Robyn Millar

We all know I love seeing pictures of animals with their Pet Portraits (I call these shots ‘Doppelgängers‘), and I’m excited to be growing my small collection of video versions as well. I just love the interaction and personalities they capture! And this summer I was even able to get a short video of my childhood cat with a mini painting I did of her.

Regarding her name…
When I was in high school our family got a little black and white kitten with the most beautiful green eyes. She was the runt of the litter, and had huuuge ears in comparison to her tiny body! She looked like a combo of a bat & a rat (and I mean that in the cutest of ways of course 😀 … think of a cartoon version, if that helps haha), and somehow my teenage brain thought it’d be fitting to call her Ratty. Aaand it stuck. She’s now a senior kitty, with the approximate build of a bowling ball mixed with an orca lol (again, meant in the cutest way possible… think cartoon!) but is still as adorable and animated as the day she arrived!

It was tricky to get pictures of her with her painting, because she kept rubbing her face on it and purring instead, haha! But I’ll take it. Here is the video:

(If the video isn’t displaying properly here for any reason – you can check it out on my youtube channel HERE.)

If you crank up your volume you can make out her purring… and also some accordion. My husband thought it’d be hilarious to play accordion in the background… I so don’t get it. But I still love him :p .

I also took some photos of Ratty with her painting (and plan to post those shortly on my Facebook Page as well in my Animal Doppelgänger album). And there you have it – my latest doppelgänger video!

During the summer I got to reconnect with a friend from college that I took a glassblowing course with at ACAD years ago. She was interested in a Cherry Blossom painting, & I was interested in some cool hand blown glass to hold various art tools in my studio. So we set up an art trade!

For her painting, all she asked was that I incorporate greys with a pop of red. Done and done! (To view the painting triptych that I did for her, it is viewable in my ‘Tree Blossom’ Portfolio. Entitled: “Cherry Red Blossom”.)

By definition, art doesn’t need to be “functional”. It can simply be something that we enjoy looking at, and that’s totally cool. But on the other hand, art is also “allowed” to be functional, and I love that! And so, she created various sizes and shapes of glass vessels that I could hold my paintbrushes or flowers in my studio in style (and when they’re not holding said things, they are pretty cool sitting on their own I must say!). These pieces can be seen in the above photo – I love ’em! Very cool trade I must say.

For more info on her hand blown glass vessels and art pieces, check out www.dianafox.ca.

I just found out that the “Flood of Roses” Auction on August 28th raised $25,000 for Alberta Red Cross Flood Relief!!! The organizers and volunteers really poured everything they had into ensuring this night was a success, and it definitely paid off! Well done guys!!

Here is a video clip from the event at Hotel Arts in Calgary:

The Alberta Flood Rose Project’s fundraising efforts are continuing after the auction as well, with books and prints available for sale with proceeds going towards flood relief too. For more info on that, or to place an order, please check out their website directly for the most up to date info: www.thealbertafloodroseproject.com/store.html .

(Photo: studio shot of painting next to reference photo)

On the weekend I got to mail a Pet Portrait painting of adorable Nixon to his parents in Lloydminster, AB. Unfortunately their pup had passed over the ‘Rainbow Bridge‘ a few years ago but they still miss him very dearly to this day. His mom contacted me this summer to have his portrait painted as a memento, and I was honoured to do so for them!

Here are some detail shots from Nixon’s painting:

What a sweet little face. To view a full photo of his portrait, please visit my Pet Portrait Portfolio gallery.

Today I got to deliver a painting of Sasha, who is an Austrailian Shepard X. Her dad got in touch with me this summer to paint a portrait of his beautiful senior dog.

50/50 split pic (left: finished painting / right: reference photo)

I always ask my clients if they have a preference for the background colour of their painting (considering it will be in displayed amongst their décor), and some select a favourite colour, some request a neutral, and then a small number say “Anything – whatever compliments them best, I trust you!” which is always fun! Even when I’m given free reign of colour choice I often still gravitate towards neutrals, but in Sasha’s case I was very much drawn to a shade of purple to make her rust coloured markings & caramel eyes pop. This is my first Pet Portrait with this type of colour for the background, and I’m really excited with the final result!

Here are some close up shots of Sasha’s finished painting:

To view her full painting, please visit my Pet Portrait portfolio gallery.

What are your thoughts on using purple as a background colour?

I’ve been asked by a few different folks now for a map of venues for the Castlegar Art Walk, so I thought it’d be a good idea to share a copy of it here too in digital form in addition to printed copies. Below is the front and the back of the brochure (when unfolded), and you can click on the images to enlarge them:

If you are in the area and would like to check out The Castlegar Art Walk, it is on til September 15th 2013. If you missed my previous post with all the juicy details on this event, you can check it out here: www.robynmillar.com/castlegar-art-walk-2013/.

Since my initial post on The Alberta Flood Rose Project fundraiser for Red Cross Flood Relief, it has snowballed even more!!! Which is so great to hear, and I wanted to share the latest updates.

Here is a really great video that was put together about the fundraiser. You get to see the sheer volume of submissions, as well as hear straight from the Project’s organizer on what it’s all about:

Over 400 artists ended up submitting art, with some even donating more than once.  The original plan of arranging the mini 4″x4″ pieces in groups of 100 was modified to 81, then these groups were framed behind glass. The volunteers for the project were able to create SEVEN of these large framed Collections! Which is so great to hear. Last night, they also posted photos to their official facebook page of the collections all put together! They almost have a quilt like quality to them, just really cool. Here is an example:

“Collection B” from The Alberta Flood Rose Project. Click on this image to be taken to their facebook photo album to view all of the Collections.

(it’s a little like playing “Where’s Waldo” lol, but you can spot my donation submission three in from the bottom right corner painting (or “9G” in grid form) of “Collection B”)

The 40″x40″ frames containing the wild rose themed art Collections will be on tour throughout Calgary and neighbouring areas, then will be auctioned off on August 28th 2013. For more details & updates you can go right to the source at: www.thealbertafloodroseproject.com .

I’m excited to finally share some details on my NEW MIXED MEDIA SERIES with you!

I’ve always loved the look of mixed media artwork (which can combine anything from paint to pencil/ pen/ wax/ ink/ paper/ dye/ photos/ text/ wood/ metal/ plastics/ fabrics/ found objects/ and so on – the sky is the limit really!), and I’m particularly drawn to ones that incorporate photos in some way. I have to admit, this series has been in the works for a loooong long time, mainly because it hinged on several different factors merging together. BUT it was worth the time I had put in as I’m really enjoying working on these new pieces! Here are some of the factors that helped this come to fruition…

1. On the technical side –
This new series combines art techniques I’ve learned dating all the way back from childhood up to present day. Examples would be collaging as a kid, abstract painting experimentation over the years, picking up cool image transfer tricks at college, as well as trying out new (and some not so new, but new to me, lol) art products and mediums. Adding this all together equals some fun (and to be totally honest frustrating on occasion) ‘mad scientist’ style studio time lol, which was totally creatively liberating.

2. On the aesthetic side –
As far back as I can remember I’ve been drawn to antiqued & weathered looking items. The patinas, the markings, it all tells a unique story, and gives them a warm appearance & feel. An appreciation for antiques and vintage items was instilled in me at a young age, often searching garage sales and flea markets for treasures with family. Over the years I’ve enjoyed incorporating lots of texture and layers in the majority of my (non-Pet Portrait related) work, often including a warm and subtle patina style to the finish. This aesthetic quality is mirrored in this new series.

3. On the photography side –
These pieces also incorporate photos that I’ve snapped myself (as well as the occasional appearance from family that they’ve donated 🙂 ). I may mostly take pics with my iPhone these days, but I do enjoy the results nonetheless! Some day I’d like to delve into the photography art form moreso with a proper DSLR camera. But in the meantime I’m happy snapping ‘in the moment’ shots, because (for me anyway) they represent the moments how I experience them, often in motion during a walk or as a passenger on a road trip for example.

And so, when adding these three main elements up they contributed to & yielded my fun new mixed media series. I’m super excited about it! I’ve recently completed three pieces to show/sell during the Castlegar Art Walk this summer, and promptly worked on more having four new pieces currently in the works already. They are just so fun to do!! This series is untitled so far (because that’s just how fresh it is!), but I just wanted to share with you a little on how these came about in the meantime.

To view my completed mixed media pieces to date, feel free to check out my new Mixed Media portfolio page HERE and let me know what you think! I’d love to hear your feedback.

Do you remember that little “Video Experiment” from a couple weeks ago? Well, the results are in… and it’s a bit confusing to be honest haha! Here is the positive & the negative:

Good news = everyone that contacted me said that they are able to see the videos that are posted within blog entries when viewing in a web browser! Which is excellent!

Bad news = none of the videos showed up for them when viewing in email form though (for folks who signed up to receive blog posts by email automatically, or via an RSS reader).

I fall into the “average, at best” category when it comes to computer stuff lol, but from what I’ve gathered on why my videos within blog posts weren’t showing up for some folks is this: Each email host receives videos differently (between Hotmail, Gmail, Shaw, Telus, etc…) and pretty much all of them try to block video plug-ins. From what I’ve tried to read on the topic it sounds like it has something to do with ‘security and risk of viruses’ blah blah blah. Boo. But it is what it is I guess, and can’t do much about it :(. So let’s move forward :D!

So for folks who receive blog posts automatically by email or RSS reader, please note that there’s a handy “view it in your browser” button at the top right corner of every blog email, and if you click it you’re taken to a web version where videos should be viewable no problem.

This is what that button looks like in the top right corner of blog emails.

Alternately – if you’ve experienced something contrary to what I’ve mentioned here or in my ‘Video Experiment’ post etc, please do let me know – I’d love to hear!! Thank you all for helping me with this everyone! Talk soon.

Ps – if you aren’t currently signed up to receive blog posts automatically to your inbox but would like to, you can sign up on the blog page of my website: www.robynmillar.com/blog/ and the form is on the right side bar near the top there. Please feel free to contact me with any questions though! Thanks again.