Scratchboard Workshop

Feeling artistic ? Want a chance to try something new? Margaret Pardy , who is well known for her Scratchboard artwork ,will be having a rare chance to be involved. 

"Margaret is  running a 2 day workshop out of her studio located at the Alton Mill Art Centre at 1402 Queen St., Alton, ON Studio 203. Participants  will work on a small 5x7 scratchboard together from beginning to end. Margaret will  demo how to use the tools and the process she uses to create her art work. Dates and time are Saturday January 28th 3:30PM – 6:30 pm and Sunday 10:30 - 1:30pm. Limited number of spaces available and will be on a first come first serve basis so don't delay if you are interested. Contact Margaret   for more details."sarahs.art@bell.net

Fire and Ice Festival

This coming weekend will be an exciting time at the Alton Mill Arts centre. It's the annual Fire and Ice Festival, and many of the SOVA artists will be in their studios. Come out and have a chance to meet Robert Chisholm, Steve Wilson, Margaret Pardy and Lynden Cowan, as well as join in all the other activities going on.

Rediscover Canadian winter traditions with friends and family at the 8th annual Fire & Ice festival. Jazz up January with a variety of interactive indoor and outdoor activities from pond skating & curling, to art workshops, ice carving and a fire sculpture, plus tasty treats, cool exotic drinks and hot shots. There is something for everyone to enjoy. On January 21st & 22nd have fun with all the things that make winter a whimsical season by participating in the Mill’s winter wonderland!
For full details click: http://altonmill.ca/visit/events/FireIce_2017_event/

Hope to see you there :)

August Slipped into View

So August has slipped into view and all of the SOVA artists are working hard.

Lynne Schumacher is busy preparing for her upcoming show as the Featured Artist for Toronto's Westmount Gallery as part of the gallery's 40th year celebration. The invitation can be viewed in the exhibitions section.

Margaret Pardy with her amazing scratchboard artwork has been selected for the October show at the McMichael Gallery in Kleinberg and we will tell you more about that as we get closer to the date. As well, Margaret will be exhibiting at the well known Buckhorn Festival in August. The artist is spending long hours trying to accomplish the artwork needed for both of these prestigious events.

Paulette Murphy is part of a group exhibition at the Red Door Gallery coming in the fall and the artist is preparing for this. 

Artist Helen Duplassie just won second prize in the "Rose Show" at Beaux-Art Brampton in July, for one of her stunning dye on silk artwork titled "Sumac"and is busy preparing for the SOVA August Show at the Headwaters Gallery in Alton Mill.

Artist Helen Duplassie with her award winning dye on silk artwork, "Sumac".

Robert Chisholm has gone to Nova Scotia and Charlene Nickels has left for Prince Edward Island to do some subject hunting for their artwork. 

Artist Lynden Cowan has just returned from a northern subject hunting trip which included Tobermory, Manitoulin Island, Agawa , Sault St. Marie, and Mackinaw Island and has several future canvases coming from her travels.

Steve Wilson had an exciting graphite on paper titled "Canadian Treasure", accepted for the Leyton Gallery in St. John's, Newfoundland , in the Society of Canadian Artists show. Congratulations! As well , the artist is extremely busy preparing for the one day special exhibition  at the Country Heritage Park August 21st. Information can be found in the exhibitions section of this website.

Several of the SOVA artists will be having an exhibition at the Headwaters Gallery in Alton Mill from August 17th to September 11, so we hope to see you visit. 

You are always welcome to visit our studios to see "work in progress", or contact your favourite artist .

In All Directions

Our Artwork pulls us (happily) in all directions. A lot has happened in the past few weeks... Steve, Lynn and Lynden have prepared their entries for the Colour and Form Society's upcoming juried show at the Papermill Gallery at Todmorden Mills. As members, all three are able to submit a piece, but the exciting news is that both Margaret Pardy, and Robert Chisholm had artwork juried into the show. Congratulations to both!

Helen Duplassie is taking advantage of the beautiful weather to paint on location in preparation for upcoming exhibitions.

In a few short days Steve Wilson will be traveling to Turkey for the special invitational (24 invited out of multiple countries) art week. More about the trip on his return.

Charlene Nickels is in Prince Edward Island subject hunting, and we look forward to her new artwork in the studio.

Paulette Murphy is preparing for an upcoming art exhibition in the Red Door Gallery in Georgetown.

Lynden Cowan was juried into the Federation of Canadian Artists International show with her painting Wetlands.

Margaret Pardy was juried into the 5th  annual International Society of Scratchboard Artists at the Arizona Sonara Desert Museum - Ironwood Gallery running from April 8th - May 29th in Tucson ,Arizona, USA. This show represents the best of the best international scratchboard artists.

Protecting the Nest... scratchboard by Margaret Pardy

How You Doin... scratchboard by Margaret Pardy

Hope to meet you at our shows or in our studios . You may contact any of the artists directly if you wish and their contact information is on their individual page.

Bye for now :)

Artistically yours :)

Busy Artists

April has been extremely busy for everyone in the group. Pictured here is Lynden Cowan,Robert Chisholm and Charlene Nickels who have a small exhibition in Theatre Orangeville, and artworks will be on display until June 3rd. Address is 87 Broadway, Orangeville.

Artist Steve Wilson is involved in a show at the Carrier Gallery in Toronto at the Columbus Centre. Steve has also received the exciting news that he has been invited to participate in the 8th Portakal Cicegi International Plastic Arts Colony that takes place in Dogapark, Turkey in June. Only 48 artists were invited from a pool of 2000 applications and from 48 countries . An wonderful honour ! Each participating artist will donate one of the artworks that they create there during their stay to the museum.  Art supplies are provided and are waiting for each artist from the list that the artist submits prior to their arrival of what they require to work.  Dogapark is located near Sapanca Lake , a 2 hour distance from Istanbul, and is a special living area housing hundreds of different types of plants and trees, and over 70 different species of animals.
 

Lynn Schumacher has a piece involved in the supportive auction for Gilda's Place, an amazing charity.

Of course everyone is working daily on their art, whether it is traipsing through the woods subject hunting, spending long hours in the studio , usually alone , painting,  setting up shows, or even doing the booking or paperwork needed for exhibition proposals , or in the case of Paulette, spinning and dyeing her own wool for fabric artwork. Long hours... a lot of work... and we love it !

Hope you have a chance to visit us in our studios or enjoy our exhibitions.