Garden tulips

Rather showy with their ruby stripes! These are those big, full, bell tulips. Love 'em.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Alstroemeria - SOLD

A stem of alstroemeria in a shot glass. These were richly-coloured and fun to paint. I took a picture at the blocking in stage just to show process. I enjoy seeing the path of other people's work so thought I might start showing some stages in mine. Happy Tuesday.

6" x 8" / oil on archival panel / SOLD

Country house in spring - SOLD

This is the completed painting from last Friday. I made a number of value changes as well as brought the front lawn off the panel. Cropped it. Stronger, I think.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel 

Blossoms at Green Lane - SOLD

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.

~Tenneva Jordan

Happy Mother's Day Mom. I love you.

acrylic on canvas / SOLD

Blueberry danish

I went to the bakery and picked up some breakfast treats this morning. I had a cinnamon bun and coffee but had to buy a danish just to paint. That blueberry filling looked too tempting : )

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Work in progress, and I've been tagged

This is VERY MUCH a work in progress. I'm liking the composition but the values need a lot of revision: the sky will be lightened, the tree line darkened and the house corrected. A few more trees may be added. It's a house down the street from us and the tree in the front yard has the most graceful shape.

As for being tagged: Crystal Cook - watercolourist extraordinaire (and apparently a writer to boot - I have to check out her other blog) tagged me with this questionnaire. Here it goes.

Where were you five years ago?

1. here : )

2. painting intermittently and taking classes

3. staying home with the kids (still had 1 home full days and another 1/2)

4. loving it and my life

Where would you like to be five years from now?

1. I’d like to be a painter’s painter

2. I’d like to earn some money from my painting (is shooting for over $2,000/year too much too ask? lol)

3. a bit buff? ha!

4. waking up with my husband, a coffee and baugette in France

5. enjoying my (much older!) kids, husband, family and friends

What is/was on your to do list today?

1. hauling kids everywhere : )

2. grocery shopping

3. coffee with my sister (and bonus visit with nephew)

4. a daily painting

5. house cleaning

What five snacks do you enjoy?

1. popcorn (made in a pot on the stove!)

2. brownies

3. homemade hot cocoa with a bit of cinnamon

4. chips and salsa with a cold beer

5. red wine and cheese

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

Well of course I would HELP people, donate, do lots of good in the world (like Crystal), but the following answers are purely selfish, just for fun : )

1. have a house in Europe with a courtyard

2. have an original vanGogh of my choosing

3. hire a maid

4. travel to Spain to see Antoni Gaudi’s masterpieces

5. live in a quirky, old (but retrofitted) home, with one heck of a library and private yard

Fun huh? Now, in the true spirit of all good things bloggy, I tag the following people, who then post the same Q and A on their blog, linking back to me and then tagging more people if they want. NO PRESSURE but it’s fun if you have time :) I decided to tag a few blogs that aren't as well known in my art-circle to spread things out a bit. p.s. If you want to participate, the more the merrier! No worries about not being tagged. Just join in : )

Trophy Husband

Musings by Shelly

Jesus Has 2 Daddies

Spring evening

This is an acrylic painting I did last week in my plein air class - not the balmy night - the night my fingers froze ; ). It felt good to be back outside painting though.

18" x 24" / acrylic on stretched canvas

Evening Chestnut in bloom - SOLD

This is the second piece I did last night in the balmy spring evening. Ever since I saw A.J. Casson's piece, Early Summer, Norval, 1928 and Lawren Harris's piece Chestnut Tree, House, Barrie, I have been wanting to capture a chestnut tree in bloom. Harris and Casson were members of the iconic Canadian band of painters, the Group of Seven who were AWESOME!

I painted a lot today but mostly on a commission piece. When it gets to the client-approved stage I will share it here : )

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

View from Olympic Drive - SOLD

I went out plein air painting this evening and it was beautiful weather - all the more pleasant.

6" x 8" / oil on archival panel / $75

Kiss the sky

Excuse me while I kiss the sky.

~Jimi Hendrix

Big, open blue skies this afternoon. I had my panel clamped to me easel and all was good. Then when I was carrying my painting indoors a gust of wind blew it from my hand onto my shirt and then onto the ground. It landed half propped on my boot, half on the concrete face down. I picked it up and turned it over with dread and... the spill had actually improved it! lol

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Moonlit dance

This girl has lots of fun and spirit but initially is a little shy. She's surveying the crowd and has just spotted the one she *really* wants to dance with.

I'm having a lot of fun with these portraits - creating imaginary stories of moments in their lives... This one was done on a black ground. Something I've seen others do but hadn't yet tried. I painted paynes gray (oil) on the panel and let it dry a couple of days. It was still tacky when I began painting. Kind of a weird sensation.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Gossip at the races

Doesn't it seem like she'd be at the races? Or maybe a summer picnic, watching a 3-legged race. And more lemonade, cookies and ice-cream. She's a little skeptical about what she's just heard...

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / NFS

Spring fling

I've openly stated (many times!) when I've been frustrated and felt like I'd lost the ability to paint. And so it's so nice when you finish a piece and just feel...happy!

This didn't start out so well. First it was a painting of my bleeding heart flowers. Really bad. Wiped it down. Next it was a lush yellow tulip. That went south faster than the bleeding hearts. After another good wipe I almost left the studio thinking it just wasn't in the cards and then I decided to try a portrait. There was no one around to model so I flipped through some old magazines and found a number of photos reprinted from the 30s and some of the people caught my eye. They were yelling: paint me! So I complied. This one, as they say, fell off the brush. To me I imagined this dress was soft yellow and she was off to a dance where there would be lemonade and sweets. I'm going to try more in the coming days.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Ready for her close-up - SOLD

The glorious magnolia. There are a few trees in town that are just beginning to open up, others are losing their petals. I wanted to get a close-up of a bloom before they're gone for another year.

6" x 6" / oil on panel / $75

Peach orchard - SOLD

Congratulations to Barb Hillier of British Columbia. She won the painting from yesterday. Barb - as soon as it dries, I will send it out to you! Thanks again everyone : )

This painting is from a peach orchard down the road. As I said yesterday, there is a profusion of pink (and white) in the fields right now. Really quite stunning.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel /  SOLD

Niagara peach blossoms - Win this painting

Our peach blossoms are out in full force. Orchards and orchards of frosty pink petals. It's quite beautiful.

This weekend I reached 100 followers! I love art-blogging. Sure, there have been times where I've been frustrated beyond measure but I have to say, I have been learning. I've met many generous, insightful artists who have encouraged me with their comments. And I have learned vast amounts from studying various artists and their work. It has really helped me develop my skills, which was my reason for starting in the first place. It's also nice to get feedback - kind of like group critique back in my school days (although decidedly less harsh ; )

So today I just want to say thanks! Tomorrow night I'm going to pull a name and send this painting out to the winner of the draw. All "followers" are automatically entered, as well as anyone who leaves a comment in the 24 hours. I will draw the name around 10pm (eastern) on Tuesday. Thank you everyone! Kim

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel

Open sky - SOLD

Note: Sunday's I take the day off and post a larger painting from my website.

This is a painting I did a few years back. There had just been a terrific spring rainstorm and the sky was just moving! I had to work fast to catch the impression. It's exhilarating painting in such dramatic weather. Sometimes when paintings sell you know nothing about the buyer or where they go. Other times you do find out a bit - I always like that. This one sold from a gallery and I was told the couple that came in bought it as an anniversary gift for an older couple "who had everything". I thought it was brave and lovely that these guys took a chance on such a personal gift!

p.s. tune in tomorrow for a special announcement!

Grape hyacinths - SOLD

This is the finished piece from Wednesday. I was always curious and enchanted about these flowers when I was a kid - to my eyes, really looking like a bunch of grapes.

I liked my initial painting from Wednesday and almost wanted to leave it unfinished like that. I have a problem that way : ) Often, I lay in the quick underpainting and am afraid to further develop the piece because I fear it will lose it's quick energy. Does anyone else suffer from this affliction?

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Along the creek - SOLD

The woods along the creek. Spring is here and the fresh yellow green of the new leaves is sparkling everywhere you look.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Magnolia in bloom - SOLD

Happy Earth Day : ) Gosh, it felt great to be outdoors today. A little fresh, but the sun was shining and all was good. This is a magnolia tree in full bloom. The petals have begun dropping, dotting the grass with lush pink and soft white. About 10 minutes before I finished it I almost wiped it down, but all the sudden it turned a corner : )

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Grape hyacinths, work in progress

Only had about 15 minutes today but I got a start on some grape hyacinths in our yard. I plan on painting all day tomorrow so hopefully I'm in the zone (then again, you know what they say about the best laid plans ; )

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel

Line-up

Not a lot of time today, so this is just a quick painting sketch of tulips from the garden. I painted fairly quickly, roughing in basic shapes and values. I know it's just a study, but looking at it now, I think it might be stronger if I paint out the two red tulips on the left, or perhaps add a third further down the line.

6" x 8" / oil on archival panel / n/a

Forsythia

This is one of our forsythia bushes, looking out across the street. They are covered in blossoms - a shock of brilliant yellow. It felt good to be painting outdoors today!

6" x 8" / oil on archival panel / $75

Peter

And now for something totally different: a portrait - in watercolour. I haven't touched watercolour in, well, it's got to be about 10 years. So yeah - this piece has been with me for a while. On Sundays I take the day off and post something from my website but not usually this old! I'm always trying to simplify, and in this portrait I did something I had never been able to do before: squint and block things in, keeping it all to a minimum, just trying to say what needed to be said. Now, I was no master in watercolour (as evidenced in the background wash) but I had finally "got" something portrait-wise without looking totally streaky and overworked. Isn't it great when something flows? And don't you wish you could bottle it? ; )

Strawberry

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / NFS

Breakfast! - SOLD

Yum.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Narcissus - SOLD

First of all, thanks to those who gave advice on how I could improve my piece from yesterday. Oh...was I frustrated. Lately I've been reading posts on various blogs talking about how you've got to stop getting down on yourself when you do a piece you think is crummy: it's a path of continual learning, don't compare yourself to others etc... And I know this and in fact it's what I remind others - but man! it's easy to fall into!

So I gave myself a shake and tried to start today with a fresh mind/clean slate. I'm posting the piece I worked on from yesterday - Quince; and then the piece I began with renewed focus today - Narcissus. Unfortunately the blues from the two pieces kind of clash, but I thought I should post my revised effort.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Quince

The same sprig from yesterday. Fought with the background on this one. Fear I was making meaningless strokes - if anyone has some advice for me on this - I'm open! I am however, pleased with the blossoms.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Quince sprig - SOLD

Today I had coffee with friends who have a beautiful yard. I painted there last summer, here and here. This morning we took a stroll around their gardens and I asked if I could have a sprig of their quince to paint. So here it is in one of my antique ink pots.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Hardy daff - SOLD

Today I picked this daffodil from my garden and threw it in the front seat of the car to take over to the studio to paint. I ran in to get a few more things, hopped in and drove off...and drove the whole way sitting on my daffodil! What the heck? lol. Needless to say it was a little crushed when I arrived. I popped it in some water and it made a comeback.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

Young peach tree

Sunday post: Sundays I take the day off and post a work previously done, from my website.

This is a painting I did a couple of years ago in Beamsville, Ontario. A new peach orchard went in the year prior and when the blossoms came out, they all looked so dainty and sweet on such young, tender branches. A number of peach orchards in the Niagara region have been ripped out - it hurts! : ( It's such a spectacular site to see a peach orchard in blossom. Well, any orchard for that matter. And the scent....!

12" x 24" / acrylic on canvas

Three's a crowd - SOLD

This is a re-post as I am still not painting today. My patient is on the mend but it's a wicked virus! Monday everything should be back to normal and I plan to be back in the studio painting and posting. Maybe I'll get out to do some plein air. Our forsythia bushes are in full bloom and are just a shock of yellow. Fantastically cheery. For now, I'm posting another piece from December. Keep healthy everyone!

Cannolo - SOLD

Today's painting is a re-post because during the night one of my children became ill - really ill - and neither of us got much sleep. Later in the day we found out it was the Norwalk virus. By Sunday night it should all be a memory but for now, no time for painting. So I am re-posting a daily from December. Here's hoping the rest of us remain clear!

Little red

More kitchen things. Really needed a bit more time to refine the bowl. And now I'm wishing I'd turned the daisy so that it wasn't staring straight on. Ah well, tomorrow is another day ; )

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $75

My favourite pot - SOLD

I'm attached to a pot! I decided it deserved a painting all its own. I mentioned yesterday that I'm quite fond of this enamel double boiler. I bought it years ago at a garage sale and even then thought: It's so small, when would I ever use it? But it was cheap and I fell in love with the colour of it, so that's how it ended up in our kitchen.

6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Kitchen things - SOLD

Some items from the kitchen. That's my favourite enamel pot in the background. It's pretty small so I only use it once and a while for cocoa.

6" x 6" / oil on panel / $75

Little daisy - SOLD

Back at it! Here is a daisy I plucked from a bouquet I got the other day. I put it in one of the antique ink bottles. Simple : )

6" x 6" / oil on panel / SOLD

Yellow tulips

Sunday post: Sundays I take the day off and post a work previously done, from my website.

This morning I thought I'd post this painting I did a few years ago of tulips from my garden. I LOVE tulips. Every couple of years I like to plant a new bunch - they really make me happy! So I have a variety: bright clumps, big old-fashioned bowl types (like these ones), tulips with pointed tips, and one of my favourites - peony tulips. The ones I painted here have a delicate honey scent. Mmmm.....

Easter Lily

To those who celebrate, Happy Easter! I love the scent of these flowers.

6" x 6" / oil on panel / $75

Rabbit sculpture - SOLD

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. ~William Shakespeare

6" x 8" / oil on panel / $75