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Wednesday 30 November 2011

Lucy: New Girl on the Street

Lucy, a 6-year-old pug, is the newest member of our 4-legged family, joining Chloe the retriever mix and Loki the chihuahua, all rescued dogs. We have had her for 2 months and she is so lovable and adorable that everyone wants to leave the house with her concealed under their coat. Anyway, 2 months ago, Mary Pal gave a workshop at our guild on her brilliant technique of cheesecloth portraiture. In the class we created a portrait of a woman. I then went on to create my portrait of Lucy using Mary's method. This portrait is made simply of cheesecloth and glue, laid down onto an ultrasuede background. You will be able to see Lucy again in the Exquisite Corpse exhibition at Galerie Ouest in January, when she will serve as the head of one of the "corpses". This will be the final exhibition at the gallery, which will be closing at the end of January 2012 after 4 wonderful years. I will post photos of the show on the blog in January...

13 comments:

  1. I can agree about Lucy - she's a delightful dog! And what a wonderful way to do a portrait of her. The approach seems to seems to suit a rescue dog - slightly scruffy as though she's seen a lot of life. Sorry to hear the gallery is closing - are you selling it?

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  2. This pretty much captures her adorable self. I do love Lucy.

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  3. We look forward to seeing lots more of Lucy, and we locals are all sad to learn abut your decision to close the gallery, as reasonable a decision as it is. More time for Helena to make art!

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  4. I've obviously not met Lucy, but you are obviously very at home with her and this technique.

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  5. I am amazed at the amount of detail and character you have been able to achieve with this technique. Fantastic. Huge potential for a series here. Do you take orders?!

    So sorry to hear you are closing the gallery, Helena.

    Hilary

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  6. i love the 3D quality of this technique. excellent to use in portraiture. great choice of subject

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  7. Then there were two! Should have viewed all first ! Ditto .... amazing use of the technique. So much detail. She is a cutie-pie.

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  8. I can't get over how well this medium has worked for you and what a wonderful interpretaton of your portrait of your very special pet. I would never have thought of using cheesecloth in such a way - this is what is so great about this group, we are learning new techniques all the time. I just wish we were all nearer to share things in a more hands on manner.

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  9. Helena
    The expression on Lucy's face is asking for more of the same. So simple and so perfect. Woof!

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  10. Outstanding!! No more "street life" for your Lucy...and now a model for your art! This piece definitely tugs on so many heart strings.


    Sorry to hear about the closing of your gallery. I hope that all is well with you.

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  11. What an apt comment Venetta, about Lucy. I hadn't thought about it that way. She was indeed picked up wandering the streets of Quebec City. She is living the good life now, that's for sure. I will soon be posting photos of her, modeling organic handknit sweaters. She was recently asked to model for a website! I will post the photos when I get them. She was a superb model, and so was Chloe. As for the gallery, I am not selling, just closing it and turning it into an apartment. There were just not enough bookings to keep it going. Too bad for the art community, but it will give me more time.

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  12. Just amazing what a little cheesecloth can do - with a lot of help. You sure have mastered this technique. Lucy is adorable.

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