I’m so excited! Art Show…

Posted on May 10, 2019 by Louise Gallagher

It’s funny/weird/nice/exciting, to see my name in a list of artists.

It’s not something I thought I’d ever experience.

I didn’t start painting until my mid-40s. Up until then, I’d always said, I’m a writer, not an artist. I can’t draw. Have no talent that way.

Oh look at the things we can prove ourselves wrong about ourselves when we step outside of our limiting beliefs and just…. play.

That’s how painting began for me. I wanted to spend time with my eldest daughter who is an amazing artist, and painting with her seemed like a good idea.

It was brilliant!

I discovered something I am passionate about, and got to share with her in one of her passions as she also guided me in the ‘hows’ of painting. A win/win!

Today and tomorrow I am in an art show. I’ve been in this show before but had to withdraw for the past two years as life got busy and I searched for balance.

And now…. I’m back!

If your in and around Calgary over the next two days, I’d love it if you dropped by to say hello!

If not, I’ll see you here next week.

Have a beautiful weekend everyone.

Oh. And in case you’re wondering, there is still that little voice inside me that wants to leap into the excitement and hiss…. “you’re not really an artist.”

I tell him it’s okay. Calling myself an artist isn’t about putting my ego at risk. It’s not about comparing myself to others or even who likes or doesn’t like my work. It’s about what makes my heart happy.

Lessons from the studio

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Louise Gallagher

5 x 7″
Alcohol Ink on Yupo Paper
2019 Louies Gallagher

I am in an art show May 10 & May 11.

There’s a lot to get done.

I haven’t been in this show for a couple of years. Work, busy, no time to prepare kept me from entering. As a commitment to my ‘rejuvenation’ vis á vis retirment, I decided to participate this year.

I’ve been getting ready.

Most of the work I’ll be showing will be my alocohol inks. I don’t have my studio well enough set up yet to work on large canvases and I’ve been loving working with the aochol inks so much I’ve just kept creating.

Yesterday, along with sealing my finished work with Kamar, I played with a new toy — an air brush — and even though I still don’t quite have the hang of it, I think I’m in love!

Working with alcohol inks is all about letting flow what will flow, where it will flow. It’s about layering on, taking off, trusting that whtaever happens will be okay. Sometimes, the end result doesn’t cut it. Most times, with enough play and a whole lot of alcohol, magic happens.

Three important life lessons working with alcohol inks have taught me are:

You don’t need to be in control.
- Alcohol Inks are free flowing. Sure, you can use various media such as Friska to create specific images, but the joy and pure delight (for me) comes when you simply let go and let it flow. Letting go of wanting the inks to go one way, of wanting them to blend to create a certain ‘look’ is something that you need to give up (unless you really want to drive yourself mad!). Letting go doesn’t mean you don’t care about the outcome, it just means that along the way, you take pure delight in the experience of being in the moment, are willing to risk experimenting and are flexible enough to go where the ink flows.
- Like life, trying to be 100% in control of everyone and everything creates frustration, anxiety and disappointment. Svouring the moment, keeping an open mind, creating space for magic is vital to the experience.
The journey isn’t in knowing ‘how’, it’s in trusting you will discover the way as you go.
- Predicting what happens when you apply ink and then layer on alcohol and more colour, use a hairdryer or airbrush or any other method of moving the ink around is part of the process, but it’s not all of the process — you gotta be willing to follow the flow. Sure, you can master the airbrush and create images that resumble a flower or leaf or tree, but working with the airbrush means staying loose enough you give the ink room to flow as it will — because seriously, you can’t ‘make’ it flow exactly where you want it to or how you want it.
- Starting with an ‘idea’ of what you want to achieve is important — but as you move through the process, being flexible enough to adapt, and being open to new ideas as they arise is vital to creating a life that is joyful and fulfilling.
Everyone has their own unique Point of View. Honour the differences.
- Some of my paintings bring me great joy. Some, I think are okay – and then someone else sees the same painting I deem ‘blah’ and says, “Oh wow! That’s my favourite!” and I have to smile. We all see the same thing through our own unique perspectives.
- My sister always finds animal faces in my paintings. I don’t see them. Doesn’t mean they’re not there, it just means we are both looking at the same thing through different eyes and points of view. She looks for faces, I tend to ‘feel’ the colours and mood of a painting. Neither is wrong. Both bring value to our lives and to our conversation (believe me, I have spent a lot of time trying to see what my sister sees and seldom do — which is what makes life so rich. We each have our own POV and can celebrate the differences by honouring where we each come from, creating space for sharing of our opinions, views, ideas. — and just like layering on ink to create a whole new look and feel, creating space for someone else’s POV into your conversation creates a whole new landscape of texture/depth to work with!

I spent the weekend getting ready for my artshow in May. It was a labour of love and delight that colour my world in vibrant, beautiful hues of possibility.

South Calgary Art Show and Sale

Posted on May 12, 2017 by Louise Gallagher

Participating in an art show is more than just creating a bunch of paintings and then, selling some (she adds hopefully).

Because it’s about more than just the ‘selling’.

It’s about creating an experience that I like being involved within, and hopefully, in that experience, those who view my art, will also feel some of the essence of who I am when they look at, and (hopefully she adds again) purchase something.

This week I have collected, collated, assessed and determined.

I have framed and dusted off. Created tags and stories to go with the art. I have written my artist statement, both my personal statement and my statement for the #ShePersisted series that will be on display at the show. I’ve ordered business cards and cards of eight of the paintings from the series. I’ve also ordered 3 gicleé and 3 prints of some of them to show people what they would look like as a finished product — if they want to own one or two, or maybe even three (or more she adds again, hopefully) from the series.

When I was in the print shop to check the proofs for the cards, (Petro-Tech Printing is amazing! Thank you Jim and Evan) Jim mentioned a woman was in yesterday picking up her pieces as they were looking over the proofs of mine on the front counter. She was fascinated by the cards.

I think that is what has resonated so deeply within me, and what I hope within others about this series. The images and messages strike a chord within all of us. Like a harp string plucked in a room full of harps that causes all the harps around it to quiver in melodic response, this series quivers deep within our hearts. It is a recognition of our shared yearning for equality, freedom, dignity, hope, justice, respect. That yearning, and need, lives within each of us, women and men, alike.

Each painting is a story of our shared human condition — and the limiting beliefs we each experience that inhibit us from expressing it freely, completely, whole-heartedly. It is an expression of the divine feminine, and an acknowledgement that we can no longer suppress it, pervert it, contort it, deny it, ignore it. We need it to come fully alive if we are to create better in our world for everyone.

I am in an art show all weekend. I am grateful. I am joyful. I am blessed.

I hope if you’re in or around Calgary you can take a moment to drop by and visit. And honest, it’s not about whether you purchase a painting to take home and treasure. It’s about coming out to share your light, your spirit, your appreciation of all the talents of the artists collected in the room who have had the courage to listen to their muse and create for the pure joy of creation.

Because ultimately, whether I sell a single piece (though it would be lovely, she adds hopefully — plus C.C is a little worried about our ever diminishing wall space) 🙂 the joy of creation makes my life a wonderful place for me to live and it definitely makes me a more heart-driven, joyful and grateful human being!

Namaste.

To view my Artist Statement click HERE.