This past week was a whirlwind of experiences I shared with friends and husband. To start it all off on Friday we went to a small venue concert to watch two Canadian indie rock bands that I love. We were very close to the stage so could really get into the show and feel the music. Songs like “I love you” from Said the Whale, and “Let’s fall in Love” from Mother Mother are a few of my favorites. What a sap I must be. Ha.
On Sunday night, I was one of 12 artists competing to win the votes of the crowd in an art battle. In a previous blog post, I showed two of my practice pieces. The vibe was stirring when we got there, all the artists trying to get into the right head space for the competition. It began with 6 artists in a circle with their canvases on easels facing inward . “And GO” these artists had 20 minutes to start and finish a painting. As the artists painted, the crowd was allowed to circle them and watch. The round ended, very quickly.
I started preparing my palate, still unsure what I would do, I grabbed some of my favorite colors. I got placed in front of my canvas and my head was whirling…”what am I going to paint, what am I going to paint”. Luke had suggested before it all started that I paint eyes, I have this obsession with eyes, particularly sad ones. I’ve become rather good at drawing and painting eyes and people like them. There’s something so emotional about these pieces, it tends to draw people in. So, the round started and away I went. I could hear the people talking behind me but I ignored the noise because “I HAVE 20 MINUTES TO FINISH THIS” screaming in my head.
Here are a couple of pictures my friends took of the event.
Myself and 3 other artists made it through to round two. I should’ve been little more creative and done something completely different, but I panicked and did another painting of a face. So I ended up not winning overall, but the experience was amazing and inspiring and I would love to do more things like this in the future.
Tuesday night we had another concert to go to. This time at Prospera place here in Kelowna to see “Lord Huron” and “The Arkells” Luke bought all these tickets for me for my Christmas present. We decided to spend money on activities and events vs. presents. Lord Huron is a band Luke and I connected over. When we first met we went through each others music to see if we had similar taste. We did, we both love music and sing all the time, mostly when we hear a word and then a song pops up in your head. It’s kinda funny. All of this to say that life is truly in the moments. The video below is our song.
The Artist's Palate 