Late Autumn Travel and news from the Studio

November 23, 2015February 8, 2016 / Terrill Welch / 6 Comments

The lemon, cadmium and naples yellows are brilliant and the brush quick in the Okanagan afternoon sun. Peachland reminds me of painting en plein air in France with everyone stopping to visit and comment on the progress as I worked.

This is very different from the usual Canadian standing back and frowning at me as they skeptically ask “Can you make a living do that?”

I always here their parent’s voice in these comments. After so many years of these exchanges, I am mostly use to it. But it can still, on occasion, be a little startling. I wonder, do these same people, if they see someone pruning hedges, or building a fence, or moving their herd of cattle, or tying up their charter fishing boat or cleaning the bathrooms in the provincial park, do they ask those people this same question? It is, after all, one would think, un-Canadian-like to ask such a personal question, tinged with judgement, to a person you see standing in front of an easel (paintbrush in hand) outdoors in our scenic landscape. But not so apparently. When I look up at these strangers, I realize that they just can’t help themselves. They simply must ask. Their curiosity seems to override politeness. I have a plan though.

The next time I am asked this question, I am going to reply “Why do you ask?”

I am sure their answers will be fascinating!

But in Peachland, like it was when I traveled in France, the people stopping by seemed to know and respect the seriousness and dedication that goes into the “real work ” of painting – even a quick plein air sketch. I was impressed and pleased. People could be seen crossing the street to come over to where I was busy working away at the easel.

Plein Air painting in Peachland British Columbia by Terrill Welch October 24 2015

They stopped in both direction on their walks along the waterfront to see how the sketch was coming along. It was a most pleasant 45 minutes on a fine autumn day!

The southern interior of British Columbia in general simply IS different from our southwest coast. Take these reflections on Vaseux Lake.

A little colour…

A little colour south end of Vaseux Lake British Columbia by Terrill Welch 2015_10_30 075

and more colour…

Autumn Vaseux Lake British Columbia by Terrill Welch 2015_10_30 089

and then not much at all…

sleeping giant at Vaseux Lake British Columbia by Terrill Welch 2015_10_30 109

But the reflections! These kinds of reflections we do not get often on the Pacific Ocean. Not like this. I will be back another time I am sure. I have to test out other locations to see if more of the Okanagan has an appreciation of plein air artists or if it is just Peachland.

Back in the studio, another of the paintings that recently sold was delivered and is now ensconced in its new home. Doesn’t it look like it has always been there?

The Olive Tree 40 x 30 inch oil on canvas in its new home by Terrill Welch 2015_10_07 010

I did get one more finished, done excepted for the edges, new oil painting completed during the past few weeks. It started out with the usual underpainting and was built up from there.

Winter 18 x 24 inch walnut oil on canvas in progress 1 by Terrill Welch 2015_11_03 002

Winter 18 x 24 inch walnut oil on canvas in progress 2by Terrill Welch 2015_11_03 003

Winter 18 x 24 inch walnut oil on canvas in progress 3 by Terrill Welch 2015_11_03 005

The final result is “Winter” an 18 x 24 inch walnut oil on canvas Mayne Island seascape.

Winter 18 x 24 inch walnut oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2015_11_10 024

In October, the painting shared in the previous post that I had just completed, “Salish Sea No Separation” 18 x 24 inch walnut oil, also sold before I could get it officially released. This work has safely arrived in Michigan and is now gracing the walls in the living room of a large rancher. I haven’t seen any photographs yet but I am sure I will before long.

Salish Sea No Separation 18 x 24 inch walnut oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2015_08_23 096

Right now, I am feeling the pressure to find more studio time so that the inventory is replenished for the upcoming year. I trust I shall find the time. I know that I will. I must!

Then, we shall smile together when the next person says – “can she really make a living at that!?”

We can simultaneously reply… “Why do you ask?”

In other studio news, there are rumours of a possible pop-up show of my paintings early in the New Year. This will be confirmed once plans are in place. Also, I will be painting and staying in Victoria for the month of January and then traveling to Prince Edward Island to photograph and do painting sketches from the end of April until near the end of June. During the Art! Vancouver international art fair in May, I expect to have a couple of paintings in a gallery group show in Vancouver as well. The year ahead is shaping up to be eventful already.

For now though, I am rolling up my sleeves in the studio to paint!

Best of the holiday season everyone in case we don’t chat here again before then!

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Three Painting Secrets Shared Over Tea

February 3, 2015February 6, 2015 / Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

Let’s light the wood cook stove in the outdoor courtyard while a gentle rain wakes nearby tree frogs.

While you are listening, I shall split some wood and set out the makings for tea.

There are a couple of cushions on the cob bench that are just right for us. Now, I mentioned a few painting secrets didn’t I? To refine this just a little – these are this particular artist’s painting secrets that I am referencing, not the generic painter from all genres and all times. Lastly, they are painting secrets only in if we haven’t yet taken the time to consider their relevance in relation to our painting language.

The first painting secret is to hold a tension between knowing and the unexpected. To clarify, I don’t really believe in divine intervention or creativity passing through me from some higher power. Admittedly, my conscious mind is seldom in control of my brush except as I begin and at the completion of a work – so possibly “belief” is irrelevant in this situation. However, I start with an intention. I choose a subject, a medium, a surface and an approach or painting problem. I decide which pigments to set out. This is the “knowing” part of the equation which is heavily influenced by frequent practice such as with this first of two acrylic painting sketches from yesterday.

“Arbutus tree in ray of sun” 8 x 10 inch acrylic painting sketch on gessoboard (update February 6, 2015: this sketch is now sold)

This painting sketch didn’t come out of nowhere. Even though it was painted in the middle of an indoor market day with not a glimpse of the foggy sea visible, the sketch is inspired by an experience from the day before.

While walking, a friend asks if I had done a painting of this particular arbutus tree. I reply – not yet – as I frame my composition – maybe tomorrow though – and the shutter releases. It is these slivers of moments overlapping one-over-another that find their way onto my canvases. How do I capture our relaxed ease which followed from lunch together and now an afternoon January stroll around a small piece of our island? What colours and brushstrokes will translate these feelings, this remembering? It is so much more than this arbutus tree hunch over the sandstone shore, where the sun catches and the fog shifts upon the sea.

This painting sketch is a first attempt to answer these questions. I really haven’t a clue what the answer is but I find I must set myself to the problem just the same. This is the “unexpected” half of the equation. I must move forward without knowing. I believe this is where some painters and creative beings feel they are merely a vessel for the work to come through. I am not convinced. The focus and full-body experience as the brushes move paint onto canvas is undeniable and yes possibly spiritual in approach. But I still claim awareness of my physical presence and leaning heavily on a large basket of experience both from painting and from life. The unpredictable combination of these elements is what is leads us to the unexpected. It is the tension between this knowing and embracing unknown possibilities that is important. To achieve results I must show up and practice my craft frequently. Relying on divine intervention will only get us so far. Then there is work to be done.

The second painting secret is finding precisely the intimate details that are essential. Then I paint these aspect with all of my senses and layers of brushstrokes to expose this specific intimacy. For a landscape or still life painter there is always movement even when it is not at first noticeable. This is because the earth is moving. This grants us a readily identifiable intimacy in our relationship to a precise aspect of that time of day, a specific season combined with our years of experience with this spiraling cycle. These years of experience I reference are is “noticing years” rather than “birth years” which is significant. Currently, with the amount of time humans spend in artificial environments, a person can go their whole life with little conscious awareness and possibly no interest in our earthly relationship in the universe. We must notice in a conscious way in order to deepen and strengthen our painting vocabulary of movement and the interrelationship of light and our subjects. I sense this to be true even in abstract work. The paintings of Richard Diebenkorn whose work will be shown at the Royal Academy in London England March 14 to June 7 2015.

Yet, though our urban surroundings mask our awareness to nature, it takes very little to awaken these sensory experience. Repeated deliberate observation is all that is really necessary. Take this second painting sketch “Steveston morning fog” an 8 x 10 acrylic painting sketch on gessoboard.

The fishing boats are important but they do not float on their own in the morning fog. They are imbedded in their surroundings and are experienced as small against a grand sky that touches right down to the sea. I made them even smaller in relationship to the sky for this reason than my photography reference information.

Maybe even too small perhaps. However, in this translation of my experience it is our human smallness in relationship to the sky and the morning light coming through the fog that was the intimate detail of significance.

The third painting secret I have to share is to release any notion of importance. We must take our work seriously of course but release any investment in a particular outcome of success, recognition or fortune. This doesn’t mean we relinquish these things completely but rather that they remain outside of the painting process and, as much as possible, outside of our lives in general. Yes, well-being is important. Yes, we desire and do much better with safe secure housing and nutritious foods. Yes, we need social appreciation and connection to varying degrees depending on our own temperament. But we need much less of what is defined as success, recognition and fortune than we are led through advertizing and media to believe that we do – particularly in North America. For example, my large old tea kettle has out lasted five electric kettles which I somehow thought were necessary. I gave up on the latter about three years ago. They were costly, environmentally unsustainable due to their continued need for replacement. But I had decided for some reason that the electric kettle was faster and easier to use. In reality not so. Water boils in about the same amount of time whether in the kettle on the stove or with the plug-in variety. There is nothing helpful about having this extra contraption on the counter. I had unwittingly replaced experience for efficiency which if I unravel brings us back to the notion of my importance. I had important things to do so the most efficient path was the one that was most desirable. Hence, I purchased a series of ill considered electric kettles.

Let’s explore what we notice if we value experience over efficiency as we prepare and drink this cup of tea because this old wood cook stove still makes a fine cup of tea though it will take us about three times as long by the time we get the fire going and the water boiling. When I am sitting here in the outdoor courtyard I have no trouble at all remembering that the earth is on its winter turn and half way to spring. I can almost feel the trees releasing the oxygen I pull deep into the bottom of my lungs. This awareness is far more valuable to my painting than the importance of a huge following on social media, a cover feature in a national paper or financial wealth. The turning of the earth, the trees, the following, the national article and financial wealth are all temporary – just as we are. Therefore, I suggest that our attention is best spent on insuring our minimal needs while affording us as much freedom to be aware of our relationship to our environment as possible. And here is the rub – insuring minimal needs may requiring marketing and selling the paintings that are rendered in these passages of freedom awareness we have created by attending to only our minimal needs. Still I will argue that success, recognition and fortune are not an adequate definition of a painter and are useless and possibly harmful aspect to attend to as an artist. They are distractions that defuse our attention from our own temporariness. Resisting mortality is futile. Success, recognition and fortune are temporary observations that spiral around through time, for only a short while. Then these observations, along with the physical paintings will disappear just a we did maybe a few hundred years before. We can’t cheat mortality and the effort to stall the inevitable interferes with what must be painted today.

With these three secrets, the waves can then roll as if moved by our breath.

(detail Sea and Stones French Beach 12 x 16 inch walnut oil on wood with 1.5 inch cradle)

The sky can open up as never before remembered.

(detail Sea and Sky French Beach 12 x 16 inch walnut oil on wood with 1.5 inch cradle)

Well, the last of my tea is cold and it getting dark. Time to call it a day. Before I go, I want to introduce a new blog by a fellow artist and colleague Lena Levin. Some of the ideas I have shared here Lena explores from a historical, academic as well as personal perspective at “Sonnet in Colour.” She recently introduced this new blog in her newsletter as follows:

There is this almost inevitable flavour of self-display in writing (and showing paintings) publicly, and I am extremely introverted — I really don’t want any self-display. Even now, a huge part of me would prefer to just shut up and go paint in solitude and silence. Or read something, or listen, or see. But there is also this feeling that Shakespeare, and sonnets, and paintings, and art in general — all these things often thought of as high-brow, inessential luxuries — are in fact urgently relevant to our day-to-day lives, even desperately needed. And maybe — just maybe — I might be able to share something which someone else needs; open some doors, show some pathways to what fills my own life with so much joy and happiness.

This is why I’ve decided to structure the site not just around the sonnets, or paintings, but around three themes, which — in one or another way — play a crucial role in everyone’s life: “Self and Consciousness”, “Love”, and “Time and Mortality” (with sub-headings to be added as the site grows).

I hope you enjoy reading her writing and viewing her paintings as much as I do.

Now, while I gather the tea items and carry them back to the inside kitchen…

What is one of your creative secrets?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

The Ordinary and the Painter

January 20, 2015 / Terrill Welch / 6 Comments

Our attention is called to focused on the grand, the absurd and the unbelievable while our everyday ordinary life is often trivialized and overlooked. I mean who hasn’t seen a clip about the predator who lovingly cared for dinner that was still a baby? Or a new discovery of a brilliant someone who was overlooked or found in an unexpected place?

So what is a painter’s life about anyway? Is it stylishly waving a brush across canvases in the studio? Or is it acquiring art collectors, collecting fans, preparing for solo exhibits, wishing for galleries shows and meandering museums? Is it dreaming of having work recognized and valued enough to make a thriving living? Well maybe, in a small part, it is these things. Mostly for this painter though, it is about tending to the ordinary. In my response to a long time blogging friend Laurie Buchanan’s post “A Twist on Impressionism” this morning, I said “I like to think that I am leaving an impression about the value of the ordinary – the things that we have the best chance of giving and receiving freely and in abundance like listening, laughing, kindness, caring, helping, sharing, observing, being present and being thoughtful.” But what does this really mean? As a painter how are these ideals expressed? What is it to tend to the ordinary?

Come for a walk or three with me and then we will come back to the studio and a current solo exhibit. We shall see if we can sort it out together.

First let’s ring the bell in the garden for attending to what is around us.

It could be the heavy mist hiding a view next to the trail.

Or a pair of reading glasses carefully hung in a tree for their owner to come back and find.

It might be a hand-knit mittens that warm small hands left on a picnic table.

Or it could simply be the winter light taking a sideways entrance into a Japanese garden.

Whatever it is that we attend to in our observation is occurring whether we notice or not. It is the ordinary everyday aspects of living. But we see them in fresh and frequently meaningful ways. The mitts reminded me of my childhood and the effort my mother put into making them for us. I desired to see them returned to their owner and placed the photograph above in a local private Facebook group. They were discovered on the post and retrieved by the owner. I have very poor eyesight without my glasses so a pair of reading glasses missing on an island where another pair can not be purchased sparked the inclusion of that image on the same post as the mittens. The image of the mist hiding a familiar view reminds me that no two days or moments are ever exactly the same and different does not mean less intriguing or valuable. This is reinforced by catching the lengths of low sun in the Japanese garden. Only for a very few minutes will it be there and then these tree too will slip into the background shadows.

But what do these experiences have to with being a painter of our natural environment?

Well, sometimes on a walk where this image was captured of the willow tree

I go back with my paints, paintbox and brushes to paint. But remember how I just noted that no two days are ever exactly the same?

Even though the fog is so thick that it settles in damp layers on my skin, I set up anyway and go to work.

In fact, it the humidity is so high that the acrylic paint won’t dry enough to allow me to layer it on painting sketch. So in the end, I know without a moments worry or hesitation that it may be less than an accurate translation of my ordinary everyday experience of the willow tree. But it is still the result we have isn’t it?

“Mayne Island willow tree in winter fog” still wet plein air acrylic sketch 8 x 10 inches

Back in the studio, I may visit the subject again. I will have my photography and my painting sketches for reference. Again, it may or may not lead to a successful final work but this we will both know – I have attended to an aspect of my everyday with observation, appreciation, curiosity and gratitude. It is a good day for this painter when this is so.

These collections of experience and memory are rendered in multiple layers using my full-sensory awareness of an ordinary day. This is what I wish to capture in my work. Here are three of the twenty-two paintings in my current solo exhibition at International Fine Art Collaborative – Zen Gallery curated by Sukhee Kwon that I feel are exemplary in this aspect.

Title: S t o r m . W a t c h i n g
Media: 30 x 40 inch oil on canvas

Title: T h e . R o a d .t o . t h e . W o r l d
Media: 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas

Title: B o w l . o f . W i n t e r . F r u i t
Media: 12 X 16 inch oil on canvas

Many of you know the stories between all of the 22 works in this collection but the sharing of these three here will do for now. My thanks to curator Sukhee Kwon for presenting my work so beautifully. Thank you for coming with me on an ordinary day, in an ordinary life of a painter.

What are you observing today in your ordinary life?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Canadian Contemporary Artist Terrill Welch solo exhibit and auction

January 17, 2015January 17, 2015 / Terrill Welch / 4 Comments

Just so you know…

Terrill Welch

Twenty-two of Terrill Welch’s paintings open in a solo exhibit today in the International Fine Arts Collaborative (IFAC) ZEN Gallery Facebook Page curated by Sukhee Kwon.

S O L O . E X H I B I T I O N : 1 2
Collection: T E N D I N G . T O . T H E . O R D I N A R Y
Artist: Terrill Welch

IFAC Zen Gallery Solo Exhibition 12 Terrill Welch

To view the exhibit click on the image or HERE.

Intro: Terrill Welch is internationally recognized. Her paintings are sold to art collectors throughout Canada and the United States as well as in Australia, England, Norway and Switzerland. Since 2010, more than 50 of her paintings have found their way into private collections.

TENDING TO THE ORDINARY is a selection of paintings chosen for their moments of engagement with our everyday world. The brushstrokes render the light, shadow…

View original post 163 more words

Art and Landscape connecting one brushstroke at a time

January 11, 2015January 11, 2015 / Terrill Welch / 7 Comments

Some days simply overflowing with humble gratitude. An unexpected belly laugh from your partner, child or a friend. The dampness of morning air on your cheek. Maybe it is the sounds of the tree frogs nearby that does it for you? Or an eagle hanging on a branch with a robust sea coming to shore?

What are those everyday experiences that remind you of your humanness and connection to nature?

Today my Art of Terrill Welch Facebook Page has 837 followers or “Likes.” Just so you know, when it reaches 1,000 I am going to auction off an 8 x 10 inch landscape painting sketch. It will be a new adventure for me though I have seen it done many times before. The bidding is done in the comments on the post and there is a small reserved bid to start. In order to comment one must have “Liked” the page. Do be careful though as it is easy to “unlike” a page you have already liked by accident

P.s. This is a snippet from WEST COAST EARLY EVENING WINTER SEA 16 x 20 inch which will be unveiled at my solo exhibition “West Coast Landscape as Home” April 3, 2015 at Camassia Café on Mayne Island, British Columbia Canada. If you are considering traveling to come to this opening, now is the time to make plans as it is the Saturday of Easter Weekend.

All the best of a fine Sunday to you!

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

All the Canvases are Taken but One

December 3, 2014 / Terrill Welch / 6 Comments

I woke this morning to do a review of my art supplies. I am down to one blank square canvas and I am out of lemon yellow paint and seriously low on a few other pigments. All the other canvases are taken and stacked several layers deep around the rooms – a few more than sixty of them in total.

You see, yesterday I finalized my commitment to a two month solo exhibition during the months of April and May at the Camassia Café on Mayne Island, British Columbia Canada. The relatively new venue is quickly becoming popular for its art and music shows as well as tasty, carefully prepared foods. The theme of my exhibition is “West Coast Landscapes as Home” and though I have plenty of work available for this adventure, I want to do a few specific and surprise pieces. I have at least six or so in mind. But these lack of supplies in the studio has me pacing the floor and trying to decide if I want to catch a ferry tomorrow and go to the city or see if I can find the canvases I need locally and manage with the pigments that I have. For a few brief moments I am frustrated with living on an island which feels like being stuck in the middle of nowhere when I haven’t carefully planned enough to keep my supplies well-stocked. I suppose this isn’t exactly true. What it really means is I have been putting off going to the city again for far too long.

But enough about this! I stopped my rant of private whining immediately following my reading of this letter sent from Vétheuil on the 17th of August 1879 to the doctor and art collector Georges De Bellio:

For a long time I have been hoping for better days ahead, but alas, I believe the time has come for me to abandon all hope. My poor wife is in increasing pain and I cannot imagine that she could be any weaker than she is now. Not only does she not have the strength to stand up or walk one step, but she cannot hold down the slightest bit of nourishment, although she has an appetite. One has to be at her bedside continually attending to her smallest wish, in the hope of relieving her suffering, and the saddest thing is that we cannot always satisfy these immediate needs for lack of money. For a month now I have not been able to paint because I lack the colours; but that is not important. Right now it is the sight of my wife’s life in jeopardy that terrifies me, and it is unbearable to see her suffering so much and not be able to provide relief… But I would ask another favour of you, dear M. de Bellio, which is to help us out from your own pocket. We have no resources whatsoever. I have a few canvases in the rue Vintimille; take them for whatever price you like; but please respond to my call for help and send us what you can. Two or three hundred francs now would save us from hardship and anxiety: with a hundred francs more I could procure the canvas and paints I need to work. Do what you can, in short; I told our landlady to let you in: so look at my paintings and buy them for whatever you like.

Awaiting your reply, I send you my best wishes.

Yours, Claude Monet

(reference: MONET by himself p.31 edited by Richard Kendall (1989)

A few short weeks later Claude Monet’s wife Camille died leaving Monet to care for their two sons and extended family members which included Alice Hoschedé and her six children. He was to turn forty years old on November 14th of the following year. By the end of this next decade Monet’s fortune did start to take a turn for the better and he was able to buy the house at Giverny and be free of financial worries. We also see his paintings during this period take up the themes that will remain part of his work throughout the rest of his career.

On this hopeful note, with not a health, financial or career worry of any notable concern, I shall be off to see what our local Dragonfly Gallery – purveyors of fine art supplies, craft materials, quilting needs, cards, gifts and faerie glamour – has for canvases.

What letters from writers or painters or other artists do you read for perspective and inspiration?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

ONLINE GALLERIES include –

Artsy Home for most original oil paintings currently available

Redbubble for most photography prints

When the Creative Mind Creates a New Opportunity

November 12, 2014November 12, 2014 / Terrill Welch / 1 Comment

Sometimes Terrill Welch’s enthusiastic creativity is so incomprehensible that it creates a new opportunity. This is one of those times.

Terrill Welch

20% savings on all original Terrill Welch paintings until Friday, November 14th midnight Pacific Time of 2014.

Go to Terrill’s online Artsy Home Gallery HERE

Click on the “Make an Offer” button located on the top right under the price for the painting you want.

Put in the code 20%savings

This will send an email to Terrill and she will adjust the price and assist you with delivery and purchase arrangements.

Sometimes Terrill Welch’s enthusiastic creativity is so incomprehensible that it creates a new opportunity. This is one of those times. During the Nov 8th & 9th online and in-person Open Studio event Terrill learned that her numbers game was so creative and unclear that no one understood what she was talking about. Since this was not her intention. This time she is keeping it straightforward.

There is a new opportunity of 20% savings on original paintings in her Artsy…

View original post 151 more words

In the News and more good News

October 23, 2014October 23, 2014 / Terrill Welch / 9 Comments

Yaaaaaahoooo! Yippee! Ta da! Almost! Do I sound enthused? I sure hope so because my Open Studio Double Event is coming up fast! How many sleeps is it to November 8th? Here is the scoop…

Open Studio Double Event – including over 60 original oil paintings

On November 8th and 9th of 2014

From 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

or 24/7 online

At 428 Luff Road Mayne Island, British Columbia Canada for face-to-face guests

(#19 Mayne Island Brochure and #1 Artisan Studio Tour maps)

And on a special event page at TerrillWelchArtist.com for online guests! Drop on by to check out the “what’s up” at:

http://terrillwelchartist.com/artist-terrill-welch-open-studio-november-8-and-9-2014 or just click on the photograph.

Psst! For the curious, as shown in the poster, Terrill Welch and her art were mentioned in the British Columbia Provincial newspaper, The Province, in a feature article by reporter Paul Luke on Sunday, October 19, 2014. Though the photographs are all at the top in the online version, you can read the full article at http://www.theprovince.com/business/Need+career+change+Here+reinvent+yourself/10304341/story.html

I think this is about all for now.

Question: What would be your quotable quote if a reporter was to call YOU this afternoon?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

ONLINE GALLERIES include –

Artsy Home for most original oil paintings currently available

Redbubble for most photography prints

Terrill Welch paintings – they ain’t cheap are they?

August 26, 2014August 24, 2018 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments

This morning as I was painting the edges on two new paintings that are now released on my website at Terrill Welch Artist, I thought of a recent comment I accidentally heard being proclaimed in front of my display at our local Mayne Island Farmers’ Market a few weeks ago – they ain’t cheap are they!? To be fair, the lovely person making the comment was speaking to her friends and did not realize I was coming up right behind her. I warmly laughed and agreed with her – my work is not cheap. In fact, deciding to purchase one of my paintings or photography images is a serious financial decision – one that requires thought, conviction and often planning. As the morning sun provides its gift of bright light into my home studio, I think of all the reasons that this is so.

There are the usual and obvious observations including:

1. Market Demand – in the past few years almost 50 paintings of various sizes have found their way onto the walls of private collectors. (Update: post was written in 2014. Now in 2017 this number has grown to more than 100. Maybe someday I shall be one of the “older women artists discovered” even 😉 ) At some points during the past four years prices had to be raised twice in one year to calm the speed of sales which were happening before work was released or even completed.

2. Limited Supply – I am not a hugely prolific painter. Each year there are somewhere between 30 and 50 paintings completed. At this rate, in my life time there will likely be less than 2,000 original paintings available in the world. Original paintings by a specific artist are limited due to the very nature of being painted by the artist’s own hand. My released landscape and still life photography images are even fewer in number.

3. Broad Market Reach – Due to the breadth and depth of social media, I am able to connect with discerning art collectors on global platforms. Though my local physical community on a small west coast island is just over a 1000 people, my online community has the reach of a good-sized city and is populated by those who love art and who love my paintings. There are fans who regularly leave comments and share my work. There is a team of writers who provide commentary on specific paintings every month. There are fellow artists and photographers who share, encourage and inspire me to push the edges and explore what it means to brush paint onto a canvas. All of this strengthens the market reach and the asking price for a specific painting.

But there is more to it than this isn’t there?

The decisions around pricing art work and purchasing art work are also subjective and emotional. My paintings come through my engagement with life. I instill the canvas or camera with the vitality of my everyday experiences. These experiences are not cheap. They are priceless. They are all any of us every really have beyond family and friends. Frankly, I can never translate and release these renderings for pittance because my heart would break. It would mean that our lives and how we choose to translate our experiences have little value. I cherish life. I therefore act accordingly and apply value to my work that comes from that life. The outcome is long-lasting exchanges and deep connections with art collectors and fans. This somehow completes the circle between inspiration, creation and release of work to a life of its own, in places I frequently have never even been.

Yet, I want and do find ways to share them freely with you and the rest of the world. If you are reading this post you can view my work in detail in my online galleries as often and for as long as you like.

ONLINE GALLERIES include –

Artwork Archives for most original oil paintings currently available

Redbubble for most photography prints

In addition, the images on my blog and website can be saved for personal use as screen savers or printed to be sent as cards to your friends or posted on the fridge for that day when you can make an offer.

It is only when you want to own an original painting or a photography image that it ain’t cheap!

So, in closing, I want to thank the person who said loudly and clearly what we all know and seldom discuss – original art is precious and not always accessible to own but we can still admire it and enjoy its presence in markets, pop-up shows, home studio visits, traditional galleries, online platforms and in museums. In these precarious times, we have access to viewing and enjoying more fine art than possibly any other time in history. Thank you for visiting, enjoying and collecting mine 🙂

More about buying original paintings on my website at Seven Tips For Buying Original Paintings .

What is your favorite answer to the question – they ain’t cheap are they!?

P.S. The new painting released is:

OYSTER BAY LATE JULY 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas

Update September 2, 2014: This painting is now sold.

Oyster Bay Late July 12 x 16 inch plein air oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2014_08_08 060

View all current paintings available in the online gallery HERE.

Enjoy your week and the coming of my favourite season – autumn! 🙂

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Seven Brilliant Etiquette Tips from Charming Home Studio Art Guests

July 27, 2014July 18, 2019 / Terrill Welch / 11 Comments

Summer is in full-swing and you love, love LOVE to visit artists in their home studios while on vacation. As an artist with a home studio, I am equally as thrilled to have you. However, if you want to be that special home studio guest who is cherished by the artists you visit, then these tips are for you! Here are seven brilliant etiquette tips from some of my most treasured, pleasant, feel-good and please-come-back-again home studio guests.

Tip one – book an appointment at least a day but preferably three days in advance.

Home studios are living/working spaces and they can always benefit from a little organizing and prettying-up before guests arrive.

Terrill Welch Home Studio Visit 1 July 2014 by Terrill Welch 2014_07_27 006

Tip two – see if there are any of your friends that want to come with you and let the artist know how many are in your party.

A prepared home studio visit is almost always enhanced when there are a few more people enjoying it.

Terrill Welch Home Studio Visit 2 July 2014 by Terrill Welch 2014_07_27 007

Tip three – if it is not obvious, ask about taking your shoes off at the door.

You are going into someone’s home as well as their studio – home protocol trumps studio.

Terrill Welch Home Studio Visit 4 July 2014 by Terrill Welch 2014_07_27 018

Tip four – do not be afraid to ask questions and to look closely at your favourites.

Most artists are happy to tell you about the background of a piece and show you the work in different light. I frequently move work around for guests as the light is always changing. Seeing work at its best in a home environment isn’t as easy as when there is gallery lighting. Even taking it out into natural light is no trouble at all and can be a lot of fun.

Terrill Welch Home Studio Visit 4 July 2014 by Terrill Welch 2014_07_27 023

Tip five – Look as closely as you like and do not feel any pressure to buy just because you made an appointment to view.

We make appointments to view houses, test drive cars and to hold puppies without feeling obligated to purchase. We can do the same when view art in a home studio environment.

Terrill Welch Home Studio Visit 5 July 2014 by Terrill Welch 2014_07_27 021

Tip Six – If you are enamored by the artist’s work feel free to come back for more than one visit.

I have new work in my studio all the time and welcome repeat visitors. This allows home studio guests to become more familiar with the depth of an artist’s work and to develop a deeper understanding of what goes into the creative process. These factors I believe contribute to the enjoyment of the art that you may purchase now or at a later date.

Terrill Welchy Home Studio 6 Visit July 2014 by Terrill Welch 2014_07_27 027

Tip seven – Charming studio guests find a way to communicate a meaningful thank you for the artist’s time.

Studio visits do take time. There is no way around it. The most obvious show of appreciation is when a home studio guest goes home with an original piece of art. But there are so many other ways to acknowledge the artist who has hosted you in their home studio. Some of my favourite “thank you gestures” have been:

1. buying a small handful of greeting cards of your favourite art for those special occasions,

2. bringing a small gift like a jar of homemade jam or cookies or fresh-cut flowers from the market,

3. taking the artist’s photograph with her work and sharing it with your friends along with the artist’s business card,

4. taking a photograph of your favourite work to post on your fridge as a reminder for the day you are ready to purchase,

5. sending a quick email “thank you” and telling the artist what you enjoyed most about your visit,

6. signing up to receive the artist’s blog and then send the link to all your social media “friends” telling them about your home studio visit, and

7. taking the artist out to lunch and telling everyone you see how much you loved her art and wish that you could purchase it all. Yes, this has happened, more than once actually 🙂

Terrill Welch Home Studio Visit 7 July 2014 by Terrill Welch 2014_07_27 008

Let your imagination be your guide but a meaningful thank you goes a long-long way on the charming scale of being an unforgettable and cherished home studio guest.

Why bother? Or more bluntly – what is in it for you?

Most importantly, these are just a nice things to do and you will feel good about doing them – I promise. And you will get invited back. Beyond this, when an artist remembers a charming home studio guest then there are those special invitations to private viewings of yet-to-be-released work – either in person or online. The charming guest may also be given perks and consideration that are not openly shared publicly – a book, tote, throw pillow or small study of the artists work may be tucked in with a large purchase. You may receive a personal note when a work has come available that you mentioned you were interested in considering. After all, artists are no different from everyone else – we love, love, LOVE considerate and charming guests.

What is the most brilliant and charming etiquette of any guest you have received – ever!?

Postscript infomercial (you had to know it was coming): Terrill Welch welcomes guest to her Mayne Island, British Columbia, home studio by appointment. Feel free to send an email to her at tawelch AT shaw DOT ca to set up a time to drop in and be one of her charming home studio guests.

Update July 18, 2019: Terrill Welch now has the seasonal Art of Terrill Welch Gallery at 478 Village Bay Road open Spring to Fall Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11-4 or by appointment year round. Also, most of Terrill Welch’s original paintings can be viewed in detail and purchased in her online gallery at: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/terrill-welch With almost 150 works large and small finding homes in private collections during the past nine years it is a good idea not to dally.

Okay, that is a wrap! Now back to painting, la, la, la…… see you soon 😉

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com