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August Painting Workshops and Free Demo at Opus

Hello fellow Painters,

I hope you’re all having a great summer!

I’ve had several requests for workshops so I will be doing a block of three Open Studio classes in August on Saturday mornings. This will be a great opportunity to bring in projects you have been working on for feedback and assistance, or start something new. As usual we will be doing a painting warm-up at the beginning of each class, to get that paint flying and help shift you quickly into creativity mode.

You’ll see that there will be a break partway through the month as I will be giving a free demo at Opus Art Supplies, “Painting Space with Oil Paint” on Granville Island on Saturday August 23 from 2-4 pm. So mark your calendars for that as well!

More info on the demo is here.

The Open Studio session dates and times are below:
Saturday mornings, 10am-1 pm
August 9
August 16
August 30

Location: Val Nelson Studio, #322b-1000 Parker Street, east Vancouver
Fee: Classes are $55 each, including GST. Cash is appreciated.
Please let me know by email if you want to join in:
val@valnelson.ca
Warm regards, and happy painting!

Val

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International Painting Annual 3

inpa3_cover

Val has been selected for inclusion in a book of international painting, INPA3, published by Manifest Gallery and Creative Research Centre in Cincinatti, Ohio. The final selection includes 115 works by 82 artists from around the world, including Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, and the United States. The book includes essays by Matt Metzger and Willie Robertson.

To purchase your copy of INPA3:
Go to the Online Supplemental Resource for purchase information, artist biographies, artist statements, and details of sample works for each artist included in the publication.

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Opening Reception 2014

Thanks for your patience as my web maestra and I finalize my new website, which will be incorporating this blog! You’ll be able to find recent work and events, studio activities, classes, everything all in one place.

Meanwhile my show just opened on May 3, and I am just beginning to recuperate from the push to the finish. I’m thrilled and touched  by such a positive response from my friends and loyal supporters. The opening was very well-attended and people seem to be wanting to take some of the work home with them–I don’t mind that at all!

I’ll be posting images of new paintings from the show really soon.

Meanwhile here are a few shots from the opening day:

new-shoes
The opening reception always calls for new shoes!
photo 3(2)
“Being There”, opening reception at Bau-xi Gallery, Vancouver 2014

 

mark-mushet.and conrad-and-val-nelsons-rush-hour
Photographer Mark Mushet’s arty shot of my friend Conrad Alexandrowicz (Wild Excursions theatre director) taking an iphone shot of “Rush Hour”
photo 2(4)
Vancouver artist Esther Burghardt and her new twins seem to be merging into “Late Afternoon at the Strandbar”, my festive summer Berlin diptych painting depicting a location in Mitte across the Spree from Museum Island.
photo 2(4) copy
Zaena Campbell sent me this fun tondo from the big day. Looking a little tired, but happy!

 

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Stuff I Like

Anthony Eyton is a UK artist and champion mark-maker. Working primarily in oil painting and pastel drawing, he makes images from things he sees in the street near his studio, from his travels, as well as some interiors, portraiture and the occasional commission, such as projects for Eden Conservatory and Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall (when it still had a turbine) . His work has a way of capturing a feeling of time passing within each image, a curious flicker as if it were a time-lapse movie.

Eyton-Emerging-Cherry-Blossom
Anthony Eyton, Emerging Cherry Blossom

 

 

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New Work at the Eastside Culture Crawl 2013

ValNelson_TheCross
The Cross, 48 x 36 inches, oil on panel, 2013

Two days left to drop by my studio and see some of my new work! The Eastside Culture Crawl is open all weekend, with hundreds of artists opening their doors to invite you in, 11am-6pm on Saturday and Sunday, Nov 16 and 17.

Please do come by and say hello, I love to share my work with people who enjoy painting. Or if you can’t make it this weekend, contact me and we can set up a studio visit.

All the best!

Val  778-865-2650

PARKER STREET STUDIOS, Suite #322b-1000 Parker Street
Vancouver, BC

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In the Studio: June

I’m really enjoying the possibilities of rococco and baroque interiors again. The over-the-top opulence of these spaces allows me to not feel too precious about their forms, so I can play freely with mark-making and a combination of drawing/painting that is so directly connected to the way I draw.

Nelson_Stutter_web
Stutter, 36 x 48 inches, oil on panel, 2013
Nelson_Echo_web
Echo, 30 x 40 inches, oil on canvas, 2013

Actually this is French Empire style–from Napoleon’s country home just outside of Paris.

Nelson_Skirmish_web
Skirmish, 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas, 2013
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Interim pieces in the studio

I’m working on a few interim pieces before I take a summer break–two weeks in LA and San Francisco, to visit friends and look around. I always love to go the the museums and galleries and see what’s going on. Looking at great art really refuels my inspiration.

Last week I did a demo for my painter friends Sylvia and Arlene. They wanted to see how I start a painting.

I start with the general (the big shapes) and try to get the colour-world and values more or less established within the first couple of hours. I love this first step, from nothing to… hopefully something.

IMG_0749startingapainting_web IMG_0758startingapainting

IMG_0764workinprogress_webOn subsequent sessions I move slowly toward the particular, (the details.) But I hold back a while and sneak up on them. Getting too detailed too soon tends to lock in the image and give me nowhere to move to. So I like to leave lots of options available at first.

IMG_0790Stutter_workinprogress
End of first two hours, blocking in the forms
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Adam Macarenko: All is not as it seems

Macarenko_ Frozen-Ship1

Adam Macarenko, Shipwreck – Edition 1/1
chromogenic print
21 X 31 inches

Adam Macarenko creates artificial worlds that resemble our own. He constructs miniature dioramas by hand, and then photographs the set; these constructed realities tell stories. His images recall Romantic painting, but contain a contemporary edge because of the not-quite believable representation. Skillfully as these beautiful copies are executed, you sense that something is not quite right about the image, which makes you want to look longer.

Macarenko’s recent work will be on show at Bau-Xi Photo, Toronto, June 8-22, 2013.

Learn more about his photographs, films, and award winning music videos on his website.