Western Glow [oil, 11”x14”]

When God blesses us with a sunset here in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, it is spectacular! I painted this today from a photo I took last summer.  The sun sets far in the north in the summer and the view from the balcony of our Crestmont home was an amazing place to watch the magic – I miss that balcony now.  We don’t have the same view, but it’s a very short walk to another great sunset viewing spot here in Tuscany [Calgary NW].  These blue mountains are beautifully draped in snow right now – it’s another type of gorgeous.  Cheers!

Spring’s Hidden Gems

Spring on the prairies is heralded by the crocus, purple/blue and feathery, opening with the cool spring sun.  I wanted to keep this feathery and wispy with the focus on the crocus blooms.  They last such a short time that they must be enjoyed in situ and quickly.  Enjoy!

Rock Isle Lake Thaw [oil, 16”x20”]

This painting has been reworked since I posted it on February 18th.  Taking a more critical look at this made me realize that I had lost the value pattern [see the previous post for the red and black version] that I was going for.  Those of you that have been up to Sunshine Meadows know that there are many spots to view this lake from.  To get back to my original value pattern and simplify, I replaced a section of the foreground with water.  I also warmed up the bottom of the sky just a bit, showed some warmer and lighter sections on the mountain above the isle, and added more of a bank on the isle.  I hope you like it!

The Gloaming at Sheep River Falls [oil, 24”x24”]

I’ve been preparing for the FCA Spring show and the CCPS juried show, which are both coming up on March 10 here in Calgary.  I will have 4 paintings in the CCPS show at Heritage Park and, hopefully, a few at the FCA “All Things Spring” show in Edgemont .  More to come on this later. 

Yesterday I did some more work on this painting and it’s off to the FCA jury now.  I’m getting the feeling that I was looking for in this painting now; the sense of late light across the foothills behind just hitting the tips of the trees and the bright sky still reflecting lightly on the river and rocks.  This spring day was beautiful!  Enjoy!

The Gloaming at Sheep River Falls WIP [oil, 24”x24”]

I’ve been working on this painting for the past couple of days.  I began it just like the last two and I think this subject is perfect for that method because of it’s distinct areas of lights and darks.  Subjects with lots of patterns of darks and lights would be much more difficult to pull off. 

I find it very useful to post my paintings as work in progress…  it forces me to do some of the critical thinking that may have gone by the wayside as I listen to music and push paint around.  In this case I think the larger shapes are holding together alright.  But, I’m struggling mightily with the trees that are overlapping on the left – one is on the foreground bank and the other is across the falls and below.  I’m pretty sure the far tree is going to be cut down tomorrow…  I’m mulling it’s fate over this evening :)

Cheers!

Rock Isle Lake Thaw [oil, 16”x20”]

 This is the second painting done using a method demonstrated by Rick Berg last at my CCPS meeting.  The steps differ from the usual way I paint in oils in several respects.  For those that are interested in those steps, here they are in short:

This is a photo of Rock Isle Lake on Sunshine Meadows.  It’s gorgeous!  This was an early June day and we had 3 seasons in 5 hours – fall, winter, and spring.  I have another photo from a slightly lower and wider angle that I photoshopped [adjust, threshold] to convert to simple black and white shapes.  I had a board previously painted red and I sketched these large shapes onto it, first with pencil and then outlined with a black Sharpie. 

I then painted these shapes with black acrylic gesso.  Once that was dry I glazed the entire surface with acrylic Transparent Red Iron Oxide [Golden’s].   Then I got out my oil paints and worked in the lighter colors for sky, water, and the highlighted rock shapes.   I left the greens and finishing the rocks until the last stage.  At this point I found I was painting as I normally do…  but I got a bit stuck on the reflections.  I found a YouTube video that helped quite a bit.  I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out and I think I’m finally beginning to paint with a particular style of my own.  It’s the largest oil painting I’ve done.  Once this is dry I may go back into it and up the contrast in the sky just a bit.  Enjoy!

Elbow River Jam 2 [oil, 11”x14”]

Last fall I joined the Calgary Community Painters Society.  Our Wednesday meeting last week featured a 90 minute demo by Rick Berg.  He has a unique method for establishing his areas of dark and he shared it with us.  This painting was developed with that method.  In my next post I will spell out the steps.  Check out Rick’s work and the CCPS websites if you are looking for some eye candy.  Cheers!

Sheep River Sideshow [acrylic, 9”x12”]

I built up lots of texture on this panel before beginning to paint this landscape.  I blocked in the darkest areas by squinting and then applying the darkest values onto the board loosely and vaguely.  Today I began to apply the middle colors and I’ve got a lot more of that to do as well as establishing the areas of waterfall.  Honestly, I’m getting way too detailed on this and I’ve got to let go of that or else it’s going to be way too tight.  Pushing the pause button for now…  cheers!

Koi [acrylic, 22”x30”]

My short painting session today brought these Koi to this point.  I’m getting to like this one more and more.  The photo I had was from a rainy day and the dullness that has shown itself in the painting reflects that.  There were not many bright reflections in the water and, although the Koi shapes aren’t anything like my reference photo, I captured the type of day.  Cheers!

Positive Flash [Mixed Media, 16”x20”]

I last posted about this painting on January 12.   It was beginning to feel like a storm landscape and I’ve taken it further along those lines…  but kept it very abstracted. 
Storms lean heavily towards abstraction for me.  It’s interesting to dwell for a moment or two on the positive aspects of thunderstorms:

• Thunderstorms are a direct result of atmospheric heating and increased air convection. Thunderstorms and also hurricanes are a primary cooling mechanism for the earth
• Thunderstorms provide water to vegetation and also to lakes and reservoirs. Storms provide about 50 percent of the rainfall to the eastern United States, and 70 percent to the western US.
• Storm winds distribute seeds and pollen, and help remove old and weak vegetation and so make way for new growth
• Lightning strikes liberate nitrates which fertilize the soil. Lightning produces about 20 percent of the nitrogen to the soil per year, about 250,000 tons of nitrogen to the whole earth every year
• Additionally, the updrafts and other wind effects remove large amounts of pollution, transporting it aloft, as well as storm rainfall washing pollution out of the air
  Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_benefits_of_thunderstorms#ixzz1kPsQO1vJ

I’ve been pondering the similarities between thunderstorms and the storms of personal experience.  Here’s an example of how my thoughts ran as I painted this week…  managing back pain and fatigue has been taking up way too much of my time!!!!!  As I returned to a diligent pacing regimen [proper rest, more exercise, LESS SITTING!!!], I feel a kinship to this painting.  We have had a rather stressful several months, and a very fun-filled fall 2011 – but it was exhausting.  Apparently I needed the forced rest and the personal growth that never fails to come when I watch my health more closely.  All the features of grief apply to this loss of health I’ve experience since 2005: denial, pain & guilt, anger, depression, and acceptance.  These 5 in a continuous loop with shorter and shorter stops in the first 4 and longer periods of acceptance.  The analogy of the storm provides these benefits personally lately:

• I’ve taken the time to cool off and regroup my thoughts [cooling]
• I’ve paid attention to my mental and spiritual needs [rain]
• This storm blew through unannounced but, admittedly it was not a surprise…  It’s blown seeds or thought around and helped me prioritize some activities.  [wind]
• Jolts of pain wake me up and cause me to live more simply and intentionally.  Also, that pain makes the soil of my life more fertile [lightning]. 
• In general, my back pain can [as much as it hurts to admit it], remove the junk from my life like the wind and rain purify the earth and atmosphere. 

Here’s the rub…  to get the positives out of the storm we have to have faith and trust that they are there and get busy looking for them.  I suppose I should get started on that :-)
Cheers!