Wedding Prints

Recently I was asked to create a piece of artwork that I had never done before, and ended up being very interactive! Friends Matt and Lisa were getting married and Lisa approached me and asked me if I could make her a Family Tree Guest Book. I'd never heard of it before and decided to do some research. Apparently it's frequently advertised on Etsy, where a bare-branched tree is painted or created, and during the reception at the wedding, the guests place an inked thumb/fingerprint on a branch posing as a leaf. Some versions will also have guests sign their names by their print! I was very excited to try this new concept, and add it to my artistic wedding repertoire.

A close up of their names and font

A close up of the date and font

A close up of the texture on the tree

The finished result when I handed it over to Lisa before the weddiing

The finished result at the wedding reception

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. The painting was pretty large (30x36inches) and really made a statement within the reception room. Matt and Lisa opted out of having everyone sign next to their prints, and had a separate guest book for their guests to sign. All in all I'm pretty pleased with the end result and I have a new skill to add to the list.

Tell Me Who You Are

So it seems like forever since I've posted last. Been really busy with the visit from my parents, training Zoe, and getting into the hang of working full time, and really just trying to find my place in the world now that I've finished school. I recently had business cards made to hand out to people who may be interested in having some work done, and in that spirit, I feel like I should post some pictures and information on my Solo Exhibition so that prospective clients can get an idea of what I like to do, but am not limited to.

The idea for the show Tell Me Who You Are started from multiple ideas. I really enjoyed the process of "breaking down" a photograph to be as simple as possible, only keeping key details of a person's face, and seeing if the end result still maintained the character and "essence" of the original person.

 The second idea was to play with the notion that social Networking sites offer a place for individuals to recreate themselves, and in these portraits that we see, which have been significantly reduced and highlighted, are these who these individuals really are? Or are we seeing what they want us to see?

Also to mention, these portraits are now for sale. Please contact me for more details! A special thank you to Bobby Craig and Jo-Ellen Sterling for buying their portraits and showing your support!
Anyone interested in commissioning a painting, please contact me, I am able to create all types of artwork. Below are some further examples of my work...

This drawing was done in high school from a photograph of myself and two friends. It's done in pencil crayon and drawn in our favorite colors of the time!

This painting is done in oil and was a school assignment in my third year at NSCAD. It's done from a photograph I took on Vancouver Island.

This painting is done in Acrylic and is a portrait of my friend Connie. I enjoy creating portraits of people and incorporating their interests and personality into the image. This is another example of how I've "simplified" a portrait.

This was another school assignment in my third year of NSCAD. It's a mixture of rubber latex with soap, food coloring and a screenprinted image overtop. The assignment was to experiment with unusual items to create a painting. One thing kinda led to another...

This again, was a school assignment in my third year of NSCAD. It was to create a 3D painting. I was really inspired by these Mexican Jumping beans given to me by a friend, so I experimented again with the rubber latex to create a kind of "skin." One I painted more realistically, the other I tried to make it look like there was a worm inside with a stuffed nylon.