Winter 2018 painting classes, First two...

ABSTRACT CLASS/ Jan 21 & FLOWER POWER/ Jan 28

Sign up for one or do em both:)

ABSTRACTS Sunday January 21, 12:30 – 4:30

Unleash your inner artist! We will be creating with colour and shape! I will help guide you and give some prompts but in this class, nothing is wrong:) Start the year with some colour and creativity!!
“When I am engaged in art making I am fully caught up in the medium and tools and mission. I’ve learned not to think about the product that I will end up with because the time spent engaged in the creative activity is what is most important to me. I enjoy the detached feeling I get when working in the abstract—it’s like a dance with my hand and my mind and they take turns leading.”
—Janet Stupak
Abstract art is like the poetry of colour. Fragments of meaning and feeling represented by carefully chosen brushstrokes and fields of colour that are dictated by the heart and subconscious.Who knows why something feels right or looks right to you. it is a very subjective and personal thing) -Shelagh Duffett

We will be painting with acrylic paint on 11 x 14′ birch wood “canvas” or maybe you might choose to do two smaller works:) They have deep 1.5″ sides and therefore are ready to hang when finished. You can use as much artistic license as you please to make it yours. I will cheer you through it step by step:)  NO experience needed but if you do have experience and want to join us for a fun day, all the better!
ALL supplies included!

Please bring an apron or wear something an errant drop of paint might enhance. Casual comfortable,crafty clothing encouraged.
Coffee, tea and yummy snacks will be provided free of charge and maybe even a glass of wine for those inclined. Great music,  good company and at the end of the day a work of art to hang and perhaps some new friends:)
To register CLICK HERE! ONLY 6 spots of limited earlybird registration available $75 until Jan 7. Last day to purchase class is Jan 19. Regular registration fee is $88
The class will be held at the historic George Wright House on Young Avenue. It was bequeathed to the Local Council of Women-Halifax by the billionaire upon his death which sadly happened as a result of the Titanic disaster.

____________________________________________________________________________

FLOWER POWER! Sunday, January 28 12:30-4:30

Flower Power!
This is a do-it-your-self flower class You can paint flowers in a vase, flowers in a meadow, flowers straight and tall, any colour combination you want! Or you can follow along and paint what I will paint, step by step. We all need pops of colour and the vibrancy of flowers this time of year:) Meander through the meadow you create, get lost in your own personal garden:) Paint yourself bouquet of flowers! You deserve it:) These images here are for painting INSPIRATION! You will paint the colour combos and configurations you want.

We will be painting with acrylic paint on 11 x 14′ birch wood “canvas”. They have deep 1.5″ sides and therefore are ready to hang when finished. You can use as much artistic license as you please to make it yours. I will cheer you through it step by step:)  NO experience needed but if you do have experience and want to join us for a fun day, all the better!

Please bring an apron or wear something an errant drop of paint might enhance. Casual comfortable,crafty clothing encouraged.
ALL supplies included!
Coffee, tea and snacks will be provided free of charge and maybe even a glass of wine for those inclined. Great music,  good company and at the end of the day a work of art to hang and perhaps some new friends:)
To register CLICK HERE! ONLY 6 spots of limited early bird registration available $75 until Jan 14. Last day to purchase class is Jan 26. Regular registration fee is $88
The class will be held at the historic George Wright House on Young Avenue. It was bequeathed to the Local Council of Women-Halifax by the billionaire upon his death which sadly happened as a result of the Titanic disaster.



FEBRUARY 11, Valentine Cottage! 

February 11, we will be doing a version of this little Valentine Cottage. Everyone will do their own thing:) Are you ready to Unleash your inner artist?? More info on this class and to register click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/valentine-cottage-painting-workshop-with-shelagh-duffett-february-11-tickets-42003113443

 

Sunday, February 25  Sea & Sky.....

Sea and Sky... in this class we will be exploring sunsets and skyscapes over the ocean. A peaceful and reflective painting. The image displayed here is just for inspiration only. You will be creating your own seascape.....with guidance from me:) 

For more info and registration, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sea-sky-painting-workshop-with-shelagh-duffett-february-25-tickets-42001616967

 

 

Solstice.....2017

At 5:23 EST today, the sun will reach its Southern destination and turn Northward again creating longer days, and for a few months cold weather will reign. Winter starts. Yet it is a day for celebration!  Yule, Yalda, Dongzhi, are just a few of the many traditional ways it is marked. We love to celebrate and the arrival of light back into our lives is a darn good reason to make merry:)  

It is one of my favourite dates. I like"turning points", they are like commas, a chance to stop and pause. Review, reset and renew my intentions for how I want to live my life, what I want in my life, who I want in my life, where I want my life to go, what I want my life to look like, who I want to be....All that good stuff.
As Mme de Saltzmann said, "One must begin again and again" We try we fail, we start once more. That's the wonderful thing about life. We can keep attempting until we get it right or realize that being right might not be what we thought it was. That's another great thing about life....we can allow ourselves the uncomfortable (sometimes) luxury of changing our minds.

As I sit here and type, I have a small candle burning near me. Entrancing, full of energy and magic.They need oxygen to survive like we do....just realized that. (I knew it of course, duh, but never connected it to myself:)  We breathe together. I make a point of lighting one every December 21, gratitude made manifest for lengthening days and as focus for my thoughts. It is a busy time of year for most, with Christmas and Holidays taking front stage, but this day is a good one to stop for a few moments and take some quiet time to reflect and reboot.

One of my thoughts for this turning of the season is that I resolve to get outside more often and enjoy the brilliant sharp beauty of Winter. I tend to hibernate inside, looking out the window and saying "Brrrrrrr" As someone once said, there is no bad weather.... just bad clothing! That said, I have to improve my exterior cladding:)  It will also help my mood. I love being outdoors but deprive myself because of the brrrrr factor. We shall see.......

 

I also want to create more! I have some painting classes coming up in the new year. Stay tuned! these will be a bit more free flowing and creative. I have some ideas I am excited about! Working harder so I can play harder. Carving out more time for me.  How do you celebrate this time of year?

all photos: Shelagh Duffett

December 6, 1917, 9:04 am

It is a rainy foggy day today..... but one hundred years ago the day dawned sunny, cold and crisp. The Halifax Commons, seen here, was soon to become a tent city for thousands of displaced, injured and homeless people.
The Mont Blanc and Imo collided in the Narrows of Halifax Harbour and the largest man made explosion the world had ever experienced occurred. 1 in tweny-five people who lived in Halifax were killed. The entire North end of the city was flattened in a second. White-hot shards of iron fell down upon Halifax and Dartmouth.The Mont Blanc's forward 90 mm gun, its barrel melted away, landed approximately 5.6 kilometres  (3.5 mi) north of the explosion site near Albro Lake  in Dartmouth, and the shank of her anchor, weighing half a ton, landed 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) south at Armdale. Houses that weren't flattened by the explosion were burnt to the ground by toppled wood stoves.

The Halifax harbour floor was momentarily exposed by the volume of water that was displaced. A tsunami was formed by water surging in to fill the void left by the blast and it rose as high as 18 metres (60 ft) above the high-water mark on the Halifax side of the harbour. The Manhattan Project scientists came here to Halifax years later to research the effects of the Halifax Explosion. Hiroshima was the next largest man made blast:(

Thousands of people were blinded by glass windows that imploded. Barely a window in Halifax was spared. The South end was mostly protected from the shock wave by Citadel Hill. This is a window in the Halifax City Club, founded in 1862.The crack from the blast has never been repaired as a memorial to those who perished.

Babies whose mothers had not been located and children injured in the Halifax Explosion on Dec. 6, 1917, were cared for in the YMCA temporary hospital. There were also many new births as the shock wave pushed women into premature labour. The city has survived, the young children grew old and we learned again about the resilience of the human spirit and that no matter what.... people will always rise to the occasion and do what needs doing...

CBC has put together a fascination 360 degree view interactive video of the Explosion, worth watching HERE 

https://youtu.be/OSuX9RvLq54