F.A.S.T. - Fairfield Artists Studio Tour

The artists in the Fairfield area of Victoria BC held their 9th Annual F.A.S.T on the 24th and 25th of April 2010.  It was a successful event where interested art collectors and lovers were able to wander through numerous artists studios to take in and enjoy all of the talent found in just this one corner of Victoria!

It is obvious from all of the open studios that art is still alive and thriving in this great city! The Capital of BC is known for the artists and talents it has given to the world and this was a fun way for artists to see young and old enjoy their works! Each artist we encountered was more than willing to boast about their projects and provide stories of where different pieces came from. 

Unfortunately, due to our busy schedules, we could not meet all the artists that created this event; however, we have had friends and other artists tell us tales of what was seen.  What a great way for the arts to be represented and a fun way for others to experience it!  Saturday was a bit dreary but Sunday shined through, giving people a great way to experience the arts for free.

Congratulations to the artists who pulled this together and an aknowledgement to all of the sponsors who made this weekend a success for all!

Thanks to the following sponsors on behalf of fellow art lovers across Victoria!
Garry Oak Room
Fairfield/Gonzales Community Place
Fairfield United Church
Fairfield Activity Centre New Horizons
RBC Royal Bank Cook Street Location
Harbord The Home Insurance People
Sweet Peas At Home
Fairfield Gonzales Community Association

We look forward to next years F.A.S.T! Great job to all involved!

Big Plans, Big Things Happening!

Long time no blog but it was for good reasoning! We are getting booked more and more to meet with various artists and to have the honour of seeing some of them at work!

We have one artist who creates pens.  we know - what makes creating a pen "art work"? Don't worry, you were not the first to think that! NOPE! However, when you see his creations you will understand! He is one who truly understands the process of reduce reuse and recycle as well of having a creative flare of art! Creating various pens out of things like deer antlers (no he is not a hunter - he finds bits of antlers in the woods...he uses pieces of toilet paper and bamboo strips.  He uses various scraps of woods, metals and stones!

His fiance is a photographer, and she is definitely going to be scooped up as a free-lancer! She has an amazing talent and ability to take that "Perfect shot!"  We are waiting patiently to have her works displayed on our gallery.  We cannot wait to promote her to help her in her quest to follow her dreams of becoming a professional photographer for a specific nature magazine!

We are not stopping there either! We have another amazing artist who is interested in being represented in our gallery!  She does beautiful work! Her oil works look like they were real photographed pictures! However - her imagination brings things to light.  Her creative skills bring humour and nature to the front lines.  Giraffes on stoves with vines - hippos in livingrooms...

Next we are bringing more acrylics onboard from some talented ladies - each one has their own marks of creativity!  We are meeting both of them this coming week and from the images we have been provided - we are truly looking forward to helping them succeed as artists!  One is younger in her early thirties - the other is slightly older in her mid fifties but age has no boundaries as they both seem to be able to perhaps light a creative fire if they were to meet!!

So, our blog may have been quiet but our schedules are far from it!  Between meeting with artists and buyers alike - we are amazed at how many people know of us already!  One small business meeting we attended downtown Victoria the other week - when people heard our name - all we kept hearing was, "You're the owners of Griffin Gallery!!" "We love what you are doing for the artists and art society"!! It was like we were standing on a soap box giving speaches!  Being spun from one direction to the next - our hearts were humbled by the reaction we recieved!

We have to say - THANK YOU to everyone who are supporting not just us - but our artists as well!  This has been such an amazing experience and business decision!  We are so glad that we are able to help keep art alive in Canada when the are so many cuts by the government!  Keep posted and send others our way - Keeping art real and alive in all hearts and homes!  Bare walls equal a deepen depression - but with art on walls and shelves and floors - always create a sense of balance!

Our dying Laptop...

MY FRIEND - MY LAPTOP

We sailed around the world together - going from port to port!  Passed through the locks of the amazing Panama Canal.  Shared memories while sipping latte's, flipping through images of San Juan, Pillars of Hercules, the Rock of Gibralter and even things as drinking from "Das Boot"!

Through good times and bad (a small chance of upset from a wee typhoon)! Suntanning in Greece to amazing foot therapies in Malaysia!  Rode a train around South Korea - visiting friends in Wanju and saw the DMZ!  Sent live feed to chat with family at home from U.A.E.  Climbed tall heights to see the view in such things as gondolla's and glass elevators!

You helped my spouse obtain greatness while storing and providing assitance when writing papers and creating formulas!  No matter what the hour - there when she needed you most and when fun was to be had.

You sang songs to us and played videos! Gave us laughter and tears! 

Yet - like all of the best things in life - they can come to a abrupt stop!  Your bright smile faded and quickly went dark. There was no recessitating - for your whole system failed.  Even though you had one of the best cares through Norton - a virus got you down! You gasped for one last breathe and then silence.  No purring of the motor - no lights on your screen...silence.  

We cried "No!!" "This can't be so!" We can save you - to a doctor we will go!  Then the results from testing came - to repair you - we would have lost all that made you ours - you would be provided a new motherboard with no guarantees - set back to factory settings and yet - since it was a virus that attacked, there could not be a guarantee!

So, our friend, our laptop - you were at my side for a long time - almost 3 years!  No need to change your operating profile - never running out of steam!  It is now time for you to rest...my friend, my laptop - may you go on to be bigger and better things as you join the cycle of recycling!

Our laptop - Our Friend - A Replacement Model sits in your place - Yet You Sit in a Place in Our Memories :) 

Meet the Artists - Part 9

Fern Walker

A very talented ceramic sculptor who resides in View Royal, a municipality of Victoria B.C. She enjoys working on her pieces in her studio that overlooks her beautiful backyard.

Inspired by nature and form.  Finding her muse in the female body and imagination.  Her creation of the three Sky Dancers are a work to be admired.  The dancers are inspired from the Cirque De Soleil. The acrobatic rope artists who utilize curtains to do their routines intrigue to Fern and she had fun adding this series to her list of accomplishments.

Fern is a lighthearted aritst who enjoys life.  Encouraging feedback on her works, Fern is always interested in what her audience has to say. 

Meet the Artists - Part 8

Sonia Urquhart

Born in Toronto, Ontario to Harry and Sophie Marak in 1949. She grew up in Toronto until her family moved to Scarborough Ontario when she was nine years old. As a young child, she was always fascinated by her mother and uncle always sketching things, which led to her love of drawing. She was very artistsic as a young child, which allowed her to draw backdrops for school plays when she was in elementary school. After grade school, she enrolled in visual arts as her major in highschool. Because of her love for art, she decided that she wanted to become an art teacher. As a result, she attended Ontario Art College after highschool.

Upon completing her education, she did some free lance work as an artist until she met her husband, Carl Urquhart. She then got married and began a family. She had two beautiful girls, Wendygale and Melinda Ann, whom she adores. As the girls got older, she was able to do some more free lance work (ads, blue prints, etc.) from home for those wanting help with designing their houses or businesses. After the girls left home, she was able to travel with her husband as he worked as a long haul truck driver; driving all over North America.

While travelling with her husband, she enjoyed sketching other drivers and places they saw. Her and her husband have now settled in Victoria, and she now has the time and ability to get back into her love of art. She enjoys working with all kinds of materials (watercolours, acrylic, oil paints, etc). She joined the Esquimalt Painters Group and was the co-ordinator of this group until she had to focus more of her time to care for her husband. Although she has once again regained time to focus on her art, she has decided to be a member of the painters group and she is not interested in involving too much of her time away from family. She says that her mother always wished that she would go back to art and she knows in her heart that if her parents were still alive, they would be proud of her!

Sonia has continued to strive in her artistic prowless and has become a successful artist in the Victoria BC area, with the ability to state that numerous works of her's are in private collections across North America.  She is now an associate member with the Coast Collective Gallery in Victoria.  She also has numerous pieces on display in various businesses across the city.  We are pleased to have her works available for sale through Griffin Gallery!

Meet the Artists - Part 7

Richard (Rick) Smith

Artist Richard Smith has had an artistic temperament since a young age. In 1972 he enrolled in the arts programme at the University of Victoria and graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, majoring in sculpture. In 1979 he moved to Vancouver to work in broadcasting, advertising, theatre and other related industries. In 1993 he returned to Victoria to resume a vocation in sculpture, with the help of friend and fellow sculptor, Derek Rowe.

Richard is currently producing work in bronze and in glass. Wishing to be closely involved with the process as well as the product, he casts his own bronzes and does his own kiln cast glasswork.

His bronzes are mostly statuette size figurative work and his glasswork incorporates his love of the clarity of glass and the brilliance that can be achieved with color.

He has been a member of the Vancouver Island Sculptors Guild since 1994 and enjoys being a supporter of public art in the Victoria region.

Meet the Artists - Part 6

Brenda Scott

Brenda Scott grew up in a small town Saskatchewan, Canada farming community. Her early days were spent on a farm with cows, dogs, cats, pigs, chickens and a horse. This upbringing has instilled in her a great love of the land, nature, wide open spaces and animals.

Brenda was drawing before she even started going to Grade school. She didn't start painting until she was 21 years old and received her first acrylic paint set as a gift. She learned to paint with acrylics by adapting the oil painting techniques taught on a PBS TV show called "The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross". She painted for 15 years with acrylics completing mostly landscape paintings until taking her first watercolor lesson 3 years ago. Since then she has painted a variety of subjects in acrylic, watercolor and mixed media. In addition to painting full size paintings Brenda also paints miniature paintings called ACEOs ( Art Cards, Editions and Originals) which are original works of art that are 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches in size or approximately the size of a sports card.

Brenda also has a blog http://365daysofart.blogspot.com in which she is creating an ACEO a day for 365 days. In the blog, she is not just painting subjects that she is familiar with but also challenging herself to paint subjects that she has difficulty painting. She is writing about her experience of creating and all the fears, sorrows and joys that come with being an artist in hopes of inspiring other artists to live their dream even when they don't think they can.
 
She has become an amazing addition to Griffin Gallery!  Proving to be a well rounded artist who is willing to try working with numerous mediums and styles.  Not one to focus on maintaining a comfort zone, with her challenge of creating an ACEO once a day for 365 days.  She has stretched her limits by attempting styles which she thought were never possible.  A pleasure to meet, she not only shows her ambition through her works, but in everything else she does.