NEW PERSPECTIVES 2023 solo show, Riviera Gallery, Toronto Island

I love art but even better I like paintings that make my surroundings feel comfortable and special. Maybe my art is decorative but it’s also serious. How I relate to our beautiful world. Sometimes the shape of a sailboat hull just takes my breath away. Sometimes it’s a cloud bank or the shape of a person’s head. And most often, it’s the quality of light which draws a viewer’s attention. Why resist something so ferociously personal? I hope to share it with you.

Please join me on July 6^th, 7 – 9 pm, for the opening of my first solo show and sale since my 2021 show was cancelled due to Covid. (I don’t want to even write that word!) In keeping with tradition the show will be available for viewing the entire month of July at the Riviera Pub and Gallery, Toronto Island.

LOOKING AHEAD Autumn 2022

After another Covid delay I decided against a show in 2022. Much of the work I planned to show in 2021 had already sold so I am busy planning for July, 2023. 

I will be posting dates and sending postcards in June. Can't wait!

Many years ago I was looking for a studio, a space where I could spread out a bit. I also was looking for some support from a bunch of friends whom I admired from afar. I was newly released from a full time career and needed some direction on how I could become immersed in painting and creativity. Artscape provided the answer with studio space amongst the wild and wooly members of the island's Fake Art School. It's been wonderful fun ever since. (A raft of real classes helped as well.)

LIFE GOES ON Early winter 2021

Experiencing the COVID pause has offered me time to sit back and think about where I want my painting to take me. (I'll let you know when I find an answer.) In the meantime I have experimented with abstraction, impasto texturing and fantasy, returned to still life which I love, and even tried my hand at some drawing on tinted paper. All fun. I will post some examples under NEW WORK as the mood strikes!

NEW WORK 2020

Finally, I am releasing the work I have done over the last three years. I had been saving it all for the inclusive show I was scheduled to present in July 2020. Instead, we have this vile virus which is affecting everyone in peculiar ways.

My show at the Riviera Gallery was postponed until July 2021. Since none of us know what next summer is going to bring, I decided to add the work to my website now. All the pieces are available for purchase except those that are marked SOLD.

I hope you will have a look and if at all interested in purchasing a piece please email me at inancym@gmail.com Many of the pieces are framed and I will happily send you a photo of the framing and/or the work as hung.

May you all remain happy and healthy and loving art.

I was pleased to be invited to participate in a holiday fund-raising benefit for the John B Aird Gallery in Toronto. My painting sold and will contribute to the goal of finding temporary gallery space while the existing site is renovated.

THE MARITIME SERIES 2017

I love boats. I also love painting. And I have worked at The Nautical Mind bookstore for the last seven years. This nautical bookstore is full of fantastic books showcasing boats of all sorts. I am drawn to the historical beauties so I decided to interpret some of the photographs I saw in those books. I discovered it’s great fun to paint something you are passionate about. Hence the marine series I have developed over the last 10 months.

Since I am not out on the Mediterranean waters watching these fantastic boats perform I am working from photographs taken by world-famous lens men. Each painting has a canvas tag affixed to the back identifying the boat and the photographer credited with the shot.

Viewing will be July 22, 2017 from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Shaw House, Toronto Island. It would be lovely to see you there!

Show report

Sold out! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and support. Loved hearing your comments and yes, I will continue to paint boats and water. Energy begets energy. xo

Show report 2

Happy to report that two of my maritime series paintings were selected to be shown in a juried exhibition at The John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto.

RECTORY GALLERY EXHIBITION  2016

I pulled together a solo show in 2016 at the Rectory Café and Gallery, Ward's Island, Toronto. It was well attended and I sold 14 paintings. Always nerve-wracking but lots of fun. I will try to do it every two to three years to keep the juices flowing. You can view the pieces under Maritime in the menu.

The painting shown above is from the Gallery's group show which remains on view over the winter. Living amongst so many terrific island artists always means wonderful exhibitions. The theme this time is 'Vital Ingredients'. All things maritime are vital to my well-being, thus: Sails, Ropes and a Boat.

STUDIO MOVE  2016

I have neglected my website because I really didn't know how to use it. Now I have help. Fantastic!

I have moved out of the tiny studio in my house and now I'm happily painting at an Artscape studio at Gibraltar Point on Toronto Island. I have been sharing this studio for three years now and loving it.

LAST DRAWING CLASS  2015

No posts make it seem like I am not working. Not true. I have completed a painting I am very fond of but it was never intended for public viewing as the composition wasn't original. Therefore, I do not want to put it on this site. If anyone is interested let me know and I will send you a photograph.

In the meantime, I have completed a drawing course at George Brown and am posting an image of my last drawing which was done over six hours in class with a live model. I'm pretty happy with it although I plan to add a few more marks in the lower right before framing it and showing it at Luc's Sculpture Studio in a January show of realist works put together by Roberto Rosenman, my teacher.

REDUCTIVE DRAWING 2015

And then there is reductive drawing. Sand a piece of Conte. Collect the dust and rub it into the pastel paper. Then you can take more away by rubbing with a cloth and then a kneaded eraser. So, you're actually drawing by taking away. Highlights can be added with white Conte stick or pencil. Please forgive me if I'm sounding pedantic, I'm just thrilled with all this new info!

SILVERPOINT 2015

I am taking a drawing course at George Brown with my painting teacher, Roberto Rosenman. He is just the best. Check out his website at robertorosenman.com. Anyway, he teaches technique while having his students try new procedures. Attached you'll see some silverpoint examples. When drawing in the silverpoint technique you are using an actual silver wire on a surface you have prepared with a special ground. This was the way the masters in the 16th and 17th century drew, before graphite was discovered. Once a mark is put on the surface it is there, permanently. There is no erasing! To darken an area, you keep layering on marks until it is as dark as you desire. Pretty fun.

WELCOME TO THE STUDIO 2013