Pitcher with pears

Long-time readers of my blog (and with good memories : ) may remember what canvas I re-purposed this from. This one changed a number of times. I've posted photos of two previous incarnations below and the way it last looked can just be described the vase on an all white background. I brought this to paint over on Monday (studio time with Laurie) because it had always felt a bit isolated and staid to me. However, when I looked at it on the easel I really liked what was going on with the flowers and didn't want to cover them. An artist next to me was painting a set-up of fruit, a milk pitcher and a candlestick. I looked at it and wondered if I could incorporate my flowers into that setting and have it look integrated and complete. And here is the result. 

p.s. I'm not really keen on the title. If anyone's got a better idea, I'm all ears!

acrylic on canvas / 24" x 24"

Melmac and sugar

So this is another in my series of re-purposing old paintings. I had begun a rough painting of a memory of my Mom from the 60s wearing a pink skirt, jacket and tinted hosiery (think Jackie O.) In behind I had started to rough in our wall paper from that time. It was white with a red velvet design. (Mom has flair). Anyway, it wasn't going anywhere and so I thought I'd paint over it. It was my second painting yesterday and I was tired and couldn't settle on a still life set-up. I aksed Laurie if she could whip something up and I told her I really loved her melmac cup and her Corningware sugar pourer. She grabbed an apple, plopped it in the cup and set in on a Redpath apron. And it was on a formica table to boot! Well! It was perfect. It really made me think of a time gone by and suddenly the painting that I had begun of my Mom seemed like the perfect pairing. I included Laurie's coffee maker (on the right) and a bowl. I was going to paint in the background but ended up leaving the pink (which was my Mom's skirt) and the little red velvet loops that were the beginning of the wallpaper design. Sometimes you just love a painting right of the bat and that's how I feel about this one : )
This painting is acrylic on canvas and I think it's 16x20. I'll measure it in the morning.

Winsor blue

Never used it until the last couple of years and now I can't get enough of it : )
6"x6" / oil on archival panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Cheers! - SOLD

These are bottles from The Good Earth. The one on the right is their rosé which I enjoyed this summer. I am so seduced by the colour of that rosé! So much fun to paint. By the way, I will be at The HandMade Christmas Market at The Good Earth November 26+27th, 11-4pm (yep. promoting it again : ) Mark it on your calendars! The perfect place to get your Christmas shopping done. And you'll be supporting local artisans. It's about as  far as you can get from the "big box" experience ; ) Oh, and did I mention that you can shop while strolling around with wine or coffee or hot apple cider? And delectable food aromas are wafting about? AND it's free admission? Yep - that's what I'm talking about ; )

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

Up and away

I actually did another 6"x6" today but by the time I got home it was too dark to photograph it. So after months of needing a real break from painting small, it seems I'm able to enjoy it again. Maybe I was just a bit burned out.
Anyway, I decided to pull another one from the vault. This is a larger acrylic - 24"x30" - that I did a few years back. Sometimes you tuck things away and don't look at them for a while and then it's a pleasant surprise to make their acquaintance again. That's how I feel about this tree ; )

Friday vino

I painted a small one today! It's been a long time!! So here it is - a bottle of vino. Happy Friday!
6" x 6" / oil on panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Evergreen + the Christmas HandMade Market!!

I painted this at my last Good Earth "Eat.Drink.Paint" event. It began as my demo and then I was able to work on it later in the day. 

And exciting news! November 26+27 I will be at the Christmas HandMade Market at The Good Earth. Last years event was so festive and, well...all around wonderful that you'll really want to come if you're within manageable driving distance. Here's a short video from last year so you can get a flavour of the weekend. I highly recommend it! And hey - you could probably finish a good chunk of your holiday shopping!

acrylic on canvas / 12"x12"

New website up and running!

Wallace Mountain, Yukon / acrylic / 20"x24"

And loaded with work! I'd love it if you could take a minute to check it out ; ) A huge thank you to James who worked so hard on it for me. The best part about this site is that I will be able to upload new work on my own, so it is current! My work is divided into the following categories: Landscape, Still Life, Figure, The St. Nicholas Collection, Others, Collage, and Photos. These are all larger paintings. My 6"x6" daily paintings remain dedicated to this blog.

Back in the day

So yesterday was my class with Laurie Wonfor Nolan. We went on a field trip to Southworks Antique Mall. It was my first time being there and I'm a little bit in love...lol. We were free to roam the place, set-up wherever we wished and PAINT! How cool is that? Southworks is Canada's largest antique mall and everywhere you look is a treasure. I opted to paint this oven. I was attracted to it immediately and think it was the black and white thing again. The tea towel, black enamel trim, vent holes etc... it was just really interesting.

acrylic on canvas / 16"x20"

Oak at sunset

When I was cleaning my studio this past week I hung up a bunch of pieces that had been stacked in piles against the wall. I unearthed a few I'd forgotten about. These paintings are of the same oak tree. The top painting (at sunset) was the first one I did. It's 12" square. I loved the tree so much that the following week I went back to paint it again but this time I brought a large canvas (I can't remember exactly - maybe 36" square?) It now resides in Amsterdam (Cheers Michel & Sonia!). Again I notice how the first time round I was very detailed. I find sometimes when I'm really trying to understand a subject I often paint it this way, and then the second time I have the info stored in my brain and I can just go. 

Studio Table - Done!

Okay - I'm finished! I had a lot of fun with this piece. There was a lot going on. The challenge was to keep everything loose as I continued to work away. I had a reader ask me why I had painted this - what did I want this grouping of things to say - I don't know! I really was just painting a corner of my table. A small piece of my daily environment. It's a warm and comfortable bit of happy clutter.

Still life...work in progress

So this is how it's currently looking. I've resolved the issues I was having on the left by adding a tree figurine and extending the branches. Next comes re-working the background (again) and fixing up a few things on the cupboard. Liking it though! I worked and re-worked the problem as I was falling asleep the past couple of nights. It seems to be the best time for me to figure out art problems!

"Take a kid to work" day=CLEAN STUDIO!!

Today I had the good fortune of having one of my wonderful nephews come to my studio for "Take a kid to work" day. As I was pondering what we would do together a picture of my dreadfully messy studio popped into my head. *Bingo!* We would start the day with a clean-up followed by a reward of plein air painting in the afternoon. As we neared noon, Jake saw how much we still had to do and he kindly told me we didn't need to paint, we could continue cleaning. Seriously?

Awesome!

So clean we did. You may remember this picture I posted the other day:

First we cleared everything out, filling up another room.

Which then looked like this (and you're seeing the good side! lol):

Then, onto cleaning the floors. That's a serious shine!

Next we began hanging art. That took a looong time.

Jake had a great idea to hang my mini's in a gap between paintings. I love it! They look so cute there ; )

You can see baseboards!

And a clean floor ; )

Ta-da!! I can't tell you how good it feels to have so much of the art hanging instead of stacked in piles leaning against the walls.

And he even gave me flowers. A good day.

Thank you Jake for being so helpful! I REALLY appreciated it! Can you skip school tomorrow? ; )

My monster quilt

Today I began re-working the Moose painting from yesterday but ended up being needed elsewhere...plans shifted! So I decided to post a picture of my monster quilt I got back from the quilter's the other day. 

This quilt began around 2007 when I decided to transfer the monster drawings my kids were making into stitchery/quilt squares. I enlarged their drawings on the photocopier so that they were roughly the same size. Then when it came time to choose fabric I stayed true to the colour schemes they had chosen. I wanted to keep their vision through the process as much as possible. I love how kids draw. It's so fresh, pure and unself-conscious.

There are two people I want to thank:

1. My dear friend Iris H. made a piece of stitchery from one of her children's drawings (probably 30 years ago?) and it was one of the most poignant and charming things I've seen! Maybe I can photograph it sometime and post it on the blog. There's a cool story behind it. Anyway - that was my inspiration. Thanks Iris - you have the coolest things ; )

The second person is Donna B. - a creative quilter who has been extremely helpful: first in teaching me how to embroider and hand stitch and then by sewing together my squares. She'll also be finishing it for me. If it weren't for Donna the squares would still be stacked in a pile on my closet shelf. Thanks Donna!

So I just love looking at it! It's a great memory from a period of their childhoods and it makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy ; )

Work in progress

Today was studio day at Laurie Wonfor Nolan's. An extra treat on Halloween ; ) I began by painting over this piece I started a few years ago when I was in Arizona. My favourite part so far? The cloth on the left! So I had laid in the coral background just before I finished up for the day and it's not working yet. I need to do some compositional work on the left side of the piece, alter the colour and value etc... Still thinking about the colour for the back - maybe something much lighter/neutral? Anyway, just have to think on it for a while! I can feel it coming together!

Studio table - work in progress

This is my progress from the other day. I'm happy with how this is shaping up though there's still more to do. Sorry for the photo quality - I was in a rush and it shows!  

ARTLOVE: Crystal Cook

Today's ARTLOVE is a little different - I'm highlighting the work of an artist I actually know! Well, Crystal and I have never met in person but we chat. And she is a kindred spirit. And she is AWESOME. She is at the top-of-her-game as an artist (wait till you scroll down and see her work!) but she is also an equally gifted writer. Her posts are a double treat because first you are visually mesmerized, and then you read what she wrote and you feel:

1. happy (huzzah!)

2. encouraged (she's a great motivator)

3. pumped! (has you believing you're going to paint your best piece tomorrow!)

4. warm (well, you know, she writes about family life, art, motivation...stuff I'm kind of interested in : )  

and best of all she always makes me smile. And you can't underate a genuine daily smile.

If you don't know Crystal's blog, you must check it out here. And her website is here.

And now...to her paintings!

Self Portrait of My Soul / gouache / 10"x14"

I found out Crystal likes Kathe Kollwitz as much as I do. And I think Kathe Kollwitz would have been proud of this piece. Look at that fierce look in Crystal's eyes! Protection, man!

Daily Escape / watercolour / 6"x6"

You think she just does portraits? Au contraire! Look at the reflections in the tea, and on the table - and at the awesome little wolf. This one blew me away.

Sparkle / watercolour / 7"x9"

One of my favourites. Perfect.

Sketch

Snap! She can draw like no one's business!

Hope / watercolour / 7"x9"

Warm, rich colour. Crystal makes skin glow.

Pensive / watercolour / 10"x14"

Another one of my faves. So much mood in this piece. I feel like I know this young woman. Perfectly suited palette.

Joy, unrestrained / watercolour / 10"x14"

Well, how can this not fill you with love and joy? Just crazy. 

A-Punk, self portrait / watercolour / 8"x10"

She makes it look easy. Look at that SKIN!

Intensity / watercolour / 10"x14"

Solid.

Bundled Up / watercolour / 7"x9"

Textures, expression, composition. Love.

I also want to give Crystal a heartfelt thank you for the interview she did of me on her blog. They were interesting (and quirky) questions that really made me think. And the lightning round was completely fun ; )

Studio table - work in progress

detail: Studio table, work in progress

Studio table so far...

drawing

my set-up

My mess! Holy smokes. I really need to spend a day cleaning but all I want to do is paint ; )

Thank you for your title suggestions on yesterday's painting. They made me laugh. You're a creative bunch out there in blogland. Three of my favourites were:

The Chair Moves In 

Chairs Matter Too 

(thank you Barabara Muir - you were on a roll - I love it! Those two in particular really made me laugh)

The Ruby Chair - Wish I Were There 

(from my friend Elisabeth who pointed out it even rhymes...lol ; ))

So the piece today is a section of my studio table. Yep. I'm even showing you my painting space. You know I must feel very comfortable with you to share the messy bits : ) That's okay - it will act as a "before" picture and you'll be extra wowed when I post the "after". 

Something a little weird...

A bit of a story here but bear with me:

I had a half hour or so left yesterday and decided to paint Laurie's terrific little red chair again. So overtop an old canvas it went. I had the chair painted, and was going to quickly lay in a ground, background, and rectangular shape down the left, and was pondering it over when Laurie walked by and said: Leave it! 

And I laughed and said: It's a little weird! To which she replied: Yes, it was. And we laughed and looked at it a bit. Then we got silly and she said it brought to mind Mona Lisa - how she always felt the landscape had been kind of artifically plopped in behind her (sorry Laurie - I'm really paraphrasing here!), and that this chair was kind of like that. Then I laughed and said (with the way I had indicated the graphic rectangular shapes to be painted) that if I'd turned the chair in profile it would be like Whistler's Mother! LOL!! (art humour? overtired?)

Someone else said it could be an ad for moving to the country ; )

So, yes, it's odd and quirky and weird, but for now I'm leaving it! Can anyone think of a title, now knowing the back story? Something different from Mona Lisa's Chair? ; ) Although, that's kind of growing on me. 

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother by James McNeill Whistler.

Studio sink

Today was my studio day with Laurie Wonfor Nolan. Yay! It really makes me love Mondays ; ) So today I painted her sink. Ever since I walked into her studio I have admired her sink. It reminds me of art school. And today it had these fabulous tea towels hanging over it. In keeping with my resurrecting old canvasses and painting over them, this one used to be this peach tree demo:

So I think I put it to good use! I'm really loving this one.

Studio sink: 12" x 16" / acrylic on canvas