Thursday 20 December 2012

Golden Bloom

8" x 8"
Oil on Gallery Canvas

 

I have painted a number of sunflowers in pastel which I find very easy to work with.  I found I had trouble with the yellows in oil, but I was happy with the outcome. 


Wednesday 19 December 2012

Hide and Seek

6" x 6"
Oil on Canvas

 

This is our cat Goodwin.  He loves to climb in the cupboards and this is him peeking out from behind a cupboard door.  I have had cats my whole life and this one has the most personality of any I have had.  Unfortunately he is a sick cat and the medication he takes will shorten his life, but we love and appreciate him for the time he is with us.  Below is a picture of him with my Husband.  He loves to climb up and cuddle when he is reading a book.


Wednesday 5 December 2012

Resting Baby Mallard

5" x 7"
Oil on Gessoboard

This family of Mallards were preening themselves and then napping in the sun.  I did most of this with a palette knife and then switched to a brush to put in some final details.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Canyon Road, Sante Fe

5" x 7"
Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is a one hour painting that I did from a photo of an adobe home on Canyon Road in Sante Fe.I was in New Mexico for a Pastel Artist's Convention and spent some time in Sante Fe.  What a great place to visit and Canyon Road is so inspirational for an artist with all the old buildings and art galleries.

Monday 3 December 2012

Goldilocks

6" x 6"
Oil on Gessoboard

 

I took a lot of photos of animals at one of the local Fall Fairs.  The sheep were such interesting characters with such personalities.  I am working on a larger painting, 30" x 40", of three sheep that I will post when finished.

Thursday 29 November 2012

Pair of Pears

6" x 6"
Oil on Gessoboard

 

So far I am keeping to my one hour time limit.  I would like to start doing more complicated compositions and see how I do with that.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

The Huddle

5" x 7"
Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is the second day of my one hour paintings.  I wasn't completely happy with the outcome but I have to keep reminding myself to let it go.  I do think that I will learn a lot from doing a number of small time limit paintings rather than one large painting.  It takes me outside of my comfort zone.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Garden Gem

6" x 6"
Oil on Gessoboard

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I have really admired the artists that have been able to do a daily painting.  I have tried but I get so bogged down in details on the paintings that I found it was taking up most of my time and I didn't have the time to devote to my larger paintings.

I viewed Diane Mannion's Art Byte on Daily Paintworks.  I didn't know what to expect from it with the title being "Secrets of the Underworld", but hey, it was free.  It was really inspiring to me!  She takes you through a one hour exercise in doing a daily painting, that can be used as a reference for a larger painting.

It was like a light bulb going on in my brain!  I decided I would take this approach with my not so daily paintings and try to become a true daily painter.  This is my first one hour painting.  I have a clock on the wall behind my easel and I am sticking to my one hour time frame.  I am also using a limited palette of red, yellow, blue, and burnt umber for toning the canvas and sketching.  I do find I am spending some time mixing the colours but I am getting better at that.

After I walk away for a while, I do come back and see the things I want to fix.  So far I have been able to leave them alone but it is hard for me.  I think I will learn a great deal from these.

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Sunlit Egret

12" x 12"
Acrylic on Canvas

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Someone saw this piece when I was working on it and wanted to purchase it when it was finished.  I wish that would happen with every painting.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Baby Mallard

6" x 6"
Oil on Canvas

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I found a family of Mallard ducks near the water on Lake Ontario.  I was somewhat hidden by bushes so I was able to get some great photos of the babies with their mother without them being bothered by me.

Friday 9 November 2012

Deserted

8" x 8"
Oil on Gessoboard

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I painted this for a small works juried show.  I had the wrong date for the deadline for entry and missed it by a few days, so here it is.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Follow Me

Follow Me
7" x 5"
Oil on Gesso Board

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These are two baby Canada Geese walking up from the water to have a snack.  I was able to get quite close to them but under the watchful eye of the mother and father.  I have posted the picture below of one of them keeping an eye on me.


I think it is Father Goose with Mother Goose right behind him.  He let me get a little closer to him than he did to his babies.

Thursday 9 August 2012

Storm Over Lovesick Lake

8" x 8"
Oil on Canvas

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Storms come up fast and sometimes furious on the lake.  It can make for some pretty dramatic skies but you have to capture them fast.

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Pears on Old Pine

8" x 8"
Oil on Board


The antique bottle was sent to me from England by my niece.  Nicely paired with pears.

Sunday 5 August 2012

Angry Baby Bird

8" x 8"
Oil on Board

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I was taking photos of boats and these birds were sitting on the dock.  I have posted the reference photo below.  This baby was looking right at me looking so angry and it makes me smile when I look at that photo so I just had to paint him.


Saturday 4 August 2012

Into the Lake

5" x 7"
Oil on Gessoboard


This is a small plein air painting using a palette knife of the base of Burleigh Falls leading into Stoney Lake, Ontario near our cottage. 

Monday 23 July 2012

In the Bay

10" x 8"
Oil on Canvas Board

$75.00


This is another painting done using only a palette knife.  I have only done them in the studio from photographs.  Now I think I will try some plein air palette knife painting, maybe a bit smaller in size.

Friday 20 July 2012

At Rest

8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas Board

$75.00

This is another painting done with a palette knife in my attempt to loosen up my painting style.  It was painted at our cottage that is on an island right next to a waterway system, so there is an endless supply of reference for painting boats.  I find it less distracting to paint at the cottage.  When you are on an island, life doesn't get in the way as easily as it does at home.

Thursday 19 July 2012

Portrait of a Rose

8 " x 8"
Oil on Board

$100.00

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I was trying a new painting surface with this piece.  It has about 4 layers of modelling paste on it, sanded completely smooth in between coats and then a final coat of marble dust to give it some tooth.  It is a nice surface but a lot of work to prepare.  I would rather buy a board!

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Through the Pines

8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas Board

$100.00

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This painting was done at our cottage.  I have been trying to loosen up my style of painting especially for landscapes and plein air.  When I have a brush in my hand I tend to tighten up my style no matter how hard I try not to.  So for this painting I used only a palette knife and was really happy with the results.  It's hard to include too much detail with a palette knife.  The painting is at at the cottage and I don't think the colours in the photo are true to the painting, but I didn't have it here to compare.

Saturday 30 June 2012

Triplets

8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas

$100.00

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When I shop for pears, I like to see if I can get any with leaves still attached.  I spend a long time in the produce section searching for the right pears.

Thursday 28 June 2012

Abandoned

12" x 16"
Oil on Canvas

I have collected many bird nests from our cottage each season and they are amazing to paint.  Each one is different and can be made up of many materials.  Unfortunately I have found abandoned nests with egg shells inside or on the ground.

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Mixing Eggs

6" x 8"
Oil on Canvas
$75.00

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I love to paint glass with all it's colours and reflections.  This painting took more than one sitting to build up the luminous egg shells.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

The Outsider

8" x 8"
Oil on Canvas

$100.00


This piece is painted on a gallery depth canvas.  Kiwi is not my favourite fruit to paint.  I found I was getting a bit finicky with the colours and trying to show the fuzziness of the skin.  I do like the end result.

Monday 25 June 2012

On the Edge



Oil on canvas
6" x 8"

$75.00

 

Pears are a fruit that I can paint over and over and never tire of doing those organic shapes.  These two are perched upon an antique wood plane looking as if the one is about to push the other over the edge.