christmas aceo's for sale

Here's a few aceos I did for ebay today. I had kind of an aimless day, I suppose. One could call it "art avoidance"... I have a large painting I am about to attempt for my show at the gallery in April, and I'm putting it off. I guess I'm intimidated by its size, or that it's more complicated...I don't know. I'm just putting it off. Which isn't good. Because I need to have about four more paintings in about six more days. I guess I just work better under pressure:)
Anyways, these little guys were fun, and maybe I'll make a few bucks. So bid now!:)

It wasn't Me!?

"It Wasn't Me!"

This is my daughter, shooting me a bit of a dirty look for some reason or another. She's probably getting sick of me following her around with the camera:) I love to paint my children. I love to paint all children, actually. The are so free, so unconcerned with how they look. With children you're always getting their "real" personality, no cover up for the camera.
And I have news! Real news, good news! I got a show, at a real gallery, with an opening reception, and wine and cheese! So for any local B.C.ers, it will be at the Station House Gallery for the month of April. Stop by and have a peek. This painting will be included, but I'm not going to show you any more, it will be a surprise till after the show.

The Irish Busker painting a day daily painting for ebay

"The Irish Busker" 8"x10" oil on canvas

I came across this delightfully eccentric looking Irish busker in Galway, Ireland in September. I just had to take a picture. I finished painting him in one sitting while attending my table at the above mentioned Arts and Crafts Fair.
Oh yeah, bye the way...I went to Europe...for a month...ahem:) I forgot to mention it. I guess I was worried if I started to write about that trip, I wouldn't be able to stop. I saw sooooo much! The Uffizzi, the "real" David, by Michelangelo...I climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I went for a Gondola ride in Venice, I saw Newgrange in Ireland, and Stonehenge in England...so much! If you want to see some Europe photos feel welcome to check out my Facebook album at: my facebook page.
Anyways, this painting is now for sale on ebay at a very special reduced starting bid, just for you christmas shoppers:) If you want to bid click on my ebay link in the scrolling gallery when the pic comes up. (My hubby is selling a whole bunch of music equipment too, if you're interested.) Happy Bidding!

Arts and Crafts Fairs

My table at the local Arts and Crafts fair

I'm fairly certain I've blogged about Arts and Crafts fairs before, probably last year around this time...but I'm doing it again. The reason is that it is one of the best ways to get local exposure for your art, and in these times of economic crappiness, make a few easy bucks. All I had to do was sit there and chat with the locals about my art, see my friends, along with spending a few hours cutting and pasting and printing to make greeting cards...tough work, eh? And I made an easy $20 an hour for my time...see? I also got a commission and two people so far wanting art lessons. In my opinion, getting you and your art out in the public, in whatever way possible, is the number one best way to sell yourself and your art, and it's fun!

Grizzly!

"Grizzly Summer" 9"x12" oil on canvas $225

Well, before my last few posts I was away for a long while, and not posting...I do have a good excuse, believe me! But I'm not telling:) Anyways, this is proof that I was still painting. I finished this one back in the fall. I was trying to prove to myself that I could still paint in the face of adversity! LOL! Well, I think I pulled it off.
Bella Coola, where I live, is one of the few places in the world, besides Alaska's Denali Park, where Grizzlies roam freely and in abundance. They come to the river in late summer and fall to feed on the salmon which fill our many creeks and rivers. Last summer I had the exciting experience of sharing our local swimming hole with a grizzly who was fishing for salmon. Well, I certainly didn't stay in the water for long! I snapped pictures from my perch on a bank overlooking the swimming hole, ready to bolt if he decided to get out of the water on my side!

Study of Sargent's "Street in Venice"

Sargent study "Street in Venice" 20" x 24" oil on canvas

I decided to test out Sargent's technique the other day, and I've always loved this painting. I usually resist the urge to paint from anyone else's photos or paintings, but since this was only for myself, I decided to give it a shot. It was very liberating to not have to think too much and just study this master's brushstrokes...He really was a genius, and his technique is much more difficult than it looks. That economy of brushstroke is extremely hard to pull off. You have to know exactly how your brush is loaded, and exactly where you want the stroke to be. I believe that each brushstroke he placed on the canvas was deliberate. I'm more of a "slam the paint around until it ends up where you want it" painter, but I'm getting better. I'm learning how to plan and see an end product in my head. It's all such a learning process.
Well, now I have a painting that I'm happy to hang on my wall. It's so strange hanging my own paintings...all I ever see is the mistakes...but I don't feel that way about this one.

My YouTube Slideshow

My goodness! I'm so excited...my brand-spanking new website is getting going and looking great already! And, my webmaster just posted this gorgeous slideshow of my art on youtube, with some beautiful music behind it...THANKS AMANDA! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2i5CYBmE6U
So...my website will be www.goffic.com...check it out and check back soon as it's still in progress.

Searching for Sand Dollars

Searching for Sand Dollars
12"x16" oil on canvas

Yay! Blogger finally let me upload another picture!
My internet connection has been so bad lately that it hasn't been working for the last three days. I can do simple stuff like google searches, but it doesn't like Blogger, Hotmail, or Facebook.
So, this is a fairly recent picture of my daughter, Rhiannon, playing in the sand at Long Beach in Tofino. I've wanted to go to Tofino for years and years, and have always heard how amazing it was. Finally this year, we decided to take a road-trip down the West Coast of B.C. We took the ferry out of Bella Coola, and drove from Port Hardy down to Victoria. It was so beautiful! But when we got to Tofino, the weather was horrible! It was cold, and raining...The supposed miles and miles of beach were obscured by fog and rain. You could hardly seen ten feet in front of you! But it made for some great, moody photos, and the kids had fun anyways, as kids always seem to do.

the Thunder Dance

Thunder
12" x 16" oil on canvas

The color companion to my previous post for Kunamokst:
this is from the same reference photo, but I wanted to see what it would look like without the blue color restriction. I'm really happy with the results! I painted it in about 4 hours, right over the top of an old painting that didn't work. No drawing, no prelim, nothing. The feeling of spontaneity and freedom was so liberating! I didn't have to plan and I felt like there was nothing to lose, since it was on an old ruined canvas anyways...If I could only have that with every painting. I have been doing a lot of painting lately, but I've really been struggling. Nothing has been working for so long. I started turning towards photography to fulfill the creative buzz, since so many bad paintings were bringing me down. This success was exactly the confidence injection I needed!

Kunamokst - Coastal Inspirations

The Dancer 12"x12" oil on panel

Hi Folks,
I know, I've been away for a very long time. It doesn't mean I haven't been producing, though, just a little lazy about posting.( A lot lazy!) Anyways, this is a panel for a mural which I have been invited to contribute to for the Mural Mosaic project, out of Calgary. They do a beautiful mural, using over 100 contributers, to create something just out of this world! Check it out at www.muralmosaic.com.
Robert Bateman is even contributing to this one! I feel very honored to have my work shown alongside such talented artists. Keep updated, too, because prints of the full mural will be offered for sale after the original is unveiled.
I have a lot more work to show you, I haven't been slacking, so I should be back soon.
Ciao for now.

"The Long Road" 12" x 16" oil on canvas

Another image from my Barkerville series. This one is adapted from a very cool old black and white postcard taken of one of the men who spent days hiking overland on foot to the gold fields in Barkerville. This guy seems to have just collapsed with exhaustion and layed down on the ground for a nap. I loved the image, and it worked well in color.

Senorita

"Senorita" 9" x 12" oil on canvas

I have to try to get a better photo of this one, without the blur and the glare, but nonetheless, it's still one of my favorite paintings to date. I'm getting better with the loose brushstrokes, and this one literally flew off of the brush. It was really inspiring to achieve exactly what I was going for in this painting. It doesn't happen for me that often. The looseness worked, the colors worked...and thanks very much for the great contributors at WetCanvas for the great reference photo.

Bookworm kitty cat aceo original art by Tahirih Goffic

"Bookworm" 2.5" x 3.5" ACEO oil on canvas paper

This is one of the ACEO's I sold last week on ebay.
Check out my new listings on Tuesday night. I should have a bunch more.
I enjoy doing these little paintings. I can get the great feeling of accomplishment that comes with finishing a painting, but in an hour instead of a week. It's a nice break sometimes, and they sell like hotcakes, too. It's a nice way to make a few extra bucks every week.

Randy Hall

"Randy" 12" x 12" oil on canvas

This is my husband's son, Randy. He's a handsome guy, and he looked so intense in this pose that I thought I'd try to capture his intensity.

Hula Girl

"Hula Girl" 9"x 12" oil on canvas

I took the photo for this one last winter in Maui at the Children's Hula in Lahaina. Although it was indoors, the light through the skylights was very dramatic, and I was able to get a lot of great shots. The sun shining today made me feel "Mauish", so I thought I'd post this painting, which I did a few weeks ago in a frenzy of creativity. I think I completed six paintings that week, all larger ones, too. I'm sure most of them will eventually end up on this blog, too.
I'm starting to feel a little like I'm coming out of the darkness of an extremely long and difficult winter. The weather is warmer, the grass is starting to come up, and I have tulips! It makes me feel like painting again, and dancing, and smiling...all that good stuff.
Happy Spring!

"Miss Wendle~Barkerville" 16 x 20" oil on canvas

Here's another of the previously "undercover" Barkerville paintings. I really liked the challenge with this one. The wrinkles in her shirt, the lace of the curtains, and the wallpaper patterning all gave me quite the hassle, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the result, although the paint took on a weird sheen in the far left where the glare is. The photo has quite a glare on the left hand side from the sheen that's not really there, though. I have to re-take all of my art photos now that I have the use of a good camera.

St. Saviour's Anglican Church

"St. Saviour's - Barkerville" 18" x 24" oil on canvas

Well, at this point my involvement in the Inside Barkerville project has been put on hiatus, my I now feel free to post some of the paintings I did for it. It consumed a lot of my time, and I finished a lot of work during that period. I am grateful for the experience, and the practice in illustration, but I doubt very much that I'll go back to this exacting style of painting. Nevertheless, I did turn out a few good paintings, and this one was one of the most challenging. I don't have much experience with buildings, and painting straight edges, and I am pleased with how it ended up.

Mr. Grimsby

"Mr. Grimsby" 8"x 10" oil on canvas

This is one of the most memorable Barkerville characters, Mr. Grimsby. He does a great comedy skit at the waterwheel, as a miner selling his claim. I've had many laughs watching it. Dave, the guy who portrays Mr. Grimsby has been there since I was a child, and has one of the greatest, character-filled faces. I just had to paint him.

John "Cariboo" Cameron

John "Cariboo" Cameron 18" x 24" oil on canvas

This is a portrait of the actor in Barkerville portraying the character of John Cameron, the first man to strike it big-time rich there. He discovered gold on December 22, 1862, but his wife had recently died, and he decided to return to Victoria in February to grant his wife her last wish, a decent burial at home, for she despised the cold, miserable north where her husband had his claim on Williams Creek. This is an amazing story in itself, and you can read more about it at
http://www.cariboo-net.com/sentinel/vol2/cameron1.htm. This particular image is at a time in the performance when he is reminiscing about his dead wife and child.

Anyways, after his return, he mined vigorously from April until October of 1863, and the gold was so abundant that it was being mined not by the ounce but by the pan. By October, Cameron had taken out the equivalent of $5 million in today's dollars and Cameron Co. became the richest claim in the colony.