Fall painting inspiration!

With a crazy-busy summer behind me, I had the opportunity to attend a week-long paint course in September, led by my talented friend Cheryl O from London.  (Check out her website at cherylo.ca)   We tried a new style or technique every day for 5 days, and when we weren't painting we were eating royally, laughing, and enjoying the beautiful warm weather, at a cottage near Bayfield.  It proved to be a great kickstart to painting this fall.  I hope to try a few different styles just for fun in the next few months, and see if I can incorporate something new for my work at the Southampton Gallery.  One of the many things I tried was a new red paint, with the pigment PV19.  It became the colour of the week, in great demand for those of us who had to borrow it!  Here are some photos of the work I tried, some of them copies of other painting references we were  learning from:

Here is the whole group of us, with our work-in-progress,

 on the last day:

Now I need to play with these fun and different styles!  I will post the results here, ASAP.  

Back to paints!

After a long, busy time away from my easel, I have just finished a real estate house portrait.  It's good to be back!  I took photos along the way, which I usually forget to do, but which are interesting to look back on..........  

This property is so awesome, I was glad I wasn't in the market for a new home, or this one would have been at the top of the list!  A gorgeous pond, a 4-season sunroom......  I hope this painting gives the previous owners much joy, reminding them of many years of peaceful country living. 

The final result!
watercolour
8" X 10"

                   (But now I have just gone in again and added some paint and ink!)

The Paisley Show is open!

Last night was a wonderful opportunity to meet the artists involved in Paisley's "Nature's Millworks" show called "Saugeen Spirit".  The way Paul and Helen Crysler hung and displayed the art really showed the varied, quality work of our art group!  We were all so pleased at the way the show looked, and at the good attendance for the evening.  The show is on until June 7.  If you're in the area, come and see it!  Most of the work is in the upper gallery, and there is some wonderful jewelry on the main floor you won't want to miss.

 

  

"Nature's Millworks" is hosting the Saugeen Artists soon!

The beautiful Paisley Mill will be the site of the Saugeen Artists next Show, which begins on Saturday, May 7.  Come and meet the artists from 7:00 to 9:00 that evening!  You will find information at naturesmillworks.com.   I will have several pieces there, including these poppy paintings.  It's just the season for them!  And I expect this poppy season will inspire me to do another one or two..........

Another Art Map calendar is on the way!

The Art Map calendar for 2016 invited artists represented on the Art Map   (www.theartmap.com)  to enter a painting again this year.  I entered the painting below, and it got in!

"His sheep hear His voice"
acrylic
20 X 32

This painting is hanging for the month of April in the L. E. Shore Library Gallery in Thornbury at our show called "All Things Bright and Beautiful".  The date for "Meet the Artists" is this Saturday, April 18, from 2 to 4.  I hope to see some of you there.  You will be able to see Aggie's and Sheila's work as well, and purchase Sheila's new book "What is Christmas?" for only $10.  We will also have cards available for purchase.  

"All Things Bright and Beautiful" is up!

Last Wednesday, I met my painting colleagues, Sheila Bannerman and Aggie Stretch, at the L. E. Shore Library in Thornbury with our paintings for the show.  We watched in admiration as two experienced fellows hung all of the pieces we had brought.  They did an amazing job!  Our "Meet the artists" date is Saturday, April 18, from 2:00 to 4:00.  All three of us will be there.  I hope to see some of you that day!  Aggie and I will have cards for sale, and Sheila has a wonderful book she has had published that you will want to look at.  It would make a perfect gift for any children on your Christmas list!  She calls it "What is Christmas?".  All of the illustrations are made with her own plasticene and watercolour scenes.  For only $10 each!


If you can't make it on April 18th, perhaps you can go to see the display between now and April 30.  

Here is some of Sheila's work, including both watercolours and acrylics:

Here are Aggie's colourful acrylics:

And some of my own acrylics:

What a joy it was to see our finished pieces displayed in such a lovely gallery space!

Summer in my Studio

A few weeks ago I went looking for good photo references to pour over for new ideas, and since it was early February the summer photos seemed to call to me!  The reference photo for this painting was taken at the Thornbury harbour a number of years ago.  I did considerable tweaking on it, reducing the boat parts, masts, ropes, etc, to simple shapes, and came up with this painting I called "Labour of Love".   I'm not a sailor, but if I was, puttering on my own boat would be part of my February dreams!  This painting will be on display at the Southampton Gallery, where there are plenty of other sailors waiting for this moment too.  

For those who might be affected, my April show "All Things Bright and Beautiful" has a different date now for the reception.  In order to have all three of the artists there it has been changed to Saturday, April 18, 2:00 to 4:00.  Perhaps part of your visit to Thornbury that day will include a drive down to this beautiful harbour to see the sailing season at its very beginning.

"Labour of Love"
acrylic
24 X 18

Counting More Sheep.....

I've been on a roll with the sheep theme in three more paintings.  If you really want to learn how something looks, try drawing or painting it!  Sheep are such interesting characters to draw.  It would be fun to do caricatures of them, but I have refrained.  They already have personalities.  These three pieces will be part of my display in the show "All Things Bright and Beautiful" at the L.E.Shore Library in Thornbury. The show will be from April 4 to 29, with a reception on Sunday, April 12 from 2:00 to 4:00.

The first painting is of a scene I photographed somewhere in Bruce County.  I stuck closely to the original composition, which I liked right away as it was.  The fence in the front is added, and of course the colours are creative!  I thoroughly enjoyed painting this scene.  The sheep seemed to give it a particular character, right from the beginning.  The painting is quite large, almost 3 feet wide.

"The sheep listen to His voice"
acrylic
20 X 32

The next two are smaller, a foot square.  They were great practice for studying sheep as individuals.

"Contentment"
acrylic
12 X 12

"Looking to the Shepherd"
acrylic
12 X 12

A barn makeover........

After a November acrylic workshop I led using a photo of a local barn for our reference, I promised that I would let the participants know how I finished it.  Here is the original photo:

After working on it at home for a while, this is what I came up with: 

I had changed the roof colour and simplified the landscape, then I let it rest for a while.  I played with it once in a while in the next couple of months, but was never happy with it.  It was so boring!  Finally I got interested in adding sheep to it, and found lots of sheep photos in my references that I have always wanted to try out.  I still wasn't happy with it, until I went to a more whimsical style that I have quite enjoyed working with, and this is the final result:  It's so much more interesting!

It will be in the L. E. Shore library Gallery during the show I am doing with Aggie Stretch and Sheila Bannerman for the month of April this year, alongside some other sheep-ish pieces!

Commissions that get me looking for spring.......

My neighbour and friend, Deanne, asked me to do three happy flower paintings for her hall.  In the middle of winter, I was happy to comply!  These are only 10 X 10 each, but they represent a theme that she and I are particularly fond of....gardening!  I hope to continue the flower theme for a looooooong time to remind me that spring must be coming.  

Another commission that has been happily delivered this week is of a dear pet that had passed away recently.  His name is Cody-- a golden retriever-- which reminded me of my own golden, Max.  Max even sat for me in a photo shoot when I needed more detail!  (Did you ever try taking a photo of a dog profile when he knows you're doing it?)  The final painting is on a 12 X 12 canvas, which makes his face almost actual size.  His owners seemed very pleased with it, which is so gratifying for me.  It was a tricky one to do, since I have only done pet portraits in watercolour.  The hardest part was his lovely curls (which Max does not share).  

"Cody"
12 X 12
acrylic