(Submitted by Ingrid Mueller)

Record attendance of approx. 65 people for the September 28th Friday Night Club, all to see the much-anticipated presentation by world-renowned, award-winning watercolourist David McEown and he did not disappoint.

David attended OCAD and has focused his artistic efforts painting in watercolour for the past 25 years. His paintings are represented in collections worldwide and he is an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour which, in 2005 and this year, 2018, awarded him the prestigious A.J. Casson Medal. David now spends most of his time in B.C. but also has a home in Richmond Hill where he grew up. As his time is stretched between traveling, painting, workshops and shows we were very lucky to squeeze a few hours out of his very busy schedule.

After a brief introduction, David launched the evening narrating his very entertaining digital show Water and Light: an Artist’s Journey from The North Pole to Antarctica. The show merges painting, video and photography inspired from his travels in the Great Bear Rainforest, Africa, Antarctica and the North Pole. The audience was entirely enthralled by his humorous anecdotes about encounters with a variety of creatures (depending upon his location) that include polar bears, emperor penguins and lions. “The entire presentation was woven together with reflections about the environment and the inner creative process of painting with watercolour.” His enthusiasm for the medium and his passion for the environment made his demonstration about painting an aurora borealis very special, and he did it all within 20 minutes.

Some of the materials used were a 1” wolf hair Chinese brush, a 4” paint brush, 140lb. cold press watercolour paper. The easel he used is unique for plein air and allows for flexibility and stability, although he uses something a little sturdier depending upon where he is. Plein air in the Arctic and Antarctic is much more extreme than Centre Island. David likes to paint wet on wet, so he coated his paper a few times with water and adjusted the clips to allow for stretching. He suggested that particularly for skies, he likes to start with a light wash of violet. David uses a paint scraper available at any hardware store that allows him to achieve hard lines and definition.

When not painting penguins in the Antarctic or filming grizzlies in Alaska, David can be found in Pacific Spirit Park close to his home in Vancouver.
You can see the vast array of his work and learn about his journeys at his website www.davidmceown.com

David painting on location

(Submitted by Ingrid Mueller)

Loree Ovens has an extensive background in printmaking in a variety of formats: etching, lino block, collagraphy and silkscreen that is influenced by textile design, having received an arts diploma from Sheridan in fabrics. She subsequently attained her BFA from OCADU in printmaking. She specializes in intaglio techniques, especially that of copper etching, aquatint, drypoint and collagraphy.

Collagraphy is a printmaking process in which materials are applied to a rigid substrate. The plate can be intaglio-inked, inked with a roller or paintbrush or some combination thereof. Ink or pigment is applied to the resulting collage and the board is used to print onto paper or another material using either a printing press or various hand tools. The resulting print is termed a collagraph. Substances such as carborundum, acrylic texture mediums, sandpapers, textiles, bubble wrap, string or other fibres, cut card, leaves and grass can all be used in creating the collagraphy plate. In some instances, leaves can be used as a source of pigment by rubbing them onto the surface of the plate. Different tonal effects and vibrant colours can be achieved with the technique due to the depth of relief and differential inking that results from the collagraphy plate’s highly textured surface.

Collagraphy is a very open printmaking method. The ink may be applied to the upper surfaces of the plate with a brayer for a relief print, or ink may be applied to the entire board and then removed from the upper surfaces but remain in the spaces between objects, resulting in an intaglio print. A combination of both intaglio and relief methods may also be employed. A printing press may or may not be used. (Wikipedia)

Loree used an aluminium plate dry point scratched a pattern into the plate. She subsequently printed then applied different colours, using an oil-based ink (oil doesn’t dry too quickly), to the same plate, producing an attractive, simple print that was remarkably lovely.

As DVAC has a very active and talented printmaking group, the demonstration Loree gave was popular, but it resonated especially with those not currently practising. The Monday Print Making Group may increase in attendance as a result of this demo.

Loree’s work can be viewed on her website at www.loree.ovens.com
Loree is represented by David Kaye Gallery at www.davidkayegallery.com
She also conducts workshops at Open Studio www.openstudio.ca,
Articulations drypoint AGO www.ago.ca and The Japanese Paper Place www.japanesepaperplace.com