Art Auction aka Cheap Date Night

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words, "Canadian Art"? If you're Canadian, I'll wager a guess that the first thing you think of is the Group of Seven. If you're not Canadian, then I offer no guesses, based on having read an article some time ago that suggested nobody outside of Canada knows who the Group of Seven are. They were a bunch of fellas who painted the rugged Canadian wilderness mostly during the first half of the twentieth Century. The leading figure of the group was Tom Thomson. He died in a mysterious canoeing accident; a quintessentially Canadian way to kick the bucket if there ever was one. The paintings of the Group of Seven are lovely, but in some ways their work has overtaken the identity of Canadian Art.

If you would like to see a wide range of Canadian Art, I invite you to visit the Dundas Valley School of Art later this week. Every year, for the last 40 years, the school has a large art auction--some of it from living artists and some from artists of years past, and the majority of it from Canadians. A portion of all the sales goes towards the school. Going to the free auction preview dates is a great time (think cheap date night) and an opportunity to look at three floors full of mostly Canadian Art. If you're not in the market for any paintings, drawings, jewelery, or sculpture, it's still very worthwhile just to go and see so much art gathered into one building. With so many works being offered there's a wonderful variety to choose from and there are numerous price points at which the bidding starts. My own handsomely framed bunny rabbit original will be there with a starting bid of $125.00. The auction has both a silent component and a live auction that happens Saturday evening. For all the details on the when,where, and how, please follow this link: http://www.dvsa.ca/events/
Oh, and something especially great about this year's auction is that the school has just completed a major renovation and will be opening it's new door for the first time tomorrow.

Here's my piece that's in the auction. I promise that I cleaned Clarence's finger prints off of the glass. Not sure what art commentary Clarence is communicating through his facial expression.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that I now have my Etsy shop, Speaking Pictures open for business.
And the other other thing is that I am very curious to hear from others (esp. non-Canadians) what they think of when they hear the words "Canadian Art."  Please feel free to leave a comment --I'd love to know.