Here's a sneak peek at the room I will be installing for this year's In Situ II multi-arts festival: Making Space, Making Place.
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One of my favourite events of all time was the first In Situ festival in 2018, held at the then-abandoned factory space known as the Small Arms Building in Mississauga.

Produced by the Small Arms Society which saved the building from demolition, they were also instrumental in persuading the City of Mississauga to take over ownership of the site (renamed the Small Arms Inspection Building) which means the building is now partially renovated and features heat and running water (and bathrooms!), none of which was true for the first In Situ. Not that that held us back!

When I update this post I will show you a photo of the room I am creating an installation for, happily it's in the old, unrenovated wing – I do so love the decrepit beauty of it!

​Finally, I am planning to do live drawing again each of the three nights from 8-9pm.
​Hope to see you there!

At 2:00pm this Saturday, (May 20), at Otto Art, for my current exhibition 'RADIANTS', I will be painting LIVE in the gallery!

If you're in Toronto for the long weekend come and see the process I developed for my 'Arounded' series, the lush and tactile ways I work with the paint, the tools I use, and how there's a point beyond which I just have to sit back and watch the painting reveal itself (literally!) over the course of days.

I'll show you one of my favourite unconventional painting tools and some of the ways I use it. And of course I will answer questions about that or any of the paintings in the show.

More information in the flyer here. I've included a map in the page about the show (click here).

Please join me for an afternoon that's sure to be interesting!

If you would like to download a pdf of the flyer for the event, here it is:

ONE DAY GALLERY WALK
It's baaaack!!
My Almost-Famous Gallery Walk & Talk!
Sat March 25, 2017
11:00am – 4:00pm
$50 (just for the tour, all food, drink and TTC/parking costs you pay directly as needed).

Many people have asked about/clamoured for the return of my Gallery Walk & Talk, so here it is! 

In these tours, aside from selecting the galleries and exhibitions we visit on the basis of what artists and venues are interesting and worth a visit, I also act as a resource and guide to the work, offering background, insight and a "way in" to the contemporary art which these Walk & Talks focus on.

As usual, I will pick a gallery area in Toronto for us to explore, we'll meet at a coffee shop where you'll receive a copy of the itinerary, we'll have a cup of tea or coffee and chat about what's planned for the day. Then we'll head off to our first gallery.
We'll likely visit a couple before lunch, have lunch at a moderately-priced restaurant or café in the area then continue on to more galleries, probably with a short coffee break in the middle.

These have proved very popular in the past, with many people returning again and again. Good, thoughtful and congenial company and conversation, makes for a very interesting and stimulating day.

Can't guarantee accessible access to all venues I'm afraid. Group size will be limited (to the benefit of everyone I think). Payment in advance, no refunds.
If you're interested, please contact me directly.

ONE-DAY WORKSHOP
Back by popular demand (the Fall workshop had a long waiting list)!
​The Art & Science of Image Transfers for Mixed Media
Weds March 29, 2017
9:30am – 3:00pm
​Markham Group of Artists (link)
In the latest version of this always-evolving workshop, we’ll discuss what makes a good image for transferring; zero in on transfer techniques and materials that produce interesting and versatile results; look at some creative strategies for integrating the transfers into mixed media artworks. $30 Materials fee and list. Contact me if you'd like an easier-to-read (much less overwhelming!) materials list than the one on the website. (Btw, ignore the "soft gel" listed, just bring polymer medium.)
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JURYING
Oshawa Art Association's 50th Anniversary Juried Exhibition (for members)
Sat April 1, 2017
​Oshawa Art Association (link)
It will be an honour to act as co-juror (one of three) for the association's 50th anniversary show.

NINE-WEEK COURSES
Drawing the Tough Bits 
(Face & Head & Hands & Feet)
Apr. 5 – May 31, 2017 (9 weeks)
9:30am – 12:30pm
Neilson Park Creative Centre (link)
Registration opens March 6 for members, March 8 for non-members.
Are you relieved when you can avoid the face, head, hands and feet of the people in your drawings and paintings? It's time to put an end to that fear! In this supportive environment, you'll be given the tools and knowledge to understand and work with the structures that give the face, head, hands and feet their defining characteristics. You'll learn to see them more clearly and get lots of practice drawing them, working from a live model. Small materials fee and list.
 
It's back! Figurative Art: Drawn and Beyond
Apr. 5 – May 31, 2017 (9 weeks)
1:00pm – 4:00pm
Neilson Park Creative Centre (link)
Registration opens March 6 for members, March 8 for non-members.
Not a classical life drawing class! Work with a life model as a doorway to exploring artistic thinking and approaches, expression and ways of seeing. Learn how to get more out of your tools and materials and try some you haven’t used before, or in ways you haven’t tried. Each term is different, each week looks to stretch your creative muscles, build your skills and abilities, help you see in new ways. One week leads into the next with an occasional sharp turn. Drawing-based but includes some other and mixed media. $10 materials fee payable to the instructor. Check NPCC website for materials list.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP
Shake It Up! Contemporary Approaches to Abstract Painting
Saturday/Sunday Apr. 29/30, 2017
9:30am – 4:00pm
Neilson Park Creative Centre (link)
Registration opens March 6 for members, March 8 for non-members.
Get a creative workout with Kim-Lee Kho to refresh and shake up the starting points and sources for your artwork and ideas. See what contemporary abstract artists are doing, how they mix things up and how the vocabulary of paint has changed. Stretch your art-making muscles by trying fun and adventurous processes – Kim will be there every step of the way! $35 materials fee payable to the instructor covers a host of specialized and unconventional tools and materials you will need. Check NPCC website for materials list.

LECTURE-PRESENTATION
A Contemporary Language of Paint
Weds May 10, 2017, 7:00pm
​Oshawa Art Association (link)
Much of contemporary painting is very interested in and pushes the vocabulary of paint, using and modifying its properties in diverse and unexpected ways to create paintings that surprise, wonderful optical effects and rich tactile experiences.

Anyone who is painting in a way that is not about replicating the camera or following a specific tradition, needs to grapple with the material of the paint itself. Most artists do so in a pretty limited way if at all, so I will show a range of contemporary work (including my own) that really makes painterly vocabulary and properties a central focus of the work. I will follow up the presentation with a concise demo to show a few ways of working with acrylic paint and modifying its behaviour to achieve some different effects. 

WEEK-LONG INTENSIVE
In downtown Toronto (OCADU campus)!
Mixed Media with Photos & Image Transfers
Monday June 12 – Friday June 16, 2017
9:00am to 4:30pm
Haliburton School of Art + Design (link)
Re-energize your painting and mixed media, and give it a more contemporary flavour by exploring methods of integrating photography and image transfers.

Working directly with photographs, learn various image transfer methods – what they're good for, when to use which, and how to work with them creatively.

In a combination of structured exercises and personal exploration, you'll layer, distress, work into, and interfere with your mixed media and images to better integrate and reveal contrasting visual material. Work with and against the rectangle, enriching your work with meaning and association. Materials fee and list. Suited to most levels, including advanced, but some previous art-making experience is required.

WEEK-LONG INTENSIVE
One of my most popular courses
Acrylics – Explore, Express, Experiment
​Mon July 24 – Friday July 28, 2017
9:00am to 4:30pm
​Haliburton School of Art + Design (link)
The most versatile of all paint media, acrylics can do almost anything you want.

Through the magic of acrylic mediums you can change the appearance, behaviour and characteristics of acrylics in surprising ways, from pourable glazes to texturized and transparent impasto, layered encaustic-like effects to sculpted surfaces.

In this intensive, materials and process-based course, a variety of acrylic mediums, physical processes and techniques will be explored. These may include drip, scrape, scratch, scumble, tickle, pour, squeeze, sculpt, roll, collage, layer, making skins and embedding objects. You will also investigate tools - how to select, use and customize them, with particular emphasis on unconventional choices. Materials fee and list. 
All levels and abilities are welcome (including advanced or pro), the only prerequisite is an open mind and an adventurous spirit.

​LECTURE-PRESENTATION
New & improved!
THIS ISN'T PHOTOGRAPHY:
The expanding (and sometimes surprising!) use of photos by contemporary artists
​Weds July 26, 5:00pm (I think!)
​Haliburton School of Art + Design (link)

Using photographic material and playing with how to use it, is a deeply contemporary way to work with imagery and perception and the way we experience the world now.

Starting with photography’s development, what we tend to believe about it, what it made possible, we will move into the uses of photography by contemporary artists, including in visual artworks that are not “photography”. 

While not well-understood, photography’s role is rich, lively and and incredibly diverse part of contemporary art in sometimes surprising – even hidden – ways. 

As a multidisciplinary artist, presenter Kim-Lee Kho works in various photo-based mixed media forms herself including prints, video, sculpture and textile. Kim also teaches photo-based mixed media for HSA+D and elsewhere – exploring the various technical challenges as well as the vast creative possibilities.

WEEK-LONG INTENSIVE
Brand-new!
Acrylic Glazing & Encaustic Effects
​Mon July 31 – Friday August 4, 2017
9:00am to 4:30pm
​Haliburton School of Art + Design (link)
From the Old Masters to cutting-edge contemporary artists, the use of transparent paint glazes is a tradition that has come a long way. In this process and materials-based course you will learn the language of transparent colour in acrylics, how to mix and work with glazes, which mediums to use when, and the importance of dilution, sheen and thickness.

Glazing will be complemented with the rich surfaces and translucent depth of encaustic effects in acrylics. In structured exercises and your own creative explorations you will work with layering, blending, painterly marks, impasto surfaces and combine acrylics with other media to create depth and invite light into your paintings. Materials fee and list.
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Very suitable for students who have taken acrylics courses and workshops with me in the past, particularly involving the use of mediums. In this course we can focus more and get more in-depth with glazing and encaustic effects in particular, and explore the creative potentials of them.

SOLO EXHIBITION
Heart of a Wanderer
Mon Sept 11 – 24, 2017
Reception: Thurs Sept 14, 7:00–9:00pm
Otto Art (in The Junction area of Toronto)
Very excited to be presenting a whole new kind of work at this charming gallery in one of Toronto's most creative neighbourhoods! Heart of a Wanderer will combine drawing and text, narrative and heart-based work, originals and (affordable!) multiples. Stay tuned for sneak peeks in my blog and on social media in the coming months!

ONE-DAY WORKSHOP
Acrylic Painting: Thick & Thin
Sat or Sun, October 14 or 15, 2017
Quest Art School + Gallery (link), Midland ON
With the remarkable range and versatility of acrylic paints, you can enrich the visual and tactile qualities of your paintings by pushing out from the flatness of your canvas or panel and making delicious relief surfaces or working thinly and transparently. Best of all, you can combine the effects to create the richest results! 

In this workshop we will discuss ways to thin and thicken the paint, (trying out some of the most useful and reliable), technical considerations, and look at some of the creative possibilities as well, through a combination of recent and contemporary art history, show & tell, demonstration, hands-on exercises and “playtime” (aka open exploration).

Instructor Kim-Lee Kho will provide some materials so you can fully enjoy the content of this workshop and benefit from it. A basic materials fee of $10 will cover that. The necessary acrylic mediums will also be available at a cost of $3 per 4oz for acrylic polymer gloss; $5 per 4oz for gloss gel (prices subject to change depending on supplier costs of course). We will work with both. Please read through the materials list to make sure you are fully equipped!

On the weekend of June 18 and 19 I will be among 16 local artists and craftspeople showing and working live at Clarke Memorial Hall in Port Credit. Located very near the Waterfront Festival which is on at the same time!

The vaulted space is perfect for my large triple-scroll piece “Double Happiness, Three’s a Crowd” to make its Ontario debut. It was first shown in Burnaby BC in 2012. Each of the three digital mixed media scrolls measures 16ft x 4ft! City staff will be assisting me with the installation of the scrolls.

My plan is to work on drawing portraits for my #dailyheroes series on and off during both days, and display a digital slideshow of the ones I've completed so far.

There will be so much more going on as well: poetry readings, music, a large public collaborative piece that you can make your mark on, and of course a lot to look at.

So please drop in and say hi, ask me about the scrolls or the #dailyheroes or whatever else. 

​If you're on Facebook, visit our event page which has details, photos and ongoing updates from all the participants.

Saturday (11–6) & Sunday (11–5) June 18 & 19, 2016
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Clarke Memorial Hall
161 Lakeshore Rd West
Mississauga (Port Credit) L5H 1G3