Day 5

Apex Downhill

12 x 12

Acrylic on Doorskin

Another winter scene for a very snowy January.

Day 4

Nickleplate Vista

12 x 12

Acrylic on Doorskin

Paused for a pic during my skate ski yesterday and couldn't wait to paint this scene today!

Day 3

Frozen Creek

12 x 12

Acrylic on Doorskin

Year of the Horse

Running Wild  SOLD

14 x 23

Acrylic on Doorskin

We see this herd every now and then up in the hills to the west usually when we are out running the trails.  My first painting done when I was a small child was of a riding stable with horses being walked and tack being cleaned and since then I have had a love for anything horsey.  I think this is a good year to focus on them.

Winter Plein Air

Looking South

11 x 14

oil

As I was looking south down this lake I couldn't help but think about how much warmer we were a month ago when we were down in Arizona.  It even looked warmer down at the far end!  And speaking of Arizona I was very fortunate to arrive in Sedona in time for their Plein Air Invitational week.  With limited transportation I was only able to attend the 90 minute quick draw but it was amazing and later in the week I went down to the Art Centre to see some of the works.  There is nothing quite like watching the pros paint.

But now I am back with some local pros and am enjoying getting out there even in the cold temperatures.  I throw some toe warmers in my boots and wool socks over my hands and am ready to go.

Strange little birds

Day 5 Chukar

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

One of our Christmas activities this year was birding with the family and on our first day out after fruitless searches for anything with wings we finally hit the jackpot, a large family of Chukars.  These very strange looking and very shy birds were foraging in the fields below the cliffs at Vaseaux Lake and kindly gave us a few poses before scurrying off.  

Snowed In

Day 4 The Meadow

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

No plein air today - it's snowing so hard it's there is nothing much else to be seen!  This little scene is painted from a photo taken two days ago from my cell phone while up the mountain skiing.  A fellow skier was gliding by and remarked that they ( the cell phone) shouldn't be allowed.  Little did he know that I wasn't taking a call but getting a great resource photo.  But as I found out a few weeks ago while participating in a search and rescue mission the cell phone can be an essential tool out there and I won't go out again without one. 

The Ranch

Day 3 Winter Horses

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

On my way up the mountain yesterday I passed herds of cattle out in the snow feeding on hay bales and coming up to the ranch I managed to get a quick shot of the horses out having their lunch as well.  I can see this 30 day challenge is going to require some organizational skills and time management.  I'm getting a little more behind each day and still find far too much time is wasted fiddling with details and taking and correcting bad photos.  This is all good though as I should most certainly improve in those areas if nothing else! 

Photographing really the challenge?

Day 2 Winter

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

So this sketch was a joy to do - felt free and fun and although from a photo it has I think it successfully portrays my feelings of a gorgeous sunny day high in the alpines.  A day like I had today up Nickleplate with my skate skiis on.

The problem was trying to photograph the painting outside with the pesky wind blowing it away whilst my camera was talking back to me.  Image too dark! Oh, forgot to remove the lense cap.  Red dot flashing and REC as well.  Had to go inside and dig out my manual.  Hmm - seems I was trying to take a video...I used to be pretty good with technology but I struggle to get the exposure and the white balance right.  Details aside I'm happy with the design and composition.

Winter colors

Day 1 winter study

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

Today is the start of Leslie Saeta's 30 day challenge ( see sidebar at right ) and though it is the beginning of a new year I am still sidetracked with the leftovers of a what has been a really good Christmas Holiday so todays painting is a quick plein air study.  My theme for the week is snow as we have an abundant supply these days.  I'm cheating a bit with the plein air part as I'm sitting in the warmth and comfort of my car.  If the wind stops blowing maybe I'll get out for a real taste of outdoor winter painting.

Winter Snowshoe

Okanagan Park 

24 x 24

Acrylic on oak doorskin

Take what might be an otherwise drab winter day and turn it into something!  Snowshoeing, wieners roasted over a fire, a little shot of a warming liqueur and some ideas for a painting.

Winter Playground

Nickelplate series in progress

24 x 24

acrylic on doorskin

A new year and some changes!  Here is the first of some some acrylic paintings done on doorskin, a thin veneer of wood meant for building doors but giving a nice natural wood grain texture perfect for my woodsy series of winter paintings.  The acrylic is a medium I painted in many years ago and I find less of an issue when painting in confined spaces as the oil even though I use very little solvent still bothers my nose!  We spend many winter days skate skiing and snowshoeing up in the Nickelplate area above the Okanagan Valley and am so happy to finally start painting some of the gorgeous scenery. 

Apex Guest Ranch

the  Ranch

12 x 16

oil on canvas board

Winter is the time to head up to the mountains for some skiing or snowshoeing and we pass this guest ranch on the way up.  In the summer we ride up here on our road bikes as a 20 k time trial or as part of a circle route around the Okanagan Valley.  It's a great landmark but unfortunately won't last forever.  This painting was done from an older photo and I believe part of the roof has now come down and the horses are a different breed so I will have to take some new reference photos and give it a go again next year.

More birding

Female Hooded Merganser

8 x 10

oil on canvas board

So far this year I've photographed over thirty varieties of birds, not bad for January and all walking distance from home.  I've seen some pretty funny antics and even caught a beaver in action bringing home his dinner.  I think the bird watching is going to be a great new hobby once I figure out how to cope with a Yorkie and a Spitz on leashes and my camera all at once.  I fear one of the dogs will take off with the camera some day.  I couldn't resist painting this little merganser with all the colorful reflections on the water.  I won't post my photos here but they can be found on my Flickr page for anyone who is interested in bird photography.

Enjoying the season

Good friends
8 x 6
oil on wrapped canvas

Winter is here and I've managed to get in a little skate skiing and snowshoeing but now it's -30 up the mountain and I'm going to wait till it warms up a bit. In the meantime I'm starting to think about Christmas cards. I thought this year I should paint my own instead of buying them so am hauling out my decorations to see if anything inspires me.

Going Big

All Aboard SOLD
18 x 24
oil on wrapped canvas

Well I've decided to plunge right into a big piece and after 3 days of working on it and starting to pick at little details I decided it was time to step back, take a photo and get it on the blog. The advantage of doing this is now I can see some things that were missed - like the name of the train station! Oh well - that can be put in anytime. The biggest challenge for me on this project was avoiding making the figures look pasted on. I think I still have some work to do in this regard but for now I need to step away.

Ice Caves

enhanced photo

I've been distracted lately by the accounting side of my life as it's year end for many and my adventuring into photography for the purpose of collecting resource material is also consuming much of my time so am getting a little playful with the photos to satisfy my creative side. Back to painting next week hopefully.