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My 7 links Challenge…

I was nominated by my friend Kathryn Hansen (https://www.artblogbykat.blogspot.com/) to be part of the 7 links challenge, where we are asked to think about our blog and come up with the following links..

– Your most beautiful post
– Your most popular post
– Your most controversial post
– Your most helpful post
– A post whose success surprised you
– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
– The post that you are most proud of

So here they are! (I think..!)

My most beautiful:   

Canadian Thanksgiving
https://www.ameliegagnestudio.com/search?q=thanksgiving

My most popular: 

The Small Pleasures…
https://www.ameliegagnestudio.com/the-small-pleasures-in-an-artists-life/

My most controversial post:

Ups and Downs :
 https://www.ameliegagnestudio.com/ups-and-downs/

My most helpful post

https://www.ameliegagnestudio.com/upcoming-workshop-in-killarney/
A post whose success surprised me 

The London Adventure 
https://www.ameliegagnestudio.com/the-london-adventure/
A post i feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
Gift Certificates: 
https://www.ameliegagnestudio.com/gift-certificates/

The post that you are most proud of

The Opening of my Solo Exhibition:
 https://www.ameliegagnestudio.com/the-opening-of-my-exhibition-dream-big-in-the-boathouse-gallery/

Thanks Kathryn for nominating me..!

The Opening of my Exhibition “Dream BIG!” in the Boathouse Gallery

The Opening of my Exhibition "Dream BIG!" in the Boathouse Gallery

Last Saturday saw the opening of my solo exhibition, “Dream BIG!” which is on for the whole month of September in the Boathouse Gallery, Kinsale, Co.Cork.

Here is the little video I had done to promote it, in case you haven’t seen it!

I made my way to Kinsale early afternoon and stopped at the gallery to see how the paintings all looked on the wall…

 Liz and Gerard did a great job hanging the show! I then walked around the town to drop a few postcards I had made to promote the show… Kinsale is such a fabulous place…! And this is one of my favorite corners in the town:

This shop is all bling… Ladies, you would feel like a kid walking in a candy store!

A hair apointment later, (actually, “Wonderland” sold when I was getting my hair done!) it was onwards to Jim Edwards, for a yummy half lobster (Kinsale is by the sea!) and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc…

Then at 7 pm I made my way back to the gallery, where there was a good few people…!

Friends from Killarney, Ronnie Moore and Kathleen O’Brian, Ronnie is a fantastic watercolour artist..  

Kathleen again and her husband Pat, it was for him that I did the commission a few months ago..

Owners of the gallery, Liz and Gerard…

A LOVELY couple who bought “The Summit”, himself is a fellow Canadian and his wife from Pensylvania, it was great meeting them!

I love red dots… 😉

With my first sale of the show, “Wonderland” and my boyfreind Stephen who graduated from UCC yesterday!

Thank you all for the encouragements and well wishes…!

Talk soon,

Amélie

Avaluk Crafts, Kilkenny, and The Horse Show, Dublin

Avaluk Crafts, Kilkenny, and The Horse Show, Dublin

A couple of months ago I was contacted by Avaluk Crafts in Kilkenny, a beautiful boutique full of gorgeous handmade items. They told me they would be delighted to carry my jewellery pieces… Now a  few weeks later, my rings and necklaces seem to be so popular that I find it hard to keep up with the production!

At the beginning of August, Avaluk Crafts will be taking a stand at the Horse Show in the RDS, and they have asked me for more pieces obviously!… I should send them the new inventory next Monday…

I’ve been having a lot of fun crafting my little price tags..!  It’s incredible what a paper punch and a bit of string can do… The images aren’t great but you’ll get the idea..

So if you are around Dublin between August 3rd and 7th and are planning to visit the Dublin Horse Show, make sure you visit the Avaluk Crafts Stand…!


24th June 2011 – An Important Day!

24th June 2011 - An Important Day!
Well, I won’t be talking about art in this post… I just want to share with you that today is a special day for me on a few levels…! (let’s mention that I am drafting this at 4.30 am during an insomnia attack!)

10 Years in Ireland!

Yep, I can hardly believe it, but 10 years ago I sailed in to Cobh harbour aboard Irish Ferries, for a planned …hum.. 3months in Ireland.. I was just after doing the Camino de Santiago (a near 1000km pilgrimage across Northern Spain) and made my way up through France and took the night ferry from the cute Breton town of Roscoff on June 23rd…  

To the risk of sounding very cliché, the feeling I got when we finally approached the Irish shores on that morning was quite emotional and almost that of “coming home” (I had previously been to Ireland on a short backpacking trip 5 years before, and I do have a little Irish blood in my veins!)
So there! You know how I got here 🙂

La St-Jean-Baptiste

A big day in my province! “La St-Jean” in my home province of Québec is what St-Patrick’s day is to Ireland.. (and Canada Day will follow next week on July 1st!) Concerts, bonfires, fireworks etc..
Bonne Fête Québec!

One month already…

My lovely little Achilles was killed by a car one month ago today… I’m still very heartbroken over him, he was just the cutest young cat.. He had discovered my house on a cold wet October night following one of my other cats, skin and bones, a big gash on his heel (where his name came from) and with an immediate “please love me” attitude! I miss him terribly..

AND! Last but not least, June 24th is also my dad’s birthday…!


Bonne Fête papa..! Xxx

Upcoming Workshop in Killarney…!

Upcoming Workshop in Killarney...!
Here is the poster for my upcoming workshop for complete beginners in Killarney…! Please contact me if you have any question!


The London Adventure…

The London Adventure...

Well, after such a long time since my last blog post, you’re in for a treat!! I just want to tell you about my little escapade to London recently, for the opening of a group exhibition in Farnham, Surrey, where I have 10 pieces…
I took off from Kerry Friday morning, to land in Stansted… Since I was going to the other side of the city I had planned on stopping in the center and do a little shopping around the famous Portobello shops and market… I love browsing through antique jewellery and vintage clothing…

Coming out of the tube at Nothing Hill Gate it was LASHING!!! I didn’t try to find my bearings, I went straight to Boots to try and find a cheap umbrella, and when I saw a wooping £20.00 on the tag.. well I just went back to brave the rain and found this gorgeous coffee shop/bakery across the road called “Le Pain Quotidien” (the daily bread), where I had a lovely coffee and pain au chocolat waiting for the rain to calm down…

Next I headed down to Portobello road and had a great time looking through antique shops and vintage stalls, I managed to find a beautiful art deco brooch and a cute top with an art nouveau looking motif…

THEN, when came the time to take the train down to Farnham, troubles started. I heard later that several trains had stopped working and the line I was supposed to get on was closed due to an accident… My plan was to arrive a good hour before the opening, check in my room, shower etc.. Instead I arrived directly at the gallery more than an hour into the opening reception, so quick change into my new top, grab a glass of wine, and finally breath!!

The rest of the evening was very enjoyable and I got to discover some great paintings and craft items. The gallery is in a beautiful old building that was extensively renovated some years ago.

With Director Joanne McCarthy
 

The next day I got to have a look around the beautiful town of Farnham, which is not only quaint and pretty, but I found it very much art orientated… They have a University for Creative Arts, where I got to see the student’s end of year show, of course the New Ashgate Gallery, and another great art centre called the Malltings, an old brewery turned into a multi-disciplinary art centre housing a theatre, a craft shop, a dance studio, a lovely café (serving great Eggs Florentine!) and different exhibition rooms.





The Maltings



A cute area where I had my breakfast in a chocolaterie!

I then had to make my way to Gatwick for my return home, full of images and inspirations that are lingering in my head… No sales so far, but time will tell…!

Thanks for reading… Amélie

Happy Easter! A special commission…

Happy Easter! A special commission...

I was very impatient to show you this painting that I have been working on for a few weeks… I delivered it last night so I can finally show it to you…!

It was commissioned as a birthday present for a gentleman’s 60th birthday… And it is packed with meaningful symbols relating to the man’s life… I love painting with a purpose..!

Having a chat with his wife and daughters, they wanted these particular “traits” to come through in the painting..:

– he loves music,
– he is a father of 4 and grandfather of 2,
– he collects coins,
– he loves poetry and classical music,
– he did the Camino de Santiago,
– he’s a supporter of the Kerry team,
– he likes gardening,
– he was quite touched by his visit to Newgrange,

Quite an assignment…! Well, I enjoyed every minute of working on this project, and here is the resulting painting…

The two trees on top represent the man in question and his wife,

The four trees underneath and the two little ones are the children and grandchildren,

The top left hill wears the “green & gold” of the Kerry team,

The path leads up to Santiago de Compostela cathedral, and a sign post indicates the way as well, (I have walked the Camino myself so it was lovely to include these details.) I painted stars on the hill of the cathedral because Compostela means “field of the stars”…

I decided to use the path as a base to the scores of a classical piece… Can you guess which..?

Instead of my usual bubble-like pattern, I scattered a few coins on the lower left hill…

So there! I was quite nervous delivering it yesterday but they were all very pleased and I was treated to a glass of bubbly and a piece of birthday cake…

Well, I’m still at my stall at the Arty Bits Craft Fair in Tralee, one more hour to go…

Happy Easter everyone…!

Amélie

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ups and Downs..

Ups and Downs..
Dear fans..! It seems such a long time since I wrote something.. Please forgive me. I have been through one of these moments that we refer to when we say that life is like a roller coaster, with it’s ups and downs. I’m a little better now, and painting and creating has been helping, even if I didn’t do too much of that lately…!
But please bare with me, my head is already buzzing with plans and ideas… Painting inspirations, new jewellery… all coming very soon. And I think it’s also time for a competition, don’t you think…? Perhaps a free piece of jewellery this time..?
Many thanks for all the new fans coming aboard lately, and thanks for those who are still spreading the word…
Slán…!
Amélie

The small pleasures in an artist’s life…

The small pleasures in an artist's life...

Yesterday I treated myself to two new tubes of georgous colours: Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Green Gold, both by Winsor & Newton, from different “collections”. Some of my students have been using them and until now if I needed these colours I would mix them up myself, but these are a delightful shortcut and I’m glad I bought them..

The Alizarin is a fantastic deep, rich colour, very much like beetroot or a rich Bordeaux… And the Green Gold is a beautiful mustard like colour, almost olive looking. I love them..! You can see them in the middle of my palette.. (if you think it looks like the cover of a Chinese take-away dish, you’re spot on!)

I thought they looked great together so I made this little painting using only the two of them and a little Titanium White, which was great to give them a little more “coverage power” since I start with a black background, (which I do NOT advise if you are only starting to paint!) So here is, with a very unexpected title, “Landscape in Alizarin and Green Gold”. 4″x4″

 

Update on my Etsy shop..!

Update on my Etsy shop..!

Wow, I don’t think I had fully realised all the work involved in creating my online shop for the pendants and rings…!

For the past few weeks I’ve been researching and experimenting… Gift boxes, bubble wrap mailer, rigid cardboard mailer for the prints, a good archival paper for the prints, good supliers for the material needed to make the pendants, chokers, snake chains etc…

It’s about time I get moving on this, as opening an Etsy shop for my prints was on my list of goals for the last 3 years! In fact the shop was set up to my name in 2008!

Now that I have a few items that are ready to go, the last few days have been spent experimenting with the photography…

Although im interested in it, I’ve only got basic knowledge of photography.. I am able to photograph my own work and to tweak the image a little so it looks as MUCH as possible as the original. Photographing jewellery is a different thing! But I’m happy enough with the images I prepared for my listing… Here’s a quick peek..!

Right now I’m sipping a coffee in town waiting for a lovely breakfast sandwich in the Smokehouse… In fact I’m waiting for the post office to be open so I can go get some prices on registered local and international shipping… So I’m happy to say that I will start listing today and over the weekend…!

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