Studio Tour Tomorrow

November 11, 2011November 11, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 16 Comments

I am almost ready! Tomorrow, being Saturday November 12, 2011, it is the annual Artisan Christmas Studio Tour on Mayne Island. There are eight Studios, two craft fairs and six shops participating. A few places are even going to be open on the Sunday as well as Saturday. Look for the red brochures at the Mayne Mall or drop by my Studio in the morning after 10:00 am. I can give you a brochure to get you started on a day of creative delights.

Here is a photo showing from last year’s Creative Potager studio opening to warm you up to the idea…

To find la casa de inspiracion, our home and studio, pick up the Mayne Island Community Chamber Brochure on ferry or at one of the local shops. Creative Potager is number 35 in the white square near the centre of the island. There are yellow signs to guide your right from where you turn on toWood Dale Road which is just as you come off the ferry. Just follow along until you get to 428 Bowsprite Crescent. I am looking forward to seeing you between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm.

There will be several new original oil paintings, photography prints and greeting cards showcasing our lovely west coast and Mayne Island.

For those of you that are too far away to drop in, please feel free to browse my online gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com It is almost the same as coming by except you have to get your own cup of tea.

Sprout Question: What are you preparing for?

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

PRECIOUS SECONDS – Mayne Island in paintings and photographs (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

The Quiet

November 7, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 18 Comments

Yesterday’s Third Salish Sea Sunday Savings event was the best out of the three with several individuals taking advantage of the offering. Thank you so much to everyone who participated! I am always amazed by your ongoing support. It is like a pleasant surprise each time I venture to promote my work.

Yet, even with all of this excitement, I am engaged in a time of quiet – a deep peace that seems to come with the low light of late fall. The tree that overhangs our bank at the back of the house is just starting to turn.

The sheep in the valley below the house seem to emanate my inner stillness.

I tend towards observation rather than engagement during this time of year. There is a lot to do but not much that must be done. This is why announcing the winner of the draw for small 7.5 X 12 inch canvas print of AMAZEMENT seems so perfectly placed. The winner is an expert at engaging stillness, reflection and capturing the everyday aspects of his natural surroundings. Can you guess who it is? It is Jeff Stroud! Allow me to link to a recent interview that I did with Jeff which will provide links to his outstanding photography and information about recent shows of his work and to his blog. Congratulations Jeff!

As we all know, this time of quiet is often fleeting. I will be spending this week getting ready for the Mayne Island Artisan Christmas Studio Tour where I open our home to the public from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday November 12, 2011. If you are in the neighbourhood, please drop in and enjoy the transformation of our home into gallery space.

I also have one other fine offering that will be available until November 30, 2011. The producer, Blurb, of my book PRECIOUS SECONDS – Mayne Island in paintings and photographs is offering buyers a $10.00 discount until the end of the month. To receive this discount, type in BIGTEN when the promo code is requested during checkout.

Here is the fine print that Blurb provided with the offer…

*Offer valid through November 30, 2011 (11:59 p.m. local time). Receive USD $10.00 off product totals. Minimum purchase is USD $29.95. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with other promotional codes, volume discounts, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

Sprout Question: What triggers your quiet times?

Have a wonderful week whether it is quiet or filled with activity!

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Third Salish Sea Sunday Savings (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
PRECIOUS SECONDS – Mayne Island in paintings and photographs (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Early November afternoon by the sea

November 4, 2011November 4, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 26 Comments

I wasn’t going to take a photograph. I was just going to sit and enjoy the fine November light on the water, the call of the seagulls on the rocks and an eagle sitting overhead in a tree. I rolled down the window of my old ford pickup inhaling deeply. Saltwater, damp seaweed and snow someplace in the distant mountains obscured by cloud cover.

Then I said, “Well maybe I will just wander a bit on the shore. Oh I guess I might as well take the camera.”

As I gently closed the door of “Miss Prissy” I must admit to still denying I was going to take a photograph.

“I have so many photographs of this beach” I told myself.

But none are exactly like this one.

(image may be purchased HERE)

Sprout Question: What resent resistance has led to a win for your creative desire?

Remember this Sunday is the third and final Salish Sea Sunday Savings event for this year. Have a read of the Third Thursday Teaser posted yesterday for the details.

And second reminder…. If it applies to you – it is also the week we go back to Standard Time.

Best of the weekend everyone!

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

SEA AND CLOUDS original oil painting by Terrill Welch (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Savouring the Blues (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Third Thursday Teaser

November 3, 2011November 3, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 6 Comments

Here we are with the Thursday Teaser for the final event for 2011…

My Third Salish Sea Sunday Savings event is this Sunday November 6, 2011.

LINK your chances to win a small photography canvas print of AMAZEMENT.

To qualify you must be subscribed to the Creative Potager blog (sidebar on the right) and share this blog LINK to the Third Thursday Teaser for the final Salish Sea Sunday Savings event of 2011 anytime BEFORE the start of the event at 3:00 P.M. this Sunday, via ANY of these means – email, facebook, twitter, Google+ or on your blog. Each time you share your name will be added to the draw – the more shares, the more chances to win.

Remember, I MUST KNOW that you have shared the link to be able to add your name to the draw. So for whichever sharing means you use, apply the appropriate tool for a cc.

The winner will be announced on next Monday’s regular Creative Potager post.

Would you like a quick peek behind the sales curtain?

Selected paintings and photographs of my work will be reduced 40% for one hour ONLY from 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm P.S.T. Sunday November 6, 2011.

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE FROM DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME FOR THIS SUNDAY OR YOU WILL MISS OUT.

This event will be hosted right here at the Creative Potager blog

Available at this discount price will be:

One original impressionist 24 X 48 inch oil on canvas painting from my studio

Current price and more about this painting in the Art of Day online gallery HERE.

Two painting prints in any format including cards to canvas prints from my redbubble

Three photography prints in any format including cards to canvas prints from my redbubble

And…the Mayne Island Tree Spirits calendar for 2012.

See you there! 🙂

I look forward to receiving those LINK notifications and seeing you on Sunday. I will be avail real-time for 3:00 – 4:00 pm P.S.T. AND REMEMBER TO RESET THOSE CLOCKS TO STANDARD TIME. So grab your beverage of choice, your slippers, and your credit card and drop on by and see what is posted.

As previously mentioned, this event is intended to accomplish two things.

First, I wish to show my thanks to established fans and collectors of my work. You have shown amazing support and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. With Christmas just around the corner it is the least I can do.

Second, I want to increase the number of fans and collectors who can say “oh, that is impressionist painter and photographer Terrill Welch’s work.”

Today’s Sprout Question: How do you creatively express your amazement?

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

First Salish Sea Sunday Savings (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Second Thursday Teaser (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Second Salish Sea Sunday Savings (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
First Thursday Teaser (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Witch Black and Pumpkin Orange

October 31, 2011October 28, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 19 Comments

For the last day of October and Halloween it seems appropriate to feature black and orange.

Witch Black with a split-rail fence.

Pumpkin Orange with maple trees glowing in the morning dew beside a farmer’s field.

At the bottom of a rock bluff at the intersection.

Or looking across to Curlew Island.

Sprout Question: What do you associate with witch black and pumpkin orange?

Happy Halloween!

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

FromMayne Island,British Columbia,Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

I made the cover

October 28, 2011October 28, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 35 Comments

I made the cover! It isn’t the cover of the Rolling Stones but it is a glossy cover of a new regional magazine called ISLAND GALS reaching Vancouver Island and the smaller Gulf Islands. This includes British Columbia’s capital city of Victoria. Actually, my oil painting HENDERSON HILL made the cover and I made honourable mention in the top left hand corner. But it does make this artist’s heart beat like a ruffled grouse on a log to have her painting chosen as the magazine cover and to be featured under the title “create.”

Isn’t this exciting?

One of my goals for 2011 and 2012 is to expand my exposure beyond my immediate long-standing network. This is a necessary step for a successful art career. It is one of the reasons that artists have benefited from exposure through traditional galleries. But things are changing quickly between the buyer and artist relationship. Buyers seeking original art work have a keen desire to know and interact with the artist whose work they are collecting. They are and want to be part of the story about the work that is on their walls. It could be a place they visited. It could be one of the paintings they watched being developed. It could be that the painting reminds them of something that is significant in their experiences. Or it could be all of the above. The bottom line is collectors want direct contact with the artist. For artists this means moving beyond the traditional buyer to gallery to artist circuit.

I know I don’t need to convince you dear readers as you know this already. But from the business side of being an artist I must be clear with myself. I must purposefully take steps to ensure there is an expanding opportunity for my work to be seen and for buyers to connect directly with me. Creative Potager and other social networking platforms provide these opportunities on a global scale. However, being featured on the glossy cover of a magazine is just plain old-fashion, satisfying goodness.

NOTE: The 20 X 16 inch original oil painting of HENDERSON HILL is still available for $900.00 and can be purchased by contacting me directly via email at tawelch AT shaw DOT ca and I have a copy of the magazine to go with it 🙂

Best of the weekend to you and watch out for monsters and low flying witches but be sure to get out and kick some leaves!

Sprout Question: In your wildest dreams what magazine cover would you like to be on?

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Five new plein air oil paintings by Terrill Welch (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Savouring the Blues

October 24, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

Yesterday was a fantastic Sunday for a stroll and to a poke about at the light house on Mayne Island. What really grabbed my attention was a clump of maples against the blues of the water and sky.

I also like this perspective and can’t decide which I like best. Because they are so similar I should probably only post one on my redbubble storefront.

Do you have a preference?

However, it is almost always the sea that pulls me into sublime bliss. This Sunday was no exception.

This brings me to some Monday morning news from Creative Potager. Do you remember the small 8 X 8 inch oil on canvas painting A SUMMER DAY that was the third I did during a plein air session this summer?

Well, it SOLD this weekend and is going to a lovely home here on Mayne island where it will be treasured.

The second good piece of news is that PRECIOUS SECONDS – Mayne Island in paintings and photographs

is now available as an ibook for $9.99 for those who have ipads or iphones. Isn’t this exciting? It can be purchased at the same place as the hardcopy on BLURB HERE.

Since I do not have an iphone or ipad I put in a request to a tweet-friend and iphone artist Sandra Lock in Liverpool England. Sandra reviewed the ibook for me and left the following comment on BLURB…

“I can wholeheartedly recommend the iBook. It looks fabulous on my iPad, there’s nothing quite like a backlit screen for making images really pop…”

If you get a chance, I suggest you check out Sandra’s COLOUR YOUR WORLD Art Blog. And thank you Sandra for taking the time to review my first ibook 🙂

I have one more piece of news but I am going to wait until Friday to share it. I will give you a hint though – I made the cover or rather my painting did.

Sprout Question: Where are you finding sublime bless today?

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

PRECIOUS SECONDS – Mayne Island in paintings and photographs (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Sitting on My Ordinary

October 21, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 16 Comments

It is an ordinary quiet week here at la casa de inspiracion. In fact it has been quieter and more ordinary than usual. With only a few outside commitments, I have even been sitting on my ordinary – well, backside. Shhhhhhh! Don’t tell anyone.

Oh I did dive in and order new print stock, clean the studio and get a few other household chores out of the way… but only worked at these pesky necessaries for a short while each day. Mostly it was a week of relaxing and the easiest route to an end goal. Do you ever take a few days to do this?

Sitting on my ordinary is about being with the everyday in an unhurried fashion.

It is about quietly observing and nurturing and replenishing my inner strength and resilience.

(image may be purchased HERE)

It is about honouring and reflecting on – exactly where am I anyway and what is it I really want to be doing?

(image may be purchased HERE)

Most often it means time in nature feeding my soul.

(image may be purchased HERE)

These four images are a result of “sitting on my ordinary” this week. So as you can see, it doesn’t mean doing nothing but rather doing what you love in a way that gives back.

Best of the weekend everyone!

Sprout Question: How do you sit on your ordinary?

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

SEA AND CLOUDS original oil painting by Terrill Welch (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Five new plein air oil paintings by Terrill Welch (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
PRECIOUS SECONDS – Mayne Island in paintings and photographs (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

SEA AND CLOUDS original oil painting by Terrill Welch

October 14, 2011January 15, 2017 / Terrill Welch / 18 Comments

About a month ago I set a day aside to paint a new work SEA AND CLOUDS. I had completed the underpainting already and it was simply sitting there in its 36 X 36 inch glory tempting me to pick up the brushes.

It was a big canvas and the day was pleasant so I decided to work on the side deck. I have a rather odd approach I guess to setting up my palette. I start fresh each time and choose all the colours I am going to use before I start painting. In this case I used one of my photographs as a reference point. From there it is a matter of mixing which I often do on the canvas as much as I do on my palette. So here is what the paints look like as I start painting.

Next it is a matter of getting some paint on the canvas.

And a bit more I think…

and some more paint!

Three hours later I start to build up the image.

I work without thinking – breath after breath I move the paint with brush and palette knife over the canvas. I move the canvas to avoid shadows. But at last I must stop. I am out of light.

I move the wet canvas to another deck and capture a late-in-the-day image of the painting in progress.

For the past month I have mused and walked by this painting almost everyday. What is it that I need to do? What will pull these pieces together into a completed work? Oh I grumbled and I worked on photographs. I thought and then one day it came to me. I knew exactly what had to happen. I set aside the morning and finished the painting.

SEA AND CLOUDS 36 X 36 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch

Update October 6, 2012 : This painting is now SOLD. Other paintings currently available can be viewed in the Artwork Archives online Gallery HERE.

Sprout Question: How long have you waited for the right combination of information to finish a creative work?

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Five new plein air oil paintings by Terrill Welch (creativepotager.wordpress.com)

Second Thursday Teaser

October 13, 2011October 14, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments

Psssst! My second Salish Sea Sunday Savings event is this Sunday.

LINK your chances to win SIXTEEN 4 X 6 greeting cards from selected images frommy redbubble storefront.

Here is a sample card to get you inspired…

To qualify you must be subscribed to the Creative Potager blog (sidebar on the right) and share this blog LINK to the second Thursday Teaser for the 2 of 3 Salish Sea Sunday Savings event anytime BEFORE the start of the event at 3:00 P.M. this Sunday, via ANY of these means – email, facebook, twitter, Google+ or on your blog. Each time you share your name will be added to the draw – the more shares, the more chances to win.

Remember, I MUST KNOW that you have shared the link to be able to add your name to the draw. So for whichever sharing means you use, apply the appropriate tool for a cc.

The winner will be announced on next Monday’s regular Creative Potager post.

How about a sneak preview?….

Selected paintings and photographs of my work will be reduced 40% for ONE hour ONLY from 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm P.D.T. Sunday October 16, 2011.

This event will be hosted right here at the Creative Potager blog

Available at this discount price will be:

One original impressionist 10 X 10 inch oil on canvas painting from my studio

Current price and more about this painting on my gallery site HERE.

Two painting prints in any format including cards to canvas prints from my redbubble

Three photography prints in any format including cards to canvas prints from my redbubble

And…the Sea, land & time MAYNE ISLAND calendar for 2012.

See you there! 🙂

I look forward to receiving those LINK notifications and seeing you on Sunday. I will be avail real-time for 3:00 – 4:00 pm P.D.T. So grab your beverage of choice, your slippers, and your credit card and drop on by and see what is posted.

As mentioned in the previous Thursday Teaser, this event is intended to accomplish two things.

Second, I want to increase the number of fans and collectors who can say “oh, that is impressionist painter and photographer Terrill Welch’s work.”

Today’s Sprout Question: If you could choose to receive a card in the mail, who would you most like it to be from?

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

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com