Robyn Millar

I wish I was able to attend the opening reception for the Castlegar Art Walk, which happened Monday this week, but I’m so glad to hear that the night was a total success! Approximately 80-100 people were in attendance, including many of the participating artists. My mom’s a total trooper as she went in my place (which was super sweet of her! She actually texted me the above photo from the venue), and her picture ended up being in the newspaper! Here is a snap:

Newspaper photo caption: “…Millar was unable to attend but her unique work received many positive comments.”

To view the whole article online, as well as a photo gallery from the opening reception, check out: http://www.castlegarnews.com/news/213219471.html. Coincidentally two photos of my art up at the Fireside Inn are also shown in the photo album.

One of the Castlegar Council for the Arts committee members and event organizers also emailed me to let me know how the opening went which was really nice of her! She noted how people enjoyed getting to see how my ‘Outside the Box – Merlot Blossom’ piece which was on display there was constructed (as it was displayed in a way so people were able to walk behind to take a peek) which is neat. I can’t seem to find a photo of the back, but essentially the painting is made from a fully custom canvas frame which includes an opening within the middle. Here is a photo that my friend David Austin took last summer which shows light coming through the painting from behind to showcase the unique opening:

What is my connection to Castlegar you might be wondering? I grew up approximately 15 minutes away from there, and still very much to this day consider the area my home away from (new) home 🙂 .

If you are/will be in the area and would like to attend the Castlegar Art Walk, which is on til September 15th 2013, check out the event details HERE.

(Photo: unveiling a new painting series amongst my Art Walk display.)

Castlegar’s 17th annual Art Walk is up and running! This event showcases various artists coupled with local venues and is a self guided tour, so if you are in the area do feel free to check things out :). It is on now through September 15th 2013, and there are over 20 “mini-gallery” locations set up across the city. (For a map or for more information on the event, please check out my Showings page.)

I’m happy to be a part of the Art Walk this summer, having a wide variety of nature inspired paintings on display and available for purchase at the Fireside Inn in particular. Here is a sneak peek:

Hot off the press right in time for the event were three new Mixed Media pieces, which actually incorporate images that I’ve taken in the Castlegar area (from Zuckerberg’s Island, to the Bombi Pass, and the Historic Brilliant Bridge site). I’m really excited about this new series (which is not titled just yet… that’s how new we’re talkin’ lol), and will write a post on its specifics shortly. In the meantime however, if you’re curious about taking a closer look at these three pieces they can be seen on my new Mixed Media portfolio page of my website.

Although I was unable to attend the opening reception for the Castlegar Art Walk tonight, I consider myself very lucky with regards to the timing from my installation as I missed the major flooding of Southern Alberta and parts of BC by only a matter of days! I couldn’t imagine being on the road when the weather hit as hard as it did. I still can’t believe the magnitude of the floods! My heart goes out to the thousands upon thousands who were effected!!!

To my Castlegar and area friends and visitors I hope to return there soon at which time I’d love to meet up, and I can’t wait to check out the other Art Walk artists & venues.

(Photo: Romeo posing next to his portrait…I like to call these types of photos “Animal Doppelgängers“.)

This Pet Portrait painting was created for a lovely Calgary couple of their beloved Golden Retrievers: Kodi & Romeo. Sadly Kodi passed away last summer, but him and Romeo used to spend hours and hours hanging out together on the front porch sofa and watch out the window. What a sweet little pair!

“They loved the sunporch and watching the world go by the front window.”

The reference photo that we used is their dad’s favourite picture of them, and their mom wanted to surprise him with a painting as a gift. We originally scheduled to have it ready for his birthday, but (like me) she just couldn’t wait and spilled the beans early lol, so we went with Father’s Day instead as it was sooner. Here are some detail shots of the painting:

To view the full image of the completed painting of Kodi & Romeo, please visit my Pet Portrait portfolio page.

To view a ’50/50′ split of the reference photo and the finished painting, feel free to check out my Facebook photo album HERE.

I can’t help but share these pictures of Quinn (with his momma’s permission of course!) checking out his Minimalist Portrait.

The timing worked out so that I got to meet this little cutie when delivering the painting. He was enjoying some play time with dad and (fur)brother Roman in the back yard while mom was opening the portrait near by… Q was more interested in inviting me to join in the soccer fun (was so adorable btw) than helping mom open the packaging. But shortly after she showed him the painting, and I SOOO wish I had this on camera, but as soon as he looked at it his face lit up and he pointed at it like “hey that’s me!!” – was the cutest thing everrr! Then a mini photo shoot happened, including this perfect shot taken by his momma:

It’s always so cool getting to experience moments like this together with people opening their paintings for the first time. It’s a bit indescribable actually, just so neat.

To view a full sized photo of Quinn’s finished portrait painting, please check out my Minimalist Portrait portfolio.

Happy Father’s Day all!

This year I got to add the holiday to my eclectic list of occasions that clients have ordered Pet Portrait Gifts for! Which is always fun 🙂

Funny thing about painting orders is you just can never predict what will happen when. This year I was sooo organized in time for Mother’s Day orders, and didn’t get a lot of action. THEN, I was completely disorganized to get the word out for Father’s Day orders… but I received multiple regardless lol. Is there a term for when that happens? haha. Anyway, it’s just funny how that works some times, but it’s all good is my motto!!

This year for Father’s Day I had two Pet Portrait orders, as well as two Minimalist Kids Portraits headed out right in time for the occasion.

(Studio shot of the four paintings in progress) 

To view the full photos of each finished painting, please check out my ‘Pet Portraits‘ portfolio (new pieces are called ‘Kodi & Romeo’ & ‘Mischa’) and my ‘Minimalist Portraits‘ portfolio (new additions are ‘Quinn’, and ‘Oxley’ – the fully custom four tone portrait). Or you can check out my ‘Newest Work‘ tab, which is where they’ll be featured temporarily until newer work is added (it’s updated often).

For Father’s Day this year I got to visit my dad in BC which is super cool! Can’t remember the last time the timing worked out to do so, so it was nice for sure to see him and visit with family. I hope you guys all had a safe & fun weekend!

(Photo: studio progress shot. Middle – background of painting in the works. Right – reference photograph.)

This is a little story about ‘Feen Bean’, a recent Pet Portrait painting I did.

Feen (short for Phoenix)’s mom is a local Calgary photographer and she took this beautiful photo of her beloved pup against a grassy/treed backdrop in a bokeh style (where the background is blurred). This was my first time painting such a background, and am excited at the outcome! It’s always fun trying new techniques such as this.

While I was working on this painting I got to post some progress pictures onto Instagram. I do try to post varied content on each of my social media outlets (between Facebook, Instagram, and here on my Blog) to keep things fresh, however I understand that not all followers for each cross over. So in saying that, I’d like to share these progress snaps here as well for those not on IG:

Sadly, Feen Bean’s painting is a memorial piece as she had recently passed over the “Rainbow Bridge”. I really love the reference photo her mom selected to have painted, such a smily happy girl she was! So much personality shines through in the photo. I wish I got to meet this sweet little doggie in person.

To view a full image of the finished painting, please check it out in my ‘Pet Portraits Portfolio‘.

To view Feen’s mom’s awesome photography website, take a look HERE.

I just had to share these adorable photos that a client sent to me of real life Jamie posing sweetly next to her Pet Portrait painting as a puppy that I did recently:

Love it!! <3

Such a beautiful Silver Lab she is. For more info on Jamie’s painting, take a peek at this blog post here: www.robynmillar.com/jamie/

If you would like to share your very own ‘Animal Doppelgänger‘ pictures (or even videos), please feel free! I’d love to feature them 🙂

Meet “Zala” – a fully custom mixed media Pet Portrait commission! I combined paint, ink and graphite in an expressive & minimalist style, and a monochromatic palette, to create a unique & contemporary spin from my standard high detail Pet Portrait Series paintings.

When this client contacted me we chatted about what he was after, and coincidentally the style was quite similar to a sketch I had worked on recently (check it out here). He sent me some photos of his dog Zala, and wanted me to sketch her ‘essence’ vs a literal translation. So after completing some sketches, he selected the version I came up with of black contour lines, graphite detailing in certain areas, and finally a splash of grey and brown paint accents.

For the background he requested mostly white, with some brown around the edges. There is subtle texture detail also for visual interest up close. This beauty is painted on Russian Birch Panel (vs my usual canvas), as it’s a fantastic working surface for mixed media.

This style steps away from my usual calculated way of drawing, and into a freer zone. The goal was to simplify, and let the the lines tell a story. I love working on fully custom pieces such as this, because they push you out of your comfort zone and you always develop new techniques and skills while doing so.

This is my first mixed media Pet Portrait commission to date, and it’s been so much fun, I hope to expand on this style more in the future. This piece is also my largest Pet Portrait to date, at a whopping 30″x30″!!

All in all, my client & I are both happy with the final result, and I hope he enjoys his custom one-of-a-kind artwork for a long long time! 🙂

Ps – I’ve added “Zala” to my ‘Custom Art‘ tab, so feel free to check it out for more details & pictures of this piece.

This is a new one!! First ever pix of kidlets posing with their Minimalist Portraits! You guys all know that my favourite pix ever are Animal Doppelgänger pictures, but these have definitely taken over the 1st place spot. Look at this cuteness! Three little munchkins investigating their new Kids Portraits:

baby j

big girl j

big boy b

Soooooo cute!!!!! Love love love.