Category: Community

Spooked by Triskaidekaphobia???

Does the fear of the number 13 affect you??  Hopefully not!

The Ferrari 500 is an art show popping up this coming Friday the 13 – and it’s less than 2 weeks away!  The only scary part is the possibility that you’ll miss out and forget to come… so mark your calendars!

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It’s really nothing to be scared of – especially since it’s going to be sooooo much fun and a feast for the eyes!

• 17 very friendly, approachable, and un-scary local artists will in be attendance, showing their awesome original art, and they all will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

• All of the amazing art for sale is decidedly affordable, as every item for sale at our event will be priced at the un-scary price of $500.00 OR less!

• Way-Cool Door Prizes!!  Each person coming to the Ferrari 500 will be given a door prize ticket, and you will get to choose your chance from a wide array of donated art, gift certificates, etc. (donated by our artists!)  Believe! Believe in the power and luck of the number 13, and you could be coming home with a wonderful door prize!  Believe!

• Making our community a bit stronger is surely a non-scary and joyful thing to do…  Did you know that 10% of any purchase you make will be donated by the artist to The Working Centre, a Kitchener institution that is making a difference in our community!

• A New Signature Cocktail:  The Formula One!
This pineapple juice and moonshine concoction was crafted by Terry Gibson of Moondance Whiskeys, our event’s provider of spirits!  No, not the scary kind of spirits… it’s OK!  In additional to the tasty Formula One, Terry with be serving up his special selections of wine and beer.

Formula One 970

Developed with rising star Ben Murphy of Murphy’s Law Distillery, Elmira, Ontario, Moondance is a double distilled, triple charcoal filtered corn mash spirit, historically known as Moonshine, the first offering of its type made in Canada using traditional recipes originating from 17th Century Midlands England and further refined in the Hills of West Virginia, USA.

•  Yummy Snacks!
Our 17 artists will also be providing their own signature snacks for the evening.  How can that be scary?!  Nom nom nom!

Friday the 13th?  It’s really a lucky day, with the power to change your life.
Just imagine, you come out to our event in the energizing space of Communitech’s Area 151 Hub, make some new friends with artists, fall in love with a painting, and by purchasing it, you strengthen a worthy community organization (The Working Centre), and bring some visual joy to your home – very lucky indeed!!!

Where:       Communitech, 151 Charles St. W, Kitchener
When:         Friday, October 13, 2017,  from 5:00pm to 9:00pm

Available
Kakabeca’s Concertillion

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by Categories: Art District Gallery, art exhibition, Community, paintings, Prints, Sale, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Ferrari 500 – Mach 2!!

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The Second Ferrari 500 Exhibition (Mach 2!) is at hand!  We had an amazing debut show at Button Factory Arts in February, and remain grateful for all the folks that came out and helped make the show such a success!  In this second rendition, to be held at Communitech on October’s Friday the 13th, we’ll have even more artists, more art, and even more fun…

The Mission of The Ferrari 500 – Moving Art!

The first purpose is to benefit our local art lovers, allowing fine local art to be found and purchased at easily affordable prices.

The second purpose is to benefit local non-profits and/or charities by selling art, and donating a percentage of funds from the sales of art to a local non-profit or charitable foundation.

For this rendition of The Ferrari 500, 10% of all sales will be donated to The Working Centre in Kitchener.

And the last, but not least, purpose of the F500 is to benefit local artists by providing an exciting venue to sell fine art.

The Donation

For the 2nd rendition of the Ferrari 500, we have chosen The Working Centre in Kitchener to be the beneficiary our donations.  We in the Waterloo Region are so fortunate to have a facility where “people have access to tools to create their own work combined with continuous ways of learning and co-operating.”

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The Working Centre in Kitchener

In Ken Westhues book The Working Centre, Experiment in Social Change, he describes the centre in this way. “Two decades later, it has survived as an independent instrument of self-help community development, and has woven itself into the fabric of Kitchener-Waterloo. It has also achieved a certain maturity, coherence and confidence in its approach to work and unemployment and in its conception of itself.”

The Event

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Communitech

Communitech is an industry-led innovation centre that supports, fosters and celebrates a community of nearly 1,000 tech companies. “We support companies at all stages of growth and development—from startups to rapidly-growing mid-sized companies and large global players”… and local artists too!!!  We are very grateful to Communitech for allowing us to use the space in their Hub.

Venue:       Communitech, 151 Charles St. W, Kitchener
Date:           Friday, October 13, 2017,  from 5:00pm to 9:00pm

The Artists….

In this second rendition of the Ferrari 500, these 17 amazing artists will take the starting gate:

Cathy Amos
cathyamos.blogspot.ca

Dominique Cinq-Mars Delay
dominiquecinq-marsdelay.com

Barb Di Renzo
leftaligndesign.ca

Amy Ferrari
amyferrariart.me

Jennifer Gough
mindseyestudioart.com

nik harron
nikharron.com

Desiree Lichty
artbydesi.net

James Nye
jamesnye.com

Nancy Peng
nancypeng.wordpress.com

Roslyn Ramsay
roslynramsay.com

Steven Restagno
stevenrestagno.com

Pamela Rojas
pamelarojas.com

Amy Roger
amyroger.com

Jax Rula
circleworks.net

John Rula
rulart.ca

Julian van Mossel-Forrester
julianvmf.com

Raflar (Ralf Wall)
raflar.com

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by Categories: Art District Gallery, art exhibition, CommunityTags: , , , ,

Ferrari 500???

As my paintings continue to get painted, and new concepts are becoming expressed, I’m always thinking about ways to sell paintings, in order to make way for even more paintings with more experimentation and more expression…

500?

So, I had the idea of a show where all of the art was very affordable, which to me, means that each painting would be priced at $500.00 – or under!  And then the ideas exploded from there…

From the beginning, I knew that I’d like to have an invitational type of show, where artists that I personally know, and whose work I deeply respect, could come together to put on an event, because together, we are an amazing group of artists.  🙂  And together, we’ll be able to accomplish much more than we could individually.  I am truly honoured to have so many of my friends and local artists agree to be a part of this show!

Ferrari?

The idea for the name, well, at first, it was just a giggle…

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No, not this Ferrari 500!

But, to my surprise, it seemed to have staying power!  Well… why not?  Why not capitalize on having a very recognizable last name, that also is synonymous with the highest quality and undeniable aesthetics?  It also makes sense, because all of the artists involved are top-notch (Ferrari quality!) local artists – and – a big part of the point of the show is to move art!

But Wait!  There’s More!

 

I very much wanted to have a percentage of the proceeds go towards our local community.  So, an important component of the Ferrari 500 is to help out a local nonprofit or charitable foundation by means of donating 10% of all sales to the community organization.

The Event

My vision for the Ferrari 500 is that it becomes a series of pop-up style shows, recurring 2 to 4 times a year, with changing venues, and changing community beneficiaries. Happily, my idea is beginning to transform into a reality.  The Ferrari 500 Debut Exhibition is at hand!

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Button Factory Arts

The venue and the community nonprofit are one in the same, our own local arts hub, Button Factory Arts.  We in the Waterloo Region are so fortunate to have a facility where arts programming can happen, art classes can be taken, and art of all types, and artists from all levels of experience, are nurtured and appreciated. Sadly, due to unexpected structural renovations last fall, Button Factory Arts had to be closed, and therefore, lost a month’s worth of revenue from events and classes.  So the proceeds raised by the Ferrari 500 will help towards restoring funds for operations and events.  Yay!

Venue:       Button Factory Arts, 25 Regina St. South, Waterloo
Date:           Friday, February 24, 2017,  from 4:00pm to 9:00pm

The Artists….

In the first rendition of the Ferrari 500, these 12 artists will take the starting gate:

Cathy Amos
cathyamos.blogspot.ca

Gary Barnett
garybarnett.ca

Dominique Cinq-Mars Delay
dominiquecinq-marsdelay.com

Amy Ferrari
amyferrariart.me

Jennifer Gough
mindseyestudioart.com

nik harron
nikharron.com

James Nye
jamesnye.com

Roslyn Ramsay
roslynramsay.com

Jax Rula
circleworks.net

John Rula
rulart.ca

Julian van Mossel-Forrester
julianvmf.com

Raflar (Ralf Wall)
raflar.com

Get Revved-Up to Become an Art Collector!

The holidays have come and gone. It’s the dead of winter. In Canada. So why not focus on refreshing your home, cottage, or office space with a new splash of colour and lively expression?   The prices will be, by design, low enough, and the atmosphere will be charged with artistic creativity.  Come out and meet and support your local artists, see and support your local arts hub, enjoy some tasty nibbles and drinks, and find some unexpected treasures to cherish for years to come…

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by Categories: art exhibition, Community, paintings, SaleTags: , , ,

Color Studio at Button Factory Arts!

If you’re interested in delving into color theory for artists, you’ll want to clear your Thursday evenings in the fall!

I love what I do so much,
It’s hard to not want to share what I’ve learned over the years with others.
I teach in a relaxed atmosphere, with lots of fun and nurturing guidance.

Color Studio at Button Factory Arts
Thursday evenings, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
October 13, 20, 27, November 3, 10, 17, 24, December 1 (2016)

Find out more and register at  www.buttonfactoryarts.ca  or inquire and register in person at 25 Regina Street in Waterloo.

Color Studio

This is a very intense and fast-paced 8-week series about the mastery of color mixing and color usage. This class is not best for absolute beginners, but is great for those with at least a small amount of painting experience, and a lot of determination. Students should be 15 years old or older.

The many exercises are fun, enlightening, and quite challenging ways of learning through doing. At the heart of this class is coming to a deeper understanding of color relationships, both in color theory and in color usage. Not only will you enhance your ability to understand color systems, navigate color space, see colors, match color, and mix colors; you will also enhance your ability to embolden your use of color and stretch your abilities to be more accurate, more expressive, and more imaginative with your color choices.

The entire first session will be dedicated to discussion of color theory, and there will be no painting during the very first session, as it will be all discussion and demonstrations.  You will receive useful handouts, and you may want to take notes.  Part of the discussion will be the appropriate paints and other supplies to buy and there will be a short list of required acrylic paint colors.

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by Categories: Classes, CommunityTags: ,

One Hour to Paint a Rain Barrel?

What a great time I had at the Summer Lights 2016 painting a rain barrel for REEP Green Solutions!  Thanks to everyone for coming out to cheer me on, to James Howe of REEP for the unique painting opportunity, and to my fellow rain barrel painters, nik harron, Julian van Mossel-Forrester, and Jennifer Gough for their artistic fellowship!  You guys did some amazing paint jobs!

My idea for the rain barrel was to have two distinct intertwining webs in earthy yellows encircle the barrel having over a deeper jewel-toned purple.  The intertwining webs are about community and interdependence, while the purple background symbolizes the importance of what goes on in the unseen realms.

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Sketching in the design… should have know at this point that I was biting off more than was possible….

 

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Frantic to stay within the one-hour limit….

 

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Fortunately my crew steps in to save the day!

 

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Starting to get into the groove….

 

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Woo Hoo!  Painting on King Street!

 

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Finally… The Finishing Touches!

 

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After 5 Hours…Done!

 

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Next stop…  Silent Auction!

 

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Julian’s rain barrel

 

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nik’s rain barrel

 

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Jennifer’s rain barrel

While the idea was to paint the barrel during a one-hour time slot, I’m afraid the design I chose to paint just wasn’t doable within the one hour timeline!  What was I thinking!!!?  I was so grateful that nobody seemed to mind that I took extra time to complete the rain barrel the way I had envisioned.  And big thanks to Marco and Jessica Loof for jumping right in to help execute the painting!  All in all, I put in 5 hours on that barrel…. so it’s a big fail on my time management skills, but still, I’m fairly pleased with how the barrel turned out.  It’s not every night that one can sit smack in the middle of King Street in Kitchener and paint!

Happily, all of the rain barrels painted are available for sale!  All of the painted barrels are being auctioned off at www.reepgreen2016.eflea.ca until June 27.

 

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Thanks Kitchener!

A heartfelt thanks to the people of Kitchener for helping me paint 105 tiles at the 2015 Maker Expo!

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IMG_20150919_130221 IMG_20150919_152608

IMG_20150919_155645   Slowly, the image appears!

IMG_1718  A very nicely painted tile! (4-N)

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Even during the wind and rain, participants of all ages stopped by my Crowd Painting booth to paint a tile via the paint-by-numbers method, and made it a success!  And major thanks to KW’s KWARTZ Lab for making it happen!

11215182_10207649876755604_2867819085372654850_n  The painting table.

IMG_1716 The drying table.

The design of the robot was a collaborative effort between myself and my Marco.  Who can resist a good old-fashioned robot!  This robot’s name is KWARTZ-Bot in honour of KWARZ Lab, and he’s somewhat taunting everyone to MAKE stuff!  The 1’s and 0’s spell out ‘KWARZ’ in binary code.  There are 3 giant USB ports just above the legs, and a circuit board mid-section – just in case it’s not apparent from the picture.

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What a great day for robot battles and so many exhibits!  If you’ve never been to Maker events before, it’s well worth going just to see all the robots and the cool stuff people can make as technology becomes more and more accessible.  It’s also fun and educational for kids!

Special thanks to Doug, Kerri, Brett, Madelaine, Deborah, Matt, Jennifer, Wendy, and of course, Marco, for all your extra help and support!  🙂

IMG_1727  IMG_1721

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by Categories: art exhibition, Community

Public Painting Project at the Maker Expo!

I’m very happy to announce that I’m doing another public art project!

Tomorrow – Saturday the 19th – I will be at Kitchener City Hall from 10am to 6pm presiding over another paint-by-number tiling project.  My public art project is brought to you by KWARTZ Lab Maker Space, and is a small part of Waterloo Region’s Maker Expo.  It should be a most interesting collection of exhibitors and all kinds of creative goodness!

Now, last time I did a paint-by-number tiling project, the piece was based on one of my paintings of tulips.  This time, the image is quite different, and is based on…..  well…. you’re just going to come out and see for yourself!!

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Below is a pic of me working on preparing the tiles… we’re really going to need some public participation to paint all 105 tiles, completing a sizeable 4ft by 8ft painting!

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by Categories: art installation, Community

Spring Program Guides Are Here!

Introducing some new classes I’m offering at Button Factory Arts!

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Click this link to sign up!

15-209    Colour Lab: Theory
Saturday, May 30th 12- 4pm (Workshop)
$76 members/ $89 non- members

This class will be more theory then painting. It is an intensive course in colour theory and mixing colour with acrylic paints in a friendly studio atmosphere. This session is dedicated to an extensive discussion about colour theory. The purpose of the class is to become comfortable with the three-dimensional colour space and have colour mixing and matching become intuitive.

15-210    Colour Lab: Usage 
Saturday, June.6th 12- 4pm (Workshop)
$76 members/ $89 non-members

This class will be more painting than theory. The purpose of this class is to embolden your use of colour, to stretch the possibilities of colour usage, to be more accurate, more expressive and more imaginative. All of the exercises will require a “ramped-up” use of colour, with the idea that after the class, it will be easier to tone down your colour usage as needed rather than struggle and wonder how to “ramp it up”.

15-215     Amy’s Open Studio 
Wednesday, May 6th – Jun.10th 7-9 pm (6 weeks)
$125 members/ $145 non- members

Students will work on their own projects at their own pace, and will have some individualized attention. Impromptu mini-lessons as the student-driven need arises; with composition and visual communication being of prime importance. A key feature is that we’ll spend a small section of every class in a review, with everyone offering constructive input about the ongoing projects in a super positive atmosphere. If you are frustrated with your paintings, and want to break through to higher levels of artistry, this is the class for you!

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by Categories: Classes, Community, studioTags: ,

Art-Mersion: Technology Breakdown!

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Art-Mersion is this weekend at Button Factory Arts, 25 Regina St. S in Waterloo.
Friday evening, we’re serving Wine and Cheese from 5:00-7:00pm
Saturday afternoon is #PiDay2015 – 3.14159 so we’re celebrating by serving up 9 pies on 03/14/15 from 1:00-4:00pm
We have several exhibits demonstrating how we can explore Art through Technology.  We are experimenting with ways to deepen your understanding and appreciation for original paintings by using various types of technology to learn more about the painting on various levels.
Explore Art Emotionally – Using the MUSE Brain Sensor, use your brain activity to interact with “Amy’s Garden”. As you relax, the garden will calm down. As you get more excited, the garden will join you in your excitement! Plus, you get to immerse yourself in the 4’x4′ Christie MicroTile Wall. (Created by Kirk Zurell)
Augmented Reality – See how the paintings evolved from the original inspiration source through to the final painting. You’ll also hear Amy Ferrari tell the story behind the painting. (Created by Amy and Marco Ferrari)
Virtual Reality – Immerse yourself in a virtual art gallery and explore the space with a collection of Amy’s paintings. (Created by Bernie Roehl)
Dance With Art – Using the Kinect sensor to capture your gestures, you will be able to Dance and modify digital images of Amy’s paintings and morph them into your own unique creation.  (Created by Glen Mead – Music by Allan Robb)
Browse a Digital Gallery – Relax comfortably and move the gallery around you by waving your hand. The Kinect Sensor allows you to control and explore a digital gallery of art from the comfort of your seat.  (Created by Alessandro Marin and John Mead)
Take a Closer Look – Using a touch screen, zoom in for a closer look on your favourite painting or video. Move around to explore what you want to see. (Created by Brian Wannamaker)
Discover Art –  We used the GestureTek Cube to project images onto the floor and allow you to step on the images to play with them and uncover them. (Created by Marco Ferrari)
The Language of Music – Frank Chen has chosen some of his latest music to communicate his impression of the journey through the creation of this “Serene Yellow Spaces” exhibit. Amy and Frank have worked together to understand each other through images and sound and we think you’ll be delighted to take the audio journey through the evolution of the exhibit.
Follow the Process – Amy has prepared a slide show of how the “Serene Yellow Spaces” exhibit has developed. She also has filled the case with original sketches.
Hope you can make it out to this unique experience.

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by Categories: art exhibition, Community, morphingTags: ,

Serene Yellow Spaces: Finding A Path To Serenity

What does serenity mean?

For me, serenity is a condition of the soul, and it means ‘calm acceptance’.

What does that look like?

Well, representing calmness usually involves horizontality. Calmness can also be represented as a lack of excitement and an abundance of harmony, or, unity. A serene type of calmness epitomized by expansive scenes in nature, with sight lines that go into the distance: water, mountains, sky, trees and flowers.

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It’s as if the idea of serenity has to with something bigger than you. Big open spaces embody the serenity of the great outdoors. Indoors, most people find open, uncluttered spaces to be more calming than tight, cluttered spaces. Blues, cool tones and neutral colors all seem to point to serenity. A notable exception would be the type of serenity found a nice, warm, cozy cocoon setting, definitely not an open space, but also a space with no room for clutter or confusion.

The challenge with serenity is to not over-do it.  Serenity is just a short step away from boredom.   And that’s where the yellow comes in!

I hope you can make it to my show, Serene Yellow Spaces, on Friday, March 13th, from 5:00 to 7:00 at Button Factory Arts.

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The Art-Mersion Manifesto

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The Region of Waterloo can do it MEGA better.

Art-Mersion: The Region of Waterloo can do it MEGA better.

Having been celebrated has a micro-silicon valley, with start-ups sprouting like springtime tulips, it would seem the Region of Waterloo would be leaders – the AUTHORITY – when it comes to using our technological expertise to uplift our community through art.

Why, when we have so much local talent, are we required to trek to Toronto and beyond to experience the mega talents and the mega shows??

We have the mega talent here.
We have established and emerging artists right here in Region of Waterloo in all fields of art. The sad part is that most of our community has no idea such talent exists here. Wouldn’t it be cool if all of our community knew about our local artists, supported our local artists, and helped propel our local artists to even greater artistry and expand the reach of their mega talents?

We have the mega talent here.
We have vast resources of tech people and companies, with creativity, insightfulness, and intelligence oozing throughout our community. Wouldn’t it be appropriate and amazing if our tech sector spearheaded the charge for propelling our artists (who bring enduring vitality and livability to our community) through our uniquely local ability to utilize existing and emerging technologies?

We have the mega talent here.
Our community has such a history with the tech sector, that much of our greater community has been involved in tech industry roles. This also means that many people in our region have the ability to be the collaborative bridge between the artistic and tech groups. Often these skill sets are perceived to be at polar ends of the communication spectrum, but great things emerge when those skills are combined.

Art-Mersion Philosophy

Art-Mersion is focused on using interactive technologies to experience all kinds of Art. We believe that by bringing Art and Technology together, we can create something that is more than the sum of its parts. How can you use Technology to enjoy, understand and interpret art from different perspectives?

Technology can be used to build a deeper relationship to the Art and the artist. Technology can communicate the story behind the Art, explore components of the Art, connect to the emotions behind the Art and expand how you can relate to the Art. Let’s step beyond the typical and see what emerges.

Join the movement!

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