Tomorrow we are off to finish setting up at our favourite show of the year, Jamie Brick's "Fantasy in the Forest". 2012 marks the 17th year for this fabulous art show! Set in a magical location, 20 artists offer up their gorgeous wares to avid collectors. The show runs Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22 from 10 am to 5 pm.
See previous posts about this show here and here :) Prepare to be enchanted!
I love creating Faerie Rounds. These small ornaments of enchantment embody possibility and dreams. Each unique orb contains scraps of mixed media ephemera, text & calligraphy from my magical art studio. A scroll bearing the Faerie Round legend is tucked inside each gift box. Purportedly, Faerie Rounds attract only good Faeries... although even good Faeries can be mischievous! I will have a good supply of these little beauties at the Fantasy in the Forest Art Show, coming up Saturday and Sunday, July 21st and 22nd.
THE LEGEND OF THE FAERIE ROUND: Did you know that Faeries have a bad habit of collecting EVERYTHING? They consider small, colourful scraps of paper extremely tantalizing and prize, above all, those precious bits adorned with calligraphy. Faeries have been known to spend hours trying to figure out what the writing says... they don't speak our language, you see.
For centuries it has been considered very good luck to have Faeries visit your home. Traditionally, Faerie Rounds have been hung for the purpose of attracting these magical creatures. Precious scraps of paper, especially calligraphic bits, are arranged temptingly inside a glass sphere, creating an attractive ornament while preventing the Faeries from "nicking" the paper. But they can't help themselves from at least coming in for a look...
My newest mixed media painting, "PASSION", is hanging at the Almonte Herb Garden in the Bergamot Barn. It is one of a selection of mixed media works in a show called Spice of Life, featuring OMMA [Ottawa Mixed Media Artists].
Spice of Life runs until July 30th. If you are in the area,
take time to see the show and wander around the Herb Garden. It is a
lovely experience.
As often happens, I finished this piece quite soon before it went to the gallery and I only got a few days to enjoy it myself. The painting is inspired by the series Game of Thrones and I am quite in love with it! Watch "PASSION" evolving below in the short video I made to chronicle the journey of its creation. Enjoy!
As promised, more about this magical show. We have known Jamie Brick for years and consider him an amazing artist as well as a wonderful friend. He never seems to run out of ideas or energy to make his Fantasy in the Forest show even more spectacular and this year was no exception!
About a week before the show, Jamie sent us an email telling us about a new space that was not done yet but that he thought would be perfect for both my work and Larry's. He told us he was building a ten by sixteen foot addition onto a building in the center of his property. The back wall would be the cordwood wall that lead to the deck facing the lake and the entry would be through the little fantasy building. He told us the front wall was up and had three gothic church windows four feet wide and ten feet high. It faced the garden and the driveway. It did not have the end wall yet, and would not have it before the show but when it was done it would have a matching gothic window facing the lake. The major draw back this year was that it would not have the roof done at all. The floor would be in and solid and the three windows but he was running out of time.
We replied instantly to this email that YES, we wanted to display in that room!!! Who needs a roof or all the walls??? It was like he made this space for us.
The entry through the little fantasy building.
Three gothic church windows four feet wide and ten feet high.
We brought a tarpaulin and Jamie built a roof framework for it to hang on. We all spent a relatively sleepless night before the first day of the show as it poured with rain and we didn't know if the tarp would hold! But all was well in the morning - our art was not affected. Jamie also put up three booth wall panels for us to use where the end wall was missing and which gave us great display space.
This is one of Jamie's latest BEAUTIFUL sculptures. She greets you as you descend the driveway and the light will actually work!
This is another wonderful booth location with a decorative arch.
This is a view looking down the hill to the lake where there were several more tents.
Jamie Brick's Fantasy in the Forest show gets better with each passing year...14 so far! He had mentioned building a floating booth to put on the lake. Maybe next year? We are hoping for a roof and end wall on the gothic room instead ( :
The entry through the little fantasy building.
Three gothic church windows four feet wide and ten feet high.
This is one of Jamie's latest BEAUTIFUL sculptures. She greets you as you descend the driveway and the light will actually work!
This is another wonderful booth location with a decorative arch.
This is a view looking down the hill to the lake where there were several more tents.
Saturday was fairly well attended and Sunday it was non-stop people!
Here is a close up of my table display with objets d'art for sale.
We had the most awesome display room with three 10' gothic windows. And next year we will have a roof!
We managed to pack all of our art and personal stuff in the MINI with room to spare.
Two of the Gothic Portal series on display. They got a lot of interest.
