Dots Calm

I look forward to this art auction and sale every year and this is my 6th year as a contributing artist.

October 15-27

It’s a great event and in just 3 weeks, you can preview over 1100 pieces of art, purchase art cards, calendars, and the official poster during Opening Night, hosted at the The Craig Gallery at Alderney Landing.

The auction and sale of artwork is online only and tiles go fast (and I mean fast! So be ready to get online and find your favourite artists).

Mosaic For Mental Health is the main fundraising event that raises money for CMHA Halifax-Dartmouth Branch to run socially inclusive programs for those living with mental illness.

__________

Mosaic for Mental Health

___________
Mental Health | Fundraiser | Artists Supporting Mental Health in our Communities | Nova Scotia Artists | Kindness

Mother Bear Spirit (6x6) She is a protector, a teacher, and a healer. Her deep maternal love for her cubs is unconditional and fiercely loyal.

She teaches us about balance and self care. Her winter hibernation is a time for deep rest. It is not her weakness, it is her strength.

She is a healer that teaches us that we can rise from difficult times with a renewed strength. She is a symbol of strength and courage.

This Mother Bear will be on the wall at this year‘s Mosaic for Mental Health Art Exhibition and Sale October 15-27 at the Craig Gallery.

You can preview art tiles in person Oct 15/16
The online only sale opens October 17th

_______________

Mother Bear Spirit | Fundraiser | Social Inclusion | CMHA Halifax Dartmouth | Support Mental Wellness in our Communities

The other thing that makes me nervous is when I start running out of the colour mixture I made. I’m winging it so if I have to make more I’ll get close enough…sort of like mismatched socks and we love those too.

The first layers are done. So far… so good.

This row has me a bit nervous.
Here’s what I’ve been working on for the past few days. This one’s just for fun to get ideas flowing. I don’t spend a lot of time mapping out perfectly even sections, so I rely on my eyes and my intuition that my dots are going to still be evenly spaced at the end.

So far the last six row of dots have fit nicely and when I added the last dots, I giggled a little and let out a sigh of relief.

I’m wondering if these dots are going to fit and if I’ll sigh a little relief or if I’ll be thinking about how to make it work.

And if that’s the biggest decision I’ll have to make, then it’s a pretty good day. 😊

Dot Art | Work in Progress | Contemplating my Next Move | Painting Process

I already forgot what I titled this mandala 😆 but in it are colours of bright blue, burgundy and gold.

Maybe you’ll just enjoy it as a simple mandala but maybe you’ll see more.

10 rings of 11 dots, with single, 3 and even 4 layers of more dots.

🩵 Light Blue is open and airy with a sense of tranquility and emotional ease

🫀Burgundy brings warmth and a connection to earth and a feeling of being grounded

💛 Gold brings wealth, success, and cheerfulness

10 can symbolize a fresh start. A completion of a cycle and divine order

11 can mean deep intuition, creative inspiration and empathy & compassion

Find it on the wall at this year’s Mosaic for Mental Health Art Exhibition and Sale October 15-27 at the Craig Gallery

Mandala | Fundraiser | Social Inclusion | CMHA Halifax Dartmouth | Kindness

Pink and Lime mandala 🩷💚

Pink often expresses love, compassion, playfulness, and femininity.

Lime green can express curiosity, “out of the box” thinking, and a youthful fun attitude.

Refreshing 🩷💚

Find it on the wall at this year’s Mosaic for Mental Health Art Exhibition and Sale October 15-27 at the Craig Gallery

Mandala | Fundraiser | Social Inclusion | CMHA Halifax Dartmouth | Kindness

Everyone Welcome - Kindness mandala

Find it on the wall at this year’s Mosaic for Mental Health Art Exhibition and Sale October 15-27 at the Craig Gallery

Mandala | Fundraiser | Social Inclusion | CMHA Halifax Dartmouth | Kindness

Yayoi Kusama
(1929-2026)

“A polka-dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm.
Round, soft, colorful, senseless and unknowing.
Polka-dots become movement...Polka dots are a way to infinity.”

Kusama died in a Tokyo hospital on August 14 at 97, her company Yayoi Kusama Inc. said in a statement Thursday. She kept painting until her final days.

She started seeing hallucinations as a child in Matsumoto, Japan, where flowers seemed to swarm and speak to her. Drawing what she saw became a coping mechanism, and those visions of endless repeating patterns became the engine of her whole career.

She left Japan for New York in 1958, rejecting an arranged marriage her family had planned. In 1962 she sold one of her early "infinity net" paintings to fellow artists Frank Stella and Donald Judd for $75. In 2014, her painting White No. 28 sold for $7.1 million, a record at the time for a living female artist.

She always said white male artists, Andy Warhol among them, appropriated her ideas while she was written out of art history. She staged "body festivals" with naked performers painted in polka dots, presented uninvited work at the 1966 Venice Biennale, and once wrote to Richard Nixon offering to sleep with him in exchange for ending the Vietnam War.

After a mental health collapse, she checked herself into a Tokyo psychiatric hospital in 1977 and chose to live there permanently, working every day in a nearby studio from morning to night. The recognition that eluded her early on arrived late: retrospectives at MoMA, Tate Modern, and the Hirshhorn, and a 2024 show in Australia that became the most attended exhibition in that country's history.

"I cannot imagine how I will be classified after my death," she once said. "It feels good to be an outsider."

A few more tiles going to Mosaics

CMHA Halifax-Dartmouth Branch Mosaic for Mental Health
Mosaic for Mental Health Art Exhibition and Sale October 15-27 at the The Craig Gallery

These a some of the mosaic tiles I have going to this year’s Mosaic for Mental Health fundraiser.

Now to come up with some titles and get them dropped off

CMHA Halifax-Dartmouth Branch
Mosaic for Mental Health Art Exhibition and Sale October 15-27 at the The Craig Gallery

💚