April 28, 2014

Creative Ramblings #8: How to make different shades of grey

Grey has the reputation of being a boring colour but it's actually one of the most versatile colours you will ever see. In this video I will show you how to mix a variety of grey tones without using black paint. I will use a variation of different colours of paint to create an interesting range of grey tones that are more exciting to look at then just a blend of black and white.

In this video I used Golden fluid acrylic paints to create a nice range of different grey tones. Golden Artist Colors offers a wide rang of colour choices which, combined with the techniques shown in this video, will give you an almost infinite range of grey tones.

If you enjoyed this weeks video blog please consider sharing it with your friends. If you have questions about this video or suggestions for future topics you would like me to cover, please leave a comment. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to see more Creative Ramblings videos. 

April 21, 2014

5 websites every artist should know.



This week I’d like to share with you a couple of sites that provide some very useful information for artists. As an artist I’m always looking to improve the way I present myself to the world, website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, there are so many channels to get your work out there that it’s sometimes hard not to get lost. The following websites continue to provide a wealth of information.

This website offers a wide range of articles for both artists an collectors, here you can find some great information about anything related to your art career. The site is created by Alan Bamberger an art consultant, advisor, author, and independent appraiser. If you have any questions at all related to your art career this is a great place to start looking for answers.

Written by Jason Horesj, the owner of Xanedu gallery and writer of ‘Starving to Successful’, this blog covers a wide range of topics, all related to improving an artists career. Jason also releases frequent video podcasts that I like to listen to in the studio, I love to be learning while I paint although I do have to stop every once in a while to take notes ;-) I find his advice particularly valuable because of his perspective as both a gallery owner and son of a successful artist. 

Co-host of the monthly video podcasts by the previously mentioned Jason Horesj, Barney Davey writes frequent blogposts that relate to art marketing. He offers some great insights in things like writing blog posts, handling social media and creating a successful website. Barney’s background as an art marketing consultant makes his information incredibly valuable since marketing continues to be a very abstract concept that many artists struggle to comprehend. 

Another gallery owner turned blogger, Edward Winkleman offers us a peek behind the curtains of the illusive New York art scene. Although his posts do not always offer straight forward advice, following his blog will give you some very valuable information about the gallery world and the New York art scene in particular.   

Carolyn Edlund has 20 years of experience as a successful self-employed artist and she is the Executive Director of the Arts Business Institute. Her blog not only offers great insights into the business of being an artist she also actively promotes artists on her blog, Facebook and Twitter feed. 

I wanted to share these sites because they have been, and continue to be, very valuable sources of information for me. I’m currently working on a redesign of my website based on information I’ve found on some of these sites. The internet changes every day so it is important that we change with it. If you have any websites that have helped you improve your art career please consider sharing them in the comments. I’d love to check them out! Have a wonderful week people!

April 14, 2014

Creative Ramblings #7: How to prepare your canvas or wood panel for painting.


Ah, an all new Creative Ramblings video! If you’ve been wondering how to best prepare your canvas or wood panel, check out this new episode to find out! No more SID and lots of tooth!


Last week has been a very artful week! I attended two amazing art events, on Thursday Montreal ArtBomb celebrated its 1 year anniversary with a lively Art Marketplace event at the E.K. Voland Art Gallery. All the tickets were sold so it was a very busy evening! I talked to loads of amazing artists some of which were Dutch like me! I made some new friends and met the people who received my donated pieces, they were happy!, I was very glad to hear that! ;) And there was some amazing art to enjoy as well, I’m glad the artists were allowed to come 30 min before opening because after the opening the place was so crowded it was almost impossible to see the paintings!


On Friday evening Viva Vida Art Gallery hosted a vernissage for Louise Lemieux Bérubé. I was very excited for this one, Louise’s work is absolutely stunning. She creates these amazing, huge textile pieces. Her work totally transforms the gallery! I made a little video of the evening which you can see below. But if you have a chance you should definitely check out this exhibition in person! It will be at the gallery until ...

This upcoming week I’m planning on getting some studio time! I’ve got a couple of pieces that are waiting to be finished, there are two commissions awaiting attention and I have a whole new series of direct transfers to do! I’m also looking forward to receiving a nice box full of new art supplies somewhere this week and I have a nice pile on new panels to prep. Loads of stuff to do! Back to the studio! Back to work! Whohooo! Have a happy week everyone! :D


Awesome News!



Good morning on this beautiful Monday! Spring has definitely arrived in Montreal! If I look out of the window I can see the first bits of grass peeking out from under the snow, it’s all still a bit brown and muddy but we’re getting there :) It will be nice to finally be able to open all the doors and windows without freezing!

I received some very, very good news last week, I got accepted into the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit! This means I’ll be traveling to Toronto in the first week of July to show my work on Nathan Phillips square! I’m super excited! this is a very difficult show to get into so I’m absolutely psyched that I got accepted! Now I’ll have to lock myself in the studio to make sure I have enough new pieces to bring to the show! :)

This week will be an exciting week, art wise. On Thursday we will celebrate the one year anniversary of Montreal ArtBomb with the Montreal ArtBomb Art Marketplace event that will take place at the E.K. Voland Art Gallery from 5-9pm. All the participating artists have donated one ore more 8”x8” artworks to the event. Everyone who buys a ticket will receive one of these pieces and during the event you’ll be able to trade these pieces with the other attendees so you have the best chances of getting the piece you love most! I have donated three artworks to this event (see picture below). There are only a limited amount of tickets left so make sure you follow this link and buy yours today! 


On Friday night there will be another exciting art event at Viva Vida Art Gallery, showing the works of award winning, international artist Louise Lemieux Bérubé. She creates these stunning, large textile pieces that incorporate photography, I can't wait to check out her work! The night will start off with some contemporary dance and there will be music and wine to enjoy as well so I hope you will join us for another fun night at this amazing Pointe Claire Gallery!

Creative Ramblings #6: LinkedIn for Artists


Happy Monday people! Today is a good day! A new Creative Ramblings episode is out today and I’m going to be carefully optimistic and say that spring is finally finding its way to Montreal, it looks like we’re going to have an entire week with temperatures above 0C, during the day at least. Although my weather app does show a possibility for some more snow on Saturday but that’s almost a full week away so we’ll just not look at that for the moment ;) I love, love, love the snow but after so many months of it, it would be nice to be able to go outside dressed with just a few less layers :)

Last week I did a lot of video editing, but I did manage to squeeze in a little studio time as well! This week will be more focused on composition work behind the computer but if things go according to plan next week will be a full on studio week :D

Yesterday my hubby and I spent a couple of hours checking out the collage exhibit at the Montreal Contemporary Art Museum which was really awesome. They also have a great abstract exhibit going on and we some some amazing video art as well, it made for a great Sunday! They even had a big table set up in downstairs where people could sit down and create their own collages, which was off course too tempting to ignore :) so we spent some time cutting up magazines and creating something cool :)