Studio 52

Here's another amazing plein air piece for our Saturdays with Cindy spotlight! Cindy painted this piece at the Providence Lane Homestead as part of the Alberta Open Farm Days event! It's titled "Sparrow listens as Mrs. Cacklepants expounds on world peace". Great title!

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"This summer, my husband and I drove to Northwest Territories. The huge areas of recent forest fires was staggering. We saw vast areas full of fireweed, and it's pinks and mauves were beautiful amidst the charred stumps. Fireweed is the first plant to appear after a forest fire and the reason has to do with one of it's methods of propagation, rhizomes. When fire ravages a landscape, all plant life above the ground is reduced to ash. But beneath the surface are fireweed's rhizomes, long roots protected by 2 to 6 inches of soil. They very quickly push up sprouts of new plants and these stabilize the soil, provide food for animals, and help start ecological recovery of the burnt area." - Sharon Shuttleworth, artist

Shuttleworth

What do you think? Should we have an exhibition and showcase our works from the Ripples project? We've worked awfully hard this year and there have been some amazing creations that have come about!

Stay tuned! We'll let you know!

Today's Saturday Spotlight features a piece by Cindy Zampa. She painted the piece on location at the Providence Lane Homestead for the Alberta Open Farm Days event. This piece is lovingly titled "Fup, at Providence Lane Homestead.”

Come back next Saturday to see more from Cindy!

"There are 12 different types of Magnolia trees and shrubs with large leathery leaves and impressive white or pink flowers in early spring. Magnolias are slow growing - taking 10-20 years to reach their ultimate size, and they typically live between 80 - 120 years. Both the flowers and the bark of the tree are commonly used in traditional medicine." - Pearl Taylor, artist

This is the latest piece in the Ripples project by artist Pearl Taylor. Stay tuned here for more from our Studio 52 artists.

"This little piece was an exercise in the watercolour technique called wet-on-wet. Basically, the surface of the paper is wet water in predetermined areas, and then wet paint is dropped into those areas and allowed to flow wherever it wants to. The results are hard to predict and a lot of my attempts turn into sort of muddy messes, but occasionally one works out!" - Sharon Shuttleworth, artist

Sharon Shuttleworth

"While I was still in my state of not knowing what to paint, another Studio 52 member, Pearl gave me this prompt: Snail. Pearl loves snails so I wanted to do her prompt justice. While looking for reference photos, I came across one of Liguus fasciatus, Florida tree snails. These colourful little guys live in South Florida and Cuba and prefer trees with smooth bark. Around 50 colour variants of this rare snail have been recorded." - Sharon Shuttleworth, artist

Shuttleworth

"In this little painting, the goal was to capture the ease with which a gull dips and soars above the water, with it's reflection flitting across the surface of the water. It was a fun little painting to do, and I think the goal was achieved." - Sharon Shuttleworth, artist

Sharon Shuttleworth

This Saturday Spotlight features another plein air piece by Cindy Zampa! Cindy completed this piece in Drumheller at a workshop with Dominik Modlinski! We think she captured the atmosphere of the Rosebud River just perfectly!

Cindy Zampa

"I was struggling for an idea of what to paint and Cindy, one of our Studio 52 members, gave me this prompt: Chaos and splatter, and our dog Junie B. This memory of last winter seemed to fit the prompt. Junie LOVES snow. LOVES it! No longer can I sit inside and admire the snow while I'm toasty warm. Nope, I've got to be out in it because that's where Junie wants to be!" - Sharon Shuttleworth, artist

Sharon Shuttleworth