Moncton Studio Tours

Moncton just had their studio tours. Where we might be moving soon, I thought I'd treat myself to a tour instead of opening up my doors myself. Added bonus was meeting some new friends. The first photo is of Joan Gregory in the yellow. I especially loved the warm vibe in the studio. The fact that Joan had a helper who knows about art made it so much more welcoming. From a visitor's perspective, going into a private home studio can feel like you're intruding. When there's a crew of people there, it feels more like you're joining the party.

Next on to visit Georges Goguen. George has a wonderful idea for collage. He gathers odd bits of packaging cardboard and makes totems out of them. Old Mc Do's french fry containers broken down, the cardboard packaging liners in gloves, hole punch leftovers and any other cardboard you can imagine gets recycled into his signature totems. Inspiration comes from Egyptian hieroglyphs. George is also participating in Magnum Opus tomorrow night and what a great career he has had so far. He co- founded several prestigious galleries in Moncton and has had more than 60 shows.

This is Ginny Price. She had some pieces with mysterious winding paths. They're places you'd love to jump into and go explore- like the characters did in the movie Mary Poppins. Ginny has won prizes in juried competitions and is a member of several Moncton art clubs.

My last stop- yes you guessed it, I gabbed way too much and didn't get to finish- is a great treat. Elaine Amyot Her studio is in the back of her spouse, Edward's, used book shop. So a visit in can involve discussions on poetry, literature, making art, found objects, symbolism, good food and every other subject of interest. I found her works about women to be especially empowering and moving, which makes sense. Elaine is an empowered women herself. Here's a personal interview you may find interesting.

Some good news. I got into a juried art show for October at Heron Bay Gallery called Max III. Today I got some more of the musical elements of my December show worked out. I havn't gone into any detail on that yet, but I'm planning on having some artists of various disciplines perform at my December show. They're going to interpret the paintings with their craft.

I'm really excited about getting Aurélie Cormier Perreault on board today (as far as we know we're not related- but it's more fun to imagine we are). She has the most incredible voice I've ever heard. Manon Melanson is going to dance. I'm trying to get the music ready for her right now. Unfortunately the piece I have in mind is out of distribution and I'm having trouble getting a recording. There are a couple more artists involved that I'll tell you more about when the plans are more concrete.

Ran into a problem with my camera today, so I have no new paintings to post this week.