"Selling" Art to Fundraise for the Mental Illness Foundation

On Sunday, April 27th I will be running my first ever 5k race, with the goal of raising money for the Mental Illness Foundation. I am currently seeking sponsors to help in my fundraising efforts. I have decided to give away original art pieces and prints in exchange for donations to my cause. Whether you live near or far, I will get you the piece below of your choice. I just ask for donations of a minimum $5-20 depending on the size of the piece. All donations of $20+ are eligible for tax receipts. Everybody wins!

Let's skip to the good stuff, the pieces I am willing to part ways with. If there is anything else of mine that you would be interested in and its not on this page (some pieces from my sketchbooks have not been photographed/scanned or I simply forgot to add them) please let me know. If you would like more information on how you can help, and on the cause you will be supporting, simply scroll to the end of this post.

 Artist Trading Cards,  mixed media, 2"x3"

 

 Baby flamingos and horses,pencil and/or charcoal drawings, about 8"x10"

Running Horse, charcoal, about 11"x13"

 ...Or 8"x10" prints (or smaller, if you have a specific frame you wish to fill) of any of the artwork you will find on this site. Some examples are:

  

How To Help:

My goal is to raise $500. There are two ways to donate- 1) give me cash personally, or 2) online payment. The ScotiaBank Charity Challenge makes it easy for us to fundraise by providing a secure website that accepts credit card payments. If you would like to simply donate, visit the link below :

http://my.e2rm.com/PersonalPage.aspx?registrationID=2213919&langPref=en-CA
(you may have to copy+paste this link into your browser's address bar)

If you are interested in donating in exchange for a piece of my artwork, I am going to make the process very simple:

1. Contact me and tell me which piece you would like, the size if its a print, and how much you would like to donate. I will let you know if it is still available.. and obviously I am going to go with the highest bidder ;)
2. I will direct you  to the link above, unless you can get it from me personally, and donate the amount you wish to donate.
3. Send me your shipping address. I will get the piece to you as soon as I receive verification of the transaction, and will take care of all other costs personally... I only ask that if I am to ship something, please make a donation that is worthwhile for me to cover shipping costs, it would be much appreciated.

The Mental Illness Foundation:

5-10% of teenagers will suffer from clinical depression at one point in their lives

I work for their program Partners for Life, which goes into high schools all over Quebec and Ontario to raise awareness on depression and suicide prevention. We inform teens on what depression is, the causes, symptoms, and how they can get help for themselves or someone they are worried about. Myself and my colleagues are trained to do intervention when necessary, and it is in those one-on-one conversations that I have with these teens that I know we are doing good work.

The Mental Illness Foundation is a non-for-profit organization that relies completely on the generous support from our sponsors. We offer our services free to schools, but we are not government funded!

Beauty is Pain

Beauty

This painting has been the bane of my existance and the love of my life for about 9 months now. It is sickening to think of how long is has taken me to get to this point-- this point of knowing it is near finished but there is still a lot of work to do. 

The hours put into this painting, messing it up, fixing it, messing it up, fixing it.. it is frustrating to think about. You would think that with all of the skill that I possess, that I would have been more efficient. That my brush would have been more sure. Such is never the case. Because my work, whether it is commissioned or not, reflects what is also going on within me and within my world. If my painting is messy, it is likely that my life is just as well. So that's where I was in the initial stages of creating this. Just unsure and not confident about where I was going with it. 

I recall walking by it a few times, looking at it, and uttering a curse. Artists are damned by being so passionate. You know that you've hit an all-time low when you can knowingly admit that you have become defeated by a painting, by an unanimate object of your own creation.

It is nice to be able to see this in the same context that you all are looking at it now. This image was taken with a cell phone camera much better than the one I'd been working with before, and uploaded via my Instagram. I can really analyze it outside of the studio which helps me look at it from a wider perspective. 

With that said, I can't believe I'm still not happy with the majority of it. Instead of seeing just a few tweaks to make her hair transition nicely into the background, I am thinking about re-doing all of her skin to match the face, because I like those tones much better. But I know that once I do that, I will also have to add a bit more color to the blanket. All of a sudden I have much work ahead of me.

Time to get started.

Boutik Arts Dans Le Coin-- where you're not just "buying art"

Everyone, meet Charlie,  
the soon-to-be iconic representation of independent artists everywhere.    

And he isn't a dunce, he is a creative soul who, because his work may not exactly be fit (or maybe just not READY) for the mainstream art world, has been marginalized and stuck in a corner, to ponder why the hell of all things he had to be good at and passionate about, why ART?

But what he doesn't know, or maybe knows but doesn't always 100% believe, is that he's AMAZING and one day he will be successful too. 

This is the artist in his obscurity, the moment before the spotlight finds him, down but not defeated. 

I am happy to say that Boutik Arts Dans Le Coin is now open for business.

The Boutik, owned and operated by the lovely Marie-Anne Ricci, sits on 5516 Sherbrooke St. Ouest, on the busy corner of Girouard, overlooking a peaceful NDG parc. 

  

Walking into the store, you instantly feel right at home. The atmosphere is laid back, purposefully confronting and contrasting with the idea of your typical pretentious art gallery with its perfect white walls and elaborately framed ridiculously overpriced pieces.  The walls are black, grey, and vibrant purple. Art pieces are suspended from chains, covering the walls from floor to ceiling-- a modern play on the "Victorian salon" style of gallery. The store carries everything from drawings and paintings to jewelry, clothing, and postcard sized prints.

 

Store in progress (top left). Yours truly posing in front of her masterpieces, two Charlie's in the windows and the painted wall (bottom left). Storefront featuring my live painting setup in the windows (above).  

It isn't unusual to walk in and find one of the artists hanging out, chatting with the clientele, or even making art. It also isn't unusual to walk in and be confronted with a giant strip of paper rolled out onto the floor, covered in collaborative drawing and painting from the day.

(On that note, in addition to working on a new painting standing in the storefront windows, I drew some wicked flamingos. This loverly couple is totally going to be recreated as a painting. And yes, of course the umbrella too.)

And I feel like that is the best part about this store. It is a community space that not only allows, but encourages you to be yourself. 

And at the same time, this place's primary focus is to support those people who don't come home from work and just watch TV, but instead they drink a coffee or throw back an energy drink, and they unpack the paints, the pencils, the tools, and they get to work. It supports the people who try their best to make it by doing what they love. 

Moi, live painting in the windows for the world to see!

This is a place where emerging artists see their dreams become more than just dreams--

I can't describe how it felt the first time I walked by and saw my painting on display in the storefront window.... or how I felt standing next to a couple as they admired and talked about another of my paintings, unbeknownst to them that the artist that created it was right there.  

The store's grand opening bash will be sometime in the upcoming weeks, but please if you ever should find yourself in the area, stop by and see it for yourselves. Support starving artists-- I must add that the pieces in the store are very well priced.

http://www.facebook.com/BoutikArtsDansLeCoin

STORE HOURS

Monday: closed

Tuesday-Wednesday: 10am-6pm

Thursday-Friday: 10am-9pm

Saturday-Sunday: 10am-6pm

My pieces currently available in the store (you know.. in case you were wondering...):

   

New Disaster, Good Morning! (sorry no official photo as of yet), Birth of Venus

Emotion Collage (matted and framed), Lennoxville Train Bridge

Big Steps

I am so proud, I went to DeSerres (art supply store) today to buy "a few things" and actually left with only a few things-- three to be exact! A financially successful venture! I spoiled myself with a new paintbrush. Joy.

What I've been working on lately.. Well, last weekend was my family reunion and as part of the teacup auction fundraiser, I specially made this painted sleigh.I dub thee, La Famille du Foret.

It went to a couple that I wasn't sure I knew (I have a huge family), but that's ok I am happy if they are happy. Several people really really wanted that piece and offered to commission it from me. I've always loved painting silhouettes on vibrant colours (like my Nuke 'Em painting from university that now hangs in my friends' apartment). I will keep in mind to do more at some point.

When I have time! Jeezus, I have commissions up to my ears. Don't let this sound like complaining, I am happy to have work! However, I am not happy to be working the ole day job so much that when I get home I'm completely exhausted. But I push through, because I know each hour I spend doing this brings me closer to my dream of one day doing this full-time.

Speaking of which, may I present to you...

...One of the main reasons I have been so busy lately. Boutik Arts Dans Le Coin opens September 1st in NDG- Montreal. The owner, Marie-Anne Ricci, is a friend of mine through the gym and has hired me to do all of the graphic design for the business. Everything from the logo, the storefront sign, the flyers, etc.. all me. Next week I'll be doing some painting on the walls inside her store which I am really excited about.

This flyer right here happened as a complete fluke. I replaced the image and it was so oversized, yet it 'landed' on the page like this and I thought, "Wow, this is perfect. It's meant to be." I had to change the entire layout and font scheme but it was worth it. It's funny how things work out that way. Don't mind the awkward grey border, this is a screenshot, not finished product.

September 2012, people, and I will have my first pieces on display in a legit art store. I am so excited, and so happy for this opportunity.

The pieces to be on sale in the store on opening day will be:

Ultra, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 48"

New Disaster, acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"

And more, including a brand new piece. But of course, I can't spoil the fun by telling you everything...

No kicking back laziness this summer!

Wow I haven't really posted anything since I left for vacation. This summer is going to be so busy. I go to work, I come home, and work some more, on the art stuff. In the moments between I try to clean my apartment, buy food, run errands.. That's really it, no spare time, no fun stories.

The t-shirts I worked on for Ragin Inc. came in this week. I wish I could take credit for the full design, but unfortunately he only came to me afterward asking if I could make some additions to the signature Ragin smiley face. I added the gash above the eye oozing blood all the way down the face, as well as the text on the back (which I just love the humour of).

It's still pretty cool to see some of my work on a t-shirt. He has guy shirts for sale for only $25 each at http://ragin.bigcartel.com with girl shirts coming soon. We are currently collaborating on two other t-shirt designs for one of his sponsors that will be out hopefully next week. Nothing fancy just some super graphic text. But I'm happy to have the work; this guy's been keeping me busy! :)

At the same time, I've also doing a bit of work on some website banners for one of the fighters visiting Tristar this month. Its cool having people coming in and out of the gym like that, I've made contacts from all over the world. A lot of the commissions that I've been getting lately are graphic design, which is great. 

Sometimes I need a break from painting. Its so interesting how your brain switches gears completely when working in digital vs. traditional media.

Follow me on Instagram @salainart

And hey! Look! I've figured out how Instagram works and am finally using it. This is a quick snapshot of "Not Your Typical Broken Heart" It is the first time I've turned out a finished piece using (ahem cheap) oil pastels. I'm not a big fan of the texture I got from these, it looks like a crayon drawing. Maybe when I'm feeling extravagant I will buy myself some really nice oil pastels and turn out some real beauty.

As always, feel free to (please!) check me out on Instagram, Twitter (@salain_art), and "Like" my artist page on www.facebook.com/salainart

Peace and love!

         Beach Love!                               My creative consultant

New additions, new inspiration, lots of work for the summer

Finally have uploaded high quality images of my last series.

View the rest at salainart.imgur.com

I've also signed up for an Instagram account, umm don't know how to use it yet. 

My username is salainart, follow me!

In other news, anxiously awaiting tshirts for Ragin INC that I did some work on. They'll be coming in any day now.. I was on vacation for the last week so sadly no new work to showcase, but I am looking forward to finally having some time today to paint. Then again, I did say I was going to the vernissage for En Masse tonight. Will have to decide between the two. Might go see the show another day when I'm feeling less inspired. 

Speaking of inspiration, I want to share something written by one of my new favourite mixed media artists, Martha Marshall:

One thing I’ve learned through trial and error is the willingness to take risks. Build a little bed, throw in some seeds, add water and compost, nurture them, watch them, pull weeds, and see what happens. If nothing happens, repeat as necessary. See what would happen if you tried making your own sourdough starter, or real dill pickles, or a few pints of raspberry jam. All of them require attention and observation. Some batches turn out better than others.

It’s the same with paper, fabric, and canvas. If I don’t start, I’m guaranteed nothing will happen. If I do start, I will have something to build on. If it still turns to mud, or worse, at the very least I’m building on experience. Nothing is gained by not risking. Nothing is lost when I try.

You can follow Martha's blog An Artist's Journal on Wordpress (works through Blogger). This post makes me want to rush home and start a new painting at this instant. I have so many ideas written down, but also several new comissions, and yet so little time...

I wish I could afford the luxory of having a) studio space and b) the ability of paint full time. Now I feel like I have two jobs; I put in my 30-40 hours a week at the gym, then go home only to have to do more work on the art stuff. People don't understand when they want to make plans and I say I can't because "After work I'm painting." Well, no one ever said being an artist was an easy life.

New Contribution for UConversation.com

My goal in writing for UConversation Media is to do something that maybe a lot of people wouldn't dare to. I want to push beyond the boundaries of what you might consider a typical column for a magazine, and really delve deeper. I advertised my contributions as being a no sugar coating, no holds barred depiction of my post-University life. I'm tearing town the idealized depiction of what you should be doing after University, and getting real. 

Am I afraid to quote my personal journal? Yes.
Am I afraid to admit defeat, pain, failure? Yes.
But I do it anyway.


Because I feel like I need to. Post university life isn't all rainbows. Sometimes life is hard, but its those tough times that make you a stronger, truer individual. It's those times that make it all worth it.

That's the theme for my latest piece-  Leaving the University Bubble | UConversation.com.

Check it out. I encourage comments and feedback on the site itself; I know I would like that personally, but I also know that the UConversation team that works so hard on this project would appreciate comments and pageviews even more.

This site is currently only available for alum and students from Bishop's University but I'm hoping people without an account should be able to see it to. Thanks for the support.