Our artist, William Liao, AFCA, is featured in the Vancouver Is Awesome article about the Vancouver Mural Festival.
Proudly standing in front of his mural, as a representative of our organization, we are thrilled to watch William get the recognition he so deserves.
The Street Festival is today, Saturday, August 10th, 12 – 7 PM
1) How do you cultivate a collector base?
The FCA helped me a lot. I didn’t try to guess the collector’s interest. I just do what I want. I think they like to see my creativity and progress.
2) Who are your biggest influences?
If there is only one option, I will say Marcel Duchamp. Not his skill, rather his attitude as an artist.
3) Where do you find inspiration in your daily life?
Keep sensitivity, you will find inspiration anywhere.
4) What advice would you give to artists trying to paint portraits?
Art is free. But if you want to be an artist as a life-long career, spend at least one year seriously studying a subject such as anatomy. It’s worth the investment.
5) What tools are you using to create a mural this size?
I used different size rollers, like you use to paint a house, to make this painting. I didn’t use any brushes. It was a process of stepping up to the wall and far away to see how the work is coming together.
6) What difficulties have you ran into?
Some paints were stolen from my wall on the first night. On top of this challenge, the wall is too hot in the afternoon to paint, because it is located in direct sunshine. This means I can only paint in the morning and after 6 pm.
7) What was your influence/inspiration for this mural?
The lady in the painting looks like she is in her own world. Maybe she is thinking, or lost in a memory. I wish when people walk by this wall and look at this image, they can pull away from their busy life, find a moment of rest, and examine their life.
8) You participate in many opportunities with the FCA and battle of the brushes… Why do you get your art out there?
I have a unique background, skills, aesthetic. I like to contribute to a multicultural society. It is my responsibility as an artist.
The Federation of Canadian Artists is about to paint our impression of the city on the city. The Vancouver Mural Festival has offered the Federation the unique opportunity to promote our gallery and membership across our community through the active participation and artistic talents of artist William Liao, AFCA.
Through the creation of permanent large-scale public murals, The Vancouver Mural Festival provides a creative platform for Vancouver’s diverse art scene to contribute to the city’s cultural legacy for years to come. The completed art installations act as catalysts for addressing many of the socio-cultural issues facing Vancouver and its artistic communities, leaving a lasting visual impression of the rich diversity of voices living and working here.
The annual festival will take place from August 1st to August 10th, in the Mount Pleasant area. The organizers work tirelessly throughout the year with neighbourhoods around the Lower Mainland to highlight the local culture and vibrancy in the area, making the festival a reflection of their hardwork and contributions to the Vancouver art community as much as highlighting the artistic talents of numerous artists.
William Liao’s mural will bear the name of the FCA with pride, and serve as an example of the quality of artists we represent and the standards we hold for Canadian artists across the nation.
William Liao has been a part of the FCA for 5 years. His artwork is defined by his influences of traditional Chinese culture and new European art. Specializing in portraits and landscapes, William’s paintings combine traditional mediums with modern techniques, providing viewers with another dimension of experience.
For Immediate Release
Name of Press Contact: Helen Duckworth
Date: 13/12/2018 Phone: 604-681-2744 Email: education@artists.ca
Federation of Canadian Artists Announces 2019 Artists’ Retreat
Vancouver, British Columbia – The life of an artist can be a solitary one, with hours hauled up in a studio, or spent balancing the line between “the day job” and your artistic pursuits. The Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA), Canada’s largest member-driven, non-profit arts organization, realizes that the plight of the artist is one best not tackled alone.
“Artists have always needed a community”, says FCA Education Coordinator Helen Duckworth, “A support network of peers where they can collaboratively create, critique and converse”.
The Federation’s artist retreats aim to foster just such a sense of community, through an annual gathering of artists in beautiful Canadian settings, sharing meals, enjoying activities together and painting en plein air under the guidance of Master Artist instructors who help them improve and develop upon their practice.
The 2019 instructors include Brent Lynch, Charlie Easton and Sue Cowan. Each instructor specializes in plein air painting and boasts an impressive resume of both teaching and exhibition experience.
The benefits of painter’s retreats are not to be dismissed. Painters have been adventuring on painting excursions together since before the days of the Group of Seven. “Spending a few days with fellow artists in nature makes us better and more inventive painters”, attests Lynch.
If you are looking to improve your artistic practice, while meeting like-minded peers and exploring one of the most stunning painting locations B.C has to offer, register for your place at www.fcaretreat.ca
Federation of Canadian Artists – Society #: S – 0006048 – Charity #: 11891 3920 RT0001
Founded in 1941 by members of the Group of Seven, the Federation of Canadian Artists is Canada’s largest member-driven, non-profit arts organization. With 2,500 artist members across BC and Alberta, the Federation provides educational, networking and exhibition opportunities to support artists in their development and make the visual arts more accessible to all Canadians. Learn more at http://www.artists.ca
Contract position for Nature Sketch artist/instructor
The Bateman Foundation, a national public charity, inspires a lasting relationship with nature through the lens of art, and is currently one of the only non-profits in Canada primarily using artwork to promote a connection to nature and the environment.
The Nature Sketch Club is an outdoor nature program for kids & adults that focuses on sketching and observing wildlife habitats in unique ecosystems. Guided by a sketch artist and a naturalist, this program encourages participants to connect to natural environments in their local community using a pencil and a sketchbook. We have a Junior Nature Sketch program for ages 5-12 as well as an Adult Nature Sketch program for ages 18+. For more information please visit http://www.naturesketch.org
POSITION OVERVIEW
We are very excited to be launching our Nature Sketch program Nationwide and are looking for an enthusiastic, multi-skilled and passionate professional to join our team. The class will run on Saturdays, once per week for 7 weeks out in nature + final student art exhibition. Each class will be 2.5 hrs per week (Jr in the am & Adult in the pm) running from April to June. We are looking for a nature/sketch artist, who has experience working with children of all ages as well as adults.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
REQUIRED SKILLS/TRAINING:
If you are all of the above – we want to hear from you! Interested candidates please send a cover letter, resume and portfolio to learning@batemancentre.org Thank you.
This workshop teaches artists how to be more financially sustainable with this one unique way of selling their art.
For artist Katie Brennan, licensing her art was a totally foreign concept when she was first approached to do it.
“I received an email asking me if I’d be interested in licensing my art and having it for sale at Crate and Barrel, which sounded great, but I wasn’t sure what it really meant for me”, she reminisces.
She asked her colleagues, fellow artists, curators and gallerists and they hadn’t really heard of art licensing either and had no opinion on whether or not it was a good idea.
Fast forward to 2018, where Brennan is an art licensing pro.
Her work has been sold through major retailers like Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma Home and has appeared in the pages of magazines like House & Home, House Beautiful and Better Homes and Gardens. Her work has even popped up Netflix’s popular show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
“Seeing my work in tv shows and movies has happened a number of times now and has become a bit of treasure hunt for me. It was thrilling to see my work in Kimmy Schmidt as it’s a show that I really enjoy”, shares Brennan.
Art licensing is where artists rent or lease out the right to their art to licensors, manufacturers and retailers for production as prints and other wares with art on them in return for payment for every instance their work is used. This allows artists to make work once and sell the use of the image over and over and over again.
Brennan is teaching other artists how to successfully license their own work in her workshop “The Art Licensing Roadmap” which is coming to Vancouver for the first time, on Friday, November 23rd at the Beaumont Studios for two sessions: 11am – 1pm and 3 – 5pm.
Workshops participants will go from knowing little or nothing about art licensing to knowing:
Brennan also shares real life case studies with some of the art licensors she’s worked with and gives artists an insider’s view on what to expect from each one.
The Art Licensing Roadmap is $80 per student.
Artists can register at katiebrennanartconsulting.com
Media contact: Katie Brennan 250-650-6221 / katie@katiebrennanartconsulting.com
WORKSHOP DETAILS:
The Art Licensing Roadmap
For artists who know about art licensing but don’t have a clue of where to start
Friday, November 23rd, 2018
11am – 1pm & 3 – 5pm
at the Beaumont Studios located at 316 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver BC.
$80 / student
Register at katiebrennanartconsulting.com
Bob Gunning presents a show entitled, “Portraits of Ninstints” and focuses on the totem poles at the World Heritage site at Ninstints in Haida Gwaii. In addition, he will be hosting a reception from 4 to 7 PM on the 7th of September.
FCA Blog 