Day 13 of 30

Steveston Nocturne

8 x 8

Acrylic

Thought I'd try a night scene.  This is a beautiful fishing village and one of my favourite places to go for a sunset.  

Paint what you know or where you go?

Pismo Sand Dunes

12 x 9

Acrylic 

We have spent several months in the last year or so down in Arizona and California and though there is an amazing diversity of landscape I'm often hesitant to paint something unfamiliar to me.  Maybe it's a little more challenging to paint the unknown.  However growing up on the east coast and west coast I am definitely drawn to the sea and the harsh shorelines.  This is a little study done of the wind whipped trees and shrubs and the struggle to survive above the tideline.  In the evening we would sit up in the dunes to watch the sun set over the Pacific, a perfect end to a beautiful day of beach walking, bird watching and exploring the landscape.

Benefits of birding

Day 28 Sunset on the strait

6 x 6 

Acrylic on canvas

Some people like to meditate or take yoga to find some peace and connection with themselves.  I like to go birding as it also gives me a huge connection to the world around me.  It also provides me with some amazing vistas at times of the day when I would otherwise be shopping or prepping dinner.  This scene was captured whilst out in Boundary Bay at sunset watching the owls find their dinner.  

Details and simplifying

Day 25 Marina

6 x 6

Acrylic on canvas

Well there is a lot going on in this marina.   A lot of information and that requires some simplification and weeding out  - kind of like life...

One week to go and will I make it - not so sure right now but doing my best.  Good luck to everyone!

Head West

Day 23 Coastal Bay

6 x 6

Acrylic on canvas

The coast of British Columbia is spectacularly wild and beautiful and I am looking forward to painting more west coast scenes.  Enjoyed doing this little study very much.

Abstract Nature of Marine Industry

Day 8 Ship's Bow

6 x 6 

Acrylic on Canvas

Most marine painters seem to choose a photographic approach to painting boats and ships used in the marine industry.  I'm fascinated by the multitude of abstract designs everywhere one looks.  This was a fairly simple block in of shapes providing ample opportunity to play with warm and cool colors and should have been fun and easy but I found it very challenging feeling my way through the whole painting process.

Sunset on the Dock

Day 7 On the Dock

6 x 6 

acrylic on canvas

One evening in the fall I arrived on the dock to pick up my husband and the sun setting right behind the bow of the ship produced the most amazing colors and fabulous shadows - hard to duplicate.

Marine Theme

Day 6 Marine  SOLD

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

I'm switching gears for the next few days and going with some marine paintings.  My husband is great at carrying his camera and snapping a few pics while coming from and going to work and I sometimes get a few when I drive for him.  This is from one of his photos and I loved the abstract design.  The piling in the foreground has a sign on it and though it's inclusion may not read well I'm drawn to the bright yellow so in it goes.

Whistler in September

Ladner Marsh

24 x 20

oil on canvas

I am so excited to be able to spend a week in Whistler next year having lived there years ago and rarely getting a chance to go back for visits.  The best part though is that I will be attending a workshop put on by the Federation of Canadian Artists and led by some really great painters.  Check out the website for details.

The above scene is a marshy nature reserve and is right across the street from our "city" home.  A great place to go birding or just for a walk to watch the sun go down.

More plein air studies

Ladner Fish Boat

8 x 10

plein air study

There is something I find very satisfying about spending the first few hours of the day out in the landscape painting the scene in front of me.   Again in the comfort of my car as this was a dreary cold wet morning.  

Going Green

Ladner Harbour Boats

11 x 14

oil on canvas

My paintings reflect my life in some ways - constantly moving between the desert and the coast.  So here we are back on the coast in the little fishing village of Ladner.  I ventured out in my car on a cool winter morning, parked in the marina parking lot facing these boats and set up my paint box (pictured below) right on my lap never leaving the warmth and privacy of the vehicle.  It was so lovely and relaxing, listening to music and painting away - almost a timeless feel.   I used my plein air paper sketch as a guide for this larger canvas piece along with some photo reference, my usual process these days.

And this is my paint box, a summer project starting with a basic box, adding a hinged palette lined with glass and two hinged side pieces for holding brushes or medium and a piece of paper towel for wiping excess paint.  Paint tubes and brushes store underneath and two panels can store in the lid.  I can paint with the box on my lap or attach it to a tripod.  I'm 'going green' by using a glass palette which can be scraped with a blade and excess paint piled in a corner to use as an undercoat for the next painting and by pinning down a small square of paper towel which can hold an astounding amount more paint than a crumpled up piece in one's hand.  I  usually work with one brush rubbing off excess paint when changing colors and making sure I load up enough new paint on the brush to gently drop in the color without the old color seeping through.  This means no solvents necessary and again fewer paper towels.  Of course this works for now while painting small, we'll see when I start painting big outside!   

Plumbers and bluebirds

West Coast Trail

12 x 16

oil on canvas

Odd sounds drive me crazy and fortunately I chased down the latest one and discovered a failing hot water tank which led to the discovery of a failing water pressure valve leading into the house, a disaster in the making! Fortunately for good friends become neighbors, and the other way around of course and a great plumber all is well now. But whilst the work was being done I had my dogs tied to my chair and sat for several hours painting this west coast scene. This trail follows 75 kilometer of the west coast of Vancouver Island and it took us 7 days to hike it. On day 2 of the hike we climbed down the steep cliffs to the tidal flats which were much easier to hike along than the forest above, but had to be timed perfectly with the tides or one could get caught with no way back up as there were only a couple of spots where ropes had been left dangling down. It was many years ago that I was on this trail back when there were few others out there. Now one has to reserve a spot in order to access the park so that the numbers can be kept down.

Another highlight of the week happened during a hike out to a favourite nature reserve. I was climbing a hillside with my camera looking for meadowlarks and all of a sudden was surrounded by dozens of bluebirds swooping around and landing next to me. There were mostly Western Bluebirds but a few Mountain Bluebirds appeared in my photographs. I met a wonderful couple from a nearby town on the way down the hill and as we were standing there talking the bluebirds showed themselves again. The whole experience was magical!