Newsletter

Last Friday my daughter and I went to see Imagine Monet and enjoyed it very much. We went for lunch afterward and had a lovely visit.

This morning Brian and I drove to Brantford. A bright sun shining through blue skies almost made up for the never ending parade of trucks. We were going to Brantford to happily deliver a painting. My painting, Heat Wave,was juried into the Glenhyrst Art Gallery’s Biennial Exhibition. This will be the fourth time my work has been accepted.

The exhibition dates are as follows:

March 25 - May 19

Hours: Tues.-Fri. 10am-5

Sat. & Sun. 11am - 4

MON and STAT. HOLIDAYS : CLOSED

Opening Reception and Awards Presentation

Saturday April 1, 7pm

If you missed seeing the Dear Flora show at Westland Gallery, a couple of my paintings are still available to see and purchase. It was such an appropriate name especially for me since Flora is a name that appears in nearly every generation on my father’s family tree. Many dear Floras!

I am busy getting ready for the Brush and Palette Show. Here is the information:

Thank you for your support. I hope to see you at upcoming events.

Enjoy the sunshine but bundle up! It’s not as warm as it looks😊

I hope you had a truly lovely Valentine’s Day. As I type this I am surrounded by the scent of roses from the bouquet which was a Valentine’s gift from Brian.

I am almost ready for my first workshop class to be held tomorrow at Westland Gallery. It will be an exploration of triadic colour schemes and should prove to be interesting and fun too. 

I will be one of the artists in the Westland Gallery’s Floral Group Show, Dear Flora.

Preparations are underway for the The Brush and Palette Show (April 13th to 15th) as well as the Lambeth Art Show (May 4th to 6th). I am looking forward to being one of the participants in both shows.

Lastly, I will be demonstrating at Westland Gallery on March 4th. I hope that you can join me there.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter, for responding, and for your ongoing friendship and support.

Sue

“While I admit to being a great admirer of the English language, sometimes I stumble across a word or an  expression from another language that has no English equivalent, but is so perfect a description of a quality or experience that I collect it. I have a sketchbook purchased years ago that I did not enjoy using for its intended purpose but it is perfect for collecting beautiful words, quotations or phrases both in English and other languages. From time to time I visit, turning pages and enjoying. Today I revisited the Welsh word, Hiraeth along with the Scottish word, Dumfungled.

The first describes a spiritual longing for a home which maybe never was; “nostalgia for ancient places to which we cannot return. It is the echo of the lost places of our soul’s past and our grief for them. It is the wind and the rocks and the waves. It is nowhere and it is everywhere.” I was recently chatting with a fellow artist and I said that all of my paintings start with a lump in my throat, a kind of heartache. Perhaps this is connected in some way to Hiraeth. 

The second, Dumfungled, describes the state of being mentally and physically worn out. Certainly after Christmas this is me for a brief while. I have been dumfungled. You too?

Along with collecting words and phrases I also collect, among other things, rocks, books, art, indoor plants and paperweights and, of course, sketchbooks. I am absolutely unable to pass up the chance to own a new sketchbook.

Do you collect? If so, what do you collect?

I am delighted to share with you that I “SOLD OUT” at Westland’s Square Foot show this year. Thank you to Al and Karen, Danielle, Anna and Michaela for all you do, for your support and encouragement.  Thank you to the lovely people who purchased my paintings. I am incredibly grateful and hope my paintings bring you much pleasure.

Also at Westland Gallery, I will be offering a four week course, working with triads, (Thursdays Feb 16th to March 9th 6:30-8:30) . I am also looking forward to exhibiting at Westland Gallery with a group of amazing artists in The Floral Show (Feb. 21st to March 11th). I hope to see you there.

I am busy preparing for upcoming club shows, ( Brush and Palette Club, April 13 to 15, St. Paul’s Cathedral), Lambeth Art Association, May 4 to 6, Lambeth United Church). Later on in the Fall, the Gallery Painting Group will hold their show.

I will be entering a few juried shows soon and will update you as information is received. I also have been approached to do a solo exhibition and will give you the details in upcoming newsletters.

As always, thank you for your ongoing interest and support. I love hearing from you and hope you enjoy receiving my letters. If at any time you would like to stop receiving them in your email, just unsubscribe. You can always find them on my website, www.susangarrington.com

Take care and enjoy today’s sunshine.

Sue

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support throughout this past year. I am grateful for your responses, purchases and referrals. Some of you have been following this newsletter for several years. It is very much appreciated. I am looking forward to continuing to keep in touch next year and I hope you are too. Take care and stay safe.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sue

It snowed this week. You probably noticed. What was your immediate reaction? In spite of advancing years, when the first snow of the season happens I am a child again. The giddy excitement that bubbles up is momentarily uncontrollable. Visions of ice skates and toboggans and snow forts and snowball fights and snowmen will eventually succumb to the reality of icy roads and slippery sidewalks and shovelling and cabin fever. But before they do, I enjoy my childhood once more and dream of winter’s delights while watching the dreary November garden become beautiful again. That is the magic of snow.

There are magical things happening in and around London’s world of Art. There are currently so many shows and exhibitions to see. Two events that I am included in are the Miniature Show at STEPAC (Nov. 11 to Dec. 22) and Westland Gallery’s Square Foot Show,www.https://westlandgallery.ca . Both shows offer some fabulous art by local artists at reasonable prices. Perhaps you can find a gift for a special someone or one for yourself!

REMINDERS:

CSPWC’s Open Water is still available to see online. If you haven’t already done so and if you love watercolour, go to https://cspwc.ca  You will be glad you did I am sure.

Westland Gallery is hosting several workshops including a watercolour one taught by me. It takes place on four consecutive Thursdays from Feb.16th to March 9th at 6:30 to 8:30pm. The cost is $180. If you are interested, call the gallery at 1-519-601-4420. Please share this information with your friends and anyone who may be interested. Thank you.

Christmas in Bayfield takes place this weekend, Nov. 18 to 20 and Main Street Gallery Bayfield will be open and showing some of my paintings.

To end this newsletter, my hope for you is that you are able to find the magic of this season, if not in snow or art then somewhere else. As always, thanks for your interest in my work and for your support.

Take care. Be well.

Sue

Time is flying by so quickly for me that September’s newsletter didn’t get written. I apologize.

I hope that you enjoyed Thanksgiving and were able to get outside in the glorious weather surrounded by this year’s wonderful display of colour. Trees and plants show us how to both change and let go with grace and beauty for which I am grateful.

Some exciting things have been happening both inside my studio and out in the world, including teaching a class at Westland Gallery where the topic was methods of composing a watercolour painting (tricks of the trade). I enjoyed teaching and having fun with such an agreeable group of artists in a truly inspiring location. Happily I have been asked to return to teach a four week watercolour class. If you are interested in exploring colour with me, take a look at Westland Gallery’s website www.westlandgallery.ca for information about the class. (Dates February, 23 and March 2, 9.) This is a stress free way to play with colour, make some discoveries and perhaps make some new friends too. 

I was honoured to have my painting,”On My Neighbour’s Fence” juried into Open Water 2022 from among 374 entries representing 12 countries. This is the third consecutive year that one of my paintings has been selected for the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour’s Open Water Exhibition and I am thrilled to once again be a part of this fabulous show. You can visit the show online if you go to the CSPWC website www.cspwc.ca and follow the link on the main page. You will be rewarded by seeing some of the best watercolour paintings from across Canada and beyond our borders.

Yesterday Brian and I drove to Bayfield to deliver paintings to Main Street Gallery.It’s always such a pretty drive and Bayfield is glorious in the fall. As always, we were warmly welcomed by Linda and Jim. There are many beautiful pieces of art in their gallery and I am so pleased to be showing my paintings there. If you find yourself in Bayfield, stop by the gallery. You won’t be disappointed.

This year I was asked to donate a painting to STEPAC”s Annual Art Auction. This is their biggest fundraiser of the year and I was happy to donate. Online bidding is available on their website at www.stepac.ca. Do pay a visit! I have my eye on a couple of paintings up for auction.

Also on my horizon, STEPAC’s Miniature show, November 12 to December 22 and Westland Gallery’s Annual Square Foot Show, November 23 to December 30.I hope that you can attend one or both exhibitions.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Your ongoing support is deeply appreciated. Feel free to unsubscribe at any time if you no longer wish to receive my newsletter.

Thanks and have a safe and Happy Hallowe’en.

Sue

When i opened the back door of our family room this morning, the fragrance of “back to school” was in the air.  I can’t describe it really. When the garden has this fragrance, you know summer is coming to an end. For most of my life, that meant that it would soon be back to school either as a student, a parent, a teacher or a grandmother. These days it signals that it is almost time  to get ready for many of the Art shows which will take place over the next few months; GPG’s show at First St. Andrews and Westland’s Square Foot Show are two that spring immediately to mind but there are others too.  I am working away filling my studio with finished paintings, works in progress  and sketchbooks of ideas in the first planning stages.

If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to visit St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre please consider doing so. My exhibition is underway and continues until Sept. 24th.

I will be at Westland Gallery on Saturday August 27 from 1pm until 3pm. I will be painting, demonstrating and answering questions about watercolour techniques in general and mine in particular. Please stop by for a visit.

If back to school is in your future or that of your family members, I hope that you are able to enjoy these last few weeks of summer and that the upcoming return to school is joyful and leads to success.

Thank you for your continuing interest and support.

As always, should you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please unsubscribe.

Take care.

Sue

We are watching as the moving van in our next door neighbour’s driveway is loaded. After living beside us for 25 years, they are moving out west to be closer to family. We are told that the house behind us, after over 45 years of being home to our neighbours, will soon be on the market too.  Change, while a part of life, is difficult to deal with sometimes and I am grateful for my family and my art, both of which provide consolation and solace.

In May I told you about the COAA exhibition in Dundas. I am thrilled to share that my painting, Heat Wave was awarded, Best Watercolour. 

Upcoming Events:

I have two paintings which were completed plein air in the Pop Up Show in The Apartment at Westland.

I am looking forward to visiting with you and demonstrating my painting techniques. Hope you can stop by and chat while you watch paint dry!

My exhibition at St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre,301 Talbot Street St. Thomas, Art In Bloom, was originally scheduled for 2020, with a different title and a different focus. Covid changed our plans. I am delighted that the show will take place August 6 to September 23, 2022, in Gallery One and Two. I am grateful to Laura Woermke for this opportunity and for her help and good humour. 

Unfortunately, due to Covid concerns, there will be no Opening or Artist’s Reception. I will be in attendance on various days and times. If you would like a list of these, please email me at sgarrington@rogers.com.

Masks and Social Distancing are required.

 I am very grateful to the Ontario Arts Council for providing an Exhibition Grant to assist with the costs involved in the exhibition.

Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter each month. Your interest and support are so very much appreciated. I enjoy your responses and questions. 

May all the changes in your life be good ones.

Sue

I promised to send more information about the Plein Air Weekend in Wortley Village and The Plein Air Show Group Exhibition as it became available.

I have three plein air paintings in the exhibition and I plan to be on location both Friday and Saturday. My paintings for the exhibition were all done on location in my garden earlier this year. These are rare pieces in that most of my plein air work is done in sketchbooks and is never sold.

My on location sketches are integral to my work. They inform and underpin everything I paint. They allow an intimacy with my subject matter which, in turn, allows me the freedom to play, imagine and create in my studio.

My Plein Air Garden Paintings:

  1.                      2.                    3.

1.A Moment Ago

2. Press Pause

3. L’Heure Bleue

I hope you are able to see this exhibition and perhaps stop by for a chat and a visit Friday or Saturday. Pick up a brochure with a map from the gallery and visit every painting location for a chance to win a prize!

As always, thank you for your ongoing interest and support. I appreciate both very much.

Take care and enjoy this lovely weather. 

Sue