Terrill Welch by herself - issue #44 Beginning a New Series Close to Home
Done! Finished! The end! All of my materials have been added to the assessment folder for evaluation. There is nothing more I can do regarding the completion of my MA Fine Art degree but sit out the two months until my marks come in. I want to celebrate but I also don’t want it jinx the outcome. In the meantime, there is the group “Five Seasons MA Fine Art Final Show” to launch with an opening date of August 20th and closing October 15th. In the middle, we will have a ‘Meet the Artist’ event where each of the five of us will do a short introduction to our work. If you would like to personally receive an invite, let me know and I shall see what I can do.
This marks the end of a two year journey where I limited the number of “Terrill Welch by herself” publications to long monthly posts that relied heavily on the writings and studio work I was doing in my theory and research development for my degree. Some of you made it through this educational marathon and some of you didn’t. I won’t apologize to those who unsubscribed because they will never see it. Instead, thank you to those of you that have persevered and stuck with me to the end! I deeply value your company, notes of encouragement and the generosity of your attention and time.
So what is next!? First, I am starting a new body of work that is tentatively called “Close to Home” but might possible end up being two separate series. One will focus on our embedded living with nature during ordinary domestic activities and recognizes the necessary restraints in our lives as David’s vascular dementia marches slowly onward and he increasingly disappears from both of our lives. This work will hold reparative elements of beauty, contemplation, sorrow and contentment within unrelenting loss that is more pronounced than general, garden variety, aging.
The second series or focus, builds on my perspective development from the Seafloor series that will feature portraits of trees from the ground up.
My painting reference practice will take me back out on the island’s trails and hopefully, to landscapes within a few hours of travel for nearby painting trips. In fact, we have already booked a six day trip for near the end of September that will take us to the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.
I am not going to document this research in my newsletter. I have decided instead to rejuvenate my Creative Potager blog and continue my well-established, two year practice of keeping a theory and painting research journal. This is where the thoughtful documentation of new and progressing work will first appear. I will include a few snippets in the newsletter and provide links for those that want to take a deeper dive into these painting practice records. You will also have the option of subscribing directly to the blog and receiving notices immediately when new posts are published.
NEW WEEKLY FRIDAY PUBLISHING SCHEDULE
“Terrill Welch by herself” will be reserved for mostly finished work, announcements of gallery shows and what has sold or been reviewed and so on. This publication will take the newsiest of news, like what has been covered in past newsletter more seriously. It will also include what I am watching and reading and maybe cooking that might be of interest to the art collectors (and serious enthusiasts) of my paintings. It also may include notices for workshops or short courses I am wanting to offer that can be taken online. Therefore, to be timely and relevant, the publication schedule will be every Friday with each issue being a bite size, scannable, read (think short, quirky and pointed). This new format begins now!
THE BEGINNING OF A NEW SERIES
Since I have found the art research journal useful, I have decided to continue the practice on my Creative Potager blog, even though this space has, for the most part, been dormant since 2022. What is four years in a lifetime of an art practice!? Let’s continue! The first post is available at the link below.
Terrill Welch
WHERE TERRILL WELCH PAINTINGS HAVE RECENTLY BEEN FEATURED
On the first Friday and Saturday of July, three of my recent Seafloor series paintings were well received at the Arts on Mayne members’ show at the Agriculture Hall. Here is “Floating Arrangement of Shells” hung between the intricate work of Donna Williams on the left and ethereal work of Abigail Hain on the right, who is mid way through a M.F.A. with Emily Carr University.
In addition, I recently received and accepted (paid and unpaid with live link) limited licensing requests to use painting images that have come from co-founder and CEO, Ben Waldman, of Gander Social and Dan Riskin, scientist and past TV host of Daily Planet. I am always slightly amazed at how these opportunities seem to manifest themselves but they are a welcomed addition to increasing my audience reach.
The Pop-up exhibition (showing five of my paintings) “The Giving Ocean”, by art curator Carolina Nakiri in Victoria BC in June 2026 received over 200 guests raised over $4,000 in ticket sales and continued to feature my painting “Winter Song of the Salish Sea” for the online portion the event that ended July 13, 2026.
WHAT I AM READING
I have ordered several physical books to celebrate the end of my studies. This is a long-standing ritual that usually accompanies the end of one of my academic pursuits. I could have read them as e-books but I really truly have had enough of sitting in front of a screen for hours at a time.
This week’s reading feature is Where the Forrest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Nature World by Suzanne Simard, New York Times bestselling author of Finding the Mother Tree which I have already introduced. As well as being an excellent scientist Simard is also a profound and engaging autoethnographic writer. This book will form part of my theoretical foundation for this new body of work, particularly in respect to the tree portraits.
UNTIL NEXT FRIDAY!
May you have an amazing week ahead and feel free to leave a comment and tell us what you are up to and excited about at the moment. What spaces whisper to you quietly? Where to find you are bubbling over with delight? If we share these moments, they are like the seeds of hearty wildflowers and will spread their joy far and wide. What joyful seeds are tossing on the wind?
Warm regards as always,
Terrill 👩🎨🎨❤️
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