Back in the groove

Day 20 grapes

6 x 6

Acrylic on canvas

After yesterdays frustration and for the first time feeling the pressure of this 30 in 30 challenge I was full of trepidation on todays start.  So back to basics and a favourite subject, grapes.  Why grapes?  A myriad of colors, opaque and translucent and an infinite choice of composition.  Fast, loose and fun -  well it did get a little annoying when my highlights kept drying darker than the darks.  One of the reasons I'll be switching back to oils when all this is done.

I'm in!

Rainy Day Reds  SOLD

12 x 12

oil on canvas

This painting was done on a day like today, drizzling with rain and dark and gloomy.  I liked the moody setting though, at eye level on a window sill, and my challenge was to catch the light coming through the grapes as well as bouncing off the highly reflective bowl.  Had a lot of fun with this one and it was juried into a Federation of Canadian Artists show - a first for me.  Yeah!

Skaha Bluffs

8 x 10

oil on canvas board

This piece was started on a plein air outing and finished in the studio.  It was a cool misty morning and the colors were muted but the reflections had me mesmerized.  This painting along with a few others are now hanging in a gallery in Oliver, another first for me.  These days have been busy with many new adventures.  Soon I will have a photography exhibit hanging as well in a local book shop.  What amazes me is the amount of administration that goes along with the creative part.  I can now see why artists often need someone to help manage the business.

Birthday flowers

Pinks and Greens

12 x 12

oil on canvas

The weather has turned cold again so I stayed inside today and painted this birthday bouquet.  I'm starting to enjoy painting this subject!

so much for plein air

Teatime

10 x 8
oil on wrapped canvas

I scoped out my next plein air site, a nice harbor scene and taking just my camera to get a few photos to plan the composition I hopped out of the car, braved the west coast wind and rain to get a few pics and within minutes decided I'd wait for warmer weather, or hold off till I'm back in our desert interior. So instead I decided to try a still life with a twist - just had to put myself in it. My daughter and I love to go for a proper tea and here we are at Victoria's Butchart Gardens enjoying our treats and the scenery out the window.

Painting what I think I see...

Gloria's Bouquet
12 x 12
oil on wrapped canvas

Two subjects I think I know well but cannot seem to paint easily are flowers and landscapes. What ends up on the canvas is nothing like what sits before me and I have finally discovered that I have to focus very hard with my eyes on all the shapes, hues and values instead of letting my hand paint what my brain thinks the subject should look like. Now that spring is here I should get lots of practice. This beautiful bouquet was a gift to a very special friend who gave me a push to get back to the easel and I will be forever grateful for her support.

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!

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.

Misbehaving Grapes

Hanging On SOLD
10 x 8
oil on wrapped canvas

These grapes were not co-operating at all when it came to being arranged in a pleasing composition so I gave up and painted their escape attempt. Next week I'm starting another large piece so for now just catching up on household chores and keeping the painting small and fun.

Letting go...

Red and Green SOLD
10 x 10
oil on wrapped canvas

I struggled all day yesterday with an old painting that had not been well planned in terms of composition or colors. Hours of trying to make corrections and wasting huge amounts of paint it was finally declared a failure and will be sent off with the garbage to the landfill tomorrow. I never reuse old canvases as I feel the past will slowly make it's way to the surface and rear it's ugly head! I had to go back to something fun with some promise of success since I haven't painted for a week. Not sure why red grapes can be so purple and still be called red and the green ones are not so blue in the painting. It's something to do with my camera I think and I keep forgetting to adjust the hues before I post. Oh well. Happy painting everyone.

Summer Wine Tasting

SOLD
The Barrel Room
12 x 12
oil on wrapped canvas

We didn't go wine tasting much this summer but did visit one of our favorite vineyards for dinner one evening. On the way in to the dining room we passed a number of old barrels that had been put to use as planters and I was captivated by the simple beauty of the building structure, the barrels and the view of the vineyard beyond.

Focusing on color

SOLD
Grapes and Wine
8 x 8
oil on wrapped canvas

This piece was a little project that I did to see if I could start with a specific color and subject and paint what would essentially be a commissioned work. Well was I going to learn a few things and the very big lesson was that I am not ready to do a commissioned piece and may never be. As paint goes on I get carried away and before I know it a very different animal has evolved but that is the joy of creativity. Had a lot of fun with this one and hey - it looks good over my couch.

Too Pretty to Eat

Olives and Cheese
6 x 6
oil on doorskin

Late in the afternoon I try to have some down time and will often pour a glass of wine, put out a plate of olives and cheese, grab a book or magazine and head out to the front porch. It's my daily treat to myself, a break between the day's chores and the evening shopping and dinner making. Lately I've come across some amazing olive mixes and one day just the sight of the brilliant colors and varied shapes and sizes was enough to make me reluctant to dig in and ruin the display. I had to paint it and so here it is. Lots of fun doing this one and keeping it under 2 hours forced me to be fast and loose.

Grape Reflections

6 x 6

oil on doorskin

I've been wanting to paint grapes to go along with the vineyard theme that I thought I'd focus on this summer and as usual I can't make it simple and want to be different so I laid the grapes down on a mirror, spilled some wine over them and presented myself with the additional challenge of multi reflections. Had the usual battle with the brain insisting on knowing how a grape should look versus what I was actually seeing in the composition. Once I went with trusting what I saw the paint went down faster and the shapes started to make sense.

Apple

6 x 6

oil on doorskin

I didn't have anything in mind so did an apple just to get the paints out and in doing so made several mistakes and should know better. Planning pays off - should have had more than one item in there and not centered and should have decided on the colors first. My lack of a game plan resulted in the foreground and background being redone many times but regardless it's still a good exercise to go thru and I'm farther ahead than if I'd done nothing.

Sushi

Sushi

6 x 6

oil on doorskin
SOLD

What I love about these biweekly challenges from Karin Jurick is that I would never have otherwise considered painting this but found that I really enjoyed playing with the colors. I did a lot of experimenting with this one and in the end was happy with the results.