First entry

Downy Woodpecker

drypoint with hand colouring

2008

I have taken the plunge and decided it is time to start up an online blog to journal my thoughts as well share my experiences with others with regards to my artistic endeavours.
I am a visual artist who resides currently in the port city of Thunder Bay at the head of Lake Superior located in the province of Ontario, Canada.
I have been learning and growing as a visual artist for pretty much most of my life, and have focused attention towards exploration of the hand printed image on paper.
My interest in printmaking started in Grade 12 art while attending secondary school in Orangeville, ON. I was taught silkscreen printing (serigraphy) by Gary Cook, and my interest in this type of technique led me to the point where I found myself printing my own t-shirts and finding some occasional employment by the student council to produce posters for upcoming school events.
After graduation from secondary school in the late 70's I attended Sheridan College in Brampton ON and studied visual art fundamentals for a year and another half year of interpretive illustration. In 1980 I entered into other avenues of earning a living from employment in hotel/restaurant related jobs, retail sales and custodial work. But my true calling has always pervaded so several years back made a decision to challenge myself and make a full time living as an artist. Fortunately I have also been able to earn some supplemental income from temporary placements into local and provincial school classrooms as an arts educator.
One of the ways to reach a wider audience and potential market with my art was to create a website. This was officially launched in 2006.
http://www.brianholden.ca/
This year that site will be getting a brand new look and focus, but in the meantime the existing site is still up and running plus a good place to visit to see what I have accomplished as an artist.


Presently I am involved in completing three visual arts based projects courtesy of funding by the Ontario Arts Council. Two of my projects are studio based creation of new works and the third is a school based classroom project through the Artist in Education program. http://www.arts.on.ca/index.aspx

You will also find a great deal in regards to printmaking and other artistic media at the following link: http://www.wetcanvas.com/

When the webpage opens look under the logo on the top left hand side as you will see a channels option immediately under the blue tools bar, click on the arrow and open the alphabetically ordered list and scroll down until you find Printmaking. Click on this is to access this resource where you can view posts and learn about printmaking techniques, post your own work if you are a printmaker, get advice and exchange info. By the way my member name in Wetcanvas is Bridog, you can easily view all of my posts and contributions in the forums.