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Archive for mixed media

The struggles of a creative type – Tarja Haapala

By Station Gallery
 on August 7, 2019
 with no comments

I admit it, I find it very hard to throw things out.  I am a multicrafter and I never know what direction my inspiration will take.  I see things like containers, fibres, old clothes, leather scraps, paper, and the list goes on and I wonder….hmmm could I use that at some point?

Explaining this to others is complicated.  They see a pile of garbage and I see a ready source of supplies when inspiration strikes.  Sometimes you need the smallest scrap of fabric in a very specific colour, sometimes a piece of wire in a certain gauge…you really can’t predict the needs of a multicrafter.   And there is something heartbreaking in having to buy something when you “had” it at one point and decided it didn’t warrant the space it took up.

I truly like to believe that I am not alone in this.  Although family and friends might believe I am. I try very hard to keep my supplies from over-running the family’s living space, but I am not always successful.  I believe that living with a “creative-type” comes with it’s own set of rules. We need extra space, we need a little chaos, we need a comfortable place to create.

So, please keep that in mind if you like the handmade items you receive from a friend or relative. We aren’t hoarders, we aren’t slobs, we just need to to keep our inspirations close at hand 😉

Tarja Haapala

In categories Artists, mixed media with no comments

Anne-Marie Van Brunt’s Latest Creations

By Station Gallery
 on July 20, 2018
 with no comments

In 2017 I found myself expressing my artistic side in several directions, which makes perfect sense to anyone who knows me well.

My extroverted personality shows itself best when I experiment with a new expansion of my glass talents. I have to learn something new and translate it in some way to glass or I am bored.

Once I master a new direction off I go to find something new to excite me and to stimulate my creative juices!

Last year my Kawartha Trees where a hit and I kept trying different shapes and odd angles in the finished pieces. I don’t like things to be too perfect or symmetrical. My husband
commented on an especially “crooked” shape and thought it was a little weird. This happened to be the one that I loved the most out of all of the trees that I had just created. The next day at one of my shows it was the first one I sold! The  purchaser said that it was the non-­‐straight sides that appealed to her the most and immediately caught her eye!

At a bike shop one day I noticed a box of used parts and asked if I could sort through the box. I had to purchase a membership to their bike repair business so that I could salvage parts in the future, and I was happy to do so. The Bike Art that I combined with fused glass to create large wheels or bicycle riders for home décor, or to be used in your garden began that day. The only part I detest about this new medium is cleaning the grease off of the parts and chains!

Garden Art bike stakes and hangings became a major part of my shows last year and I was thrilled with the response from attendees.

In categories bile wheel art, mixed media, stained glass with no comments

Sandy Cogar’s Garden Therapy

By Station Gallery
 on June 30, 2018
 with no comments

My dad always said I had a green thumb but at the time, I thought that was just his ploy to increase my enthusiasm in dispersing seeds in his very large vegetable garden.   I loved spending time with my dad and helping him in a hobby that he was very passionate about but I can’t say I shared the same passion for vegetable gardening.

When my husband and I bought our first house on an undeveloped one acre lot in the country, I was faced with the task of landscaping. I had no knowledge or interest in plants and flowers. Luckily, two good friends of my mom’s were avid gardeners and took on the chore of introducing me to the gardening world.  I was intimidated at first, worried that I wasn’t planting in the right spot or the right depth but realized in a short time that as with anything else, it is all trial and error and nothing is permanent. In no time, I amazed myself that I could recognize plants, rhyme off their names fluently and was able to create a pretty outdoor space that our empty lot really needed.

Each year I got more and more engrossed in the gardening hobby. It never seemed overwhelming or like hard work.  In fact quite the opposite. I got lost in the creativity and visual reward and found it extremely therapeutic and relaxing. Often, my husband would bring my lunch out to me because he know I wouldn’t stop for it!

My passion for gardening is what sparked my interest in creating sculptures. I put our old family plough in one of the gardens with some hanging baskets and I loved the rustic blend with the flowers. It added some interested and created a conversation piece.

My first creation was the blue heron in honour of my mom who used to love to do “walkabouts” among my gardens. She was thrilled when she was able to catch sight of a blue heron nesting in the bullrushes.

When we moved from our first house, I was sad to leave my gardens behind but excited to start new ones on another clean slate.  It has been quite a challenge dealing with the rocky soil in Bobcaygeon but I haven’t lost my passion. When I’m working at my studio and a sculpture just isn’t coming together, I abandon it for a little “garden therapy” and then I am ready to face the challenge again!

Visit Sandy’s work at the Station Gallery.  She will be in the gallery next on the 5th & 11th of July.

In categories Fenelon Station, mixed media, sculpture with no comments

Brenda Mulholland, Mixed Media Artist

By Station Gallery
 on August 29, 2017
 with no comments

Brenda is best known for her ever-changing Acrylic Collage  & Birch Bark paintings, Ink & Pencil drawings and her outdoor Wall Murals.

Mom, I’m Home!

What’s new this year?  Outdoor Paintings for the porch or patio!! All unique images inspired by Ontario’s landscape, people and architecture.

Strongly influenced by a highly creative family, Brenda studied Art & Design at Vancouver City Collage, Humber College, Ontario College of Art & Design and  Fleming School of the Arts.

Brenda worked within Toronto’s commercial Interior Design industry for 25 years before finally breaking away to re-ignite her own individual artistic abilities.

Amazed and inspired by perfect simplicity and structure
found in everyday items, natural or man-made,
Brenda creates lively, realistic images out of almost any medium, sometimes combining paints with birch bark, leather, feathers, glass, maps, plaster, inks, fibre … strategically mounted on canvas, paper, or wood supports.

All her works are unique, visually intriguing and tactile. Most depict Ontario’s Seasonal Splendour, our people or local architecture.

Commissions  Welcomed  &  Encouraged.   Private home/studio open by appointment.

Brenda will be in the gallery next on September 2nd.

In categories Artists, mixed media with no comments

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