Hunters Bay Radio
ARTS R US SAM SULLIVAN SEPTEMBER 1 2024
"Your source for community, MSCOCA made talk shows are on MSCOCA magazine, the bay, 88/7." Hey, this is Dr. Shervin. MSCOCA magazine is brought to you by Dairy Lane Dental, keeping MSCOCA smiling for over 30 years. Please visit DairylaneDental.com. "This is ArtsRUs on the bay." Good morning and welcome to ArtsRUs. I'm Norin Mitchell and I'm in the studio with my co-host Karen Cassian. Good morning, Karen. Good morning, Marie. And we're pleased to welcome back to ArtsRUs, Sam Samantha, Sam Sullivan. Good morning, Sam. Thanks for joining us, Sam. Can we call you Sam? Yes, of course. Okay, good. I think we always have. Sam is the artist and owner operator of Red Pine Art Supply in Huntsville. And you've got a lot of things that are on the plate that you've been doing a lot. We're going to talk about them. We're not going to talk too much about your past and all that because you did talk about that on the podcast, which was on this October 30th, rather, 2022. But we want to know how long you've been in Huntsville and what brought you here. Yeah. We've had some time to settle in the SCOCA. How long has it been? Just over two and a half years now. It's not that long, but it feels like longer, doesn't it? It does really do. You know everyone. Yes. How do you feel now about your discovery in 2021 and the foray into becoming shop owners in downtown Huntsville? It's been wonderful. We have had a chance to meet so many different artists and customers and clients for multiple different reasons. And it's given us an opportunity to really be part of the community. Chris and I really have a big deal with us for doing multiple community efforts if we can swing it running the business. And for us, if you can volunteer and put in slip and some time of volunteer work, that's what is really a big mandate for me because there's always somebody that needs to help at some point with someone for some organization. So that is a big piece for us, especially being part of our business is part of our mandate with our businesses other than running the store and being a very, very big piece of the arts community. We also want to be a big piece for the volunteer pieces. You've been able to affirm, I think, your belief that creativity is happiness. Yes. It's not your store model. I think I love that. It is. It is. What do you mean by that? Well, creativity to me is something that you have an opportunity to do as a hobby. You could do it full time. And what it does is supposed to bring you feeling good when you're doing art. And it does. A creative process takes you to another place. It does. It brings in a lovely feeling when you're working on something and especially when you're signing your name and you've finished that art piece. And it's going up on the wall or hopefully going out to a client that's purchased it for you. It really is something you have a lot of new artists that come in, especially into our store, and they're learning different things. And when they have that opportunity and they're leaving and they have their bag and they're smiling, it makes us feel good that we've made them feel like that. And it's a very calm space to come into because I like to be calm and I like to have a nice quiet space where you can come in and enjoy. And so creativity to me is a very, very big proponent of something to keep your health in check, to keep you happy, and to give you an opportunity just to do something for yourself. And you're helping people get to that creative process. Absolutely. You mentioned too, in your website, a safe space. You talked about a creative space, a happy space, but you also talk about a safe space. What do you mean by that? We welcome all walks of life in our store. So it doesn't matter what you're doing with your life or what life has brought in for you and you're feeling difficult and awkward. We have a lot of young people that come in and they're trying to figure things out. I want to make sure that when they're walking into our store that they feel comfortable and we're representing everybody in the community. And that is a huge thing for me, from young to somebody who's a very older person. We also have a lot of artists that come in here and they say things like, "Oh, I'm not really an artist." You know? So I'm sure... I don't consider myself an artist. They often even don't say yet. So it's like that there's a good computer. It's just an opportunity to kind of, especially when you see somebody who either they've taken a class in town or with somebody that we know mutually or they've taken it in with me, that they feel comfortable now that they don't have to, they know there's no judgment and there's no criticism. It's just sort of a matter. I want you to grow as an artist in your heart and have the passion for it more than just trying to be perfect at everything on colors and all this stuff. It's a more of a matter of how do you grow as an artist for yourself. So you've talked about the friends you make in your shop, Clantell. And you've also mentioned your collaboration in the community. So let's talk about the events and organizations with which you and your store have participated. Well, I'll start you off with the third Huntsville art crawl, which was in June. Yes, that's correct. And how did that go for you? You were a business host. Yes, it was wonderful. Tim Rice, Timmy, was in, we placed his piece in the corner and Tim says, you know the gallery. Yeah, we have to know that. Yes, but this was in the shop itself. Yes. Yes, we, the gallery was, we decided to move it out into the store for Tim because he's, he really is out there when it comes to his work. And he's very, he's very boisterous, boisterous about his work. So we decided, I wanted to do mobile. So it'd be high enough because he had these beautiful little pieces. So we, we sort of figured out a way of placing them up high. So when you walk in, they would sort of move with the light. Nice. So Tim, I checked with Tim and he was okay with that. And he, he's lovely. And we had an opportunity to have him come in with a whole group to discuss his work. And it's really, oh, the Wednesday Walkaboo. The Wednesday Walkaboo. I love those Wednesday Walkaboo. And it was really, it was lovely because Tim had an opportunity to discuss his work, which is very, very abstract. But organic and landscape, all kind of within the same thing. And it also gives, gives you an opportunity, especially the, the art crawl for artists to be literally having an opportunity for exposure. And that's FunSpill really is an art hub. And for the younger ones, were you a part of the onplanair art market too? Yes. Oh, that was fun. Tell us what you did there. I, every, last year I did it as well outside. This year, inside a rain, Blake, Blake, Quinlan, thankfully put everything up together for me to help me with the tables. And we had to move it into canvas because it was pouring rain that day. It was a great venue though. And lots of people came because of rain, I think. It was beautiful. It was very cozy. It felt like a backyard venue, sort of with the lights and everything. It was very, very relaxed space. And apparently they did better at the auction than they did when it was outside. I had a whole audience of people sitting there sipping beer. It was wonderful. Yeah. It was wonderful. I really, really enjoyed it. And so I had, and I, I love to work with children. So I had an opportunity to work with a whole, all mixture of different children popping and sitting at the tables to do different types of crafts. And it was, it was great to dance to children. We're also sitting with me. The two smaller ones were sitting with me for about a good hour or so. Just just hanging out and because they feel comfortable. They're very active kids. They're lovely. So after that, in July, you had your third installation, I think. I don't know because I missed it, but you'll tell us about it with Nui Blanche North. Yes. That was, every year, Nui Blanche gives us an opportunity to do something with what their ideas are for sort of a mutual art idea throughout the entire evening. There's a theme. Some people remember the theme. Yeah. It sort of was about basically filtration sort of idea. And it was, it was challenging for me. And I thought, okay, I'll do something a little bit more cosmic because I am always looking at the sky. You love the night. I remember that. I love the night. And I love dual paintings. So my paintings are always majority of my paintings are two paintings and one. So you'll have one painting you enjoyed during the day. And then if you put the black light on the paintings, there'll be another painting available. It was called illuminating the night, right? That's correct. Yes, yes. I've only seen a few pictures. As I say, I missed it. I'm sorry to say this year. I have never missed Nui Blanche North before. And were you with the BIA summer market? I mean, I guess your shop was open to it today on Saturday. Oh, yeah. We were open. We didn't participate in the market this year. We just got very, very busy with the store. We have a lot of tourists that come in the store. And Chris and I have to sort of keep an eye on the stores. We're going along. So we can't participate in all of the events, but we'll promote it as much as we can if it comes up. You were one of the participants, however, in the art crawl inside the Hansel Art Society studio, right? I mean, sorry, in the HFA studio. Oh, yes. So we had the square foot north show. And so we had there's an evening where we had to place all of the artworks up. There was quite a few paintings. So it's really nice. Beautiful. Really well, huh? Yeah, it was absolutely wonderful. We had to sort of figure everything out how to organize it and make sure that paintings that were together were not too similar. So you would be able, it would be easier on the eye for a patron to come in and to actually take a look at the pieces. We did a good job. So it was lovely. And I loved volunteering doing that with all the hanging because you get a chance to also really get a chance to close up to see the pieces. That's what Noreen and I like to do. Yes, we like to do the hanging. That's our creative art. Yeah. Analyzing. I think this is a good moment. We're going to take a break and come back in a few moments with Sam Sullivan, the artist and herself and an owner operator of Red Pine Art Supply. We'll be right back on Arts for Us. Bye, Miskoka, for Miskoka. Your collection of Miskoka-based talk shows, Miskoka Magazine, the Bay, '88/7. I'm Dr. Sherman from Daily Lane Dental and you're listening to Miskoka Magazine. This is ArtsRUs on the Bay. We're back on Arts for Us. I'm Noreen Mitchell with my co-host Karen Cassian and our guest today is Sam Sullivan. And Sam has been talking to us about her shop, Red Pine Art Supply in Huntsville. And also, I want to know a little bit more about the gallery, the micro gallery, you call it, that you have. What is it called? Collaborate Studio Space and Gallery. And what do you use Collaborate for? Collaborate is, the intention of actually the name of it, is a multi-use space. So we're welcoming in this coming fall, winter season, more workshops to have some guest appearances. We've had a couple of artists have some interest in coming in to do a couple classes. I host private classes in there often with about three or four different students throughout the week. And this will run for me from September all the way back out to May. And we're looking into doing kids in youth classes different than what HFA is currently doing. So I'm sort of making it basically a series of different classes for children to come after school for an hour just to enjoy something different. And we're also, I'm going to be welcoming in a couple of different artists as well for crafting adult classes. And we'll be doing adult classes. And as I say with Huntsville, we have such a multitude of different artists that teach that everyone will be learning differently from somebody else. And they'll pick that up and they'll learn for having an opportunity to sort of grow as an artist. So we all teach differently, which is fantastic. And so I always welcome a new artist that comes in to would like to take a class with me. Can be technical, but I'm also, I want you to grow as an artist. That's how I learned when I was at OCA. So it gives a good opportunity to sort of do different things. So your classes, can you just tell us how long they are when they are like, are they six week courses? This year, so for the adult classes, I like to host about once or twice a month on a Saturday, because there's a lot of individuals that can't make it throughout the week. And during the week, it's usually in the afternoon for say a 90 minutes to two hours. If the 90 minutes are usually the beginner classes, like the very, very beginner classes. So the new artists don't feel overwhelmed with what they're learning, because there is a lot of information when you're trying to learn something new. It makes you feel sort of sort of overwhelmed with the information. So with our intermediate classes, usually they're to run two to three hours. Max and I haven't done the series, but I was usually with my private students. I do it's every week that they come in. But we're looking at doing it between four to six weeks for artists to continue to come in every week with their paints, with their pieces. And we have a chance to critique them, gently critique. So it's one more like you're not teaching them. It's more of a gathering of artists and you do the... Yes, that's really important. Because sometimes you need that guidance. The space is also used as an exhibition space, a gallery. Yes. And I know that you use it as a studio for yourself sometimes. I've seen you working in there a lot. So what type of things do you have as exhibitions? For me, Chris and I always, we like to have host different types of artists coming in, especially ones that are definitely emerging. For me, it's important to do artists that maybe don't know have a place to put their pieces. They're a nervous about starting up in a gallery. What is it like? So starting with us and collaborate gives you an opportunity to sort of learn something because galleries can be quite harsh in the primary market. And it gives you a sort of a chance what it feels like to have that exposure. And when someone's coming into a gallery showing how it feels, when you're showing your work, you have to explain your work. You have to explain the process because art patrons are going to want to know what started you off with these pieces. So it's just give you a little bit of a chance. And it's a very small gallery. We'd love to expand, but we just don't have the space, but maybe all in time you never know. It seems to me you're trying to cultivate the relationship between the artist and a purchaser, a collector, for example. And I know that you, yourself, you and Chris, collect art, and that you were part of the from the collection of the exhibition. The second one that we've done on the Huntsville Art Society has done in Partners Hall, which is different collectors works, what they've collected. Who do you collect? What do you like? We have two Sylvia Kirschles. So one is a small piece. Chris actually picked it out. I told him to go pick one. I have one that I liked and he has one. A lot of the times when we're picking the pieces out, Chris is actually the one that wants the pieces. He's the one that makes the final decision. I have the art background. Chris does not. So it gives him an opportunity to sort of show what he feels is in our patron. And I need that conversation to happen on what work out there is what's needed and what an art patron is looking for because he has a good eye for art. So we also have a couple of pieces by Kate Brown. And I love them. And Stephanie Akway, we've got a piece that's a beautiful ocean piece. I have three Peter B. Mills. I purchased those from Cole's Art Market from Matt. And I have a Stuart McKean. Stuart actually gave it to me before he passed away. This beautiful piece. So it was really needing some love and care. You had a small exhibition of his work, I believe. I did. I did. And he just gave him an opportunity to show his work. And again, it's another artist that hides behind the scenes. And they don't want to have that exposure, but they do. And it's a normal experience that any artist has of that feeling of, I'm scared of what are people going to think. It's okay because there's so much art out there. It's okay that you have the criticism or you have the positive outlook because it grows you as a person to learn how to deal with that sort of circumstance. You've been giving a considerable amount of time to volunteering for the Huntsville Art Society. And there's a lot of things changing there. I'm going to ask both of you because you're so tensely involved in that to talk a little bit about what's happening. I'll start. Well, we had a number of people step down this summer for various reasons. I think there are like five positions that came open all at once, which was a little overwhelming for us. But we've done a great job of finding people, interviewing people. And we've filled most of the spots. We'll have a new group coming on at our AGM October 10th. Sam has stepped up as helping me as an active co-chair. She's officially our secretary. And social media person. And social media person, yeah. So we are now looking for a new social media person, a marketing person, and also someone to help out at our show at the Summit Center. But most of the other positions have been filled. We have a new person who's on the board right now, because we were below our minimum. So Suzanne Spears, who's on our gallery committee, stepped forward. And she's on the committee. Sam, what am I missing? So we have had a new secretary join in for the basically will be in for the AGM. So it's Belinda Choo. And we have a new treasurer that has some interests, which is Susan Scott. And so we've really locked out with a lot of a lot of new members, like Sylvie. Yeah, Sylvie, a newsletter and website person, which is a yes, yes, which is really important. Sylvie, Liba, thank you. We're going to have her on as a guest soon. Yes. So, Sam, I know that you talked to me a little bit and you said that you wanted to do, you saw a head as a goal workshop for artists marketing their work. You saw that, I think, as a a need. Yes, right. Yes, definitely. It's, we are in a period of time right now where there's a lot of art online on Instagram, on Facebook, TikTok. And what's happening is this sort of a murder divorce that are coming together in the primary market, which is your market where you initially purchase a painting, is suffering right now. We have a lot of artists that are not selling and The economy is not great. The economy is very difficult. And we have a lot of artists. The reason why we know is they have, they come into our store, sometimes in tears. Sometimes they're dis frustrated and you know, you have to sort of work through these difficult times as an artist. Don't give up your work. Keep going. Keep trying to get into the galleries. It's not an easy time that we're in, but this does happen and it's not unusual. And things will get back to normal again with the art patrons purchasing because everyone's just watching what they're purchasing right now in the world. And as I say, for marketing, you have to know how to market yourself when you're an artist. We hopefully will be having more workshops on marketing. I hope so too. Have you had time, Sam, to make art yourself? And actually, have you had time to schedule a photography break? I have as much time as I possibly can. There's summer time is very difficult. I have a show with Cheryl Hamel September the 7th at her on her porch. We call it on the porch. Nice. And her beautiful home on Lauren Street. Historic close. Beautiful. What time is it? We're probably going to be in the afternoon. Cheryl and I are not much of the morning people, but to be announced with the time. And so Cheryl has been producing her pieces for the past couple of months. And she comes in and she'll bring them in and show me or we'll talk about it by text message or email. And so I've been starting to, I like deadlines. So I'm always an artist who likes to do it sort of at the last minute. And that's where the passion starts coming out. So they're just very simple pieces. Nothing fancy when it comes to the concept that I'm doing. It's I'm kind of going back, trap back, pedaling about 30 years of doing flowers. So it's sort of nice. It's just sort of a end of the summer relaxing kind of artwork where it's not not not an integral part. It's just something sort of interesting to look at and pretty to look at. We're kind of running out of time here. So I'm just going to skip to open art series with Sam Sullivan. That's something new too, right? Yes, it is. And how can people find out what that is all about? That sits on our website under open series. What's your website? Our website is redpineart.ca. And if you just toggle on the very top, it's open art series. It is something that I started because it's my own personal view, organic view of art, of how you feel as an artist when you're working materials that I'm using. I'm really I'm just pulling from my own personal experience, a frustration, trying different, especially my recent piece was on acrylics. Why choose acrylics? Acrylics is they're a very difficult medium to use, especially for someone who was an oil painter for many years. They dry quickly. Yes, they dry very quickly and they darken as well when you're painting with them. So I like to just have an opportunity to sort of discuss different things in my head and place it online as a free subscription. You can just pop in and just take a look. So we'll be expanding that for sure. It seems to me that you've fulfilled your desire to have an art career, a career in the art world, which is talked about before. So you mentioned what your website, how else can people find out about red pine art supply, maybe your hours and location? Yep. So we are located at Six West Street North in downtown Huntsville, across from the Royal Bay. Across from the Royal Bank parking lot. Parking across the street is free. And you can reach us at redpineart.ca. We're on Instagram. We're on Facebook. And of course, you can always call us or send us an email or 705-784-0220. We're more than welcome to answer any questions you have about anything I can help you out. And can you bring in supplies that you don't have for people? Absolutely. But there's something that you're struggling trying to find. I will struggle and try to find it for you. It's a huge product list and a good actual online shopping. Anyway, that's all we have time for. I think Karen, do you have a few things, a little bit a few announcements? Yes. I just wanted to talk about the Huntsville Festival of the Arts Fall concert lineup. They have a whole series of concerts at San Teal Nursery, which are pretty cool. Elliot Brood, Danny Michael, Madison Violet, Angelique Bronts. And then out at Dearhurst, they have Tom Cochran. They have, let me see, let me see, Dearhurst Tom Cochran. And a bunch at the Algonquin Theatre. So check out Huntsville Festival.ca and you'll find all of those concerts right up until December. In terms of the Huntsville Arts Society, currently now will be Carol Milne's Flower Birds and Trees Nature's Tapestry. And the opening reception for that is on September 5th from 4 to 6 p.m. Huntsville Public Library have Sharon Harris Tuck and Nancy Watt from the Huntsville Arts Society. And that's on for the month of September. And at hospice, we'll be finishing up. I'm not sure who is following in September, but Shannon Jipman was on in August. And I would mention that the Gravenhurst Autumn Arts Tour is September 28th and 29th. I just want to mention, I know we had choir, choir, choir here in Huntsville. They're going to have it in the Gravenhurst Opera House in February. If you want to miss, if you don't want to miss that, you can- I went to one. Everybody loves it. It was wonderful. And don't forget Mack on Maine and in MSCOKE Arts and Crafts. They have lots of things happening. So you can check out their website, MSCOCAArtsandCrafts.com. And I would just shout out for NASA, New Adventures in Sound Art, at nasa.ca. And the MSCOKE Authors Association has lots of things happening. I'll send you to their website, MSCOCAOuthers.ca. And you'll see what's coming up. That's all we have time for today. It's been great talking to you, Sam. Thanks for coming back. Thank you. Thanks so much. That's all there is today for Arts for Us. There's only 100s Bay radio. We are MSCOCA.