2021-22 Living Artfully

Hello Dear Art Lover                

It's About Time

Happy Father's Day to all the dads and poppas and uncles. It's been an honour to be entrusted with creating my mini portrait series, 30 Fathers in 30 Days. I still need 2 more models if you'd like to have one. Send me a photo. If you want the portrait, it is $99. FREE shipping in Canada and the BONUS of a print of an original painting.

It seems like a dream. Finally, I get to invite you to an art show. When I think about how long it's been since I've been able to chat with you in person, I can hardly believe it. It's almost as if we have accepted this past year's social vacuum as the norm. I'm so happy to be able to offer you a personal viewing opportunity. The Riverdale Artwalk is mostly online, but we are lucky enough to be able to have enough room here for our own display .

This week, Nancy and I added new art work to our lovely atrium at 7 Labatt Ave. It really does look wonderful. Even though the styles of the 3 of us who are in theRiverdale Artwalkare very different, we have created a cohesive display. You'll find landscape, floral, figurative and abstract paintings. Something for everyone. Check us out:

@nancyb178
@roderikmayne
@gailwilliamsartist

In order to provide a safe experience, we are setting up appointments for you to see the latest work we have produced. I will add my cell number at the end of this letter so you can text or call me to make a date. This Saturday I will be there 1-4 pm. The front door is locked so you'll need to text or call when you arrive.

Now that I have my own room, I have also set it up as a gallery. I do hope we can get together. If your'e looking for prints, you can get a print of any original piece you'd like, if that suits you better. I'll also have some smaller ones available already made up.

If you'd rather come over during the week, I am taking appointments now.

Please email at gail@gailwilliamsartist.com.
There's a link to my virtual booth at the online show @riverdaleartwalk.

I'm adding some photos of the gallery at 7 Labatt Ave.

Tile next time, thanks again for your awesome support.

YOUR HOME + YOUR STYLE + MY ART

ROCK ON,

Gail

2021-21 Living Artfully

Hello Dear Art Lover          

Thrills, chills and excitement!

Of course that depends on your point of view. Would you love a list of the top 10 art documentaries? I was thrilled to find this list. You can find it on the Instagram account name local.traffic.ca. There's a link in their bio that will give you a very interesting collection of stories about artists you may or may not know, art thefts and art movements. If you'd like the list let me know and I'll send you the titles. The first one listed is about Basquiat, 'The Radiant Child' whom you might have guessed has been an influence on me. Also 'The Art of the Steal', just to name a few.

One of the things that is exciting and humbling is for my art to be chosen to live in someone's home. Thanks to Peggy and Cat who chose prints and then told me how much they love them. Here are 2 reviews of prints of my original paintings that I am delighted to offer to you The first one is from Peggy. She ordered a giclee, which is a print on canvas. She saw the original a few years ago and fell in love with it. I'm so happy that the print has fulfilled her expectations . She chose 'One Sweetly Warm Day Following Another'

'Gail, I am just delighted with the giclee of your gorgeous painting. The colours are as rich and beautiful as the original. What amazes me is the visual texture. It makes you want to reach out and touch the textured areas of the painting where the paint is thicker – and when you do, it is a surprise to discover that this is a smooth print! And it comes ready to hang – Bonus! I just love it. Thanks so much' . Peggy Feltmate, Orillia.

Cat chose a print on paper of one of my pieces from my Cosmic Landscape series. Here's what she wrote.. 'I'm so happy with my print from Gail Williams. The colours and textures are so vibrant they leap right off the page. I was really surprised to be able to see the detail of the canvas - it felt like I could step right into the original painting. The print felt luxurious, and the colours are so vibrant.- it's a gorgeous high quality addition to my art collection. It's seriously the nicest print I've ever purchased and the piece itself is one of my favourites. I love waking up to it.'

The Riverdale Artwalkis happening online again this year...June 18 - July 2, but I'm such a lucky duck. I have a 'room of my own' so I can offer private viewings at my studio. We'll do the masking and distancing...no kissing this time! It will be so wonderful to have you stand and ponder my creations from the same vantage point where I made them. I'd even let you touch them. As they say ' It's worth the trip to Dundas and River'
I'll be sending you the links to the show with next week's letter, but you can check the website too for current work.

And I can't forget the dads!! 30 Fathers in 30 Days has been another learning experience. I still have room for a few more. If you'd like a mini portrait of a dad or grandad (or Poppa) send me a photo. I'll do a 7x7 in art work on paper. There is no obligation to purchase of course, but if you'd like to, you can have it for $99. FREE shipping in Canada and a BONUS FREE print of an original painting.

Once again, I thank you for your support.

Til next time,

YOUR HOME + YOUR STYLE + MY ART

ROCK ON,

GAIL

2021-20 Living Artfully

Hello Dear Art Lover          

Take a DEEP breath

Hey there! How ya doin? I almost hesitate to say that we might be seeing some light at the end of this pandemic tunnel. But I'll take it for sure. With numbers of new cases going down and numbers of people vaccinated going up, that's got to be moving in the right direction. This interim phase is still going to be challenging though .

You know how I believe that everyone is a creative. It may not be in the visual arts, but we are all creative in many areas. Some in financial solutions, some in gardening, some in how they fix things. Personally, I'm all about McGyvering. Maybe that's your outlet. However, as this is an art newsletter, what I like to promote is all forms of visual art. One artist whose philosophy matches mine and who has created lots of easy, approachable ways to get your fingers dipping into the paint is Louise Fletcher. She has lots of free youtubes to watch and at this moment has a FREE online course. She's easy to listen to and you can use whatever you have on hand. The free course ends mid June, so if you think you'd like to have some fun, check her out. You can watch it when it fits in your schedule.

For Artists — Louise Fletcher Art

https://www.louisefletcherart.com › for-artists.

It's that time again to gear up for the Riverdale Artwalk online show. The dates are June 18- July 2, 2021. In addition to having original art, I am allowed to have 6 prints in the show. Our group of artists at our studio who are in the show are myself, Nancy Bennett and Roderick Mayne. We will be offering private viewings at our studio at 7 Labatt Ave. If you've not been there I think you'll be surprised at the beautiful atrium we are lucky enough to have as a shared space as well as our own rooms. Grab your time early as we are creating a schedule for individual bookings. I will be happy to accommodate myself to your needs. It'll be such a wonderful thing to be able to show you my latest paintings. If you follow my Facebook or Instagram, you'll know I have been making lots of art in the past year.

http://nancybennett.ca/

www.roderikmayne.com

And...how about the30 Fathers in 30 Days? The project is about 1/2 way through, but I'm still looking for some fathers and grandfathers. Remember that there is absolutely no obligation to purchase. I am looking for the experience of creating likenesses. What I'm finding is how, even with just a photograph, I can make an emotional connection with the model. I see the strength, the pride and the love of being a dad in each of these men. Even if we didn't have the perfect relationship, hopefully we can see that, like all of us, they were doing the best they knew how. Having said that, I invite you to send me a photo of a father. I'm making mini portraits, 7x7 in on paper with mixed media. If you want to buy the portrait, it is $99.00. You get FREE shipping in Canada and a FREE print of one of my original paintings. I'm attaching the one I did of myRonnie the dad of our two wonderful daughters. I'm also including my son-in-law,Vlad, the dad of the adorableFox and Theo, my grandsons.

Til next time, thanks so much for your support.


YOUR HOME + YOUR STYLE + MY ART

ROCK ON,

Gail

2021-18 Living Artfully

Hello Dear Art Lover            

HALLELUJAH !!

Hoping this newsletter finds you well. To be honest, I don't do well in the heat. I know you've probably been waiting for this time, so I won't whine too much. I just find that my energy is depleted and the old brain slows down too. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. But, I have been busy.

Introducingmy next series....30 FATHERS IN 30 DAYS.It would be so wonderful to have your help again. The deal is the same. Send me a photo of a father, grandfather or uncle you want to honour. I will create a 7x7 in mini portrait on paper. There is no obligation to purchase, but if you want the portrait it will be $99. FREE shipping in Canada and a FREE print of a larger original painting. I learned so much by doing the 30 Mothers and I have no doubt this experience will be just as rewarding. The story you send along makes my heart swell. I feature them on Facebook and Instagram if you want to follow along. Thanks to Bonney, Deb, Shelli, Jennifer, Sheree, Sheri, Kofi, and Siobhanfor sending me some models and for the stories. I love them all. I look forward to filling the wall of the Gail Williams Gallery.

Thanks very much for all the suggestions around titles for the paintings I featured last week. The one with the powerful female figure is called 'She's Got the Whole World in Her Hands' However, the other one is still unnamed. Thanks Shila, Diana, and Laila.

Some very interesting thoughts were sent about dreams, the forest, and the movie Inception, which I vaguely remember. Perhaps something has come to you since last week. If you check out the AGO website and click on the online show called 'Resilience', you will see two paintings I have in there. https://ago.ca

You may recall that I am a self educated artist. I thought I would go to art school, but it didn't happen. So I spent my time outside of my day job taking night classes and workshops. When I saw that retirement was looming on the horizon, I prepared by digging deeper into creating another career in art. I took a week long workshop and started painting seriously. I started showing my work in shows and art fairs. When I retired, I was fortunate enough to get a studio which I never believed that I would be able to do.But I had always had the dream. Is there a dream that you have sheltered in your heart that you would like to shine some light on? I'm here to help. If it wasn't for the help I've received from so many people I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now.

There are a ton of online classes now and I am exploring one about mono printing from Jesse Reno. It is so much fun..not just finger-painting! How about hand painting?! Just like a kid again except there's no-one to tell me not to get dirty. I'm exploring this as another way to create an underpainting. It's always surprising what shows up. If you want to dig into painting, check Jesse out. He's a lot of fun to watch. Like me, he is not precious about his art. He just wants to have fun. https://jessereno.podia.com

Today I'm including the two pieces I have in the AGO. You'll find 'She's Got the Whole World in Her Hands' and 'No, You Can't Come In'. I'm sure you can figure out which is which.

Til next time, thanks once again for all your support. I truly appreciate it.

YOUR HOME + YOUR STYLE + MY ART

ROCK ON,

Gail