Jet Euro - SOLD

I think these are so cool. This one belongs to my nephew.

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

Prize winners at Sunset Gallery Juried Show!

Saturday was the opening reception for the Second Annual Juried Show at the Sunrise Art Gallery. My painting "Inksetter pond" won first place and my friend and fellow artist blogger Tammy Hext won second with her gorgeous painting "Leaving Petrolia". Yay! It's a very nice feeling to be recognized this way in and among the inevitable rejections. Tammy - we need some champagne! : )

Work in Progress

Today I was painting in the woods and it was dense, misty, overcast and balmy. For me it was a lot about the branches. And a bit about the colour. I'm tentative about pushing forward on this piece but I don't think it's quite done. I like what I have going in on in the middle of the piece (shown in detail) and the left and am thinking about developing the rest although I don't want it to feel too "done". You know, it's like cooking pasta: you want to stop at al dente and not end up with a pot of mush. Perhaps I need to put it away for a bit and revisit it at the end of the week.

30" x 30" / acrylic on canvas

Celebrating International Artists Day

Nicolette, Kim Rempel

Danae, Gustav Klimt

Snow Clouds, Frank Carmichael, Group of Seven

Kneeling female in orange-red dress, Egon Schiele

Frau mit totem Kind, Kathe Kollwitz

Widows and orphans, Kathe Kollwitz

One blog I belong to (Daily Painters International Art Gallery) requested a special entry to celebrate International Artists Day so I posted a piece I did a few years back, "Nicolette", inspired by the work of Gustav Klimt. I have so many artists who take my breath away, and favourite pictures that move my soul that I thought I would take this opportunity to share a tiny sampling. Above is Klimt's glorious "Danae" and I found an absolutely lovely, elegant slide show of the artist and his works here. It REALLY is worth a look. The reproductions fairly shimmer. I had the good fortune to see his work in person at an exhibit in Ottawa and...wow. But then again there is also the strong, fabulous Group of Seven, Egon Schiele, Kathe Kollwitz (man could she draw - and bring me to tears), and the list goes on... I hope you enjoy looking at these pictures. What are your favourites?

Cockscomb in glass - SOLD

I really love this variety of cockscomb. It looks furry - kind of like a rug. And velvety. And it looks like a brain. That's a whole lot of unusual in one flower ; )

6"x6" / oil on panel / $75

Shimmer, Christie Lake

This is another 36" square painting. This is the one I began last week and then the wind picked up and I lost my reflections. But I continued to work with it in the studio and am pretty happy with the result. I am reading a book about artist Peter Doig and came to this passage yesterday. It meant a lot to me and I thought I'd share it:

"Mistakes are an essential part of everything I make. Many of the paintings are essentially mistake upon mistake upon mistake. That's how they evolve."

I find that great. And very freeing! Thank you Peter.

Stack

I carried this stack of stuff into my studio and set it on the table. It was a cockscomb flower, a container holding my salad, a notepad and a stack of books. I looked at it and with the colours, shapes and angles it looked like a pretty exciting subject to paint (that orange on the Richard Diebenkorn book was the icing on the cake).

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

Pond ice

Okay - you know how I said Wednesdays piece (above) was a work in progress? Well this is what happened to it! lol. It took on a life of it's own. It's acrylic - thus easy to keep adding washes, scrub, spray etc... I've got to say - I'm glad I went at it and didn't feel precious about possibly wrecking it. It felt good to explore and dig around.

18" x 18" / acrylic on wood

Holiday table (a flower for Richard)

Yesterday I received my books from Amazon! GORGEOUS!! I got a book of Peter Doig's work and one by Richard Diebenkorn. It's funny - even a few years ago I don't know that I would have appreciated the bulk of their work as I do today. I find it fresh, immediate and honest. We're always (hopefully!) learning, curious, and seeing things in new ways... I guess I'm exploring that. I painted this piece in a whole new way than I've worked before: equal parts reality, intuition and memory. The flower in the shot glass and the Santa figurine were in my studio - that was the reality. The rest I just "felt". I know I will be creating many paintings as I always have, but I'm also excited and intrigued with a new way of painting and need to explore...
p.s. The "Richard" in the title refers to Mr. Diebenkorn, lest anyone be concerned ; )
6" x 6" / oil on panel / collection of the artist

Reed reflections, WIP

This is the piece I worked on today. It was a different surface: clear-gessoed wood. The paint had a real drag on it, which was difficult to paint with. I am going to add a bit of dappled light in the top part of the painting - otherwise - close to being done.

18" x 18" / acrylic on wood

Oranges on cloth

Playing with simplifying and abstracting a bit - making flatter shapes, experimenting...

~~~

I was out plein air painting today, working on another pond scene. I'm going back to the location tomorrow morning to see if I can finish it. As soon as my sketch was done and I squirted out my first bit of paint, the wind picked up - and stayed up - and my reflections were gone. Not to return : ( I worked from my sketch but I felt a difference from working directly from the water, so back tomorrow morning and crossing my fingers for calm conditions!

~~~

6"x6" / acrylic on panel / $75

Play me a song

Ay-yi-yi! This afternoon I sat down to finally tackle a clarinet and flute and it was kinda complicated! I knew this and guess that's why I'd been procrastinating : )

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

Inksetter Pond

Friday I spent the day with a great group of artists plein air painting (led by Laurie Wonfor Nolan) at a farm in Cambridge. In my heart, I've been working toward abstraction or semi-abstraction for some time and have been feeling a real pull in that direction (I'm speaking of my larger work here, not my daily paintings). You know that feeling when you're in a zone and you get such a rush? I remember one painter describing it as "the paint just falling off the brush". That's how I felt. I went out today and bought three more canvasses this size and just can't wait to get outside again and have a go at it. I think I'm even dreaming about it : ) It's great when you just get filled up with the JOY of painting.

36" x 36" / acrylic on canvas

Red bow - SOLD

Can you tell I love painting these shoes? I think this is the third piece I've done of them. A challenge but I'm also a sucker for that satin ribbon tie.

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

Re-working!

New painting

Original painting

Something about this painting (above) never sat right with me. It left me feeling a little cold or formal. Today I warmed it up and I like it. Not sure about the darker horizontal element running through. Perhaps I should lighten it while still keeping it the darker than the wall? Thoughts? I could use some feedback on this one : ) This is done in acrylic and I believe is 24" square.

Harvest time - SOLD

Today I was painting at The Good Earth and found a few grapes left on the vine - like hidden gems.

6"x6" / oil on panel / $75

Day of plein air painting

Detail of Middletown farm

Middletown Farm / acrylic on birch panel

Concession 2 / 6" x 6" / acrylic on panel

Today I was painting outdoors and it was perfect weather! A crisp, golden autumn day. The first piece I did was Middletown Farm. It is almost finished though I may add a bit more to the sky. This piece was painted in acrylic using my fingers. In summer I had done a piece like this out of necessity (I forgot my brushes) but I had liked the freedom I felt so gave it another go. The support is a piece of gessoed birch panel with the scene sketched using willow charcoal. I forgot to measure the size but believe it is 18"x20". I'll confirm tomorrow.

The second piece was a scene around the corner. I was feeling pretty tired and my concentration was waning but I really wanted to record the scene.

Concession 2 / 6" x 6" / acrylic on panel / $75

Pinecone with gourd

This gourd - or little pumpkin? - has been surviving in my studio the past month so I thought I'd take another stab at it. I paired it with a favourite pinecone. The gourd gave me a fair bit of trouble but I won't hold that against it ; 0

6x6 / oil on panel / $75

In a squeeze

First of all Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians out there! I painted a pumpkin to post for today and then was so busy with cleaning/prep for dinner that I forgot to photograph it when there was still daylight. I tried with a flash but just get flashback so it will just have to be my next post. For now I am doing a re-run from January "In a squeeze". And like I said in winter...Who hasn't felt that?! ; ) And dinner was lovely. Old friends + good food and wine = great times : )

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

Girls camo rain boots

This summer while visiting the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario I saw the exhibit: Camouflage - From Battlefield to Catwalk. It was a fascinating look at the history of camouflage. I must say, after walking through the first part of the exhibit and seeing the original applications it felt like a jolt to see - near the end of the exhibit - the design plastered on children's products and baby onesies. And have any of you heard of Dazzle Ships? Fascinating! After reading about them at the museum I saw the painting "Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool" (1919) by Edward Wadsworth the next day at the National Gallery (shown above). Here is an excerpt on Dazzle Ships from Wikipedia:

At first glance Dazzle seems unlikely camouflage, drawing attention to the ship rather than hiding it, but this technique was developed after the Allied Navies were unable to develop effective means to disguise ships in all weather.

Dazzle did not conceal the ship but made it difficult for the enemy to estimate its type, size, speed and heading. The idea was to disrupt the visual rangefinders used for naval artillery. Its purpose was confusion rather than concealment.^[1] An observer would find it difficult to know exactly whether the stern or the bow is in view; and it would be equally difficult to estimate whether the observed vessel is moving towards or away from the observer's position.^[2]

^{6" x 6" / oil on panel / $75}

Naked bottles

"In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also a great giver of happiness and well being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary."
Ernest Hemingway

A simpler composition today : )

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

Sideways

I set up this selection of bottles (from The Good Earth) and then wondered what the heck I was thinking. A lot of crazy angles, foreshortening and reflections. Yikes! But it was a good challenge and left me wanting to do more. I think my favourite bit is the clear bottle. And thanks for the comments from yesterday. I hadn't heard of a concertina before and it was cool to hear from those of you that had fond memories of them.

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

Concertina - SOLD

This is one of the instruments lent to me by my neighbour. It makes a wonderful sound. I would love to hear it being played by someone who really knew what to do with it ; )

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

Sharky rain boots

da-duh, da-duh, da-duh...

Aren't they fun? Teeth in the front, fins at the back...gotta love 'em. I'll be painting more musical instruments this week because a friend had quite a stash and is kindly letting me borrow them. But for now...watch your toes : )

6"x6" / oil on panel / SOLD

Harmonicas

Whoa. This was a tough one. It really had me struggling. The hues were difficult to discern and it was frustrating. There was a lot to figure out (the harmonica to the right was metal on plexiglass, the other two traditional models). The colours were odd when I tried to pin them down - not silver, not gold, not brass....just a mix of reflective metallic tones. I'm going to have to study this subject again and again to get a better handle on it.

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