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

Croak! (frog percussion instrument)

This is a wooden frog that makes a sound when you run the stick up and down the bumps on its back. The stick is then stored in the "cheeks". Cool, eh? I believe this one was a gift from Costa Rica but I've seen them for sale at various fair trade shops, such as Ten Thousand Villages. This was a tough little critter to paint. I think it looks more like a mutant iguana/fish ; )

6"x6" / oil on panel / $75

"Bridge" original oil painting by Kim Rempel - SOLD

Another view of the violin. I think this is a subject I'll go back to many times. There is a lot to tackle. Now I'm looking for some other instruments to get my hands on and paint...

6"x6" / oil on panel / SOLD

Fiddle scroll II, Kim Rempel - SOLD

I did this subject a month ago and wanted to re-visit it. Something quite intoxicating about the form of a violin - curvy shapes and swirls contrasting with hard, straight edges. Complex and fun. The wood colour is an interesting challenge too. I find the colours of what I'm actually seeing are much richer than what I think they would be if I let my mind slip into auto-pilot.

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

"Strobilanthes in autumn" Kim Rempel - SOLD

I know...it's a mouthful. But I thought I'd give the proper plant name. The leaves are so striking. This is an annual (where I live) that I planted in spring and it's just beginning to fade. Love the purple.

This past weekend I was camping in New York and went to the Corning Museum of Glass. Have any of you been there? Wow! What gorgeous work. Glass-blowing demos were offered and it was fascinating to see a vase appear in minutes from a blob of hot glowing glass. It's something I'd love to try. Wishing everyone a good week ahead ; )

6" x 6" / oil on panel 

Ready to go - SOLD

I was feeling the need to paint shoes again ; ) Lots of deep shades, interesting angles...a fun challenge.

6" x 6" / oil / $75

Second helping

So I have to tell you - I am a person who likes my dessert ; ) Especially chocolate and home-baking (the aroma alone makes me happy : ) But usually after I paint dessert, I have absolutely no desire to eat it. Weird, but it completely ceases to be tempting. On a painting note, I really like painting glacé cherries and chocolate together. Something about those two rich colours, side by side, is very satisfying!

6x6 / oil on panel / $75

Cannoli

I stopped at the grocery store on my way in to paint and look what I found! Yum : )

6"x6" / oil on panel / $75

"La Primavera Farm" Kim Rempel, Ontario, Canada

Today I was plein air painting. It was a seriously gorgeous day. Very warm and VERY windy. And today I had a canvas that acted like a sail. My mentor Catherine (who's had more than a little experience in these matters ; ) was a master at securing my easel with ropes, bungee cords and rocks. It allowed me to paint much longer than I otherwise would have, but in the end I succumbed to the elements. All part of the experience : ) And I had to include a shot of these two with whom I spent a good chunk of my day. They are Scottish Highland cows. I think the cuteness factor in this post just skyrocketed ; )

24" x 36" / acrylic on canvas

"Calla" by Kim Rempel, Canada, daily painters - SOLD

These are two gifts I received today. The first is a yellow calla lily from my mother-in-law. Isn't it pretty? A very lovely, uncommon colour. She had dropped it off at my studio just as I was arriving to paint - so there was my subject! A bit of a challenge with the colour shifts but I started squinting like mad and marched forward ; )

The second was from my sister. She and my brother-in-law just came home from a European holiday and she bought two of these for me in Venice. It is a Murano glass-handled paintbrush. I decided to post it on my blog because I think it is a thing of beauty, and extra-fitting being a tool of the trade and all. There is gold leaf mixed in the glass which creates a wonderful glint although it doesn't show well on camera. It's so pretty I'm scared to paint with it! But then wouldn't that be like having candles in your house that you never burn, or keeping plastic around a sofa? LOL. Hmm. I think I will have to paint with one of them at least a few times, clean it really well and then just keep them somewhere I can admire them. Thank you!

6" x 6" / oil on panel / SOLD

Show

A photo from the show today. The display racks my husband made turned out beautifully! They are perfect for displaying 6x6s. My dad made the posters on the left as a surprise : ) Thanks you guys! I met some great new people as well so all in all a very good day. Off to sleep...

Hot June

Yesterday I wasn't feeling well and today I was working all day in preparation for the show tomorrow (or today for those that are reading this Saturday morning : ). I didn't get a painting done but I did a whack of other stuff and will post a picture tomorrow.

So today I am posting a piece I painted one evening in June. I had forgotten my brushes (how many years have I painted outside? doh!) and palette paper. A fellow artist lent me a very small brush and then I used a piece of spare cardboard for a palette. I began roughing in the painting with the little brush and grew frustrated pretty quickly. And as any of you who have had the pleasure of using cardboard as a palette know, it doesn't work! So after a bit I began squirting paint directly on my panel, and then using my fingers (I had snug-fitting latex gloves) to paint. And I LOVE the way it turned out. I like the freedom it brought and I plan to do more finger painting in a few weeks (on purpose! :)

16" x 20" / acrylic on masonite

Zinnia mugshot - SOLD

Maybe drooling over all of Karin Jurick's mugshot portraits crept into the naming of todays painting : ) My zinnias have finally drooped and wilted. This one alone still had some sparkle so it got a close-up. Looking back over the past week, I'd have to say my favourites were "Zinnia feast" and "Zinnia burst". At first I wasn't sure about the latter and almost didn't post it but it's grown to be one of my top two. Funny how that happens. I like this one though, it makes me smile. Thanks for your comments everyone. I truly appreciate what everyone has added to the conversation and often your words are just what I need to hear. And while I can vacillate about mediums and all that jazz, in the end I liked how JanettMarie summed it up: "Acrylic...oil...yes it's all paint!!"

6"x6" / acrylic on panel / SOLD

"Zinnia feast" Kim Rempel, SOLD

This is number five of my zinnia paintings. I was really liking the way the acrylic piece turned out yesterday and wanted to see if it was a fluke
; ) These flowers have about one more day out of them and then they're toast. I've enjoyed all your comments about medium-switching and preferences so thanks for sending. Have a good day!

6"x6" / acrylic on panel / $75

Zinnia bouquet

My trusty zinnias again. So for this one I painted in acrylics. And I think it has quite a different feel! Do any of you regularly switch-up mediums? As I said, I've been painting oils for a year now, but acrylics for many years before that. I definitely have a certain comfort-level with them, but I've really been enjoying oils too. Hmmm....

6"x6" / acrylic on panel / $75

"Zinnia burst" by Kim Rempel, daily painter, Canada

Okay, here is the third zinnia painting. For this one I tried to forget the act of replicating the zinnias as they appeared, but rather the emotional response I was getting from the flowers. I don't mean for that to sound dippy (!), but I wanted to abstract them a bit and just convey the joy of them. So I began painting quickly and intuitively. I'll do a couple more paintings and then I want feedback from all of you as to which pieces you're drawn to (and why?). Thanks in advance : )

6"x6" / oil on panel / $75

Zinnias in vase

I'm exploring the zinnias. A bit of a glare on this one - sorry! I'm going to stick with this subject for a few days and see what happens. I've always thought it would be interesting to paint the exact same subject for weeks on end: really getting the feel of it, breaking it down, building it back up, trying different techniques etc... You would have to do it with something that doesn't wilt or decay. Maybe it will be an upcoming project.

6"x6" / oil on panel / $75

"Market Zinnias", Kim Rempel, daily painter, Canada

After seeing Barbara's flowers, I was inspired to go to the market and and pick up a bunch! These were the brightest I could find - a bunch of hot, colourful zinnias. I love them! I want to explore different methods of painting them so I hope they last a few more days.

We also had lunch with two of our dearest friends at my new favourite spot: The Good Earth. Yum! We ate outdoors, leisurely enjoying our wine, cheese and bread - an awesome time together ; ) Thanks!!

6"x6" / oil on panel / $75

"The Old Guards", Canadian landscape painter, Kim Rempel

Someone mentioned the other day that my landscapes had quite a different feel to them than my still life work. I know! You know, I've painted plein air for years, in acrylic, and just last year began still life, and only began using oils last October after my workshop with Carol Marine. And it just seems this is the way it comes out. Even now, most all of my plein air painting is done in acrylic. Perhaps I will try doing more daily oil paintings plein air, and see what develops. But for now, I just have these different ways I paint depending on the medium I use. This piece was done a couple of years ago at a beautiful property in Ancaster, Ontario.

8"x10" / acrylic on wrapped canvas / $175

"Glow" landscape, Canadian plein air painter, Kim Rempel

I had a lot of running around today, including picking up my new shipment of RayMar art panels. My Mom came along with me so we got a visit in amongst the errands : ) Anyway - I didn't have time to get a painting done but thought I would post this piece I did a while back. What caught my eye when I settled in to paint this was the beautiful evening light hitting the trees and shrubs and making everything glow.

6" x 12" / acrylic on canvas / $135

Getting ready for a sale

I'm getting ready for a sale at a local school in a few weeks. My husband is making some racks to display my daily paintings and so I was grouping them in order to determine size, layout etc... What a difference it makes when you lay similar pieces side by side. I love seeing them this way - it starts to look like a unified body of work : ) When the racks are completed I'll post a photo.

"Yeah baby!", Canadian, daily painters, shoe paintings, Kim Rempel

Uh-huh - these are mine! lol But not a recent acquisition ; ) Do you hear "Delta Dawn" playing in the background? ; ) Actually in the 70s I was too young for platforms though I sure could belt out that tune! These are from the late 90s when platforms made a (wee) resurgence.

6"x6" / oil on panel / $75

"Spaceship Jack", Kim Rempel, daily painter, Canada

This is one of those things they sell at fruit stands this time of year. Kind of a cross between a pumpkin and a gourd. This one is quite squashed and spaceship-looking. My kids picked it out for me to paint
: ) I was really attracted to the long, twisted stem.
Tonight we watched Escape to Witch Mountain from the 70s. Kids movies were a different breed then: they still had tension, conflicts etc... but not the kind that freaked you out, ya know? From this summer's picks I'd have to say "Despicable Me" was far and away my fave. Okay - I'm digressing. Happy back to school for all the Ontario kids out there!
p.s. Thanks for all the pear tips! I now believe it was a red anjou (thanks Roger) but I am going to go back to store and check. A lot of the pears suggested had some green on them too but this one is solid red.
5"x5"x1" / oil on wrapped canvas / $75

"Red pear" by Kim Rempel, daily painters, Canada

I had to paint this beautiful fruit again. Here I did it on white, which is the background I usually use. When I find out what variety it is, I'll be sure to post it. Hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend!

5" x 5" / oil on masonite / $75

"Little red" by Kim Rempel, daily painters, Canada

If anyone knows what type of pear this might be, I'd love to hear from you. I thought it was a "comice" but when I did a search, green pears where showing up. It is such a lovely variety! Beautifully shaped and lushly coloured. Completely fun to paint. I did it on a dark backdrop, different from what I usually do, for some drama! *snap*.

5"x5" / oil on masonite / $75

"Side by side" by Kim Rempel, SOLD

More studying of glass. The bottle in the foreground is from The Good Earth - a LOVELY local place to eat. It's an outdoor restaurant for now, so will be closing before too long. The other is a bottle of Solaz. There is SO much to learn (yes, about wine, but I'm talking about painting :)

6"x8" / oil on panel / $75

"Bottles" by Kim Rempel

So I'm playing with colour and shape. Trying to understand glass at another level. It is challenging. When you begin examining the glass you see hundreds of colours and tonal shifts in the reflections. I do squint, and block in the larger masses and then try to add the variances within the masses. A year ago glass terrified me but now I want to paint it over and over to get to a certain comfort level. And painting babies scares me too...lol. My blogging friend Crystal Cook wrote about it very well : ) So what subject matter freaks you out? Are you ready to tackle it?

Let me know!

6"x6" / oil on masonite / $75