Year of the Horse: Goals for 2014!

As we gallop into the year of the horse I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year and start goal setting for 2014!

Last year was a big year for me! I moved from a condo into a house, completed a number of contract roles; one with Calgary Arts Development, the second with the Arts & Culture division with the City of Calgary, and the biggest news of all I got married in 2013! With all the changes, challenging roles professionally, and excitement in my personal life, last year was a slow one on the art front! I am looking forward to getting back to work and have some new ideas for projects both inside and outside the studio.

One of the first items on my list is converting my garage into a working art studio; stay tuned for images and updates on the progress. I will also plan to continue my studio work, oil painting on photograph prints. I have some great imagery taken from my honeymoon, which I plan to use in a series of paintings and am excited to share in the months to come! Watch for works in progress. The year of the Horse's focus will also include education. I hope to continue my professional development and do some further research into educational opportunities. I am kicking off this year's theme of education by participating in a course presented by the City of Calgary's Public Art program, "Artists Working in the Community".  I hope to share some of my learnings from the program in the weeks to come.

If you have not visited my website in a while, it is new and improved...swing by www.ltornack.com

Lastly, a big thank you to all my family, friends, and supporters in 2013, especially my husband Eric! You inspire me to keep on trucking!

Peace
Lisa Tornack

Wildflower Art Centre: Over 30 years in Calgary

Wildflower gets a face lift, check out the new red building!

Wildflower Art Centre ia located at 3363 Spruce Dr.SW, in Calgary, AB

For the past ten years I have been privileged to work as a fine arts instructor at the city run facility the Wildflower Arts Centre. In 2012, the City of Calgary's department of Recreation celebrates 100 years serving Calgarians. As we mark this milestone, I wanted to take a minute to highlight one of our city's hidden gems.

My first summer working at the art centre was teaching "Arts Ventures", art day camps for children. We listened to the golden oldies on the radio and dived into numerous projects, using everything from clay and recyclables to conte and acrylics. Looking back to when I first started I really didn't know how to teach art classes, but through a lot of trail and error I began to find my rhythm. The summer was filled with all sorts of projects, we made kites, musical instruments, painted t-shirts, artist trading cards, filled our sketchbooks, and every week tackled the dreaded paper mache project! In the years to come, I taught a variety of ceramic classes including hand building and wheel throwing to children, teens, and adults. As my own practice evolved into one of painting, I taught ceramics less and less. To this day I continue to teach my favorite programs; oil painting, Teen Art Studio, and Adults Arts Combo.

As Recreation celebrates 100 years in Calgary, I pause to reflect on all the great art, wonderful students, and exceptional colleagues I have been lucky to teach and meet over my ten years at the centre.I raise a glass to the next 100 years of recreation in Calgary and the continued access to fine and performing art programs to Calgarians from all walks of life!


For more information about Wildflower and it's programs please visit
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Arts-centres/Wildflower.aspx