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Art Workbook by Founder Monika Blichar Helps Spark Creativity

“You’re Going to Make It-A Creativity Workbook to Help You Make Your Best Art!” by Founder of Art World Expo Monika Blichar has been a real hit this summer!

Monika has been working with emerging and established artists since 2009 via various projects including teaching at MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery in North Vancouver. In response reflections about how to help people be more creative in their art and lives, she put together a unique workbook to help even the most beginner artist ignite creativity!

Inside students can complete 10 exercises on things like highlighting, shading, perspective, colour wheel and even some work on portraiture. Monika also included some inspirational worksheets that will help anyone pin-point what they would like to do with their creativity and take action steps to achieve those goals. Blichar says that fostering the desire to create is crucial to well being and spurring imagination. She can’t live without creating and attributes her own creativity to doing something right-brained every day. “Whatever it is that you would like to create,” she says, “it can be nurtured and developed with an open-mind, dedication and most importantly, fun!”

Monika is always giving back to the arts community through fundraising and this is just another way for her to help others start their own work and be sure they understand the fundamentals of art. The first 100 books help support facility costs at MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery. So far, Blichar has sold 80 copies! Help her meet the goal by ordering an Ebook Here!

Finding Inspiration-3 Tips for Artists

by Monika Blichar

One of the hardest things artists struggle with is finding inspiration. We have no shortage of ideas that come to us, but actually finding inspiration for individual pieces or collections can be tricky! This is even more true when you experience a creative block-nothing’s coming!

Having spend the last two weeks abroad on tour with our annual artist retreats, Painting Dreams International Art Tours, I have thought about inspiration quite a lot. Being in a new place has not only inspired me to make new and entirely different work, but has also opened up my palette for a thirst for something more in art and creativity. I thought I would share my top three tips for finding inspiration with you while sitting in our city apartment on a Sunday evening in Wroclaw, Poland. Feel free to try them out, share and connect with me on social media and share what you’re doing to find inspiration!

1-New Environments

We all know that stepping away from your day to day routine can spark an enormous amount of insight, creativity and inspiration. Each time I travel, I make sure to document my surroundings carefully as I always find some kind of spark of intrigue in the things around me when I create paintings especially. In our suite this year, I have been delighted to see antique furniture and items that are engaging in my curiosities. I haven’t painted any of these items yet, but have taken pictures so that I don’t forget and can incorporate them into my art later perhaps.

My room where I’ve been writing and sharing my trip, art and visits to galleries. Below are some of the cool pieces in this suite.

2-Challenge Yourself

Another thing to remember when looking for ways to find new inspiration is to challenge yourself. If you’ve always painted flowers, try buildings or landscapes. If you’ve always made abstracts, try doing a portrait or a plein air painting outside at a local park. You don’t have to travel far to try new things! It’s just about the conscious effort of finding new items, people, or local things to draw on for inspiration for new work. I also recommend trying new products. Recently, I worked on the two paintings on cedar blocks below with beeswax, fabric, pearls, paint, pages from “The Winter’s Tale” by Shakespeare too! I added word cut outs from magazines and even dried leaves!

These are the two pieces that were definitely outside my norm. Both are available for purchase. $150/each or $250 for the set.

3-Research

If you are really stuck on finding inspiration. I leave you to the wonderful world of Google. Where anything is possible and researchable. Try typing in a word or era and see what you find! The possibilities are limitless and everything is “Google-able!”

Check out this Google Doodle by 11 year old Audrey Azhang, the 2014 Doodle 4 Google winner.

In response to the question, “What would you invent to make the world a better place?” more than100,000 Google Doodle contest entries were received from students in grades K – 12.

Azhang told Google:

To make the world a better place, I invented a transformative water purifier. It takes in dirty and polluted water from rivers, lakes, and even oceans, then massively transforms the water into clean, safe and sanitary water, when humans and animals drink this water, they will live a healthier life.

From: http://searchengineland.com/doodle-4-google-winning-illustration-earns-winner-30000-scholarship-spot-googles-homepage-193568

Don’t forget to like my page on Facebook and connect with me on Twitter! I share lots of daily tips, progress and love to hear from artists all over the world about their work!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Monika-Blichar-1556162547959003/?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonikaBlichar

Wishbeads: An Artistic Endeavor Aimed at Helping Dreams to Become Reality

When was the last time you made a wish, and really felt as if it could come true? Every child blows out birthday candles or tosses pennies into a well, and not only makes a wish, but also genuinely believes it’s likely to become a reality. Then adulthood happens, and belief in things of that nature generally tends to fade. A new product is in the works that seeks to recreate this experience for adults, and rekindle the belief that wishes can come true. Known as Wishbeads, it’s a unique arts and crafts kit.

Wishbeads is more than a just a bracelet-making kit; it’s an opportunity to pause and think what you truly wish for. After visualizing a wish, it’s then written onto paper, and the paper is transformed into paper beads. These beads form the bracelet. Wearing is aimed at inspiring the owner to take action.

Wishbeads comes with a 21-day action journal, complete with prompts to enable the wearer to start seeing elements of his or her wish in action. The theory behind it is that if you focus on something hard enough, the law of attraction will bring it to within reach. Wishbeads claims to be able to aid in doing this, and help the wearer to manifest exactly what he or she wants from life. Do we believe that it’s actually capable of making dreams come true? We reserve judgment. What we do know for sure is that making the bracelets is a fun activity, and can provide a great bonding experience for women if done communally.

The kit is currently being financed via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It’s already creating quite a stir, with the women who have already created Wishbeads bracelets waxing lyrical about the experience. Perhaps this marks a return to those halcyon days of making wishes and really believing in them. Who knows, maybe Wishbeads will one day become the adult equivalent of blowing out candles or tossing a penny.

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.

6th Annual Art Show Just Around the Corner!

As the 6th annual Art World Expo nears, our team is prepping for another evening full of art, entertainment and fundraising! This year, we are again grateful for the support of our volunteers, donors, advertisers, sponsors and of course, all of our talented artists who choose to participate in this event year after year.

Some of our highlights this year include:

Wine Sampling from Apothic Wines

Glamour Noir Theme: Dress Code for Guests is RED, WHITE AND BLACK-Order a Mask with your ticket purchase and show your support for BC Artists!

Food Vendors & Cash Bar

Body Painting Competition

Fashion Show by Nancy Perreault

Live Painters

Silent Auction

img_4391-1

VIP Tickets with Swag Bags Valued at over $150 /each

Each year, we strive to make this event a great one for artists and for guests in our community. Annually, we help over 200 artists exhibit, show and sell their work via MAB Art Studio and Boutique Gallery, as well as pop ups, trade shows and markets. We also hope to help others with their creativity by offering studio painting classes for beginners and children from all over BC. All the funds raised in our auction support BC artists and exhibitions via Make and Break Arts Foundation. If you don’t have your tickets yet, what are you waiting for?!

Order your ticket here:

https://theartworldexpo.com/attend-event-3/

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Join our team of volunteers this year! We are looking for:

-Art World Expo helpers: set up, take down, silent auction item pick ups and solicitations, artist helpers, coat check, door staff check in, VIP check in and more!

-Studio & Gallery Volunteers: Learn the ropes about how to run a studio and join the team!

-Flyer Distribution: Post Flyers about Art World Expo! We need your help NOW!

-Kids Camp Interns: Help with our Kids Camps! Each year, we have over 150 kids come to camp and sponsor about 25 kids annually. We are looking for volunteers to help out with summer camps for the 2016 sessions of camp.

-Event Planning Interns: Help make events awesome! Everything from calling past vendors to helping out at the event!

-Fundraising Volunteers: Fundraising Teams at local events, door to door canvassers, distribution of sponsorship letters, etc.

-Art Family Committee: Help support artists in our art family when they need it! Births, illnesses or tragedies can be difficult. We are looking for a committee who can help collect donations for artists who need it throughout the year.

If you can spare a couple of hours a week this spring, please email us at artists@theartworldexpo.com We offer volunteers letters of reference, free painting classes to use for themselves or to give as gifts as well as perks including discounts on merchandise and food at events or long shifts.

We are also running our spring bottle drive for April and we would appreciate your help there too! Proceeds from fundraising initiatives this month will be helping with summer arts programs for kids art camps as well as Art World Expo. Please drop off bottles at our studio MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery at 1335 Pemberton Avenue, North Vancouver. Drop off during business hours only. Please make arrangements to drop off prior by calling 604 999 6177

They Really Make Money from their Art?

Did you know that one of the biggest struggles that artists face is making their art an actual career?

Gary Weston’s Exhibit 2014

When we meet artists, immediately one of the first things that we think of is, really? How can this person really be making a living off of their art? For the majority of artists, their biggest challenge is to be creative and be a business person.

One of the ways that we like to help artists make a living is to help them sell art. When you visit our show or follow our social media, you’ll see that we love to share and post art for sale from our vendors. At the event itself, we also have a silent auction and when you bid on the art from the auction, the artist receives 50% of the sale. Some sales are big, some smaller, but each sale of art in the auction supports the artisans in our event.

Art World Expo Auction 2015

Hajni beside two of her pieces at the auction in 2014. Both pieces sold.

Sabrina from Coastal Storm Gallery helping out at the Art World Expo Toronto Auction

If you know an artist who would like to be involved in our event, please share this post. Additionally, if you have a product or service that you would like to donate to our event auction, please register by filling out our donation form which can be found on our website! DONATE TO THE AUCTION HERE

See you at the show!

Sincerely,

Monika Blichar, Show Producer & Founder
Art World Expo TM http://www.theartworldexpo.com
MAB Ventures Inc.-An Arts & Entertainment Agency

It Takes a Village to Raise a Child…

Working Together for
a Vibrant Arts Community

Help Make Our Community More Creative!

Throughout the year, at the studio and in the community, we fundraise by selling various products and services to help us sustain regular arts programs at the studio and events in the community. If you have followed or been involved with us long enough, you will have noticed that we sell everything from Poinsettias during the Winter Holidays, Valentine’s Day Chocolates, Spring Flower & Vegetable Starters, to products like Coastal Imagination Masks, Accessories and even Painting Classes throughout the year!

We try to be as creative as possible with all our fundraising in order to keep classes, camps and events going! With the generous support of our studio patrons, volunteers, social media followers and sponsors, we have been able to continue to survive while so many galleries and venues close down. Just today, we found out that The Railway Club, a popular music venue, is closing due to high rents and low profits. In addition to today’s announcement, the popular Silk Purse Gallery and Music Box in West Vancouver is also set to be demolished and replaced with waterfront development. Read more about the Silk Purse story published in the North Shore News here: http://www.nsnews.com/news/west-vancouver-artists-decry-ambleside-studio-loss-1.2217067

There are others whose galleries and centres buzz to be closing and packing it in. As an arts and culture lover, I can’t help but feel sad not only for the communities and the lovely people who live and work here, but also for the future generations of children who each year, lose more and more of a connect to arts and culture with the lack of cultural organizations succeeding.

As a young girl growing up as an immigrant in Canada, my family and the people who immigrated with us made it a priority for us to learn, do, see and experience as much as possible in the name of multiculturalism and cultural education. Being part of the community and doing as much as we could even when it was at times difficult for our families to make it, was and continues to be a key ingredient in why so many people want to come here to live.

My question today is why are we allowing our own community to shun the thought of such greatness, cultural diversity and talent by failing to support our own local economies? Living in Vancouver makes our money-consciousness, in particular our spending and earning, a high priority that simply seems to weigh us down rather than empower us as a community. I can’t help but urge everyone in our community to really assess what we are spending our hard-earned money on. If we can shift our spending to support local BC based business owners; artists, designers, builders, farmers, we truly can make a difference in our cultural fabric.

Spring is always a busy time for us fundraising in our operations, and with the news of so many closures, I can help but write and give my two cents on the issues surrounding ‘shopping local’ and supporting local arts based initiatives. Since opening this business and studio in 2010, I have seen so many positive things come to fruition as a direct result of camps, classes, and exhibits that my heart really does ache when I think about a future without art and artisans.

At our studio, we truly do appreciate your support and if all you do is share this email with someone who you know cares about arts and culture, then that helps all of us spread awareness about the importance of community.

If you can help us with our fundraising initiatives this Spring, be sure to consider our offers below. We have some great local products and services that directly support the studio classes, kids art camps and events such as Art World Expo and Painting Dreams International Art Tours. We are also on the look out forVOLUNTEERS for Art World Expo as well as studio and gallery volunteers to help with the studio and ongoing fundraising campaigns. Please email or call us directly to join our team and help us keep our community creative.

as well as Art World Expo.

April Fundraising Offers!

All proceeds support art camp for kids and Art World

Expo this summer via Make and Break Arts Foundation.

Spring Seed Packs
Organic Pepper Seeds with Seed Starter
$2

Painting Classes
Offer Valid Only March 29-April 30
$12/class
Reg. $40/class

Painting Dreams Scarves
Includes Handmade Button Pin
$20

VIP Art World Expo Ticket
$75
Includes Glamour Noir locally made mask to wear at the event,
Art by Edy Art Card, Drink Ticket and VIP Swag Bag. VIP line up as well!

SHIPPING IS NOT INCLUDED. PLEASE PURCHASE SHIPPING FOR THESE ITEMS HERE:

SEED STARTER
$2.00 SHIPPING

SCARVES
$4.00 SHIPPING

VIP TICKET MERCHANDISE SHIPPING
$10.00

MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery

1335 Pemberton Avenue

North Vancouver, BC

604 999 6177

www.mabartstudio.com

Artistmark…Artist Makes a Mark?

ARTISTMARK is best known for his award winning digital art compositions called Experimental POP-and boy, is this artist really making a mark!

Acclaimed and world-renowned Mobile Digital Artist – exclusively using the Apple iPad and iPhone as his canvas.

In 2016, he was invited by Apple for an exclusive solo showcase demonstrating his unique creative process using iPad at Apple Store (NYC). Selected as Top 100 Innovative Artist in the Annual Mobile Digital Art & Creativity Summit (mdacsummit.org) juried exhibition, we are sure that this is only the beginning of what is to come!

For more information and to view more work, please visit http://www.artistmark.com/

Art World Expo: Vancouver Art, Fashion & Body Paint

When people think of Vancouver, most think of mountains, trees, ocean and, high priced real estate! If you aren’t from here, you probably won’t hear much about the huge pool of talent that lies within our city bounds unless you are a savvy collector or art buff. One of the amazing thing that we get to do each year is feature amazing artists, designers and musicians. Among some in this year’s show include Nancy Perreault, an eclectic and wild designer who is humbly making waves in the city and beyond. Guests can expect a range of designs that range from ready to wear to a glamorous party to wild, one a kind pieces perfect for glass cases on walls. Another highlight each year is the emtertainment. Among some of the great performers, Art World features some 20-30 performers each year including musicians, dancers, jugglers, hula hoppers, actors and of course musicians. Some of the artists performing this year include Gayle Arnold’s two person band The Strangest Days, as well as Kara Lockwood Music. In the past, we’ve highlighted local musicians including first time performers like Mat Walach to veteran rockers Bif Naked and Doug Fury. We pride ourselves in sharing local talent in all stages of their careers. Another highlight of the show is our auction. Not only do the proceeds help support arts based initiatives such as arts programs for kids and adults, funds are also used to produce art exhibitions and support artists in the event. Guests can expect to bid on everything from hotel packages and BC activities and adventures to art from artists in our show and beyond! This year, we are giving away two tickets each week when you repost this image and hashtag #artworldexpo! Body paint by Jess Hawkins. Line up! Gary Weston 2014. Glamour Noir theme this year. Consider purchasing a mask this year by Coastal Storm Gallery. $20/ea or included in a VIP ticket.