23Jan/Feb 2011 FREE - SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Serving the Canadian art industry • www.brushstrokemagazine.com Portraits and Figurative CompetitionWinner LADY WITH HEADSCARF Mina dela Cruz ART AND THE INTERNET Two ventures show how the internet is affecting and influencing art creation, education and purchasing Publisher’s Corner PUBLISHED BY JENSU DESIGN PUBLISHER: Susan Blackman All material printed in this magazine, writ- ten or depicted, is protected by copyright of this magazine and/or the artist, and cannot Wow - I should have been more prepared. I now have a new studio on our land, be reproduced in any form without express only a few hundred yards from the house. That will be not only handy, but I believe written permission from the publisher. All (hope, expect...) it will be more productive than my old and much smaller one. views expressed are those of the author and The trouble is, other than the wall color and lighting, I hadn’t given a huge amount not necessarily those of Canadian Brushstroke of thought to flooring, furnishings, etc. Magazine. Brushstroke makes no recom- Since this space is large enough now to be a studio/gallery, I want it to be more mendations as to the purchase or sale of any than just working space, but also an inviting place to have clients and guests drop product or service. All letters or contributions by to view the artwork, chat, and also a place to have other artist friends come by to Canadian Brushstroke Magazine are subject to paint with me if I am lucky enough to have them do so. to editing with no limits or liability. So lately my time has been occupied with hook-ups, swatches, flooring samples, furniture brochures, etc. It was a daunting task to start with, but has been a fun JENSU DESIGN process as it has evolved and I’m now excited that sometime in the near future I Box 5483, Phone: 780-986-0789 will see the outcome. Leduc, Alberta Fax: 780-986-8393 Looking back at this process, I realize that when dreaming of a new studio over Canada T9E 6L7 E-mail: [email protected] the last few years, I perhaps should have been thinking harder about the overall look and feel that I wanted. Although the lighting and set up of the working space CANADIAN BRUSHSTROKE MAGAZINE Phone: 780-986-0789 and materials is the most important factor in a studio, making it a place where you Box 3449, Fax: 780-986-8393 will want to spend many of your days (or nights for some artists) is also a huge Leduc, Alberta www.brushstrokemagazine.com consideration. Canada T9E 6M2 Even if your space is small like my old studio was, think about how you can make E-mail: [email protected] it a personal sanctuary that invites you to create regularly. [email protected] www.deltaart.ca 2 • Canadian Brushstroke Magazine • Jan/Feb 2011 TM website: www.projectheroes.ca follow our blog at: By Susan Abma www.projectheroestm.blogspot.com PROJECT HEROES™ will see every fallen Canadian soldier from the Afghanistan war commemorated in a 14 x 18” framed work of fine art, with the intent to exhibit the paintings in every province in Canada, along with other commemorative paint- ings, military paraphernalia, personal items from the soldiers, including written material such as letters they wrote home, and video clips, etc. Artists Susan Abma, Shairl Honey, and Cindy Revell have been touched by the bravery of the soldiers who died serving our country in Afghanistan. As painters, they will have the extraordinary honour of recording history and preserving the memory of these exceptional men and women. By Cindy Revell With your help, they will be creating a massive, historic, military oil portrait collection. The fallen soldiers from Afghanistan could possibly ‘live’ in their paintings for many hundreds of years. For more information on this project, go to: www.projectheroes.ca ATTENTION GALLERIES: **Venues in major Canadian centres that are equipped for and large enough to host this exhibition in 2011/2012 are invited to contact Project Heroes™ at 780-986-0789 or email [email protected] . By Shairl Honey All venues will be considered, but the venues chosen will be those best suited to the project. The paintings shown above are - Top: Cpl. David Braun, Centre: Cpl Cole Bartsch, Bottom: Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom. The fallen soldiers’ portraits will be revealed on a rotating basis. The entire collection will not be displayed together until after the first exhibition in 2011/2012. Canadian Brushstroke Magazine • Jan/Feb 2011 • 3 COMPETITION: PORTRAITS & FIGURATIVE Grand Prize Winner of $1000 CDN and award certificate: MINA DELA CRUZ - Toronto, ON ‘Lady With Headscarf,’ Oil on linen, 10 x 10” riginally from the Philippines, Mina dela Cruz immi- academic or traditional style of painting; a technique that grated to Canada in 1977 and is currently residing emphasizes skill and draftsmanship. She works out of Ad- Oand working in Toronto. In 2004, she left her career elaide Street Studio located in downtown Toronto. in Human Resources to pursue her passion in drawing Mina dela Cruz has participated in various group exhibi- and painting. Although she attended various schools to tions both nationally and internationally and has ranked strengthen her drawing skills, in painting, dela Cruz is self- highly in many competitions. Her paintings hang in private taught. collections in Canada and abroad. As a contemporary realist painter, dela Cruz’s main focus To view more of dela Cruz’s work, please go to her web- is in still life and portraiture. Her technique is based on the site at www.minadelacruz.com. • 4 • Canadian Brushstroke Magazine • Jan/Feb 2011 Finalist Receives award certificate: SYBILINE, Shawinigan, QC ‘Mr. Desbiens’, Oil, 20 x 16” hawinigan, QC artist Sybiline says, ‘The artist’s brush is a magic wand that travels through time. The Spainter is only a dreamer. I like to analyze people. That is how I discovered a great passion for portraits. I sit apart and watch people go by. I observe their attitude, their hair, their eyes, and develop a kind of complicity that bears beyond this world. When I paint a portrait, I leave impressions on the canvas and compose so that it has to breathe. It has to live by itself and transmit an important message: What I saw in it is, in reality, all that I didn’t see. I work as a portrait painter, specializing in historical and fantasy painting, and as an illustrator for several publishing houses. Honored by numerous awards, including “Best in Show award” at the World Congress of Science Fiction in 2009, it is possible to see my artwork in galleries, conven- tions and events. You may also get familiar with my work through my website: www.sybiline.ca.” • Finalist (Award certificate) YETVART GARBIS YAGHDJIAN, Toronto, ON ‘Hedy’, Oil, 32 x 24” saw Hedy for the first time sitting at a table on the ter- race at the Coffee Mill, in Yorkville, ON, on a beautiful Isummer day. Her delicate features framed by her tiara of white hair and her white blouse made her a vision of old world refinement and elegance. I simply had to paint her. I was trained in, and work in the traditional manner. My inspiration comes from nature, and I am driven by a desire to capture the forms, patterns, rhythms, color relationships underlying its beauty. Working mainly with oil, I strive to create images that ex- press my emotional reaction to my subject matter and vary my technique and methods of application to suit that subject matter. I retain a smooth surface, which better reflects light, to capture the transparency and subtleties of delicate flesh tones in portraits and nudes, whereas for landscapes and seascapes, a more textured technique allows me to capture the tactile characteristics of rocks, grasses, leaves and bark on a tree, or difference of flowing and splashing water. Following a timeless classic tradition, my work is an at- tempt to redefine in contemporary terms, subject matter theat is an intrinsic part of the universal human experi- ence.” Go to www.ygarbis.com for more information. • Canadian Brushstroke Magazine • Jan/Feb 2011 • 5 Canadian Brushstroke Magazine • Jan/Feb 2011 • 5 Finalist (Award certificate) ONA KINGDON Richmond Hill, ON ‘Wings of Freedom’, Watercolor, 22 x 30” was fascinated by the reflections in Wayne’s sunglasses because to me Ithey draw the viewer into the paint- ing and allow us to see exactly what Wayne was seeing at this moment in time. I paint from deep within my heart to just with language. By paying atten- engine licence. He was introduced to convey not only what I see, but what tion to visual details and watching for to gliding. He says gliding allows him I feel about a subject. My experience subtle visual cues, communication at the “ability to leave my problems as as a teacher of the deaf has helped many levels can take place even when many thousands of feet below that my me develop an understanding of how language is limited.” skills and the day will allow.”) feelings, emotions, and knowledge can (Wayne MacDonald had a spinal cord The artist’s blog address is http:// be communicated in ways other than injury in 1999 and pursued his single emotiveexpressions.blogspot.com. • Finalist – (Award certificate) BONNIE SHECKTER, Toronto, ON ‘Lucie’, Colored pencil, 18.5 x 23” first drew Lucie when she was four and the genre of portraiture. I find it of paper, to see a soul ‘come alive’ on years old. She was a sweet child incredibly fulfilling and exciting to see my drawing board.” Iwith huge, expressive brown eyes a person slowly emerge from a piece Visit www.bonniesheckter.com • and a wonderful, bubbly personality.