So, I've now got three different sizes of travel painting kits...
Small: Jane Davenport pan watercolours Water brush & 2 travel brushes Faber-Castell pencil crayons Stabilo 'All' white pencil Tom Lynch Composition Tool Medium: Holbein Acrylic Gouache Lamy fountain pen Ranger Mini Mister Martha Stewart brushes U.go 6x8x1.25 palette Stainless brush washer Large: Judson's 7x9x5.5 ThumBox (Guerilla Painter) Liquitex acrylics Stay Wet palette Princeton brushes View Catcher Brush washer & rag I can also fit a small mixed media sketchbook (this one is 4.25x6 by Peter Pauper Press) or a couple of painting panels in each case. A few things I've learned about myself while focusing on sketching this year are: 1. I really don't like drawing with pencil or charcoal...too messy. I really like pen & ink (I'd like to find a waterproof ink that doesn't clog my Lamy fountain pen) or very fine markers. 2. I prefer a smaller sketchbook (4.25 x6 or 6x8) with hard covers & smooth, white/mixed media paper that lies flat when open. 3. I still love acrylics best even in gouache and I'm so glad to have been pointed in the direction of odor-free Holbein. 4. The watercolours I prefer are small pans that re-wet easily & are vibrant. 5. I think I'd also like to try a few Derwent Inktense pencil crayons for brighter colours. "Nursing Career: I have been nursing for about 25 years now-17 yrs in the emergency frontline. Currently I work as a simulation consultant with eSIM Provincial Simulation for over 8 yrs. I also work as frontline Emergency Nurse at SHC and as faculty with Mount Royal Nursing program. It’s a great career. So many streams to pursuit. In my role with eSIM Provincial Simulation, I helped developed the initial COVID-19 scenarios in March 2020 before my first redeployment to the emergency frontline. I have implemented COVID 19 scenarios at the RGH site as well as the Sheldon Chumir and Airdrie Urgent Care. I have been involved in larger projects such as the South Health Campus Site COVID Outbreak virtual simulation. Recently, I supported the provincial Critical Care Triage Simulations with the Critical Care Strategic Network. The use of simulation in AHS has been pivotal for team training as well testing and integrating rapid practice changes that have occurred with COVID 19 management.
Passion for Art: I began to paint every night with my redeployment as it helped my relax, focus my energy on something rewarding and I fell in love. I began to take lessons through Levelling Up (Heather Pant) about a year ago and now moved to working with David Langevin. I have been painting for over 2 years now. I paint every day. And I also started that beautiful project-Art for the Frontline. It continues to have leverage with an interview this week with ATCO gas and AHS media wanted to learn more. There has been an ask to repeat again. Will see, about to be redeployed once more. Mom: Not that mom is work…well maybe it is. But mom of complex special needs man comes with work to advocate. Brennan, AKA the king is 22. He is complex autism/giantism and GCP4 genetic anomaly. Start of COVID we lost his day program. So, my work then became finding more for him. I did-I created a program for about 1.5 years with therapists and with ++ advocacy and push-we started a Group Home for him alongside his long-time companion Tim (Also autism, large, salty and sweet man). So that’s me in a nutshell." ~ Cherie Serieska Written by Anna Ferensowicz
Wednesday, Jun 15 2022 AIR 106.1 www.discoverairdrie.com Utility boxes are at the best of times an eyesore; they are after all meant for utilization rather than an aesthetic appeal. But for Airdrie artist, Veronica Funk, a utility box was a canvas, a canvas that she could dedicate to Indigenous culture, all the while beautifying Airdrie. A decade prior, the idea to paint the utility box located at the corner of Main Street and 1st Avenue sprung from the hopes that art could replace vulgar graffiti that had been scrawled there. "I submitted a proposal and I wanted to incorporate canoes and arrowheads to represent our history, not just Airdrie's history, but the history of the place that Airdrie is. If you go to Nose Creek Museum, they have a huge collection of arrowheads, because Airdrie was along the creek, it was a huge hunting spot for Indigenous, I think predominantly, Blackfoot tribes," Funk said. The inspiration for canoes came from her own childhood, but also from the symbolism of what a canoe represents. "We are all in this boat together and I really wanted to connect that." And just last week Funk added something new to her creation in order to freshen up her art. "Last week, I went every day, through different parts of the day and painted. Like the first time, I'd get a thumbs up from people or people calling out from their vehicle windows; or as they were walking, they'd ask about it," she said. "It was just so nice to get that encouragement from the community to beautify this corner again." 16 Swallows were added to the painting, to commemorate residential schools, but also because swallows are seen as symbols of hope and community in Indigenous cultures. "That's the reason I live in Airdrie and have lived here for 25 years. It's because I love this community and I love the people that live in Airdrie. I just wanted to combine it all together by adding the swallows this time around." Funk said that it was the City of Airdrie that reached out to her first to ask if she'd consider refreshing her artwork. "That's always so nice that City Hall is very, very supportive of arts and culture in the community. I'm really grateful for that." Funk who is originally from Northern Manitoba, said that much of her childhood was spent being immersed in the Indigenous cultures of the area. She said that smudging ceremonies and the deep spiritual meaning behind them have always struck a chord with her. "[When] we would smudge, putting the smoke over our heads and say, bless my eyes, so I see the best in others, bless my ears, so I hear the best of others, and bless my mouth, so I speak the best of others; I always thought that was just such a positive way to be in the world," she said. But it's not just the ancient ceremonies that she has found wisdom and inspiration to draw on, it's also her surroundings. "[The other important thing] was paying attention to animals. My family used to call me crow talker because I would and I still love talking to crows. On one of my birthdays, 52 crows landed in the evergreen tree behind our yard. Crows are messengers but they're also a blessing. Adding those symbols to my work has become very, very important to me over the last 10 years." Funk said that one of the first groups of artists that she was exposed to, and one that left a lasting mark were the Woodlands Artists an Indigenous collective of Indigenous artists. "I loved their colouring and I loved how simple everything was; It would be a single image on the picture plane. When I went to Red Deer College in the 80s, I learned about, Lawren Harris from the Group of Seven and Georgia O'Keeffe, and how they would have a really prominent image in vibrant colour," Funk said. While Funk has been a professional artist for over two decades, she offered advice to young artists who are just budding in their aspirations and careers. "I'm always telling these artists you need to make sure that you do what you love to do, with the materials you love to do them with and to share it with others," she said. "You just got to keep going. It's like any job, you have to keep working at it." |
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