This new painting takes me back to warm summer days when our chickens enjoyed foraging for insects in the fresh green grass near the barn. I loved the way the sun made such a strong shadow across one of the barn doors and highlighted the resting shovel. It was a fun setting to paint! This painting is now at the Southampton Gallery, which has a brand new display of the artists' recent work for Christmas browsing.
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| "Sun Swept" acrylic 10 by 10 |
But this year it's online. This will replace our "bricks and mortar" store, which the Guild has been setting up for almost a decade in downtown Hanover during November and December. An online store is a way to offer our regular customers some unique handmade items this year, in time for Christmas. I have about a dozen paintings in it and several sets of cards on different themes. Below is a sample of what I have posted. There are many other artists' items to choose from, including jewelry and glass mosaics as well as paintings. Shipping is free.
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"Lunch at the Cottage" acrylic 16 x 16 |
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"Country Caretaker" acrylic 14 x 11 |
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Package of 5 cards with a country theme |
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Package of 5 cards with a winter theme |
This trio of flowers, all of them from my own gardens, help to bring back thoughts of warm, sunny days from the summer. I treated the canvases first with a layer of texture from tissue paper that was wrinkled and glued down. You can see that in the photos. Once that dried I painted some of my favourite flowers. The texture makes painting quite unusual, and forces me to let go of my natural tendency to have hard and clear edges on the shapes of the petals and leaves. It's quite freeing, actually! They are all on a 12 by 12 inch gallery canvas.
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| Blooming Begonias acrylic 12 by 12 |
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| Climbing Clematis acrylic 12 by 12 |
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| Dazzling Daisies acrylic 12 by 12 |
I'd like to invite you to take a look at this amazing online course given by experienced art instructor (and friend) Cheryl O. I took Cheryl's last course in the late spring and loved it! Her new one, called "Colour and Composition", is more extensive, with lots of information, zoom meetings, community interaction, and demos every week for 14 weeks. Here is a link to the information: http://cherylo.ca/online-art-courses-2/ The deadline for application is September 4.
Below is a painting I did as a result of one of her lessons.
I hope to "see" some of you there, online!
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Pink Peony acrylic 12 by 12 |
Here are two of Leroy's concubines, charging out of their inside pen to the outside run. And run they do! (They are likely trying to avoid Leroy......) I thought the innovative system for the door was interesting to include. It made for fun textures and shapes to paint.
"Checkin' the Coop"
acrylic
24 x 12
.........who rules the roost in our chicken yard! He's very handsome, with iridescent blue and purple feathers between the black ones. I hope those lovely colours come across in the photo. At the end of his tail is another long black feather that waves theatrically as he struts around, herding his small household of hens. My next painting will showcase a couple of the ladies.
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"Leroy" acrylic 24 x 12 |
