Sleeping Giant Thunder Bay Ontario

Sleeping Giant, Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada [Paintograph] -  ©2009 Carol Cooper

The original image was captured this last Winter (March 2009)

2009 Art Calendar Showcase

A selection of “2009 Art Calendars” – highlighting artists who’s works I admire!

Leah Piken Kolidas’s – “2009 Calendar” – This vibrant, glossy calendar features 12 pieces of Leah’s artwork, one painting for each month. **Special bonus! When ordering, let Leah know your birthday and she’ll add a personal drawing on your special day in the calendar!

Sue O’Kieffe’s – “Sacred Circle Mandalas 2009″ – Flowers, trees and shells are digitally transformed into magical new patterns guaranteed to delight the mind and soothe the spirit.

Clayton Spangler’s – “The Charleston Collection” – beautiful digitally painted photographs from the Charleston area.

Christine-Ann Martin’s – “Fractal Art Calendar 2009″ – Featuring the unique fractal artwork of Christine-Ann Martin.

Peggy Chun’s – “Hawaiian Watercolors Calendar 2009″ – Features the Fine Art of Hawaiian artist Peggy Chun

If you are an artist or know of any other artists who either self-publish or organizes the publishing of their own Art Calendar, please let me know in the comment box below and I would be happy to add their 2009 calendar & info to this post. )

+ Update: 08Dec2008

Laura Lea Comeau’s – “Lake Superior North West Ontario 2009 Calendar” -  features 12 amazing photographs that highlight the rustic coastline of Lake Superior, Ontario, Canada

Prelude to: In-DIGI-flora Series

In-DIGI-flora: on the wild side of Lake Superior

In: in·dig·e·nous – adj. Originating and living or occurring naturally in an area or environment. Intrinsic; innate. [From Latin indigena, a native.]

DIGI: short for Digital

flora: flower/plant

As an update on the In-DIGI-flora series, I would like to share as a prelude, the story behind the series and how it came to be. I am almost finished with the 28 works and with just a few more tweaks here and there, I will be uploading them within the next week.

This series ties into the “Hyperborea Series” that I completed earlier this summer:

“Where next you will find the “Indigiflora” (flowers indigenous only to Hyperborea) that grow wild in The Garden of Apollon, series to follow.” – July 12, 2008

The first inspiration for the In-DIGI-flora series began one chilly February 2007 evening when I was surfing the internet in search of some soothing colourful wildflower photos to bring a smile to my face.  I fell upon a website where I was in awe of a lady from Grand Marais, Minnesota – Mrs. Lorraine Anderson who sometimes, along with her friends, explored the Northeast region of Minnesota in search of wonderful local (native) wildflowers.

Her website was brimming with beautiful photographs which she and her friends had taken, along with very informative detailed reports of their wildflower adventures. As I read through some of her weekly reports, I somehow felt as if I were tagging along with them, as I felt so wrapped up in her recollections and cheerful statements when they had encountered a new or long lost wildflower.

I thought to myself, well we, meaning Grand Marais and Thunder Bay both share the same lake (Lake Superior) so I wondered how I could find out if the flowers that Mrs. Lorraine Anderson saw might be also found around our Canadian part of Lake Superior. Could it be possible that we share the same wildflowers?

I wondered how I could find this information out, so I surfed some more and came across a new found gem that I did not know existed in Thunder Bay. The Claude E. Garton Herbarium at Lakehead University. A treasure of information right here in town!!

I contacted the Herbarium’s curator: Mrs. Erika North, who welcomed me when I went to visit her on Monday, February 12, 2007 to ask her for information regarding my proposed art project. The Herbarium was simply amazing! What seemed like a gazillion of file folders each meticulously labeled with a sample of the flower, plant or shrub nestled flatly inside. I was in my glory!!

My mind started reeling with thoughts and ideas of how I could creatively bring these dry, flat flora specimens back to life with bright colours and multi-faceted textures. I immediately asked permission and made a subsequent appointment with Mrs. North to come back and photograph a selection of flora that are known to be indigenous to our area.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007 @10:00 a.m.- I was welcomed once again by Mrs. North, who had a stack of folders already pulled out that held specimens of the flora I had sent her a list of via email. We had a wonderful time chatting as I photographed each sample, making sure to include the information regarding it’s proper botanical name.

When I came home, I loaded the photos, cropped them and made a master list: 28 different specimens that will be digitally painted and will form the series titled:

In-DIGI-flora: on the wild side of Lake Superior

I have been working on this particular series for the past 19 months or so, off and on. As with any large project, a good chunk of the time was spent in the preparation. Experimenting with different renderings, just thinking and going back to look and examine previous results. I must confess honestly that I am now FULL UP with flowers…I am laughing, and I am now just about ready to move on to other subject matters and thought paths. As a final remark, series are not so easy to do, at least for me. It requires tons of focus and no room for procrastinating (although I find oodles of reasons to fall off the road). Please stay tuned, I will post when they are up in the New Work Gallery for viewing!

Carol )

Weekly FFF – Title: Beyond Mystic Point

Beyond Mystic Point (Paintograph) ©2008 Carol Cooper

This week’s FFF (Fresh Flash Friday) was inspired by LAKE SUPERIOR! – the biggest fresh water lake in the world, (by surface area). Lake Superior’s many mystic moods unfold in the famously changing northern weather. It’s colours change from a shimmering deep azure blue to green to gray. . .

“Smell the sea and feel the sky,
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic”

Weekly FFF’s will be filed in the New Works Gallery under the BOZZETTO album for future reference.

p.s. “Mystic Point” is an imaginative destination, not to be found on any map. )