Head rest - SOLD

I really like painting empty bottles becasue of all the greens and transparencies. And talk about an exercise in value studies. Squint, squint, squint! Stand back. Multiple times. Drink. (I kid... : )
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / SOLD

2 bottles

"Grape and wine" season will soon be upon us. I live in a wine-making region and every September there is a festival celebrating the noble grape, and more specifically, wine ; ) It gives me a perfect excuse to work on wine-related paintings over the next month! *hic*
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Mystery

The past few days have really been a struggle. For the hours I've spent with a brush in my hand I should have a lot more to show for it! Man...I've had a lot wipe-downs. I wanted to paint my daughter but must have tried 5 times and just couldn't get it. I rubbed them all off but on the last attempt kept the hair. So today I painted this woman from some imaginary space from my head. I like her. She's got my daughter's hair ; )
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Sunny days

A pretty hat my friend wore. I loved how the sun was catching it.
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Superstitions

This painting is for the Daily Paintworks Challenge: Painting a superstition. I found out putting your shoes on a table was bad luck when after I had done it, someone called out in alarm: Get your shoes off the table! They were new, or it was not a table that people ate at or something - I don't go putting shoes on tables normally ; ) It made me laugh but then I came to the conclusion that the superstition was most likely started by a mother who just wanted things clean and tidy! I didn't have my oil paints with me and did this in acrylic. It has a different feel I think. 
6" x 6" / acrylic on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

ART LOVE: In Algonquin Park by Tom Thomson

Image credit:
Tom Thomson, 1877 - 1917
In Algonquin Park, 1914
oil on canvas
63.2 x 81.1 cm
In memory of Norman and Evelyn McMichael
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
1966.16.76

I was at a cottage this weekend and didn't get any painting time in so I decided to post another Art Love : ) Today's offering is from Tom Thomson, the iconic Canadian painter and unofficial member of The Group of Seven. I've read that Thomson's work inspired the Group of Seven's formation although he never lived to see the birth of The Group due to his mysterious, untimely death in 1917. The best book I've found of their work is The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson. The artists painted the Canadian landscape with power, dedication and great spirit. The original seven were: J.E.H. MacDonald, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, Franklin Carmichael, F.H. Varley and Frank Johnston. They later grew to include A.J. Casson, Edwin Holgate and LeMoine Fitzgerald. Tom Thomson and Emily Carr are strongly associated with the Group. I'll be posting much more of their work over the next few months.

Sugar pear - SOLD

We bought these at a road side stand on the weekend. They're new to me - sugar pears. These little beauties are small, classically shaped and full of flavour. One of them still had it's leaves on so it sat in the fridge under strict instruction to "do not eat" (it was too darn pretty).
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / SOLD

David - SOLD

Okay - just having a little fun today ; ) For this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge, David Marine (Carol's husband) put a call out there for people to submit a painting of their choosing to wish Carol a happy birthday. Since she was away teaching a workshop I thought: Hmm...what would Carol want for her birthday?...David! LOL. So I looked at his Facebook profile pic and went to it. Happy Birthday Carol!
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Eggplant from Travis - SOLD

This is an eggplant from my nephew's garden. It sported a beautiful shape and colour and I had to get it down on canvas. The challenge with eggplants is getting the value and colour shifts on all that gorgeous deep-purple skin. Note to Sandra: he doesn't grow celery, or else I would have tried it...lol But I promise to try it soon ; ) 

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

Sweet tower

A pile of baked treats.
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

ART LOVE. "Pies, Pies, Pies" (1961) by Wayne Thiebaud

Pies, Pies, Pies (1961) by Wayne Thiebaud

Oil on canvas / 20 x 30 in (50.8 x 76.2 cm)

So this is what I'm now calling my former "Art I admire" segment. It started to sound kind of lame to me ; )
Anyway...what do you think of this piece? I adore Thiebaud's landscapes - in a BIG way - but I will spotlight them another day. Today I wanted to share pies. Enlarge the piece if you can, or search the image online and try to view it larger. Becasue it's really stunning! I could gaze at them for probably...15 minutes! Straight! He's applied great dashes of colour that surprise you and it all comes together for one marvellous, creamy, decadent painting. If my online sources are corrrect, this piece is at the Crocker Art Museum.
Love.

A little nutty

Almonds, to be specific!
Hoping wherever this Saturday finds you, you are enjoying it : )
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

"Everything's Peachy" Plein Air Workshop at The Good Earth

Demo - Niagara peaches / acrylic / 12" x 16"

Today I ran the plein air workshop "Everything's Peachy" at The Good Earth. Niagara peaches are ripe and delicious! Since peaches were the "official" theme I chose to do my demo in the orchard (although artists are free to paint whatever they choose and had ample sites to tuck away and get lost in). Everyone did great work, ate and drank well, and...well, it's not too shabby a way to spend the day ; ) I'm always so pleasantly surprised at how genuine, warm and generous everyone is. We meet as strangers and leave as friends. Thanks you to all who came out and to the fine crew who fed us so well. Really, I need to paint my lunch before eating it - the plates were a vision.

I have two more classes in the months ahead:

Friday September 16th (The Noble Grape)
Friday October 14th (Golden Hues).  

You can contact me for further information or email The Good Earth directly (link above).

Plum chums - SOLD

More of the shiros! I really love painting yellow plums ; ) Eating them too for that matter.
On a side note: there are 2 openings available for my plein air class THIS Friday at The Good Earth. 10-4pm $80. Includes a scrumptious lunch (Good Earth style!) and glass of wine. July's day was awesome, Friday will be too! Warm, friendly people, a million spots to paint on the grounds...it's all good! You can call them at 905-563-6333 to book. 

Plum crazy

I'm back! It was a great wedding and we got in a whole lot of visiting and sight-seeing. Let me just say that Winnipeg has really stepped up its game in the art department! Case in point is the Oodena Celebration Circle at The Forks (click on link for a 60 second video I found on YouTube) . It is a naked-eye observatory where you look through these sculptural "horns" and see constellations. They are arranged in a circle - kind of on the edge of a "bowl". Oodena is geometrically aligned to the sunrise and sunset of the fall and spring equinox, summer and winter solstices as well as true North. On top of that, each constellation you view is carved into the stone base stone that is supporting it's "horn". When I get my pics uploaded I will share. You can also try a Google search but the pics I found don't quite do them justice.
So today I painted these shiro plums I picked up at the market. They are the tastiest I've had in YEARS! Must have been perfect conditions for plum-growing this year ; )
 6" x 6" / oilon archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Conductor's cap

Today I grabbed my sister-in-law's conductor's cap to paint. It's really cute ; ) The fabric is a plaid which I decided to suggest at the very end. A slippery slope - I didn't want it to get too busy. So with this one, it was a just a lot of squinting to get the main value shapes. Fun to paint! 

On another note, I'm going to take a few days off for a family wedding. If I find some time to squeeze in some work, I will post! 

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

ART LOVE: Girl in White with Trees (2001-2) by Peter Doig

Peter Doig / Girl in White with Trees (2001-2)
Oil on Canvas / 300x200 cm / Collection – Bonnefanten Museum Maastricht

Today I had a list a mile long of things I had to tend to, so...no painting time! But since I didn't post an "Art I admire" on the weekend, I thought I'd do it today. I've waxed on about Peter Doig before. Awesome. Sometimes I feel an uneasy tension (as in this piece) and sometimes just pure wonder when I get lost in his canvasses. I was lucky to see his piece Grand Riviere at the National Gallery in Ottawa last summer and in person, it is a TREASURE! Riveting. Not everyone's cup of tea but man, is he original and I love it.

Espresso to go - SOLD

Often when I do a still life set-up I quite like the "larger" view. That is, when I pull back from the view-finder and take in the surroundings - it offers some interesting shapes! So the black is my shadow box, the white in front of that is some white cardboard I use to lighten things up, and you may recognize the box my espresso cup is on from my painting of Little butter tart last week. To all of you who could use an espresso this morning, this one's for you!
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Melon wedge - SOLD

A thick juicy wedge of watermelon for a summer day. Thank you dear summer for your relaxed days and easy livin' ; ) 

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

Tomato, tomahto

This reminds me of a tomato Tim Burton would have designed. Such a cool vine - looked like it was reaching out to grab something (or someone..mwah ha ha :) I used a palette knife on this one - it had been a while and I just felt like playing with something new. ALSO: A few people wrote to tell me the links to the artists I had tagged on the Seven Links Project didn't work. All I can say is that it was late and I was tired. I'm surprised I didn't screw-up anything else..lol They are now fixed and all is well. Happy weekend!

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

Strange beauty

We bought a bouquet of these at the market today. I painted one last year - they're called cockscomb and a bunch of them together look like a furry brain. How can you not be intrigued by a plant that look like fur! Nature is pretty cool.

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

Pure

That's what this cupcake was called: Pure. I think it was meant as in pure vanilla.
6" x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Little butter tart

Little butter tart on a bakery box. I bought this at The Dutch Shop after enjoying a very homemade-tasting lunch (and I mean that in ALL the best senses!). I've had this box kicking around for a while and today it finally worked itself into a painting. Glad I saved it!
6"x 6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

The Seven Links Project

Crystal Cook, an exquisite painter (and I'm happy to say friend : ), tagged me in the 7 Links Project, which is "To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again."
Hmm! That's something to think about! 
Okay. Well, below are my top 7 links in these categories:
• Your most beautiful post
• Your most popular post
• Your most controversial post
• Your most helpful post
• A post whose success surprised you
• A post you feel didn't get the attention it deserved
• The post you are most proud of
I am to tag other bloggers and so it goes. I love this idea as everyone has posts that get overlooked or buried and are really quite gorgeous and informative! 

My most beautiful post: The Allsorts family

Okay, I spent a lot of time thinking what my most beautiful post was. If I were truly picking based strictly on "beautiful posts", I feel it would the tribute to my grandmother. I feel a strong attachment to her baby photo and of course her memory. But since this is a painting blog, I searched over my work. Yes, there are colourful, delicate flowers, snappy wine bottles...but what makes a painting beautiful? I went back to this piece I painted in February. It was original, a bit quirky and at the time I had said that it turned out just the way I wanted and it made me happy. That's what I strive for daily so choosing today, this is my pick (it could be entirely different next week!)

My most popular post: BLOW-OUT STUDIO SALE 
A whopping number of people visited that post. I guess everyone loves a sale : ) 

My most controversial post: MEN: 2

Hmm. Can't say I've really had one! Perhaps the painting that is the most controversial is the one I did of former Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Just because politics by nature is divisive. But I really love this one!

June pond, acrylic, 16" x 20"

Your most helpful post: Plein air with Laurie Wonfor Nolan - Day 1

I spoke about a tip Laurie gave me using mylar. And from the comments I know it really helped at least one painter ; )

A post whose success surprised you: Glass of lilacs

Hands down this one. I just didn't realize it would resonate with so many.

A post you feel didn't get the attention it deserved: Santa string

Just because I painted it in 2009 and I didn't have many followers. Not many people would have seen it and it's one I've always enjoyed. This is a painting of an old string of Santas made of pipe cleaner with plastic heads, holding bristly trees and wreaths. Probably from the 1930s. It belongs to my Dad (the string and the painting).

The post you are most proud of: Holiday table (a flower for Richard)

Because this was painted with equal parts reality, memory and intution. It's extremely difficult for me to do that kind of work and have it turn out so well. I wish I could regularly repeat it.


I tag the following blogs:
Barbara Muir
Cathleen Rehfeld
Dean Grey
H.W. Dixon
Karen Appleton
Lisa Daria
Suzanne Berry

Enjoy!

Squeeze lemon with sugar

Today this plastic lemon bottle caught my eye. A nice pop of yellow. Actually, it was the contrast of the green lid against the lemony yellow that really made me happy. Isn't it nice when you can feel such a thrill from colour relationships? (smile)

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