Andrea Mulder-Slater

By Andrea Mulder-Slater   When I make a painting, I am either looking at something (a landscape, a coffee cup, a house…) or - in the case of my abstracts - I am thinking about a place (the ocean, the forest, the city…).  However, the inspiration for the Sight Unseen series came from a very different place. 

 by Andrea Mulder-Slater Yesterday, I was putting the finishing touches on the fourth of a series of paintings I’ve been working on over the past several weeks.    I have been really pumped about these new works, and was looking forward to sharing the off-beat story behind how they came to be.    What I'm trying to say is, I was feeling pretty jazzed. So much so, I even took a selfie.   

by Andrea Mulder-Slater   I bought this apron at a garage sale when I was in my last year of art school.    It was a warm fall day and my mom and I had taken a walk through a subdivision located just behind where my parents owned an audio store in Barrie Ontario.

In addition to painting the land and sea in waterco lor , oil and acrylic, I also create abstract colorfields, coffeecolors, mixed media paintings, pottery and floorcloths. I received my Fine Arts Diploma from Georgian College and did my BFA coursework at Thompson Rivers University. Below is a snapshot of the kind of work I do including abstracts, coffee paintings (they are PAINTED WITH COFFEE), and seascapes (both in watercolour and acrylic) I welcome commissions at: andrea[at]mulderslater[dot]com      

by Andrea Mulder-Slater Late last year I had a crazy idea. To be truthful, I had quite a few of them, but one in particular is worth sharing. I decided to paint - or draw - a coffee cup a day. Every day. All year long. And nobody stopped me.  So, this year, my goal is to paint or draw three hundred and sixty-five coffee cups. Or tea cups. Because I'm not picky about subject matter. I do however draw the line at cats. I won't be painting three hundred and sixty-five cats this year. Or lobsters. Or about a billion other things. But I plan to paint three hundred and sixty-five coffee cups. YOUR coffee cups. Or tea cups, because as we've already established, I'm not picky... Whether or not I'll actually achieve my goal remains to be seen. Talk to me in July. But for now, here it is, February 1st and guess what? I've got thirty-one coffee cups to show you. I'm selling the acrylic on canvas paintings (unframed but ready to hang) for $45.00 and the draw...

by Andrea Mulder-Slater I've opened up an Etsy shop ( andreamsart.etsy.com ) to showcase some of my artwork and  I'd like to share some paintings with you, starting with this one. " Thaw " is an original abstract, painted with acrylic paint and molding paste on a 24" x 36" gallery style (2" deep) canvas. The edge of the painting has also been painted so it is ready to hang as is, or you can have it framed. Here it is, from the front...   And here is what it might look like in your home, if your home has cement coloured walls, wood floors, a Scandinavian style table, linen-covered chairs and a lovely decorated bowl. And this is what it would look like if you walked up - nice and close - to have a better look. View this painting on Etsy:  https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/207742248/original-acrylic-abstract-painting-thaw While I have your attention, from time to time, I've been asked my abstract painting process, so I...

by Andrea Mulder-Slater It should be fairly obvious to everyone by now, that I am not a people person. It's not that I don't like people (well, most people), it's that I'm just really, really uncomfortable around them.  If you don't believe me, just go ahead and try to strike up a conversation. I'll want to chat (I really will) but in the end, we'll both be hearing crickets. ( Or worse. ) And the thing is, the thoughts in my head are often far more interesting (albeit more inappropriate) than what comes out of my mouth. It is for this reason that painting in public is excruciatingly painful for me. Because, you know... people. And while most folks are delightful, some are less than sublime and others are downright offensive. I get it, they don't know what to say either. I mean, artists are weird and you never know when one of them is going to cut off an ear or develop syphilis, right? Trouble is, I don't have the nerve to speak my mind ...

by Andrea Mulder-Slater My time in art school seems like it happened an eternity ago. Mostly because it's been an eternity since I attended art school. I love to make art, but I also love to write and I find that the words don't ever seem to flow at the same time as the paint. To give you an example, it took me approximately 17 and a half minutes to write that last sentence. In other words, here's what I've been up to lately... Did you spot the disappearing (and reappearing) roof? Artists are magicians. No, really.

by Andrea Mulder-Slater When I'm writing, I'm not painting and when I'm painting, I'm not writing. I haven't been writing much lately...

by Andrea Mulder-Slater This summer, Geoff, Jan and I were commissioned to create a number of paintings as prizes for a local sports event. I worked on six paintings - three of which were coffeecolours. Coffeecolours are images which are painted with coffee on watercolour paper. No paint is used -- just intensely strong coffee and water. Here's a peek...

by Andrea Mulder-Slater Wanna peek... at my new sketchbook? Here you go!

by Andrea Mulder-Slater I've been resting my writing muscle lately. Not by choice you understand, it's just worked out that way. I kind of feel as though the part of me that makes words appear, has wrapped itself up in tin foil and thrown itself on the $40 barbeque we picked up at a yard sale last month. I blame Geoff. Of course I do. The thing is -- while searching for buoys in the basement (this makes sense if you live with us), Geoff found my magic apron. Discovered in an abandoned garage more than 15 years ago, my magic apron is fully caked with paint, modeling paste, matte gel and god knows what else. Evidently - as soon as I put it on, my writing brain goes to sleep, but not before it injects my artmaking brain full of caffeine, or amphetamines. Whichever. The point is, this blog post is about art. Jan and I have been preparing for an exhibition of sorts which is taking place this summer and while I'm trying to maintain an air of mystery, I'm happy to ...