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!