“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”
~ Henry David Thoreau
 
Beautiful words to live by.  I am thankful that I have some ability to create art, have supportive family and friends, great space to practice in, and represented by galleries that appreciate and reinforce what I do.
I have also realized that I enjoy sharing art with others. Whether it is an art workshop with adults or volunteering with a group of pre-schoolers, I must admit, I probably get more out of it than they do.
Little ones teach me to look at things in wonder. Sharing is caring said one of the preschoolers while making art.  Isn’t it though!

Adults teach me that every artwork is worthy when heart and soul are poured into it. Everyone has an interesting story to tell and being able to put it into a creative activity is a beautiful thing.
I am thankful for my Artspa group of friends. Established in 2006, we have been creating art together for a very long time and I love them all.  Some members are lifers and some come and go like the tides. They are my art sisters and occasionally brothers!
I am thankful for all the art organizations I belong to and all those that selflessly volunteer to keep them going.  And I am thankful for all the art enthusiasts and collectors of my art. Your enthusiasm makes hours of solitude worthwhile.
So maybe all I’m saying is don’t be afraid to share your creative gifts. There are hundreds of opportunities just waiting for you!  Art has the power to change the world. 
 
​https://petapixel.com/2018/11/26/apple-made-an-animated-short-about-sharing-your-gifts-with-the-world/
 
Art is my Truth, Art is a Healer and Art Makes us Human
 AXO
 
 

 Evolution comes from the Latin evolutio, meaning to unroll.  As an artist I accept the fact that my artwork will continuously open up and unfold in mysterious ways.  I try to supress the doubt that arises and encourage myself to try new things.  An old commercial runs in my head at those transitional  times.  View it here:* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1OqqelrGys  

I am a collector of found objects.   I have a collection of rusted metal rings found close to home and across borders and seas.  When a particular object keeps showing itself to me I know it's time to incorporate it into artworks.  So, I have started a series called "Columns and Rows".  A deconstructed abstract series that has been perculating for some time.

Here's one work called "The Way Forward" ​ 6x36, mixed media on terraskin mounted on cradled wood panel.  It can be hung as a column or a row.  Every artwork I create tells a story; maybe mine, maybe yours or a universal one.  As an art viewer you get to decide.  

The best result is that the artwork engages the viewer or an art enthusiast feels the need to bring it home.  The worst result is mediocrity, a waste of time, paint and canvas but even so it's not a failure because I have learned something valuable in the process.  So try the *seaweed pie!

Carpe Diem my friends,

Axo
Feel free to like my art page:  https://www.facebook.com/AndreaPottyondyArt/ 

This is where I try to create magic, in my Artarage on a circa 1980s Ikea table. Dragonflies seem to be on my agenda today. I have seen so many flitting around my garden. They are symbols of change and self-realization, a reminder to seize the day. Using some donated antique doilies (thanks Jean) and one special doily my mama made many years ago, I print wings on lovely washi paper. I enjoy experimentation...failures are learning tools, happy surprises bring me joy.  I am in my happy place. I hope you have one too! Axo

"I Love You Enough To Let You Go"  8x8+ , mixed media/assemblage on burlap, is one of twenty four artworks in my exhibit at the Art Lab Studios & Gallery in beautiful Parrsboro, Nova Scotia.  

​The mixed media and assemblage artworks are composed of many materials.  Some found, some handmade, some rescued from second hand shops on my travels here and there,  but all have been given a new purpose in the artworks I create. I have been collecting ephemera for many, many years. It can take days or sometimes years before I realize an artwork. I let my intuition guide me and the pieces come together like a puzzle and create a new visual narrative. I try to revive the overlooked, the disposed of and the ordinary, then turn it into something beautiful, preserved and collected.

In this exhibit I gathered and used donated and found objects/papers, painted tissue papers, vintage newsprint from France, UK, the Netherlands and Canada, mulberry paper, Japanese papers, handmade seaweed paper, 19th c. math books sent to me from Newfoundland (that's another story), corrugated cardboard, gold leaf, paints, inks, charcoal, graffiti markers, 100+ year old silk from India, old show posters, my own handmade prints of objects and animals, driftwood, fishing line, leather, mother of pearl buttons, vintage patterns, metal and poetry by Tagore (1861-1941) (another great find). And the most important ingredient being my heart and soul! 

I hope you go on a road trip that takes you to Parrsboro and the Art Lab studios & Gallery, I can guarantee that you won't regret it! 
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In creativity and light, 
 Andrea Pottyondy, SCA
 

 
 

"As part of the work of the World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP), a collaboration of 19 of the world’s leading energy producing cities of which Halifax is a member, 24 local Halifax artists have partnered with 24 Danish artists under the WECP initiative called “Rørpost”.
The purpose of Rorpost is to bring international artists together in WECP member cities using collaborative projects as a pipeline for the flow of creative energy, the development of friendships, and the celebration of the freedom of expression.
The word “Rørpost” means a pneumatic tube in Danish. In the past pneumatic tubes were used in department stores to make change or exchange paper messages. In this case Rørpost is a metaphor for sending the paper exchange and art ideas across the Atlantic. The verb “Røre” basically means “to touch” when translated from Danish to English."
We had a splendid time in Denmark last week.  Coming together in friendship and art was an incredible experience. Thank you for putting on a fantastic art exhibit opening in Esbjerg. Thank you , Astrid and Leif, for letting us into your home, for the warm hospitality, conversation, great food and drink and tours around town. We enjoyed it immensely. ​ Tak og se dig igen! 

It was a great adventure. Seventeen people on a "We Are Bamboo" tour in Costa Rica. People who love to travel but want to give a little back to the places they visit. That is what we all have in common.  First week we volunteered in a small town called Corozalito. We were asked to paint a mural on the two room school house, more than a hundred tires around the soccer field and many cement tables and benches. I lucked out! Being an artist I was able to help create a mural with Tim, a graphic designer from the UK and Maria another artist from Australia. With some ideas and designs by Munsi, one of our guides from Turtle Trax, who also educated us about sea turtle habitat,  we came up with a design, drew it in chalk and Jacqueline, Pat and Angharad helped paint it. We had shade, the rest of the gang not so much! Besides painting we also did beach sweeps, picking up debris (ban plastic straws please) and night patrols where we witnessed Olive Ridley sea turtles nesting. It was amazing.  The second week was all fun and lots of educational experiences!  I love my Bamboo family and hoping we meet up again on another adventure. 

 Almost all the paintings sold, we raised $3000 together which was  donated to the Molly Appeal for cancer research, Adsum House for women & children, Hope for Wildlife, VANS artist fund and the Lodge that Gives.   I am thankful to everyone that came over and helped make the fundraiser a great success.  Thank you! Here is the link to buy the book on Blurb 

Since 2006 a group of artists from Nova Scotia, Canada come together regularly to share a love of art making. The group was founded to give artists the possibility to step out of their studios and enjoy creative company once a week. Artists work on their own projects in various mediums and techniques, support and critique each other’s artworks and share information on art related topics. Members have also worked on collaborative art projects such as the “Po lar Exhibit”, “Global Shoe Project”, and “Joachin in His Shoes”; a cultural art project facilitated by past member Patricia Gonzales Rivero. We have participated in numerous group exhibits including one at the beautiful J. Franklin Wright Gallery in Cape Breton and for fundraiser “Mosaic for Mental Health”.
Our name is ARTSPA. “Art making is better than a day at the Spa”, said Catherine McMillen (1927-2010) who was our gracious elder, a Nova Scotia College of Art graduate and a founding member of Artspa. We all miss her but her enthusiasm for art continues to live in us all.
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