Today I was painting at the lovely Cedarbrook Farm. It's the same place I painted the horses that I posted yesterday. I wish I could paint there for a week because every where you look you see something great. This little building was apparently built for a movie set though it looks like it's been there a hundred years.
This was a piece I painted last week but didn't get around to posting because of the Santa series. But what do you know - it's overcast today as well. This is the first time I've ever drawn and painted a horse. In all these years! Surprising, really. How did I get away with that?
Today was a P.A. day, so I didn't have a chance to get out and paint. In lieu of that I am posting a piece from my website that I painted a number of years ago. It's a favourite of mine. I like the looser feel, that I didn't spell everything out, and the movement throughout the piece. It brings me peace : )
Today I was painting plein air and surrounded in beauty. It had warmed up a bit from the chilly 7˚C in the morning but was windy. My easel and canvas kept blowing over >: ( The light conditions were changing like mad as the clouds kept covering the sun. But it was a good day. Here is the piece so far. Unfortunately I wasn't able to complete it - the foreground still needs to be developed. Right now as you can see it is just a dark mass. But I think it's headed in the right direction!
Today I took a break from Hogwarts. I went out and painted plein air and returned to the location where I had painted Twisted apple and worked on it some more. I was still feeling frustrated and at the end of the afternoon asked fellow painter, Laurie Wonfor Nolan (whose work I ADORE!) for help. She gave me a few suggestions and I intend to try them this week. Will post again when it is finally completed, if I haven't shredded it in despair ; ) Then, after struggling for a couple of hours, I took out one of my 6" x 6" canvasses and did this sketch in the blink of an eye (okay - not literally). Funny how that works. 
For those readers new to my blog, Sunday's I take the day off and post a painting previously done. Today I am posting a triptych of an old-growth cedar. I was in love with this tree! It was in a cedar grove on a private property in Dundas. The texture and rhythm of the bark was fantastic. Ideally, it is meant to hang vertically, to form one awesome, majestic tree. It needs a home with a tall wall. Tomorrow, back to Hogwarts : )
Today I had the pleasure of painting with a fellow artist friend Katalin, in Port Dalhousie. We walked down the pier, parked ourselves and began to paint. I had dressed warmly but let me tell ya - the wind coming off the water was pretty frigid. Our fingers were getting stiff, but it was fun. The water and the concrete was a challenge - I kept thinking "What would Edward do?" lol 
Frosted woods is dear to me. I was tromping through the woods on a frosty, late December afternoon. The sun was going down. I was cold. I came across a tangle of vines, brambles and branches. Much of the wood and stalks were quite lavender, blue and crimson. It felt like a scene from an abandoned, enchanted, wintery land or a movie set or something. Anyway, I set my stuff up and began to paint. As most often happens in cold-weather painting, my fingers got stiff, my feet got cold, my nose began to run...but I felt locked in and excited with what was happening. Some days are like that : )
This is the one snapdragon left blooming in our garden. The colour and curving forms of the flowers intrigued me. I really like this piece today - fairly abstracted, lots of movement and I used some different colour combinations. One thing new for me was that I painted the ground in today's and yesterday's pieces in a violet hue. And does anyone else remember being fascinated with snapdragons when they were kids? When I was shown how the snapdragon could "bite" you, and leave a yellow mark - I thought it was the coolest flower going!
This is a painting I did years ago but still really enjoy. It came about as a bit of a fluke. I had painted the ground a firey red/orange and after having sketched in the tress, began painting around them. Well, I got so caught up in the background I forgot to work the whole of the painting, and when I was done I looked at what was before me. And I liked it! I felt that if I had painted the trees in, it would have lost it's punch . Frankly, it conveys the true feel of the woods that day.
