The In-Between

 

Lucy Canyon is in our life now and we are in love. We lost our dog and our cat a little more than a year ago and our hearts were broken. Now we have Lucy, and our hearts are open wide. I have been thinking about how grief and loss plays on an artist's creativity. Some become more prolific, some shut down. I shut down. I continued to work on my writing and teaching, but I slogged along. With my painting, I was devoid of ideas. Now I'm back at it. My inner thrill has returned and I'm ready to experiment. Lucy has been good for us. 

What's next: NaPoWriMo--poetry month I'll be writing poems and posting daily--I hope. And I'm a new member of Women Painters of Washington. I'm thrilled about the membership and excited to begin a new series. Since nature is my muse, I'll be back to painting lilies, I suppose. And other water reflections that inspire me. We'll see what happens.

Pretty soon, I'll be announcing a monthly art day in my studio. We will make collage primarily, but there may be other crafty ideas we'll dive into: books, folded items, playing with paint, etc. Hope you will join my mailing list at www.nancycanyon.com, so I can let you know.

Best is art and writing,

Nancy Canyon

 ABSTRACT ART

Well, I'm reinventing myself again. This time with Abstraction. I've been interested in abstract art for a long time, and even though my reflection paintings are abstracted, the type of art I love but until now haven't seemed to be able to paint, are shape, color, and texture driven. Here are a few new pieces which are brand new off the press, so to speak. Hope you enjoy!

The Illustrated Journal

 Here are some pages from my Covid Journal. I've been keeping it since March 15th, when we went into lockdown. Each day I note the number of cases and deaths. At first, everything was new about this event we are all experiencing. Now it is different and my journaling has changed. I am drawing less and writing more. Hope you enjoy. For more about me, see www.nancycanyon.com

Facebook Post by Ben Mann

IT’S IN HER NATURE
Nancy Canyon writes poetry and creates beautifully visceral paintings that shimmer and transport me to the bliss of our local hiking trails. Lucky for me, she’s my studio neighbor, just one flight down...(and yet I look up to her. Don’t think about that too hard!)
We are both participants in the 25th annual Whatcom Artist Studio Tour coming up shortly, so come to our historic building and get your fix of color, levity and community. 🍁

Www.studiotour.net

Flowers

Please come visit my studio during 4th Friday Art Walk in Fairhaven, Washington. I am on the second floor of a vintage building...yes there are stairs, but the good thing is there are a number of studios at the top of the climb that will give you a creativity shot-in-the-arm. Here at the Morgan Block Building we have writers, painters, jewelers, and more. It's a real treat and a good place to shop for gifts or to outfit your condo or new home..

I will be open Friday the 26th from 5:30-8:00. 1000 Harris, #6, Historic Fairhaven in Bellingham, WA.

Yellow Iris

Purple Water

Lavender Iris

2018 Shows & Events

2018 SHOWS & STUDIO OPENINGS

May-Dec: Open Studio every Fourth Friday, 1000 Harris, #6, Historic Fairhaven

June 3 Opening, Cooper Lanza Gallery, 1415 13th St., Bellingham, WA 98225 

June 7 Opening, Jansen Art Center, 321 Front Street, Lynden, WA

Sept. 7 Opening, Allied Arts of Whatcom County, Cornwall Ave, Bellingham, WA

Oct. 6 & 7, 14 & 15, WAST--Whatcom Artist Studio Tour, 1000 Harris #6, Historic Fairhaven

WAST Review by Molly Brennan

Canyons work is a collection of pieces inspired by nature not traditionally landscape painting but rather snapshot moments of reflection and detail. Many of her works feature a crisp leaf floating on the mirrored surface of the water. This creates an abstracted view of nature from the reflection of the forest branches. She uses acrylic paint on canvas for the majority of her works, sometimes using very thin layers of paint to create a watercolor effect. Using lots of bright colors and pastels adds texture and softness to different painting especially in her lily pad paintings. What makes her work unique is how she displays a new perspective of nature by showing small details instead of the big picture. The detail of raindrops on the surface of the water and a leaf floating by becomes the whole subject of the painting instead of an afterthought.

 

            - Molly Brennan, WWU Art History Student

Note: Molly Brennan is an Art History Student interning with Nancy Canyon during the Whatcom Aritst Studio Tour, 2017. 

Lilies

I've always been fascinated with large leaves, well really any leaves, for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I'd gather leaves in Audubon Park in the fall: oak, maple, chestnut.  I loved the shapes and the colors. Back at home, I heated paraffin on the stove in a soup can and when liquid, dipped each leaf in hot wax and laid it out on a paper towel to cool, thus preserving the beauty I found in nature. 

Now I'm preserving the beauty I find in nature in a different way. Scudder Pond is overgrowning with cattails and the lilies are tall and lush and more hidden. While paddleboarding on Padden Lake, I've passed clumps of lilies with hearty green seed pods floating where the flowers once bobbed yellow. I love the shape, the ridges, the heft of the pods and hope to take my drawing book out there and sketch one of these calm days. We'll see.

Anyway, here are a few paintings to enjoy.

See me in my studio at 1000 Harris, #6, Fairhave in Bellingham Washington, by appointment and the third Fridays of the month for artwalk.

More Lilies

Each year I marvel at the growth of vegetation erupting across Scudder Pond. The pond feeds ducks and beavers, geese, and river otters. There are often turtles sunning themselvs and bull frogs hurrumping at night. Lily pads are lovely, fresh in pinks and reddish browns and withered latter, lazy browns and tortured greens. All of it reflects on the water's surface, even the clouds above. Enjoy the following paintings.

The Daily Artist, to be published by Two Sylvias Press, Two Sylvias Press will be available some time this fall. A comprehensive artist's companion with daily exercises to practice and improve your skill as a visual artist. Here is an example of a page 46:

Analogous Colors

Analogous Colors are colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel. In the above painting you can see I painted the lilies in shades of yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, and green. You can work with up to five colors and still keep the painting analogous.

Try This: Select three to five colors from a color wheel and use only these colors to render a painting. You can use white and/or a complement for high and low lights. Paint whatever you like, or copy the lily in the picture above. Try the same painting in a different set of analogous colors. What have you learned from this exercise?

Stay tuned, More to come....

Open Studio Fridays in December

There's lots of work to see at my studio, 1000 Harris, #6, in Historic Fairhaven. 

The village is beautiful and active with hay rides and Santa at the Ferry Terminal. 

The bookstore is full of new volumes, the coffee shops are offering eggnog lattes. 

And there's art at the Morgan Block Studio: paintings, jewelry, pottery, leather handbags. And we usually have on a pot of hot tea or apple cider. If you are in the neighborhood venture up the stairs, our doorway at 1000 Harris opens between Good Earth Pottery and Artwood. 

Hope to see you soon. Nancy 710-7139 for appointment.

Nancy Canyon shows NEW Paintings at Allied Arts of Whatcom County

NATURE: The first show of 2016 juried shows hanging through July. Please stop by for a visit. 1418 Cornwall Avenue, Bellingham, WA 10-5 daily. Call

Cottonwood Forest

Scudder Pond Forest

Spirit Trees

Daily painting is a practice to improve painting skill.  Every discipline has a practice: scales in music,  bar work in ballet. After a trip Italy, I decided to paint daily...and did all through February. Then my practice  became sketchy.  Now, after a trip to Italy,  I want to resume this practice.  Here is a new painting available by auction at dailypaintworks.com  Take a look: Water Weeds

Tuscany & Lilies

New paintings of Tuscany from recent trip to Montisi are available now at Daily Paintworks .  And I've also added a new painting to be auctioned off: Two Lilies  See Daily Paintworks

Also in the October Issue of The Tishman Review you can enjoy two of my lily paintings: http://www.thetishmanreview.com/The Tishman Review full color.

Two Lilies  (Available at Daily Paintworks)

View from Il Poggio

Sheep Tree

Unclad Art Show

Please attend the UNCLAD Art Shoe held in Edmonds, Washington, March 18-20 at the Edmonds Yacht Club.  The show includes 90 artists working in a variety of styles. Opening night Gala tickets, public hour tickets and life drawing Marathon can be purchased at uncladartshow.com See more at https://www.facebook.com/uncladart/videos