The registration for "Small Wonders 2024" will end on November 20th at midnight.
Please note that there will be no online registration for this show. (art photo Jung Hee)
Drop-In Studio: All members are welcome.
Drop-In Studio: All members are welcome. Feel free to drop in for creating, sharing and socializing!
FEE $5.00
57th Instagram Challenge
Howdy OMMA members,
For the 57th Ottawa Mixed Media Artists Instagram challenge, Mary Ann Varley came up with the idea of “White Knight”. Delve into your own fantasy world to find your white knight. It could be a chess piece or a person on a beautiful horse. Or even castles and princesses or princes. Could be a warrior or even just someone to help you out of a jam.” - Mary Ann Varley
You will have the whole month of August to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your work of art. For the Instagram Challenge Rules, please click HERE.
56th Instagram Challenge
Howdy OMMA members,
For the 56th Ottawa Mixed Media Artists Instagram Challenge, we are going to do Palimpsests again.
For the 18th challenge, Peg Hughes suggested we “Explore the palimpsest” a piece where “letters and characters overlap“...”to memorialize words that are special”.
You will have 4 weeks to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your work of art.
If any of you has an idea for an Instagram Challenge, let me know. This is a shared site; I’m just the keeper. If you come up with a challenge, I’d like you to submit something to be posted on Instagram. It might inspire others to post. Personally, I’m planning on trying to produce something for each challenge. As always, the rules and instructions about submitting cour piece can be found HERE.
55th Instagram Challenge
When I think of June, travel and bugs come to mind. So the 55th Instagram Challenge is June Travel Bug. You might be inspired by a trip you have taken or want to take. Or the flutter of summer insects influence your artwork, have fun and be playful (or not).
You will have the whole month of June to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your artwork. I will be away for three weeks so if I don’t post your photos right away, that is why. For the Instagram Challenge rules, please click HERE.
On at D'Omma Gallery
Be sure to drop by the Nepean Sportsplex to see the show on at D’Omma Gallery. It runs until September 23rd, 2024 and it’s beautiful!
Also on the website, new dates for the D’Omma Gallery for the 2024 / 2025 season. You may register any time.
OMMA Member's Meeting
OMMA’s last members meeting before the summer break will be held at the Nepean Visual Arts Centre, Seniors’ Room on May 14th, 2024 from 7 to 9 p.m..
Some details have yet to be finalized, but we do know that we will be hosting a mixed media, altered playing cards evening. OMMA member, Johanna Garwood, will provide an introduction to this creative activity. Please keep in mind, that we meet in a room that is not a designated art studio, so we will be requiring that everyone work in a “controlled” manner! This means that there can be no mess left in this space! Here’s a link to some more information about Artist Trading Cards.
What to bring: Small baggie of collage papers, pens/pencils/pencil crayons, acrylic markers, small items for enhancement, scissors, etc.
OMMA will provide table cloths, playing cards, some glue and brushes.
OMMA Open Studio #2
After our previous, very successful and well-attended Open Studio, we will be holding a second session. It will be on Saturday, May 11th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at Studio 7 at the Nepean Creative Arts Centre. Arrive with your supplies for whatever creative activity you’d like to work on. There will be a small fee of $5.
I have yet to decide what art activity I will be doing. Please email me, Julia Lockie, at ommawebmaster@gmail.com, if you have any particular requests for what I might work on. I’m happy to demo just about anything that’s not too difficult to transport. From the previous Open Studio experience, I would add that there was a lot of sharing, teaching and general camaraderie happening. It was great!
Get Painting, OMMA!
We hope you all have a great summer painting! OMMA plans to resubmit our application to the City of Ottawa for a an exhibition in one of the community galleries for the year 2025/26. Although it seems like a long time away, this will be a juried show and we need you painting and submitting exciting new works for “Art of Alchemy” - A Touch of Gold. There will many more details in the fall, but for now, slip on your wizard hats and magical robes and start creating!
For more information about what we know right now, please click HERE.
54th Instagram Challenge
While walking our dogs alongside the road, I find paper, plastic, glass and metal garbage that had been thrown there over the winter and is now visible with the snow gone. The 8th Instagram Challenge was “Found Objects” and I’ve chosen that title again for this May’s 54th Instagram Challenge. Whether you find tangible objects on the ground or visual objects and images in your artwork, have fun and maybe experiment with something new.
You will have the whole month of May to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your artwork. I will be away for three weeks, so if I don’t post your photos right away, that is why. Check HERE for the Instagram rules.
Also, if any of you has an idea for an Instagram challenge, please let me know.
D'Omma Gallery
For those who haven’t yet seen this beautiful show, please be sure to drop by D’Omma Gallery at the Nepean Sportsplex before it ends on Monday, June 10th in the evening. OMMA is thrilled to have so many of our new and not so new members showing their artwork in our gallery space.
Sarah Wayne, our D’Omma Coordinator, and her team will be installing a new show on June 10th. That show is now full. The show will hang all summer and will be seen by tons of people as they head to the Sportsplex for the air conditioning, the library, the pool and the various day camps and summer programs offered there.
To see some of the work from the current show, click HERE.
OMMA open Studio
Please join your OMMA colleagues for an Open Studio for 4 hours, or as long as you can stay, on Saturday, April 6th, 2024. “What is an Open Studio?”, you ask. Well, OMMA has booked Studio 7 at the Nepean Creative Arts Centre. You arrive with your supplies for whatever creative activity you’d like to work on. You may watch and/or ask questions about what others are doing; you may work independently on something that requires space you don’t have at home; you may drink tea and talk about art or other stuff; you may get to know OMMA members that you’ve never talked to before. The possibilities are enormous!
I, Julia Lockie, will be working on my Gelli Plate, pulling monoprints to use for collage papers.
There are only two requests. 1.) Please bring $5 cash to contribute to the cost of renting the space, and 2.) Please clean up completely after yourself before leaving.
53rd OMMA Instagram Challenge
Elisabeth Arbuckle came up with the title for the 53rd Instagram Challenge, “Snow Bird”.
She explains: “A snowbird is a person who migrates from the colder northern parts of North America to warmer southern locales, typically during the winter”
According to the Audubon birds of America, “The snowbird is a true hopping bird, and performs its little leaps without the least appearance of moving either feet or legs.”
OMMA members can mix these ideas within their mixed media images.
You will have the whole month of April to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your artwork. For more details about submitting your creation and the rules, click HERE.
Next OMMA Members Meeting
Fresh from Violeta Borisonik’s workshop on March 9th and 10th, the lucky participants are invited to bring their creations and share information about what they learned.
No matter who you are, the first artist who ever dared to do mixed media, or a relative beginner in the 21st century, you need a bio, artist’s statement and CV. Fear not, we, your OMMA executive, are going to help you create them at our next meeting. All you need to bring is yourself and a pen or pencil. Don’t miss this great opportunity.
We’ll have announcements, socializing, snacks and first drafts of perhaps one of the most intimidating things an artist is ever asked to create.
Hope to see you all at the meeting at the Seniors Centre in the Visual Arts Centre of the Nepean Sportsplex.
Violeta Borisonik Workshop
This will be OMMA’s second workshop in less than a year, a workshop that should be exactly what members have been asking for. Violeta Borisonik is an OMMA member, a delightful person and a wonderful artist and teacher.
All the information for this excellent opportunity is now available HERE or by going to Courses and Workshops on the main menu. The page should answer all your questions, but if there is something you’re not clear about, you may contact Violeta directly by email at violeta.borisonik@gmail.com OR you can send your inquiries to ommawebmaster@gmail.com.
This workshop is limited to 12 participants, on a first come, first served basis. So don’t wait too long to decide!
52nd Instagram Challenge
Julia Lockie came up with our theme for the 52nd Instagram Challenge, with spring hopefully on the horizon, but several more blizzards always a possibility.
“At this time of year, here in the far north, many people travel to the sunny south for vacations, for warm temperatures, sandy beaches, cerulean blue waters and skies. Others of us dream of such things, or live vicariously through family and friends. So this Instagram Challenge is called “Cerulean Dreams”. You can create from personal experience and memories, or from fantasies and dreams of sunbathing, snorkeling and swimming in warm tropical waters. Just let it seep into your bones as you create!”
I look forward to seeing and sharing all your tropical works of art on the OMMA Instagram site.
You have the whole month of March to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your artwork ( huckaboneart@gmail.com )
As always or if you’re new to the Instagram Challenge, click HERE for the rules.
51st Instagram Challenge
Sue Shuker came up with the title “Leap” for the February Instagram Challenge …. “it being leap year and all. It can mean the actual physical leap that a body makes, or a mental change… maybe from one point of view to another, or a change from one way of working, or creating, to another”.
You will have the whole month of February to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your artwork to huckaboneart@gmail.com.
For Instagram Challenge rules, click HERE.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS (Extended Deadline)- Artist Studio Program
Short-Term and Long-Term Studio Rentals
Maybe this should go on the Bulletin Board, but I’m putting it on OMMA’s landing page. This is a HUGE opportunity, OMMA members. Don’t let it just go by! Quite a few of our members have had wonderful studio spaces and fabulous experiences as a result of this. I did, and it made all the difference for me. The list of things it gave me is too big to include here, but here are a few: friendships with artists and people in the greater art community, art talk on a regular basis, feedback about my work, opportunities to be in all kinds of shows, etc.
The deadline has been extended by one week because they don’t have enough applicants. Click HERE for more information.
OMMA Monthly Meeting Rescheduled
One week later, same time, same place!
"OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW”
There will be two main parts to our meeting after regular business and announcements from your executive. For this meeting especially, please wear your OMMA name badge. If you do not have one and would like one, let Mary Cormier know. This will hopefully not only be an informative meeting, but also a great time to socialize and meet other artists with attitude! Please bring an ‘artsy’ friend if you’re lucky enough to have one!
SWAP MEET
OMMA members are asked to bring art supplies they never use, duplicates or whatever is gathering dust in your ‘studio’ space. You will participate in a swap meet. (If your “treasures" do not get scooped up, we need you to take them back home with you afterwards. However, maybe you will have been inspired to use these items in a new and different way!)
SHOW and TELL
A number of OMMA members have kindly offered to bring in examples of their work and talk about how they use different materials in their art practice. There will be five tables or “stations” for you to visit, ask questions and pick up some ideas to use in your own work. This is a chance to share ideas, member to member in an informal chat scenario.
Katharine Fletcher will be showing examples of the eco-dying/eco-printing.
Helen Rogers will be talking about her mosaic art.
Stephanie Huckabone will show how she uses styrofoam meat trays for stamps.
Laya Kaplan will do a presentation on stamping and tracing.
Julia Lockie will be showing how she uses stencils in unusual ways to create collage papers.
On at D'Omma Gallery
If you haven’t seen the current show, please check it out at our D’Omma Gallery at the Nepean Sportsplex. We’re absolutely delighted to see artworks by some of our newest OMMA members!
The next D’Omma show will start on April 8, 2024. The current show filled up well in advance of the hanging date, so don’t wait too long before entering some of your artwork. You can find more information about D’Omma Gallery HERE.
OMMA Members Meeting, Out with the old, in with the new
UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO THE NASTY WEATHER, TONIGHT’S MEETING IS CANCELLED. WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO RESCHEDULE, SO WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED.
Here’s something new and different…an art supply swap. In the spirit of the new year, renewal and fresh starts, OMMA members are asked to bring art supplies they never use, duplicates or whatever is gathering dust in your ‘studio’ space. After our regular business and announcements, OMMA members will participate in a swap meet. Along with this fun activity, several OMMA members will demonstrate their personal techniques and use of art materials, things you may not be all that familiar with. Come one, come all! Bring a friend - new members are always welcomed.
50th Instagram Challenge
Happy New Year OMMA members!
The title of the 50th Instagram Challenge, this first month of 2024 is “Resolutions”.
According to Wikipedia:
“A New Year's resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western World but also found in the Eastern World, in which a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behavior, accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their behaviour at the beginning of a calendar year.”
You will have the whole month of January to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your artwork. ( huckaboneart@gmail.com ) For the rules, especially if you’re new to the Instagram Challenge or it’s your New Year’s resolution to do it every month, click HERE.
"Small wonders"
“Small Wonders” 2023 is now on at the Good Eats Café. Click HERE for images and details about the show. Plan to drop by the Good Eats Café for a delicious snack or a full meal and see the always beautiful artwork while you’re there. And make a resolution to get creative, do more artwork and to be involved in OMMA exhibitions in the New Year!
49th Instagram Challenge
Mary Anne Varley came up with this theme, the 49th and last Instagram Challenge of 2023, “Silver Sliver”.
With winter and the holiday season upon us, we see silver and shiny things all around us. The colour silver makes me think of sparkling snow, winter decorations, formal tableware, twinkling stars and all things festive. The word “sliver” is an anagram and rhyming word for “silver”. I will let you decide if and how you’d like to interpret it in your artwork.
I look forward to seeing and sharing all your magical works of art on the OMMA Instagram site.
You will have the whole month of December to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your artwork at my email HERE.
As always, check out the rules for OMMA’s monthly Instagram Challenge by clicking HERE.
Next OMMA Members Meeting
Back by popular demand, OMMA’s small artworks gift exchange will happen at the next meeting! That will be held Tuesday Nov 14th at 7 p.m. with regular business and a thought inspiring presenter (more details closer to the date).
Those who took part in Holly Dean’s Muse Journal Workshop, are invited to bring their books for all to see and admire!
For our last meeting of 2023, as we sprint towards the holiday season, this is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate a little ‘sharing and caring’ as we continue with our annual gift swap! Please come to the meeting with a small canvas/cradle board artwork that you have created. It should be no bigger than 6 x 6 inches. Please (creatively) wrap your small gift and please do not add your name to the outside of the package.
A huge welcome is sent to all members, regulars and those who rarely attend! Please come if you are able.
“FAIR AND SQUARE”
November 3, 2023 to January 8, 2024
Heartwood House Invitational Show at the UniHeART Gallery
404 McArthur Ave, Ottawa, ON K1K 1G8
The Exhibitions Committee will be taking down the Fair and Square Exhibition on Monday January 8 at 10:30am. Please email Mary Ann Varley or Barb Murray to let them know if you want to pick up your work at Heartwood House or if you wish us to bring it to the upcoming January 9th OMMA meeting.
For all the information about the show and location, please click HERE.
48th instagram Challenge
The Instagram Challenge for this month is “Black and White Again”. Three years ago the 12th Instagram Challenge, in November 2020, was also “Black and White”. Mary Cormier came up with the idea to repeat this challenge.
“I was looking through some old black & white photographs recently and was struck by how black & white can be so beautiful in its simplicity. And then there are the grays which can be dark & moody or soft & gentle. So I would like to propose we have a black & white challenge ..so many ways to produce a wonderful painting” - Mary Cormier
For the Instagram Challenge rules, please click HERE.
Forty-seventh OMMA Instagram Challenge
Sandy Woods came up with the title “Gratitude” for the 47th OMMA Instagram Challenge.
“Given October is Thanksgiving in Canada, this could be an opportunity to put one’s thoughts on gratitude into a work of art. What does gratitude look like for you? Are there colours or shapes that express gratitude, thankfulness?” - Sandy Woods
“This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before.” - Maya Angelou
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” - A. A. Milne
You will have the whole month of October to send me, Stephanie, a photo and details of your artwork at huckaboneart@gmail.com
As always, the rules for the Instagram Challenge are HERE.
Muse Journal Workshop with Holly Dean
OMMA MUSE JOURNAL 2 DAY WORKSHOP
INSTRUCTOR: Holly Dean
October 21 & 22, 2023, 10 am to 4 pm
Nepean Creative Arts Centre - Studio #7
35 Stafford Road, Bells Corners
$95 (includes materials fee)
More details about the workshop are available HERE.
There is still room in the workshop if you would like to register. OMMA members, please click HERE to get to the registration form.
Non-OMMA members, please complete the registration form as it exists and bring $10 cash to the workshop to become a guest OMMA member for this workshop only.
Thank you.
D’omma exhibition
Now on in D’Omma Gallery at the Nepean Sportsplex, October 2nd, 2023 until January 15th, 2024. This is a beautiful show with lots of strong artwork. You can see more photos of the artwork by clicking HERE. Be sure to check it out in person before it comes down. The next show at D’Omma Gallery is full and will be hung this coming Monday evening, January 15th. Check your email to read information about pickup and drop off times for artworks. Check the D’Omma page HERE for answers to any of your questions or email Sarah Wayne, your D’Omma Coordinator.
OMMA MEMBERS MEETING
Please join us, Tuesday September 12, 2023, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Seniors Centre in the Nepean Sportsplex for OMMA’s first members’ meeting of the 2023/24 season.
Not rejoined? Not a member yet? No problem! You can now pay your membership fee of $30:00 online by clicking HERE or you can come to the meeting with cash or a cheque and complete the membership and volunteering form on paper. Please place money or cheques in an envelope with your name written on the outside.
After the business portion of our meeting and a chance to socialize, we are very excited to start the season off with a presentation by Holly Dean. You won’t want to miss this opportunity of hearing about Holly’s Artsy Life Philosophies and her up and coming workshop for OMMA members!
Why is an Artsy Life so important? Holly says; “…. My dream is to help you grow your creative habits through playing, getting creative and living an Artsy Life. I love sharing the wonderful energy and beautiful connections that happen in my mixed media art workshops …"
Find out more about Holly at https://www.hollydean.com/about