over again... How could my pieces compete with landscapes, abstracts and flowers?.. Luckily I had flowers in my piece... I had knots in my stomach from all the anxiety... I saw a cute guy sitting on the bench waiting for another person submitting pieces... that made me more nervous cuz i was in my comfortable clothes which include my big puffy jacket and rad-ass construction boots i've had since i was 13years old... yes, my feet are still the same size...

The show opened on Thursday January 13th, 2011 and I was super nervous... It was local show and not downtown so I knew there would be no familiar faces for me to meet and greet... The show itself was only 2 hours long... Luckily my younger sister got off work early and came with me... It was really cool... There were lots of people, the artwork on the walls, the labels, the free wine..

Looking at the walls at the other pieces made me really discouraged... My artwork has always been different from the pieces I see at museums and galleries... It discourages me alot... My art seems like a misfit... Even how it was hung... I let too much wire loose and it's hanging a bit off the wall... O.M.G!!! Another lesson learned... They announced awards, had sponsors on site... It was pretty fabulous... Here are some shots I took... I'm hoping to get a new fancy smacny camera, once my last few months of payments are completed for my braces... =)

Event Flyer

Accompanied by my supportive sister

I really was enjoying this piece with my wine but this specific picture was staged, lol

Flower wall

High Ceilings

Watercolour piece that we loved! The frame matched perfectly

Pieces in the larger room

One of the few abstract pieces

Another corner

We loved this piece!!! It's absolutely breathtaking, but did not win any awards

Another Corner, love the landscape piece on the left

Pretty colours

Another Corner

The whole experience as a whole has been quite fulfilling... One of my life goals was to have my own solo exhibit... I'm still working to get there... Being an artist has many ups and downs... You always worry, "is my art good enough? does it say something new? different? Is anyone going to like it?".. It's often self sabotaging and self inflicting... Yet we continue to create... This has given me a big confidence boost; although even if I wasn't selected, I was going to come back next year with a more solid piece...

The show will be up until Feb 25th... If you are in the area, please come in, check it out & vote for me! for the People's Choice Award... that would be wicked...

Upcoming Contest

Hey Gang,

So in a few days I will be posting a series of 10 questions...

There will be bonus points for the explanation of a couple of the questions... To eliminate the possibility of ties... In the case of a tie, I will have some additional questions...

The contest is a bit biased... as questions will be about me... So... the more you know me or think that you do... The better your chances of winning...





The prize??? A 14x18inch single portrait of the winner's choice...

I just thought it would be something fun to kick off my new blog & the new year...

Good Luck!

... *N

Last few commissions & art shows of 2010...

I've been working like a mad woman... with little sleep & with little eats for the entire month of December...

I was able to finish 3 commissions the last week of dec... & now it's finally time to still paint but with a little relaxation, lots of sleep and lots of food...

Here are some highlights of the past few months...

I participated in my first Toronto group show @ Sleeping Giant Gallery on November 26, 2010... It was called by the pound & all the artwork was sold by the pound... duh... Of course being me; I did not follow the rules of course... like always... I did not paint my pieces on a larger width canvas therefore my pieces were hung on the misfit wall.. =T hahaha...

Eden - 14 x 18inches...

Crash - 14 x 18inches... Sold...

Extacy Flight - 14 x 18inches...

I had lots of visitors and supporters... It was amazing to see how many people were there... Even my sisters came and left because Nina was so claustrophobic... I'll add some pictures of people at another time... I think the most positive event that occurred at the opening was that someone other than my own group of supports was interested in buying my "Crash" piece... They spoke to Josh & then Josh pointed to me... It was hard to haggle since the show itself was based on a specific idea & like I already mentioned... I did not follow the rules... I am a misfit... I didn't sell my piece at the show... But my godbrother saw my piece and wanted to add it to his collection...

* * * * * * * * * * * *

A few weeks later the gallery had another show. "Continue? Y/N on December 17, 2010... The theme was based on the countless hours that Josh spends playing video games in the gallery... Artists were to submit a max of 2 pieces in relation to video games or characters from Nintendo or Super Nintendo consoles...

 I submitted 2 pieces for this show... I began thinking of games I wanted to focus on... At first I wanted to do a couple of pieces from Mario Kart... But then I remembered one of my favs... I used to play this at my gf's house when I was in elementary school... I went online to find references for the outfits and face details... I mostly found very provocative and obscene images... I wanted to portray my characters in a classy way... So I integrated some 1940's pin-up poses... I liked the outcome... Altho in my state of utter exhaustion I forgot something on Cammy's piece... I wonder if you can figure out what that is... 

Chun-Li - Fireball - 22x28 inches...

Cammy White - Union Jack...

Lots to write and lots to say... But at the moment my head is in so many places I'm trying just to focus on one thing at a time... I currently have 3 commissions in the works; ongoing pieces from last year... I am working on creating a website for my art... Creating some pieces for upcoming shows in February & March... super excited to see how they're going to turn out... Stay tuned...

... *N

Hello 2011

It's a new year... the idea of a fresh start...

I've dealt with a lot in the past few months... i don't feel like it makes me stronger.. but i am smarter... & that's what counts...

Much love...

...*N