Floating Feathers Giveaway

I am so thrilled that my "Floating Feathers" print was chosen to be included in Canada's July Issue of Style at Home magazine! My print appears on page 118, in the workbook section titled "Best of the Canadian Etsy-verse". To celebrate, I am holding a giveaway. The lucky winner will receive three archival prints of their choice from my shop!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Niagara Furniture Bank's Inaugural "Chair Affair" gala finally arrived on Thursday May 30, 2013.
I've been very fortunate to be able to participate in this event. Thank you to Pam Isaac who sent me the Chair Affair information, when they were looking for artists to participate back in January!!

After choosing my vintage, donated chair at the Niagara Furniture Bank, I contacted Lincoln Interiors, who generously offered to reupholster the chair, thus giving me a fresh canvas to work from! You can see more about that in a previous post, here. Many thanks to them, because I could not have done it without them. :)

I was then paired with 97.7 HTZ FM Southern Ontario's Best Rock What a great opportunity. I changed my vision of the chair from my feathery watercolors to some black and red vintage tattoo art!
Rock and Roll, baby! I posted my chair's progress online and had such great feedback. Lotsa tattoo love! People responded well to the chair and it was so great to hear how much people appreciated all of the work I put into it. I couldn't wait for the gala, to see how much we could make for charity.

Check out this video on The Source

Mini-cupcakes and cookies

The most vibrant, funky chair by Elisa Marconi

My Chair! 

Cool looking "Group of Seven" chair with decorative birch arms by Michele Auger. 

I took a couple of pictures of the room when we first arrived, trying to give an idea of how big the place was. 

Beautiful space to have the event. 

My handsome hubby :)

The Tipperary Bog CHEESE!!

Scott Sanders, Chairman of the Board, with LauraLeigh of 105.7 EZ Rock and Cassidy Fenton

Cassidy Fenton, giving her speech with LauraLeigh looking on

Giving out awards to some of the amazing people who made the event happen

The fabulous Kathy McBride and her awesome chair : First up for the Live Auction

Stepping up to the mic, with auctioneer Warren Rose. The final bid for my chair was $600

Getting a pic with LauraLeigh, representing 105.7EZRock, NewsTalk610 CKTB and my partner station 97.7HTZ FM  

I had to get a photo with the wonderful people who placed the highest bid on my chair. 

So happy to be a part of this great event! 

We were really excited to sit in the giant chair that was made by students from Lakeshore Catholic High School in Port Colborne.
Constructed of cedar, donated by The Cedar Shoppe. So awesome! :)

Chair Affair : Reupholstered and Ready to Rock

So, my last Chair Affair post had me scrubbing orange vinyl and planning to sand the arms and legs.
Much has happened since then!
First of all, I approached Lincoln Interiors and Furniture Gallery in Virgil and they generously offered to reupholster my "Chair Affair" chair so that I would have a "fresh canvas" to work from. Amazing!

A fixture in the community for over 60 years, Lincoln Interiors and Furniture Gallery is well known.
After experiencing the quality of their
customer service, I can understand why they are so revered. 

After meeting some of the wonderful employees, (Deepali, Rose and Peter) fabric was chosen and I was given the arms and legs to take home to sand and prepare. I chose two nice Spring days, a few pieces of sandpaper and got down to it in the back yard. As you can see, the wood was pretty beat up and the original stain and varnish was more than "patina" it was nonexistent in many spots.

We had some old cans of stain from my grandfather and some varnish from the time my hubby refinished the floor. To say that this project is eco-friendly is an understatement!  Niagara Furniture Bank saved this vintage chair from a landfill. The kind people at Lincoln Interiors used remnant fabric to reupholster and bring new life to a beauty of a chair. All for a "Green"Charity that helps so many people! Excellent.

Rose - Behind the scenes at Lincoln Interiors, cutting patterns.

Peter at work.

Just to remind you what the chair looked like before ...

I am so thankful to Lincoln Interiors for generously donating the time, materials and talent of the individuals involved in transforming this chair! 

Big transformation! Peter reveals the Chair Affair Chair.
Ready for my artistic touch.

Before and After and you won't believe what's to come...
I was recently contacted by 97.7 HTZ-FM Southern Ontario's Best Rock to partner up for
The Chair Affair Event. So, this chair is going to have a touch of Rock N Roll! Stay Tuned!

If you would like to help Niagara Furniture Bank reach its goal of raising $45,000, please donate
HERE , even if it's a dollar. Every little bit will help!
You can also purchase tickets for the Chair Affair Gala which will take place at
Hernder Estate Winery, May 30
HERE

Contact Information

• 1534 Hwy 55 Virgil, Ontario, Canada L0S 1T0
• 905-468-3257
• Toll-free: 1-800-215-6057

Earth Day 2013

I am so excited to be participating in The Artisan Group's "Earth Day Gifting Event" this year.
What a great opportunity to get my artwork in the hands of some savvy, A-list, eco-conscious celebs!

Yes, all of these folks will be receiving 2 (yes, 2!) of my original watercolor feathers. I went a little nuts and thought I'd paint two each). Haven't brushed up on your celeb name-game lately? Here they are:

Those being gifted with The Artisan Group's Earth Day Gift bag:

First Row: Woody Harrelson, Ted Danson, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Rachel McAdams, P!nk, Orlando Bloom

Second Row: Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo, Malin Akerman, Leonard DiCaprio, Kate Bosworth, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Josh Hartnett

Third Row: Jake Gyllenhall, Hayden Panettiere, Ginnifer Goodwin, Emily VanCamp. Edward Norton, Daryl Hannah, Courteney Cox

Fourth Row: Cameron Diaz, Barbra Streisand

 Fifth Row: Alicia Silverstone, Adrian Grenier

My plan was to paint feather studies from Birds of Prey. Raptors are protected birds and some are "species at risk", (which is pretty much endangered, in my opinion)
I had been rolling around the idea of somehow "giving back" to the birds. After all, I never started out painting with a focus on birds, it just...kind of happened. I felt like donating to a Raptor Centre would be a good option. I visited the Mountsberg Raptor Centre, met with Amy Fennell, the Raptor Centre Lead, and was so blown away by what they do. Mountsberg is currently home to 33 protected birds of prey. With 4 staffers (One Full Time), they rely heavily on volunteers and donations.
I included information on Mountsberg with the feather studies for Earth Day, in hopes that maybe something good could come from it. I also decided to donate 50% off any of my Raptor related prints sold to The Mountsberg Raptor Centre.

The Original watercolor has been sold. Prints available here

Here are a few progress shots of some of the Earth Day feathers.

Let me just say, finishing those 60 feathers felt awesome!

If you are interested, I have made an instant archival quality collection of prints of a selection of the  Raptor Feathers that were gifted to the celebs. 50% of the sale of these will go to Mountsberg. :)

Raptor Feather Collection

Wondering what else was included from my The Artisan Group members? Wow, you are going to be blown away! So much talent.

Look HERE to see what's inside those packages

Kacaba Vineyards Show

 Mark your calendars!

The most easy-going art show of the season will be on Sept 22nd and 23rd this year!

Sit down with a glass of wine and relax amongst the grapes at the Kacaba Vineyards art show.
Art. Nature. Vineyards. Grapes. Wine. Serenity.
If I haven't convinced you, here are a few photos I took at last year's show.

Relax in wine country 

A short walk around the property
http://www.kacaba.com/index2.html

A few of the artists and their tents, soaking in the sun.

Corkscrew for the largest wine bottle, ever.  Just kidding.

Showing off my tent.

www.jodyvanb.etsy.com

Kacaba Branding

Artists Mary Ann Huisman and Jared A. Robinson

Watercolour Paintings by Mary Ann Huisman

She will be participating in Pelham Summerfest : Art in the Park 2012

July 19th - 22nd Peace Park, Fonthill
http://www.pelhamsummerfest.ca/artists.html

Please check out Mary Ann Huisman's art here: www.huismanmeme.artistportfolio.net

Mary Ann Huisman's tent 

Jared A Robinson

This is my favorite painting by Jared. It's titled "Sunday Walk".  When I saw it, it reminded me of paintings by Frederick H Varley.

Sunday Walk by Jared A. Robinson

Indian Summer by Frederick H Varley 1914-1915

Jared, caught setting up

Part of the main lawn

Krista McMillan showing her work

Discussing a purchase, I hope!

Checking out Artist, Bev Sneath's work 

Beverly Sneath teaches classes in watercolour, acrylic as well as classes focusing on painting wineglasses. Quiet and Charming, she is busy with commission work, a Studio and Garden tour in the Spring, and countless art classes and shows. Nevertheless, she always finds time to show new groups of work every year, including watercolors, acrylics, sculpture and more. A true inspiration! 

Please check out her website here: 

http://www.beverlysneath.com/

Taste-test!

One of the roses at the end of the rows of grapes

Part of the wine-making process

Come and see what we have in store for you this year!!

Kacaba Vineyards Art Show
September 22-23rd 2012
3550 King Street, Vineland ON
1-866-KACABA-8