Impatient to paint but...

Note to self: Moving, Christmas, and painting, don't seem to go together. Painting has been coming in last on a very long list, thus no blog posts lately. However, I have made a bit of progress imagining my new painting space. It's a very large basement room. One priority for this space is a coffee/contemplation corner...a place to sit and think, imagine, and meditate. I've repurposed a bookcase that was left by the previous owners to give myself some extra shelves and I've got my storage into place. Emptying boxes of supplies, books, reference photos, etc is the next step...before painting. But first, I'm planning on having a very merry Christmas and I wish you and yours the very same! Cheers!

 

 

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A Pink (oil, 6"x6")

In today's painting session, I focused on pink almost exclusively. I've heard that pink is calming and I could use an island or two of calm right now. Between planning for our move, waiting for insurance quotes for basement damage, and sorting through belongings, I haven't had the energy and/or time to paint. When I say I focused... I mean it! I had to take my addled brain and my idle hands to my messed up art room (that's where the water damage is) and force them to focus on painting. It did me a world of good and I don't mind the result either. Cheers!

 

 

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Royal rework (oil, 12"x12")

My oil version of "Royal" has been languishing in my studio awaiting some attention. I gave I a very few minutes to it today to see whether I could make a difference. I like it better with these few changes. What do you think?

Here's the original version...

 

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Bloomin ( oil, 8"x8")

We've had a wonderfully warm summer and apparently the flowers LOVE all the heat! Have a wonderful summer day!

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Lily Cheer (oil, 8"x10")

Just a little bouquet from our yard to brighten up the house. I love both the bright yellow lilies contrasting with the dark red/green foliage and the green of the antique jar I put them in. I'm loving painting still life right now. Good thing because I haven't got enough time and/or energy to be painting outside much this year. Cheers!

 

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Out to Sea (oil, 6"x6")

Just across the sandbar is the open sea... Somewhere. I've been tinting a few of these little 6"x6" deep canvasses when I've had landscape friendly paint left on my palette. This canvas suggested a cloudy scene and this came from that suggestion. Cheers!

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Monday (oil, 8"x10")

Monday was always the day for laundry where I grew up. How about you? Have a great day!

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Garden Pot (oil, 6"x6")

This painting has been a long time in developing. It started out with an allover blue layer which was allowed to dry. Then, each time I painted, I used what I scraped off of my palette on this canvas. The goal today was to resolve this one. I love the texture in this little guy. Cheers!

 

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Evening Farewell [oil, 8”x10”]

This is a gorgeous time of year when the sun sets in the northwest and we have the softest evening light.  The swells are gentle and the sun sparkles before it slips behind the surrounding hills.  I took the reference photo for this painting in August 2010 when Ron and I visited Chuck and Elaine’s lake home in Sorrento, BC.  What a gorgeous, special place it is!  Wonderful memories to cherish forever.

Geranium Red (oil, 8"x10")

This week, despite fantastic weather, I've been painting inside. I am trying out a couple of new tools on my iPad. First, I took a photo of my still life setup with my iPad and opened it in an ap called Value Viewer. I made the image black and white and played with the program until I felt I had a decent value pattern. Then I formatted the image to my 8"x10" size, added grid lines, and sketched the outline on my panel. Finally, I painted.

This is the black and white image I was sketching from. I think this will be a helpful tool for studying subjects. It has a notan feature as well, which I found useful for confirming relative lightness and darkness of portions of my subject and simplification. I like the way the flower turned out in this and it was a lot of fun to paint. I do want to work on my drawing skills though... This bowl is not quite the right shape. Cheers!

 

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Columbine (oil, 8"x10")

Here's a little plein air painting I did with my friend and mentor Sharon Williams a couple of weeks ago in her garden. I was struggling on this particular day due to having had dry brushes for several weeks. One of the most important things I've learned as an artist is this: keep your brushes wet if you want to learn! I really want to learn, therefore it's critical that I get painting again and stay painting regularly. Right now I'm working out how I can carve time for this out of a busy life... A few minutes at a time.

Cheers!

 

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Leighton View [8”x10, oil]

Last Saturday I wandered out to Leighton Centre to do some plein air painting.  It’s nice out there on the weekend as there are a number of other artists painting and other folks visiting the gallery and schoolhouse.  It certainly makes me feel less nervous about the cougars that have been seen prowling around in that area lately!!!  Anyway, this is a bit of the vast, panoramic view from the Centre…  if you live near Calgary but have never visited the Leighton Centre, you are missing out!!!

Cheers!

Summer Gems [8”x10”, oil]

I picked these fleurs in my garden and set them up as a little still life today.  It feels great to be painting again.  I’m still quite busy and many things in life are up in the air…  but painting helps keep my perspective and focus.  I’m thankful for the things it brings into my life!  Cheers!

Getting ready for another show…

I returned home from an awesome trip to Cuba on Monday.  I made some quick adjustments to “The Ride” and “Beach Buds” yesterday and included them in my jury submission for the FCA’s Absolutely Art show May 12.  I felt the skin tones were too light and cool in my first postings [links above].  I like them better now.  What do you think?

The Ride [oil, 9”x12”]

Summer routines are wonderful to look back at and forward to…  One of the great things about spending time at Moose Lake Gospel Camp is the waterfront activities.  The kids love ALL of it but having a generous boat owner willing to pull them on the tube is a highlight.  In this painting I’ve tried to capture the joy of the ride. 

Cheers!

First to Bloom [oil, 9”x12”]

Ron brought me these lovely spring-time tulips last week.  They were all tightly closed at first and then one pink and white opened before all the others… 

 

Here’s a photo of the tulips and my original rough sketch.  It was fun to get back into the studio even if just for a few hours.  I’ve missed it as life has been pretty busy lately.  Happy Spring!

Punta de Mita Dreaming [oil, 16”x20”]

Since yesterday’s earthquake I’ve had Mexico on my mind.  Since skies are one of my favourite subjects to paint, I used a photo taken at a hilltop restaurant in Bucerias as the basis for this painting.  It was such a dreamy, warm, contented evening of dining and relaxing with friends, Stu and Maureen.  The landmass on the lower right is Punta de Mita.  Cheers!

Tokyo Beach Buds [oil, 9”x12”]

The two little people on the left are my grandkids, Kalista (6), and Kai (3).  The gal on the right is a new friend the kids made on Decks Beach near Tokyo Teleport.  This is an amazing area in Tokyo Bay…  man made islands with fun things for families to do and connections via ferries, boats and trains.  We had so much fun.  Cheers!

Hakone Autumn [oil, 16”x20”]

This is the first time I’ve attempted to paint a fall landscape from our trip to Japan last November.  The colors are intimidating blends of the brilliant compliments…  green maple leaves morph from green to red and many leaves retain some of each.  Yet it doesn’t make mud like it would on a painter’s palette!  Creation is amazing that way…

I’m not through with this yet but it has to dry before I can finish off the final few strokes.  Have a great weekend everyone!

MY NEW PAINTING – Cameron Bird’s “Chisel Peak”

I’m so excited to have my new Cameron Bird painting installed…  Artym Gallery dropped it off last Monday and it looks wonderful in the spot I chose for it.  See what you think…

Cameron paints in a very chunky, direct style that simplifies without losing sight of the subject. I love it! 

East of the Rockies [oil, 9”x12”]

I joined my friend Sharon on Tuesday afternoon for some “car painting”.  It was my first experience with plein air from the back of a car and it was fun!  I pretty much reworked this entire painting when I got home though…  and I like it better now.  I was feeling the farming aspect of this scene – the grain bins and the rows left over after last fall’s harvest.  The idea of that is coming through better now.  However, I’m struggling with the “less is more” concept of plein air.  I need to be more selective and simplify more…  that apparently takes years to learn, not just a mere few months.  Cheers!

Maui Big [oil, (8”x10”]

I’ve reworked this painting recently… After my October 15th post, I realized that I messed on up on the size of the people and therefore the beach wasn’t reading “BIG” at all. I think I missed the value on the water and the wet sand on the first go too.  I think I like it better now…  I wish I was there! Have a great weekend!