"Elvira and Friends"

What a fun painting to work on!  This was a commission I just finished for Diane and Gary Fischer, owners of Hoity Toity Cellars in Mildmay, Ontario.  These sheep took on personalities as I painted them.  I took lots and lots of photos of them on their home territory at Hoity Toity, and then had the challenge of rearranging them on the canvas to suit the composition.  They seem to be looking at us, at the same time we are watching them!  

"Elvira and Friends"
acrylic
24 X 30

The Saugeen Artists Store is almost ready to open!

Members of my art group "The Saugeen Artists" have been working for days to get the store ready for the opening Wednesday.  It's so wonderful to see the artwork coming in the door!  There is jewelry,  pottery, metal work, cards, handmade journals, and of course paintings.  All kinds of paintings, and in all sizes!  

Here are a few of the new pieces I have ready for this year.  They are 11 X 14, using acrylic and collage.  
I love anything to do with lettering, so they were a lot of fun to make!  

A painting goes to a hospital!

I was pleased to find out that my painting "Nature's Cathedral" was chosen for the Momentos Juried Show which originated from the Owen Sound Hospital.  50 paintings were chosen to hang in several hospitals in the Owen Sound area.  It will be interesting to see which one it will hang in, for the duration of a year.  I submitted a short paragraph about my "Canadian Moment" as well, which will hang with the painting.  Here is the moment I chose:

On a warm, brilliant autumn day I go walking leisurely through our maple bush with my family.  Leaves rustle under our feet.  Squirrels scamper to their hideouts.  Our laughter rises to the tree tops.  Does life get any better than this?  But then we turn a random corner and come to a sudden stop.  Before us is a blaze of gold and red, that God himself created for us in our own maple cathedral--  this is my Canadian moment!

"Nature's Cathedral"
acrylic
30 x 20

My newest painting has found a home............

..........in Medicine Hat Alberta!  This painting is similar to a previous one that had sold from the Southampton Gallery a couple of years ago.  My new art collector friend asked for a few changes, and this is what I created.  I find that I often miss a painting that is sold, and while I do miss this one, I'm pleased that it has already found a wall to call home.  Thank you, Leigh!  I hope you enjoy it!  

"The Family Farm"
acrylic
18 X 24

SOLD

Fall acrylic painting classes.........

Chesley Community Church will again host the next two paint classes that I lead.  Tuesday,  September 12 we'll be painting sunflowers.  I will try to bring some real ones as well as photo references.  It's always such a pleasure to paint these happy flowers!

Tuesday, October 17 we'll try autumn landscapes. 

Check out the Classes Page on my blog for more details and a list of supplies.

Another real estate home

I quite enjoyed getting back into some real estate painting for a local agent.  Here is the first one I've done for a long time.  I chose a natural wood frame that looked rustic, for this cute, homey cottage. 

These are painted with watercolour, over an ink drawing, on 8 X 10 Arches watercolour paper.  I frame them for a real estate agent to give to a seller, or sometimes even to a buyer.  I've done about 5 dozen of these in the past 10 years!

South Grey News | Local art, food and wine

Last week, Friday August 11, I attended the Art Map Calendar Show and Sale reception.  What an honour!  Here is a coverage of the event. The photo below shows me on the far left, with two of my paintings peeking out behind me.   Thank you Barb Pearn for creating the Art Map calendar, and allowing me to contribute to it!

    Here is the painting I did that was chosen for the calendar:

It will soon be returned to the Southampton Arts Centre.

An August Art Map Show

There are so many Art Shows and Studio Tours during the summer and fall!  You can check out many of them on the Art Map website here.  If you scroll down on that page you can sign up for regular emails about upcoming shows and art events. I will be involved in one of them, on August 11 to 13.  It's called the Art Map Landscape Calendar Show and Sale.  My entry in the 2018 Art Map calendar will be there, 

along with a couple of my other pieces.  And, of course the calendars will be for sale!  The show will be held in the Kimberley Community Hall.  More details, including directions, can be found on the Art Map website, by looking here.  I hope to see some of you at the reception Friday night!

Thank you Cheryl!

I enjoyed a great painting class at a "cottage" near Bayfield a few weeks ago, under the teaching of my artist friend Cheryl O.  I always come away from Cheryl's classes with a few inspired but unfinished paintings!  I finished this one over a week or so ago, and haven't even given it a title yet.  (It's harder for me to name a painting than it is to paint it.........)  We started this one with an assortment of items from the kitchen, and all of us came up with a different arrangement.  The purpose was to use a Matisse style that was loose and free.  You may notice a bit of a wonkiness about it.  I didn't worry about being exact, and it was way more fun that way!  

Cheryl teaches many different art classes in her home town of London, Ontario.  I highly recommend them!  You can see her website here.  

Untitled
acrylic
16 X 16 

Tea and Oranges

Another recent painting lesson at my church was on a kitchen theme.  Some of the participants brought items from their own kitchen to include, and even took photos beforehand to have as references.  I started "Tea and Oranges" at home, to begin a demo, and finished it afterwards.  The title is from a song--  perhaps you remember Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne".  In the song there are the words "...and you feed her tea and oranges that come all the way from China".  And my favourite tea really is Earl Grey!   I was tempted to call it "Earl Grey--  hot".  Science fiction fans may recall Captain Picard asking his replicator for his favourite drink........  

"Tea and Oranges"
acrylic
12 X 16

Announcing Spring!

During a recent acrylic class that I was teaching I was encouraged by my demo to finish this crocus piece.  There are several layers on the background, because the participants and I wrestled with how to finish off the painting to make the crocuses shine!  I attempted to create sunshine from the left, landing on the crocus petals.  It's always a joy to paint the first flowers I see in the spring.  

"Announcing Spring"
acrylic
12 x 16

Great News!

I am so pleased to report that my latest painting "Saugeen Spring" was accepted for the 2018 Art Map Landscape Calendar!  It is such an honour for me.  The painting will be hanging at the Southampton Art Gallery by May.  Barb Pearn does such an awesome job organizing the calendar, contacting all the artists, arranging for the jurying of the submissions, having the paintings photographed professionally, etc.  It's a lot of work, and the finished calendar is an excellent quality.  I'm proud to be in it!  

Saugeen Spring

I have finished a new painting that I've entered into the Art Map Landscape Calendar contest.  I don't get too excited about painting large spaces of green in landscapes, so it was a challenge to use this particular photo reference!  It was taken at a spot between Durham and Hanover, that I spotted a couple of years ago.  It was such a gorgeous sight in early spring that I stopped the car to take the photo.  The water and the sky were a brilliant, clear blue that took my breath away.  My dislike of painting pure landscapes (can't there be a barn? a house? at least a fence?) meant that I put off using the photo until I needed something exciting for the next calendar.  But there were all those cedar trees, looking the same except for their size.  I tried a couple of different styles for them, until I stayed with the shapes that you can see here.  Simple shapes.  Abstracted shapes.  Stylized shapes.  I like those shapes.  Simple shapes are good.  Even the reeds in the foreground turned into shapes.  Simple shapes.  Abstracted shapes.  Whether it gets in the calendar or not, I have learned lots by working through it.  But I still don't care for large spaces of green!  

Saugeen Spring
acrylic
20 X 30

Spring Painting Classes

After a long, busy winter, with the Saugeen Artists Store participation before Christmas, and lovely family time in the south, I am back at my easel!  

I have also decided to offer painting classes again, at my church.  A few local artists have been enjoying some informal lessons with me, and there seems to be enough interest to expand these so that anyone can attend.  Tuesday mornings at Chesley Community Church have been "Open Art Studio" days, where anyone can bring a craft, a painting, or even a knitting project to our Craft Room where we work together, drink coffee and have lots of laughs.  These are open to anyone, with no charge.  We talk about our work, and share the results.  

The three lessons I'm planning will be a little more formal, and last from 9:30 to 3:30.  The dates are April 4, May 2, and June 6 (the first Tuesday of the month).  There should be time to finish a small painting, or at least know how to finish it at home.   Or bring it back the next Tuesday!  Each day there will be a different painting theme.  

If you are interested, please email or call to reserve your space.  See more information under the "Classes" tab of the blog menu.  

I think the first class should be on flowers.......

but which one???