 Nancy Jones with her ART. (image source: Lee Contemporary Art FB) MEET Nancy Jones, a contemporary painter who creates luminous and vibrant paintings that hover between abstract and landscape. I am always drawn by the subtle layers that Nancy creates, her paintings sing - SO beautiful and oozing with atmosphere. READ on to discover Nancy's creative process and more! Your works have an ethereal quality, yet are strong and energetic - could you describe a bit about your creative process and what inspires you? I create contemporary landscapes. My paintings are about colour. There are endless combinations. I have worked with the same palette of primary colours for many years mixing yellow, red and blue in varying proportions to create colour harmony. I achieve luminous colour by glazing thin layers of colour over top of one another on the canvas. My paintings are also about the contrast of dark and light. They have strong value contrasts. They are moody and this evokes emotion in the viewer.  Describe your artistic journey? How did you arrive to painting? I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by art as my parents were both artists. From day one I was painting and drawing in sketchbooks rather than colouring books. Drawing outside the line was encouraged. As my children grew older I took up painting again and have never looked back. I now work in my home studio and offer workshops on colour mixing and value compositions.   You are a participant in the upcoming Images Studio Tour, Thanksgiving weekend, do you have any other upcoming exhibitions or workshops? I do not have any upcoming exhibits at this time. People are welcome to contact me through my website to visit my studio at Art by Nancy Jones. I will be offering Studio Classes every Tuesday beginning October 16 and finishing on November 6, 2018. The first Tuesday of the two day workshops will focus on composition using “NOTAN”: the Japanese term for light/dark. During the second Tuesday participants will transition from value studies to full colour paintings. Max. participants is five.  Where may people find your work, online and in-person? Do you take commissions? Currently I post images of my new paintings on Facebook and Linked-In. I usually have a few paintings at the Shadowbox in Orillia. I am not an artist who takes commissions. That process just doesn’t work for me! Be sure to drop by Nancy's studio during the upcoming Images Studio Tour during Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, Friday, October 5 to Monday, October 8, 10am to 5pm daily. Also, contact her about a studio visit or upcoming workshops!
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Meg Leslie is a multidisciplinary artist working in several mediums, her main mantra - 'creativity'. Meg and I grew up together on the same street in Orillia, we played 'Kick the Can', fed feral stray cats and I was inspired by Meg's creative spirit even back then (she gifted me a handmade stuffed animal for a Birthday!). Whatever creative endeavour she embraces, from offering Workshops (in mosaics and ceramics), creating daily drawings, to working on community projects like the Awesome Wall in Kitchener, Ontario where she currently lives, Meg brings immense talent, determination and creative magic! Read on to discover more:  You have worked in several different art forms, how has that journey evolved and what creative medium are you currently focusing on? I am currently focused on creativity in general. Yeah, whatever moves me creatively, that’s what I do. I have this daily practice of sketching with my left hand. It’s just practice and for fun, but I’m starting to think that Leftie needs a show sometime soon in a gallery. I’m also preparing ceramics for an art walk on November 10th in a sweet old neighbourhood in downtown Kitchener. I’m taking over the living room and there are 2 other incredible creatives with me, and the tour itself is one of the best....you can really walk it - the Frederick Art Walk!   You have an on-going ‘leftie selfie’ series, describe the process and the ‘why’ … Leftie ... well, it started from a tweet that I read in 2014 that just said, “Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. That’s all I’m saying, just try it” ... so I did. Then I started washing my hair in the morning with my left hand, then I started drawing with my left hand. It was such fun that I committed to doing it every day. I have fallen off the wagon a few times in the last 4 years, but every time I come back Leftie evolves. She has a body and often words now. I love her! : )    As a community minded artist, are you currently involved in any projects? What have you worked on in the past? Ah Patti, there’s a lot of large scale mosaics that I have done in the past like that huge letter C for Streets Alive in Orillia, the aWEsoME wall (71’ mosaic wall with the help of 300+ people at the men’s shelter downtown Kitchener) and one of my favourites was the Homewood Green Art Wall for the City of Kitchener. Lately ... nothing like that on the go, but I’m busy with my personal practice and I’m teaching ceramics regularly at Homer Watson House and Gallery, and then there’s my day job. Oh something I’m excited about is a presentation I’m doing about community art as part of an event in Waterloo called Amplify Culture Summit on October 24th. For fun, I've been taking weekly pottery lessons from an incredible potter in Waterloo. I love that/always learning and growing.  Where may people find your work or connect with you about workshops and commissions? Well, feel free to email me megtleslie@gmail.com with any questions. My Facebook page for creative ideas and inspiration is called Earth Sky Sandwich. My website meglesliecreative.ca has lots of lovely photos of my work, or follow Leftie’s journey on instagram as meglesliecreative #leftieselfie Also, find Meg's work (porcelain jewelry) at the Orillia Museum of Art & History in downtown Orillia's Arts District!  Bio: Meg Leslie is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Orillia, currently living in downtown Kitchener. She has been nominated Waterloo Regional Artist of the year in 2013 and 2014 for her community art projects, and nominated Oktoberfest Woman of the year for Arts and Culture in 2017. She won 2nd prize in 2013 for her mosaic letter C in Orillia’s Streets Alive.
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Artist InspirationInspiring ARTists & ART!
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January 2019
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