These are dry times. Summer slips away faster than you can catch it – a dime down the drain. The sky hangs damp and icy today. Across the globe, powerful little men toy with the world’s future like it’s a game of chicken. Hurricanes have ravaged large parts of our earth. Families will suffer the effects for years to come. Terrorists won’t let London sleep.
This planet can get so ugly. So broken. So disordered. So many of our mirrors are shattered.
There is order in beauty. A divine order, I believe, but whatever your theology you can feel it. The affirmation of disparate parts falling into place.
Jennifer Berkenbosch’s Cultivar matters because the world needs beauty today. We need to be reminded that there is goodness. There is a solid bed beneath this wild river.
Tomorrow, Saturday April 1, you can have photos taken of your art for free. No foolin'.
Thanks to the generosity of the Edmonton Shutterbugs, four photographers will be on hand to shoot your work on a gallery wall or plinth, in fantastic natural light, for 15 minutes per artist. You can also have your portrait taken if you like.
All of these shots should help you spruce up your website, business cards and marketing materials, and hopefully land you some shows and some sales.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Tania Runyan is a poet from Illinois who will be leading the poetry track of our Small, Slow & Beautiful retreat. In this conversation, you'll hear her hopes for the retreat, who it will be a good fit for, the way I screw up her name, and a fair bit of laughter.
You'll also hear Tania Runyan read her lovely poem, "No One Can Boast".
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
January. I put out a challenge. Support more local artists this year. Tangibly. With money. I’m not out to blow the bank or revolutionize the local arts scene singlehandedly. We’re going to do that together. You and me. We are going to ‘vote with our wallets’ in 2017 and see what we can do collectively for the Edmonton arts scene.
The breakdown? $20 dollars towards local arts experiences and $17 towards local arts products. Every month. That’s my goal, so what’s my reality?
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Starting this month, on Wednesday, March 22 at 6:30 PM, we're offering workshops again!
Stephanie Medford will be leading us in Block Printing using the linocut technique. For just $25, you'll walk away with 5 prints on some lovely paper, and a linocut to take home and print to your heart's content (you'll have learned how to do that by the evening's end).
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
We are excited to share this opportunity to have your work displayed at the Bleeding Heart Art Space this spring in a new group show, curated by local poet and artists, Edward Van Vliet.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Today is the final day to register for our summer retreat–Small, Slow & Beautiful–before the price goes up by$100. The early bird deadline. Midnight tonight.
Small, Slow & Beautiful happens this June 29-July 2 along the Elbow River in Calgary.
This retreat is a risk for us here at Bleeding Heart Art Space. We are betting that a group of creatives are looking for a slow, beautiful space to grow their art and their faith. We are betting that you want to get better at your craft, that you desire creative community, and that you are willing to spend some time and money on these things.
We haven’t done this before, but I’m hoping this is the start of a long-standing tradition in our province. I’m hoping we gather once a year and grow a community unlike any other in the world. Because it will be you and me and some other beautiful souls.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
If you are a visual artist, you may be wondering about Macro Painting & Painting. What the heck is it? Is it for you? What can you expect to make over a long weekend at Small, Slow & Beautiful?
Macro images take a close-up look at our world. They train our eyes to pay attention. They show us 'the world in a grain of sand', as William Blake put it.
Here are some examples of wonderful macro images I've found online and from the work of friends, to get your creative imagination in gear.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Paying attention is the core of all creative work. There is perhaps no better way to practice this skill than to observe and record the finest of details in the smallest of settings. If we can “see the world in a grain of sand”, what might we see in an ocean or a busy intersection?
Attention takes time and focus–both commodities in short supply in our harried, busybody lives. What if you set aside a few days to simply pay attention? To learn to observe, and then to practice that learning, in a supportive community of artists?
From June 28 to July 2, Edmonton Artist Daniel van Heyst will lead a small group of painters, sketchers and other visual artists on adventure in attention during Small, Slow & Beautiful this summer. You can join this group, with early bird pricing in effect until the end of February.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
“How did that fundraising campaign go?”
It’s a question I’ve been asked more than once in these early days of a new year. The question is encouraging, because it shows people are aware we have had a fundraising campaign, and because they care how we are doing. But the answer is complicated.
I want to say ‘Amazing! We hit our goal in record time!’, but that would be a lie. In fact, we didn’t hit our goal at all. So far, we’ve missed it by more than half.
This isn’t a bad news update. I’m very happy with where the Bleeding Heart stands today, and our prospects for a long, healthy future as a space for art, faith, hope and love on the Ave.
To understand why I’m happy, you have to understand the numbers I was looking at just over a month ago, as 2016 was coming to a close.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Tonight we are gathering to celebrate the ways we, together, are making the world a more beautiful place, and talk about how we can do more of that.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
