coastal storm gallery

Founder Monika Blichar-Solo Show June 30, 2017

All artists have their thing.
Picasso had his funny people. Dali had his crazy ideas. Monet had his garden.

soloshowmonika

Monika Blichar has many things and not just one. A leader on the Vancouver Art Scene since 2009, she has been working with vigor to create community through art by way of events, classes, workshops, art tours and her own work.

Since 2009, she has produced Art World Expo successfuly seven times at Science World in Vancouver and Hard Rock in Toronto. She has taught thousands of students via MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery including adults and kids. For kids who haven’t been able to pay, she also set up a foundation where funds are raised to help give opportunities to kids who wouldn’t normally be able to join in. The foundation also supports Art World Expo and hundreds of artists annually gain a platform to show and sell work, auction off their pieces and for artists in need, the foundation pulls together resources to support them during times of difficulty. She has also founded local and international art retreats in British Columbia and Europe and has taken amateur and experienced artists to places like Paris, Bergerac, the Dordogne River, Amsterdam, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Warsaw. In addition to all of this, she creates her own work.

On Friday, June 30, you are cordially invited to step into the world of Monika Blichar. Attendees can view and purchase paintings, prints, photography, jewellery and accessories by Monika. (Prices range from $10-$5,000.00) This will be Monika’s first official Solo Show where she will share works created over the last 20 years-some never before seen pencil drawings, sketches, and paintings. Further, the solo show will kick off a year long exhibition nationally and abroad at partner locations. If you’ve always wanted a Blichar piece or are looking for unique gift ideas, be sure to swing by on Friday evening.

In addition to Monika’s work, guests will also have the opporutnity to purchase works from local artisans featured at Art World Expo and at the gallery on an ongoing basis including Art by Edy, Carolyn Bruce Designs, West Coast Hatters, Coastal Storm Gallery, Deanna ArtForms, Danielle Rondeau, K-OME, Chelsea Sinclare, Art by Elizabeth Hill, Mojan Nejati, Bellessence Cosmetics, The Copper Kat, OddMint Designs, and Slate Jewelry.

For more information and to see a preview of the works avaialable, be sure to visit the Facebook Event Page HERE

Painting Dreams Art Tour-Wroclaw, Poland

by Monika Blichar

Wroclaw is known as “the meeting place”. With its picturesque architecture, many coffee shops and restaurants as well as attractions to visit, any artist will find an array of inspiration. The city is full of people, art, history and culture!

Photos: City Square called the Rynek, Botanical Gardens, and a painting from 1864.

Our trip here this year is part of Painting Dreams International Art Tours. Each year, a group of artists joins us for a two week tour of a selected area overseas. This year, we chose to take the tour to Wroclaw as it is the European Culture Capital for 2016 with stop overs in Amsterdam and Warsaw. We arrived late on Saturday night and since arrival, have enjoyed visiting attractions such as the Rynek, museums, and art galleries. The city is quite busy this year and we are finding that many people speak English well. Our travellers are able to get around easily on the trolley system and our apartment is located minutes from the downtown core. So far, some of our highlights have been visiting the National Museum, the Botanical Gardens, and the Panorama.

Though our group is small this year, we have made time to create works and are anticipating cooler weather in order to be able to paint plein air! The weather has been unusually hot for the area this year, but we have been able to create a few pieces over the last few days! Sketching has been ideal to get some ideas down on paper and our canvas pads and travel kits have been a great way to create pieces that are easily transportable and that can be made anywhere.

Sketch by Monika “Polish Princess” as well as two acrylic paintings. Inspirations for these pieces have been the city’s 300 some odd gnomes and Polish scenes, insects and architecture. Works in progress.

Kathryn has been working steadily on her bird piece. Colours are coming along and she has been working from the workbook provided to tour members. “You’re Going to Make It-A Creativity Workbook to Help You Make Your Best Art” by tour operator and art instructor Monika Blichar. You can order your own copy of the workbook EBOOK HERE

If you are interested in travelling with Painting Dreams International Art Tours, please register for our next information session on August 28 held at our studio and gallery in North Vancouver, BC. If you are out of the area, we will be streaming the meeting so you will be able to be present virtually. Please register PAINTING DREAMS IN SPAIN 2017

Thank you Art World Expo Vancouver!

Thank you for another terrific event!
Art World Expo 2016 Glamour Noir was a smashing success!
Another great event at the 6th annual Art World Expo in Vancouver! With a “Glamour Noir” theme to coincide with the 6th annual show and Friday, May 13th event date, we were fortunate to have a wonderful event and gala celebrating over 100 hundred of artists from across Canada, USA and Europe. A big thank you to all of our participants, guests, sponsors, donors, staff, and volunteers for making this year’s event another success for artists and art lovers alike!

Enjoy some visual highlights this year and be sure to get in touch with our team asap as we have already opened up Early Bird Registration for the 2017 event on May 12, 2017! If you would like to exhibit, please sign up https://theartworldexpo.com/exhibitor-information/

Be sure to visit our Facebook Page for more highlights of this year’s event!

Artist Angela Tahara

Wine Spoonsors APOTHIC Wine

Deanna Fligg working on the auction table! Watch for our online auction or visit our studio for some great items and offers on items that would love new homes! These offers won’t last long!

Kathleen Fowlstone, 1st Place Winner
Art World Expo Body Painting Competition 2016

Ryan Broderick

Lala’s Art

Hot Arusha did some wonderful hot sauce sampling!

Carrie Hull a first time exhibitor! Beautifully done!

Some of the volunteers this year!
Thank you to our PLATINUM SPONSOR:

Twin Peaks Construction

Thank you to our SILVER SPONSOR:

Coastal Storm Gallery

Thank you to our BRONZE SPONSOR:

Edgemont Village Jewellers

Thank you to our event donors:
We would like to thank our sponsors and donors for making this
event possible each year!

Fresh Magazine-Official Magazine Sponsor
Apothic Wines-500 Glasses of Wine for first 500 guests
Social Savvy Gals-Social Media Sponsor
Cinderelly’s Castle-Social Media Sponsor
Diamond Dolls Network-Social Media Sponsor
Jenny Craig-VIP Sponsor
100+ Artists Showing & Selling Work
Body Paint Competition
Fashion Show: Nancy Perreault
Silent Auction-Proceeds to Make and Break Art Foundation
Cash Bar, Food Vendors and Entertainment
Music & Live Performances
Thank you BFP Video for this fun video featuring some of the talent this year!
Thank you BFP Video for this fun video featuring some of the talent this year!
VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS on how to be a part next year!

This Friday, we will also be posting all the auction items on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE basis on our Facebook page! In fact, there are some wonderful items already listed online! Great gift ideas that you can get at 30% of retail value! Check out the items on our page here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.262689130560038.1073741828.140033176158968&type=3

Thank you to Patrick Parenteau Photography.

Painting Dreams in France-Summer Art Tour 2015

The Dream was to travel to another country and take some time to create. Some real uninterrupted painting time in our corner of the world was definately needed-especially since most of the year, we are busy coordinating our shows and running our studio.

Last summer, The Dream came to life when a group of our studio goers got to talking about getting away on a tour to France. Lynda Wigley, a well versed lawyer and profound traveller, started the conversation after bringing in photographs of sunflowers to paint. Most of our students bring in photos, but Lynda had a lot of these wonderful photos and with each class, she started to open up more and more about her experience in Southwest France, Dordogne to be precise. Each week, we noticed that the enthusiasm about a painting retreat in France was gaining more interest. Why not try to take a tour in 2015 we all thought? With that, the idea was born and we managed to fill 10 spots (we have one more seat left!) and are taking off on July 11-25, 2015.

Over the last year, we have excitedly signed up 8 fabulous participants to join us on this trip. In the next few posts, you’ll have a chance to meet each artist or gallery owner and as we move towards our departure, you’ll also get some of our updates about our trip and how even from Vancouver or Canada, you can get involved in being a part of this wonderful adventure!

We have been fundraising for the group and individually, each artist and gallery has been working hard to ensure that the trip is amazing! Our main goal is to be sure that MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery has enough funds to sustain itself during the month our owner Monika Blichar is away as we have 150+ children coming in for our annual art camp. Monika has been painting a series of 40 paintings each for $100 to support the studio. Thank you to all of you who have bought one of the originals and those of you who even bought some of the cards that she’s made out of the paintings. Currently, the pieces that are available are below. If you are interested, please send us an email at artists@theartworldexpo.com and we’ll make sure you get your piece! You can also buy an art card or print at www.mabartstudio.com/store

These three pieces below are available! Get your own original by rising star Monika Blichar today! Each is only $100 and supports the studio kids camps this summer! If you would like to contribute to the studio kids camps this summer, we encourage you to visit: http://www.gofundme.com/kf8vig or check out our updates on our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Painting-Dreams-International-Art-Tours/968374583192403?fref=ts

We are also selling advertitsing spots to companies who might like to be involved and gain some exposure on this trip! If you have a business who might benefit from some international expsoure, be sure to check out our advertising opportunities. We have everything from stickers on our luggage, for a mere $20, to product placement of your products in three different countries in Europe. You can download the advertising order form: PAINTINGDREAMSADVERTISINGLETTERpdf

Get your logo on our luggage for only $20! Order 604 999 6177

We also have a fantastic selection of art cards and masks by Art by Edy and Coastal Storm Gallery. Proceeds from the sale of these kid friendly items support our studio while we are away. Be sure to grab one of these cards and masks for a kid in your life and help us support creativity for kids in our community. Order: www.mabartstudio.com/store We have some great Canada Day Masks here just in time for our National Holiday!

We also wanted to thank all of our partners and advertisers to date for helping make this trip happen!

Carolyn Bruce Designs Coastal Storm Gallery

THANK YOU FOR CELEBRATING OUR 5TH ANNIVERSARY!

Thank you to everyone who made Art World Expo’s 5th Anniversary possible!

Art World Expo Body Painting Competition and some of our Sponsor’s Walking Ads!

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Photos-Omnika in Motion, Carolyn Bruce Fashion Show, West Coast Fusion Art, Jan Kasparec, Hajni Yosivof

Jackie-Conradi Robertson painting live at the Painting Dreams France Trip Booth! We have one spot left to go to France this summer! Learn more at www.mabartstudio.com

As another Art World Expo passes, the rush and pixie dust of putting together an event of this magnitude are starting to settle. As with any large scale project, there are countless things, tasks and elements that need to be taken care of and done in order for something like this to happen. It is truly amazing how much our community comes together-from near and far, to create this event and the vision of an Art World here in Vancouver. For all of you who helped out and supported the show this year, we want to sincerely thank each and everyone of you for all your hard work, dedication, support and attendance in making Art World Expo’s 5th Anniversary a very memorable one!

Photos-Catalysis Dance, Coastal Storm Gallery, Roam Gallery

Some of our 5th Anniversary event highlights included a live performance by The Stangest Days, whose tunes were soulful but playful and certainly got our audience in the mood for celebrating. We also had two special dance performances by Omnika In Motion DANCE and Catalysis DANCE. Wow, were these guys ever amazing! This year also featured a crowd favorite, Carolyn Bruce Designs, jewellery show. Carolyn is a rising star, and with her ecclectic fashion accessories, we were very honored to have her showcase her collection at our event.

Another memorable moment was the auctioning off of Vicki Rae’s live painting of her fairy tale inspired Unicorn. A second bidder emerged from the crowd, offering to bid higher only if he could have a picture of our world famous body painting competition contestants. No one wanted to argue and with that, we saw an 88 year old art enthusiast take center stage and inspire all of us with his heartfelt dedication to the arts community in Vancouver. Our friend stayed until the wee hours of the night just to see the competition and we were so glad to hear of his plans to try to get onstage at the Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga show in Vancouver! What an inspiration!

Vicki Rae with her painting and her happpy 88 year old art patron!

Our body painting competition this year was a hot one; with the most competitors we have ever had, we had so much talent under one roof, it was incredible to see! Hosted by the lovely Denai Johnson and Coordinated by M3 Artistry’s Melissa Meretsky, the theme this year was “Fairy Tales” and these artists did not take the challenge lightly! Each one created an amazing piece of art and we are so proud of each artist for putting forward such exquisite creations. This year’s official winners are Marie-Helene Babin, Kathleen Fowlstone and Angela Ayre. Our People’s Choice Award goes to Kinsey Deakin.

Congratulations to our winners and a big hoorah for all the artists who were involved in such an incredible body painting competition this year.

1st- Marie-Helene Babin

2nd- Kathleen Fowlstone

3rd- Angela Ayre

People’s Choice- Kinsey Deakin

The last performance of the evening was a special surprise “FLASH MOB” put together by First Dance Vancouver. They managed to teach over two dozen enthusiastic dancers and guests the moves to “Don’t Stop Believing” to end a fabulous night of Art World Expo! What a way to end the night; a fabulous tribute to our theme and to our vision at Art World Expo; never stop believing in your dream.

Photos-Susan Galick Fine Art, Silent Auction and the Sokolovski’s sculptures with one of the fabulous models!

Guests Tara and Cori enjoying the flower petal walkway!

Art World Expo is not possible without the support of our family, friends, volunteers and sponsors. All year, we work day and night to make this event possible for over 100 artists each year! We are pleased to serve our arts and cultural community and are so proud of each artist that we have had the pleasure of working with. We hope you all enjoyed the show and look forward to producing this event for years to come as well as expanding our projects nationally and internationally!

A big warm thank you from our family to yours!