Gallery Openings Galore

After a wee little break from regular gallery showing, I’ve once again joined the Tumbleweed Gallery artists collective. We are a group of 8 diverse painters who show our work at 452 Main Street in Penticton, Tuesdays-Saturdays. Yay! My first opening back with the flock is this Thursday, Nov. 24, 5-8pm. This show includes a few of my favourite pieces from my 40 Days project, which I’ve framed up real nice. (With my new framing equipment! My new miter chopper is my new favourite belonging!! Despite the fact that I will surely one day lose a finger to it.) If you’ve read this blog lately, you’ve likely seen all of my work that will be available… except for one new little never-before-seen feather painting.

Across the street, on the same night, is an opening at Saint Germain Gallery & Café of a group exhibition called PSTCRD. This delightful show features postcard sized paintings and drawings by 13 local artists which will be auctioned off over the course of a week (November 24 – December 1). Opening bid on all artworks is $10!! Here’s what nonsense you’ll see there by me:

Two Chicks And a Duckling At the Beach, oil on paper, 4″ x 6″

Can you see ’em?? There at the bottom right? Frolicking in the surf. There they are. Now before you’re all “Hey, Jan, the ocean is NO place for chicks!”, I KNOW! In fact, word has it that there were initially seven of them and four of them were swept out to sea just before this image was taken. Tragic, really. I had always told them, “NO GOING TO THE SEA”, but as you can see baby chickens are a real bunch of rascals. What can you do?

Don’t Talk To Me While I’m Hunting Sand Fleas, oil on paper, 4″ x 6″

Baby Darth was super into his beach adventure. Sand fleas are his favourite. Mmmm, juicy!

Why Did I Even Come Here??, oil on paper, 4″ x 6″

Baby Moonlight, on the other hand, found the heat insufferable. Let’s face it, beach life is not for every chicken.

Bibeep Fait Dodo A La Plage, oil on paper, 4″ x 6″

Bibeep, of course, loved the beach! He’s a duck! He swam and played all day and into the evening, until he finally collapsed on a dune, plum tuckered out. Unfortunately, by this time the others had either drowned or gone home, too hot and full of fleas, and when Bibeep awoke he was alone. Cloud had rolled in, obscuring the moon. It was too dark to find his way home, so he decided to just live there forever. If you go to the beach you can still see him there, playing in the surf and begging for popcorn from tourists. If you do see him, please say “Hi” to Bibeep from me! Well, actually say “Allô”, as he only speaks French and Duck.

Please join me on Thursday evening at both gallery locations (452 and 449 Main St, Penticton) for some delicious food and wine and DOUBLE HELPINGS of good wholesome art. As Bibeep would say…à bientot!

Words and pictures by me, Jan Little.

40 Pieces of Art with Prices! (PART 2 of 2)

Read Part 1 for a rundown of how things work around here. 🙂 If you’d like any of the available pieces, please leave a message here, or send me an email (numnumland at gmail dot com) or a Facebook message (I’m at Jan Little Art o’er there).

Day 21: Sophie

oil on cradled panel, 4″ x 4″, Commissioned portrait, not available (get your own!! Easy! Affordable!)

Day 22: Bluebells (Yesterday)

oil on Arches oil paper, 3.25″ x 6″, unframed, no longer available

Day 23: Chocolate Lilies (Today)

oil on Arches oil paper, 3.25″ x 6″, unframed, $40 (**Someone has called dibs on this one, but please feel welcome to contact me in case she doesn’t end up buying it.)

Day 24: Salal Flowers (Tomorrow)

oil on Arches oil paper, 3.25″ x 6″, unframed, $50 (**Someone has called dibs on this one, but please feel welcome to contact me in case she doesn’t end up buying it.)

Day 25: PLEASE Stop Tickling Me

oil on aluminium panel, 6″ x 6″, unframed, no longer available

Day 26: Koi Pond

oil on aluminium panel, 11″ x 14″, unframed, Dibs have been called, sale in progress

Day 27: The Hatching Of Little Fawn

oil on cradled wood panel, 3″ x 4″, unframed, no longer available

Day 28: Bird And Rat Meet Again

ink on Canson drawing paper, 1.5″ x 2″, unframed, By Donation

Day 29: New Hair With Eye Bags

oil on aluminium panel, 6″ x 4″, unframed, $150

Day 30: Leaves

ink on archival paper, 7″ x 6″, unframed, $30

Day 31: Cat Cat Smart

oil on aluminium panel, 2.25″ x 2″, unframed, $40 (**Someone has called dibs on this one, but please feel welcome to contact me in case she doesn’t end up buying it.)

Day 32: Snow

oil on aluminium panel, 6″ x 4.25″, unframed, no longer available

Day 33: Self Portrait Oct 5 2016

oil on aluminium panel, 11.5″ x 8″, unframed, $250

Day 34: Florentine Dunes

oil on aluminium panel, 6″ x 7.75″, unframed, no longer available

Day 35: Naked Chicken Season

oil on aluminium panel, 5″ x 4″, unframed, no longer available

Day 36: Cloudstorms

oil on aluminium panel, 2″ x 3″, not available

Day 37: Aoife Meow Meow Meow

oil on aluminium panel, 2″ x 2″, not available

Day 38: Don’t Wake Rupee!

oil on aluminium panel, 4″ x 3″, not available

Day 39: Subconscious Takes The Wheel

oil on aluminium panel, 5.5″ x 3.5″, unframed, (**Someone has called dibs on this one, but please feel welcome to contact me in case she doesn’t end up buying it.)

Day 40: She’s A Goddam Hero

oil on aluminium panel, 8″ x 8″, unframed, No longer available

40 Pieces of Art with Prices! (PART 1 of 2)

Well, I did it. I made a goal and accomplished it and it was in some ways much easier than I thought and on some days nearly impossible. While doing these 40 pieces of art in 40 days, I kept up at my part-time job, I traveled to another city and attended a conference, I did a 3 week cleanse radically altering my diet, I gave up my vices, I got a cold, I got a UTI, I had insomnia, I had house guests, I suffered back pain from an injury in a car accident a few months ago and I KEPT GOING. I just kept working. I had no idea that I was capable of this. It is absolutely thrilling to discover that I am.

There is absolutely no way that I could have accomplished this without the help of Patrick Vrolyk and his sons, who picked up the slack for me around here. Thank you so much. Thank you also to the mysterious Argentinian musician, Fabien, who has just shown up in our household, cooking for us, always helping, always positive.

Anyhow, here are all of the pieces I made. Most of them are available. I believe that the prices are quite modest and even so I am willing to budge on all of them. I’d love to see them fly out of here, keeping my walls and table tops clear for all the work to come. If you’d like to buy any, please leave a comment here, send me an email (numnumland at gmail dot com) or a Facebook message, or see if you can ignite my latent mind-reading abilities (though be warned that prior attempts have been unsuccessful).

Some of these pieces are priced “By Donation”. I really mean that. I will take literally any amount for them and I will donate that amount to a charity of my choice (currently hoping to help Haitians, local animal shelters, and the homeless guy who hangs out in front of the book store who has been kicked out of the town’s only men’s shelter because his personality is abrasive.)

None of the pieces are framed. The paintings on cradled panels do not require it; they look perfect on the wall as is. The others would generally benefit from a frame, though the works on aluminium panel can be float mounted on the wall tastefully without a frame, with a few strategically placed nails. Upon purchase, I can give you some tips for mounting or framing. Eventually, I will frame any remaining in my possession. And then you’ll see.

Day 1: “Muddy Morning Waters Yum Yum”

oil on aluminium panel, 8″ x 4″, unframed, By Donation

Day 2: “Muddy Patty Porkpie”

oil on aluminium panel, 8″ x 4.5″, unframed, $100 (** this piece has been claimed, sale pending.)

Day 3: ” Young Willy”

oil on Arches oil paper, 6″ x 9″ (image), unframed, $150

Day 4: “Head Shot”

charcoal on Casson drawing paper, 6″ x 10″, unframed, $60

Day 5: “Feather 1”

oil on aluminium panel, 4″ x 6″, unframed, $60 (**Someone has called dibs on this one, but please feel welcome to contact me in case she doesn’t end up buying it.)

Day 6: “In The Wake Of Rita Bumby”

oil on aluminium panel, 4″ x 6″, unframed, $60 (**Someone has called dibs on this one, but please feel welcome to contact me in case she doesn’t end up buying it.)

Day 7: “The Town Monkey”

oil on aluminium panel, 10″ x 8″, unframed (actually I do have a frame I can throw on this for free if you like it), $250

Day 8: “Rotten Tomato”

oil on cradled birch panel, 6″ x 6″, unframed, $75

Day 9: “Moonlight As A Precocious Youngster”

oil on cradled birch panel, 6″ x 6″, unframed, no longer available

Day 10: Four of Nine Potatoes

oil on Cansons paper, 7″ x 10″, unframed, $80

Day 11: Camo Duck

oil on aluminium panel, 9.5″ x 5.75″, unframed, no longer available

Day 12: Sunset Duck Wants To Seduce You

oil on aluminium panel, 6″ x 4″, unframed, By Donation

Day 13: September Tree Is Going For It

oil on aluminium panel, 9″ x 10″, unframed, By Donation

Day 14: Gesture Studies on Ferry

graphite on Cansons paper, various sizes (under 9.5″ x 6.5″), unframed, By Donation (**the short haired lady and the guy in a cap are on reverse sides of the same sheet… my bad!)

Day 15: Florentine Wave

oil on cradled birch panel, 6″ x 6″, unframed, no longer available

Day 16: PEEEEEEEP

oil on cradled birch panel, 6″ x 6″, unframed, no longer available (this was a commission! You too could commission me to paint something of your choice!)

Day 17: Could Be A Heather?

oil on quail egg, about 1.25″ tall, unframed, $30 ($50 for the pair, with Day 18) (**This is super fragile and probably not shippable. Displaying it would probably requiring gluing it into a shadowbox, which is probably do-able by an experienced framer.)

Day 18: Could Be A Jane?

oil on quail egg, about 1.25″ tall, unframed, $30 ($50 for the pair, with Day 17) (**This is super fragile and probably not shippable. Displaying it would probably requiring gluing it into a shadowbox, which is probably do-able by an experienced framer.)

Day 19: So… No Walk I Guess

oil on cradled birch panel, 6″ x 6″, unframed, $150

Day 20: Impatience

oil on aluminium panel, 6″ x 4″, unframed, By Donation

Check out PART 2 for the remaining 20 paintings!

All words and pictures by me, Jan Little.

Day 40

I DID IT!!!!

She’s A Goddam Hero, oil on panel, 8″ x 8″

I sure wish I had a few more hours for this piece. I picked a bit of a challenging photo to work from today, it being the grand finale and all. Teresa, queen of all that is good and right in the world, is wearing a crinoline on her head, and I loved the shadows it threw on her face. Definitely would be something that I’d like to tackle on a larger format and with a little more time! And now that I’m done this project of finishing a painting every day, I CAN! I can make paintings that take days, EVEN WEEKS to paint! Woo hoo!! But you know what, now that I’ve done this project, the paintings that used to take weeks will now be done in days and the paintings that took months will be done in weeks! I’m SO excited to imagine all that I can accomplish henceforth.

But first I have to go to bed. 🙂

Sweet dreams!

 

This was day 40 of 40 Days.

 

All words and pictures by me, Jan Little.

Day 39

 

Here’s a fairly quick study of a small lady named Eswen wearing a giant cat head and glittery onesie at the beach.

What else can I say??

Subconscious Takes the Wheel, oil on panel, 5.5″ x 3.5″

 

If this painting makes sense to you, then perhaps you, like me, are due for some catching up in the sleep department.

 

This was day 39 of 40 Days.

 

Words and pictures by me, Jan Little.

Day 38

Another day at the book store today, so another wee painting of a wee tiny kitty cat to show tonight. Painting teeny tiny kitty cats is my new favourite thing to do! This painting itself isn’t too too wee, but the kitty in it is. This little fellow is called Rupert, though I know him as Rupee.

Don’t Wake Rupee!, oil on panel, 4″ x 3″

 

This was day 38 of 40 Days.

 

All words and pictures by me, Jan Little.

Day 37

Remember that time someone commissioned me to paint their baby and it took me two years? It was a pretty big painting of a baby’s face at 24″ by 24″, so I wondered if I’d have an easier time of it if I tried it much smaller. Like 2″ x 2″. Turns out, no. Not really. I mean, it didn’t take me two years this time, so that’s something. But man! Babies are tough business. The features are so subtle, the shadow shapes need to be just perfect in order to make it clear exactly who that baby is.

At any rate, today’s baby painting does look like a baby. Not exactly like the baby I was aiming for. So many times I got close and then one misstep with the wee brush and I was back in the NOPE zone. Eventually I got very close and decided to call it. And then I decided to put a cat face paint job on her, because I’m an artist and can do these things. If you want to draw whiskers on babies you should be an artist too!

Aoife Meow Meow Meow!, oil on panel, 2″ x 2″

 

This was day 37 of 40 Days.

 

All words and pictures by me, Jan Little.

Day 36

A long and busy day working at the book store led to a shorter evening spent creating a teeny tiny cat painting. This handsome fellow is a friend named Cloudstorms and he endures his hippy name with a quiet dignity. One of his people is celebrating her first birthday in a few days, so I made this portrait just for her.

Cloudstorms, oil on panel, 2″ x 3″

 

This was day 36 of 40 Days.

 

All words and artwork by me, Jan Little.

Day 35

Here I’ve been complaining about this cold weather, but at least I’ve got the ability to cover myself with layers of clothing. This silly hen decided, back when the days were still warm enough, to get going on a good molt.

She shed most of her feathers and is just now growing them back in. Now she is surely feeling these frosty October mornings!

I figured it’d been a while since I’d done a good nude, so here goes.

I came up with a great way of setting the painting right into my palette on the easel. Only works with the little paintings, of course, but dang, was it ever a nice way to work.

Et voila!

Naked Chicken Season, oil on aluminium, 5″ x 4″ish

 

This was day 35 of 40 Days.

 

All words, photos, and artwork by me, Jan Little.

Day 34

Fall has truly fallen and I’m freezing. Here’s a scene from a beach I visited this summer near Florence, Oregon, back in the days when my toes and fingers weren’t stuffed into wooly things and had feeling.

Florentine Dunes, oil on aluminum, 6″ x 7.75″

 

This was day 34 of 40 Days.

 

All words and artwork by me, Jan Little.