50's lake boats

Lake Boats
9 x 12
oil on wrapped canvas

I am enjoying the winter sports right now leaving little time to paint. Often I can be found up the mountain skate skiing one of the many trails but yesterday I ran a ten kilometer ( 6 mile) snowshoe race and so today am looking for any excuse to sit! Perfect for a small painting where I don't have to get up and stand back to look at it. This one is done from another of my great Uncle's photos from the 50's. I was fascinated with the colors and shapes and enjoyed focusing on these aspects and not worrying too much about detail. A nice way to get back to painting after being away for a few days.

A Pilot's Day Is Done

To Sea
18 x24
oil on wrapped canvas

"To Sea" my husband might say when I ask what his assignment is and then I know he will be taking a ship from somewhere near Vancouver out past Victoria and as the ship continues out to sea a pilot boat will come alongside to pick him up. He often takes his camera with him and was able to capture this scene so I couldn't resist painting it. Here is a fellow pilot having come down the side of a tanker by stairway, a ladder and finally stepping on to the deck of the pilot boat all the while trying to keep his balance, a challenge on stormy days. What fascinated me about this was how the man on the ship looked like he was suspended in the air with all the light reflecting off the side of the ship. I liked this effect so decided to keep it but found it challenging trying to make it look like it was receding. The reflections on the pilot boat were fun though. As usual my lesson learned here was to draw properly from the beginning as I spent quite a bit of time making corrections.

Back in the Saddle

Christmas Flower
12 x 12
oil on wrapped canvas

Too long a break over Christmas and the result was three wiped canvases. In a slump I decided to read instead and picked up Robert Genn's "Twice Weekly Letters", a treasure of inspiration. One passage in particular struck a cord and reminded me that success was usually hard won with persistence and so I tackled for a fourth time this flower painting. I tried very hard to look and paint what I saw instead of what I thought it should look like and the result I am happy with. Flowers aren't easy for me and I did spend a little too long and picked too much but learned a lot on this project. Happily painting again!