I just got back from spending the holidays in Kelowna, BC.  I hadn't been there in many years, and I had a delightful time exploring this small city which hugs the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake.  I walked all over the place admiring the waterfront as well as the shops, restaurants, and particularly the art galleries I was drawn to the work of Salmon Arm-based artist Amy Modahl.  Her show Redactions features her latest work, which is rich, graphic and textured.  The show runs until January 12th, 2025 http://www.amymodahl.net/ We Were Young Then -  oil and drawing media on canvas - Amy Modahl When You Asked Me - oil and drawing media on canvas - Amy Modahl I was also intrigued by the thermal ink bleed serigraphs on synthetic paper by Derek Michael Besant.  These pieces top to bottom are entitled In Other Words, Different, and  In Other Words, Afraid.  They are on permanent display in the gallery, gifted by the artist in 2018 Derek Michael ...

Golden Like Daylight - new work 2025. 16 x 20 acrylic and collage on canvas "The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love - whether we call it friendship or family or romance - is the work of mirroring each other's light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when shame and sorrow occlude our own light from view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another." - James Baldwin, Nothing Personal Be the mirror. Be that person. Beam it back, folks. Happy 2025.

 I spent the last week of May and the first week of June in an artist residency offered by the Township Community Arts Council (TCAC) at the Esquimalt Town Square in Esquimalt. This new space is in the heart of the revitalized community at 503 Park Place, and features a welcoming light filled atrium with soaring ceilings, skylights, concrete floors and exposed brickwork. This area connects the new Esquimalt branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library, (which Mayor Barb Desjardins called "the living room of the community" at its opening last March), and the Esquimalt Roasting Company, a terrific coffee shop with an entire wall that slid open to the lively, people filled courtyard space, perfect for a people watcher like me! They kept me fueled with their delicious coffee for the duration of my residency! (See bottom of blog for more details on Esquimalt Town Square.)  The volunteer crew made swift work of the hanging       By the end of the first day I ha...

I Am Sitting in the Morning at the Diner On The Corner    40 x 30      My residency at the Township Community Arts Council in Esquimalt starts Tuesday, May 23rd, 2023 at 503 Park Place, Esquimalt Town Square, Victoria.  https://www.townshiparts.org/   My work will be on show for two weeks, and I will be on site various days both weeks. This week I will be there Tuesday the 23rd, Wednesday the 24th and Saturday the 27th.   I am thrilled to include the work of 4 talented former students of mine. (I have 17 paintings of my own and 8 student works.)   On Saturday, June 3rd, I will be joined by the talented Sheila Thomas https://www.sheelsonwheels.art/ for a fun collaborative painting session from 2 - 4 followed by a Meet The Artists reception from 4:30 to 6. We hope to see you there!   My show is called Art and Life, A WIP (Work in Progress)    Jane, His Wife    24 x 24       The Glow Fr...