Donna Grandin at Toronto Art Expo 2011

Donna with some of her acrylic paintings on canvas in her booth at the Toronto Art Expo 2011.

Last weekend, April 14-17, Donna exhibited her artwork with almost 200 other independent artists and galleries in the Toronto Art Expo 2011. Till the end of the year, you can still view her profile at http://www.torontoartexpo.com/2011/virtualgallerypages11/grandin.html.

The event was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, and is in its ninth year. Attendence was lower than expected this year, not sure if the weather had something to do with it ... it was a grey, rainy weekend, and at one point there was even some snow!!! Very unusual for this time of year.

However, sales were made, new connections formed, and much experience gained. Thank you so much to those on Donna's e-mail list who made it to the Expo, especially to those who live outside of Toronto. And a big thank-you to Donna's new collectors, and potential collectors.

To see more pics from the TAE, please go to Facebook and "like" Donna's fan page http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Donna-Grandin-Blue-Roots-Art-Studio/201582283198326.

For a pricelist of available paintings, please e-mail donna@bluerootsartstudio.com. Delivery and payment details can be worked out on an individual basis, depending on your location etc.

Art donated to L.A. fundraiser for St. Lucia

Artwork donated by Donna Grandin, on display at Chapman University, Orange, California. Donna's art auctioned at " Poetry, Music, Art: a Celebration to Benefit St. Lucia", April 5, 2011.

The following is from a blogpost from online literary journal dirtcakes.org, which included an image of one of Donna's recent paintings:

"Did you know that the West Indies island of St. Lucia has more Nobel laureates per capita than any other nation and one of those - Derek Walcott - is a poet?Come celebrate Caribbean poetry, music, and art in a hot, hot, hot event on Tuesday, April 5, as dirtcakes sponsors an event to support Red Cross disaster relief for St. Lucia, an island devastated by last year’s Hurricane Tomas.

Join us in the Malloy Performance Portico at Chapman University’s Leatherby Libraries where Los Angeles poet Lynne Thompson, author of Beg No Pardon, will read work inspired by stories of her Caribbean ancestors, while Francis Lynch, from Trinidad and Tobago, adds a gentle steel pan cadence. Yes, you read that correctly, we’ll have a drummer in the library. And food. And art. Donna Grandin, an artist originally from St. Lucia, has donated two paintings for silent auction. Work from notable St. Lucian poets, including Derek Walcott, will be read and then, drum roll, Lynne Thompson will announce the winner of the dirtcakes First Annual Benefit Poetry Contest."

There was a slide show projected on a screen behind the poets as they were doing their readings, which included images of Donna's Hibiscus 'n Bananas series. Donna was invited to participate in this event by organizor Natalie D'Auvergne, whose blogpost http://aphroditeares.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/poetry-music-art-a-celebration-to-benefit-st-lucia/ could almost have been written by Donna herself. Both the artist and the writer get inspiration from their Caribbean background, both observed how Hurricane Tomas devastated St. Lucia and her people last year, through the safety of Facebook, and felt compelled to help somehow. Proceeds from the event on Tues went to the St. Lucia Red Cross.