March of the Prints!
Decay I 30″ x 22″ Intaglio, Monotype and Chine Colle, 2009
Just a reminder, the printmaking department at NSCAD is having its annual exhibit and sale of student work. The show is at Seeds Gallery, 1892 Hollis Street, from March 9th – 20th. Opening reception is tonight, (Monday March 8th), from 5:30pm- 7pm. There are some incredible student works in this show, the printmaking department has produced a lot of beautiful and amazing pieces this year, and they’ll be available at affordable prices. The AGNS’ own curator Sarah E. Fillmore personally helped select works for the front area, and I really encourage people to come out, soak in the beauty of this under-represented medium, and paw through the prints! Hope to see you tonight!
Cloud #29
Cloud #29 12″ x 16″ Oil on Beechwood, 2010
The other day, the Senior Vice President of Scotiabank came to my studio in the Granville campus to pick up Cloud #27 for the auction they’re having. As usual I was a bundle of nerves, I usually get pretty anxious meeting high-ups, but despite that, everything went well. After he and his assistant left I congratulated myself for keeping my cool and being generally awesome…only to catch a glimpse of myself and find I had a gigantic brown smear of paint on my face the whole time. I was wearing a painting apron during their visit, so they hopefully assumed it was paint, or that I’m a really messy chocolate eater (which is also true).
I don’t mean to keep writing all these ridiculous embarrassing stories about myself, but I swear to you this is what my life is actually like. One awkward day after the next.
Cloud #28
Cloud #28 16″ x 12″ Oil on Beechwood, 2010
I am over the moon: on the 24th I’m heading to NYC on a group trip with a couple of students and profs from NSCAD. After going last year I immediately fell in love and have been eager to return since. It will be nice to see some paintings in person instead of online: it’s such a different learning experience to look at them in the flesh.
My last time there I was paired up with a good friend and excellent navigator who got us through the city no problem. This time I’m paired up with a different good friend, but like me, she’s a knucklehead when it comes to navigation. Wish us luck.
I’ve also added a new category to the list of choices on the right: “Clouds.” I classified last year’s cloud paintings loosely as landscapes, mostly because of the slight inclusion of a strip of land silhouetted at the bottom of each work. It seems I’ve let go of that, finally, now that I’ve turned to Hubble images for inspiration instead. I’ll write more about that soon, but for now, enjoy this cloud.
Cloud #27
Cloud #27 48″ x 36″ Oil on Beechwood, 2010
The other morning, running really late for school and just getting out of the shower, the phone rang. Oliver was in his office, no doubt with earphones in, so I frantically tried to pull on my housecoat and get to the call in time. In my haste, the belt to my housecoat flew through the air and a foot-long length of it landed in the toilet. Shreiking, I jerked it out of the bowl, and off of it flew a spritzer of toilet water. I kid you not: one drop landed in my mouth, another went right in my eye. I was gagging, rubbing a towel all over my face and stumbling blindly toward the phone, where I found, someone was calling for Kim. There’s no Kim here. And there’s toilet water all over me now. Sigh.
In other news, the painting below will be auctioned off during a big gala/wine tasting put on by Scotiabank to raise money for Pier 21. I am thrilled to be a contributor! Hopefully this one isn’t too doomy gloomy for such a great event, I find it quite passionate, and like it more and more every day. Hopefully someone else will too. 
Cloud #26
Cloud #26 36″ x 60″, Oil on Canvas $2995.00
It’s a miracle! A painting that’s actually for sale! Click here to contact me about it. 
Art for the Planet Show!
Here are the details of the upcoming exhibit at Fred Gallery. Cloud #24 of the previous post is the painting I’ve included in the show, and, not to toot my own horn, but it already has interested buyers! So get a ticket for opening night and stake your claim on some of the amazing pieces that will be there!
ART FOR THE PLANET SHOW!
Fred Gallery, 2606 Agricola Street, Halifax
February 8th – 27th, 2010
Opening Reception, February 7th, 7:00pm
Please contact the Ecology Action Centre for more information or tickets for opening night!
Cloud #24
Cloud #24 20″ x 24″ Oil on Beechwood, 2009 SOLD
This cloud will be sold for a very good cause: the planet! The Ecology Action Centre has organized an exhibit and sale of local artist’s works, to be held at FRED Gallery on Agricola Street here in Halifax. I’m not sure on the details and dates of the event, but will post the information when it becomes available. Hope to see you there!
Cloud #23
Cloud #23 16″ x 20″ Oil on Wood, 2009 SOLD
I am back in school again. I’ve heard people say that the third year is the worst, that it is a hump to get over in a four year degree, and I think they’re right. Maybe it was my Christmas of excessive eating and drinking that’s making me feel this exhausted, leftover reserves of triptophan oozing from every pore, the luxury of lolling around in bed all day watching all three Lord of the Rings in a row (extended editions!)…but I can hardly bear the thought of another 4 months of school right now. The piece above was a commission, one of 6 or 7 I completed over the break. Maybe that’s where the tiredness is coming from? Who knows. Lets just hope it goes away and I can get back into the swing of things, and soon.
Last Poppies Ever
Poppy Field 20″ x 24″ Oil on Canvas (See below for ticket purchase details)
Quite possibly, this is the last poppy field I’ll ever paint. It’s for a good cause. This piece will be raffled off to support a dear friend in need, whose father has been diagnosed with cancer. A link for the event can be found here. Tickets for the draw can be purchased through Angela, at (902) 431-4583. The draw will be held during the benefit on Saturday, January 23rd.
Sacred Cabbages and Winter Warnings
Here’s a little piece of advice. If you wear one of those long, downy winter jackets, don’t fart inside it if there’s any chance you might bump into someone you know. Farts get trapped in the down: any movement whatsoever releases puffs caught in the warm interior of your coat, which rise up and escape through the collar. Right in your face, right in their face. Am I speaking from experience? You bet I am.
Below are three of my favorite prints from this year. Sacral cabbages, appropriated from House and Home Magazine.
Sacral I, II & III , 2009 (Details) Intaglio and Screenprint Chine Colle on Pescia White 100% Acid Free Cotton Rag Paper Size 27.5″ x 20″ Image Size 15″ x 14″
Sacral I
Sacral II
Sacral III
UFC’s and Primal Urges
Untitled 30″ x 42″ Charcoal and Pastel on Paper, 2009
This piece received multiple interpretations during our final critique last night. Mind you, four bottles of red wine were popped open at the start of class, and a few people were less than coherent. I’m never sure how I feel about multiple readings of a work. Most of the time I like it: it is after all inevitable, and interpretations reveal elements in the work you didn’t necessarily know were there. But it also creates a desire to control interpretation, a useless game that can end up making reductive work and a boring art-making process where the outcome is predictable and flat. If nothing else, I could spend the rest of my life drawing apes and monkeys…they’re amazing. I included a detail below. 
Abrade Series
Abrade IV
Abrade III
Abrade II
Abrade I
Printmaking overwhelmed me once again this year. It is by far the most time-consuming medium I’ve ever dealt with, this semester being no exception. I love printmaking, but by the end of four months I found myself working mostly in monotype because of its similarities to painting. These prints, and all the others I’ve done this year are a response to Bronislaw Szerszynski’s “Nature, Technology and the Sacred.” A difficult read for sure, a lot of it admittedly was too advanced for little old me, and many times I put it aside to pursue video games online instead. It did however inspire some work about the absence of nature in our lives, and the religious and cultural implications of it. Click on the images for enlargements and etsy links!
Abrade I, II, III, IV 2009. Paper size: 26″ x 20″ Image Size 16″ x 14.5″ Intaglio, Monotype, Lithography and Silkscreen on Pescia White 100% acid free cotton rag
Everything Must Go!
In an effort to make space in my home studio, that is now overflowing with canvas, drawings, prints, paints, easels and books, I’m marking down the last three paintings I have from 2009. I’m glad there are only three left! They are posted below, click on them and it will bring you to their corresponding etsy listing, or feel free to contact me: ambera@amberas.com
Cloud #20 SOLD
Cloud #21
Cloud #6 SOLD
Brand New amberas.com!
I have a FANTASTIC sister. She just put the finishing touches on my brand new website!!!! (Just hit your refresh button if the old version pops up)
Although she doesn’t like calling herself a web designer anymore, she took the time to listen to my every nit-picky wish and put a beautiful new site together for me. It makes me feel professional and mature…like a real artist! Thank you Gillian! Not only is she a talented web and graphic designer, her most recent success has been her amazing new series of Pip Robins cowls, just in time for winter! Good luck picking one: they’re all absolutely beautiful. You can see them, as well as a beautiful line of handbags on her website, www.piprobins.com, or purchase them from her wonderful etsy shop. Above is a photo of her and a stunning neckwarmer. Isn’t she perty?
Categories
Archives
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
My Etsy Shoppe
Great Blogs & Websites
- Alex Braubach
- Ambera’s Etsy Shoppe
- Ambera’s Website
- Anthony Vanarsdale
- Bill Sharp
- Bob Martin
- C. G. Young
- Catherine Bussiere
- Chantrelle Li
- Cooper Dragonette
- David Jon Kassan
- Dear Ada
- Eric Orchard
- Frank Gardner
- Fresia & The Offsprings
- Gifted Typist
- Jeffery Boron
- Jen Dewar
- Jeremy Lipking
- Lines and Colors
- Miya Turnbull
- Oliver Braubach
- Simon Collins
- Stephen Magsig
- Travis Louie
- Typealice