Art and Grandchildren

For Olivia............

I promised Olivia months ago that I would do a painting for her.  She requested flowers, particularly pink and purple.  I started this just before Christmas, but finally finished it for her just before March Break.  She loves any arts and crafts, and did a painting over the Break that was to go on her bedroom wall.  Here it is!

There'e no problem distinguishing the focal point here!  Everything points to the whale, and we are left wondering why it's so sad.  Olivia could tell you.

For Benjamin.......

This was an item I painted for a fundraiser last year.  I knew that if it didn't sell for the literacy program, I had someone on my Christmas list who would like it!  So it went under the Christmas tree for Ben.  And now Ben, just in grade one, has been trying his hand at the arts, with great success too.  Here is his work of art over the Break...........

Did you notice that Ben painted some bushes behind the figure, so it overlaps? 

Watercolour Workshops Coming Soon..............

I have arranged 3 workshops for this spring, at the Hanover Missionary Church,

on Saturday, March 31, April 21, and May 19.

On March 31, the theme will be Coffee Mugs!

Bring a favourite mug or two, and we will use them---- not for drinking, but for putting in a painting. I will bring other items along, perhaps books, a tea pot, fruit and a knife, a cream pitcher, spoons............ which we can put together to make an interesting still life. You might think of other items to add. It will get us back into the painting mode, and give us all a chance to review some skills. 




Check out details, and the themes for the other workshops, on the Classes page. 

Snowy Silhouette and Sunshine

Winter seems to be here again for a short while, so I am motivated to post two new winter watercolours. 

Twilight Trail
watercolour  11 X 15

This is the trail behind our home that the 4-wheeler takes, on its frequent rides back to the bush that give Max some exercise.  I was taken with the silhouettes in the original photo, and used only three colours to paint it.  It was a fun piece to do, joining up all the shapes to make one large, interesting one.

Blue House on the Corner
watercolour  11 X 15

It was such a lovely sunny day, and this little house near our church looked so cheerful.  Snow still blanketted the ground, but was losing its grip as it melted on the roof.  I tried to make the little house look jolly by adding a whimsical touch.

Did we have winter this year?

I did actually enjoy several glorious days this winter that inspired snow paintings!  But eventually I pulled out some older winter photos that motivated the first two.  The first is of the row of mailboxes at our corner, as they looked about 5 years ago.  I had already done a watercolour from a different perspective, and thought this view was enchanting too.  It almost looks like the mailboxes are chatting together, passing along the neighbourhood gossip.  Ours is the one on the far right, which I recently painted dark green over top of the daisies that adorned it previously.  Time had not been kind to them, nor had the snow plows. 

"Neighbourhood News"
acrylic   12 X 24

The second painting was from a photo I took on an early morning walk up the road from our previous home last winter.  The bright, early morning sun made such beautiful shadows, and gave the trees haunting silhouette shapes.  The pine needle branches were white with frost.  God is such a wonderful painter!

"Pleasure Valley Morning"
acrylic    18 X 24

For a dog lover!

"Brandy"
watercolour  11 X 14

Let me introduce you to Brandy!  This is a watercolour done as a Christmas gift.  I'm not used to doing pet portraits, so this was a challenge.  It was fun doing her curly ears, with a combination of positive and negative shapes.  Maybe I will even tackle our own dog, Max, sometime when I'm feeling brave. 

I just might include the chicken too............

Looking back to 2011..............

As I check back on work I've done in the past year, I realize that there are a couple of special commissioned paintings that didn't appear on this blog--  because I didn't want the recipients to see them ahead of time!





"A Refuge in the Storm"
watercolour  11"X15"

A friend wanted to give her mom a painting of a lighthouse for Christmas.  Another mutual friend had taken photos down east of a lovely old lighthouse at Cape Bear.  We agreed that it was perfect.  I love the way the lighthouse sits on a cliff, giving a sense of danger.  The title explains it all, since in spiritual terms, Jesus is our lighthouse, our place of refuge, in any storms of life!







"Up Home"

watercolour, approx. 14"X30"

This was painted for a teaching colleague, of a grandparent's home that doesn't even exist anymore! It was really interesting and challenging to put together some old photos of the house (the latest was 1964) and new photos of the landscape in the area today. It seemed to call for a different shape, a "vista", to show what the setting was like. I included a lot of texture, particularly for the house, since it was a boxy shape and needed something special to give it character.

Grand Opening for the Saugeen Artists Store today!

We are all excited about the GRAND opening of the store today!  There will be drinks and treats, and lots of activity due to the Christmas parade happening as well.  Hopefully we will be able to enjoy the music of a guitarist at times during the day.  We have been so encouraged by the response of the town, saying that this is something Hanover needs.  


We have included a fun and helpful element-- a Featured Artist of the Day.  This artist donates a small prize for someone who contributes to the Food Bank Box in the store, provided by the Salvation Army.  If you live near Hanover, you might as well try for the daily prize!


Here are some photos of the store, all set up for business:

The window display is my job.  The theme will change each week.

Inside the front door is a sampling of the wall art in the store.

There is sculpture, pottery, jewellery, stained glass, mosaics, photography,
and some unique items, all handmade by our group members.

This is my own display.