Iggy Pop

Bow Tied
8 x 6
oil on wrapped canvas

My kids are grown up but I still have a little 4 lb baby, or should I say 'whirling dervish' named Iggy. He can literally swirl his head around and toss a ball, watching to see which direction it goes so he can then chase it! He'll resort to this if I'm busy reading a book and paying him no attention. The blue eyes of course are the reflection of the camera flash but I kind of liked the effect so put it in. Another candidate for my cards.

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.

Weekly Painting

Bella Coola
18 x 24
oil on wrapped canvas

I've decided to try for a painting a week as I'm getting into doing these bigger pieces. I have tried for one a day but found the 6 x 6 format too small for what I want to do and the pressure to paint daily not realistic for my lifestyle. Having spent the morning with a wonderful group of ladies and one husband mountain biking the hills to the west of us and most other mornings out doing something physical I'm not left with much time to paint. I can't seem to paint after the light fades - I do too with lttle energy left. So this painting above took a few days and is of a small BC coastal fish packing plant. I took the resource photo in the 70's and this plant may not even be there anymore. Haven't quite finished but I find it helps to take a photo and see it from a different perspective.

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.

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.

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.

Different Strokes Challenge

Macys
9 x 9
oil on doorskin

Here is my attempt at Karin Jurick's current Different Strokes Challenge. I began by doing a 5 value study with white and black gesso to try to develop an interesting design and once I started putting on color it was easier to keep the values that I wanted and stick to the original plan with only a few minor adjustments. I decided to add a little fun by starting with paints that I never or rarely use and of course by the end I had to sneak in a few favorites.

Summer Fun Remembered on Cold Fall Days

Bus Boys
9 x 12
oil on wrapped canvas

I've been waiting to paint this one and since the cool autumn days have arrived it's time to remember a little of the summer past. These boys were hollering and yahooing from the bus as they were transported back from their tubing trip down the lazy several kilometer long canal that runs the length of our little city from the lake on our north end to the lake on our south end. The trip takes about 4 hours unless you jump out half way and it's amazing to see the hundreds of floaties going by, many with their supplies of refreshments tied up alongside on their own rafts. There are running and biking trails that follow the route and it's a great way to spend an afternoon. I tried to stay loose on this putting down a thin transparent ultramarine blue wash over a dried acrylic orange base. While the wash was wet I worked in the colors. The boys were not easy to paint in having some body parts outside the bus and some in but I enjoyed the challenge.

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.

Character Study

Sneaking a Peak
6 x 6
oil on doorskin

I caught this scene in Poland last year and was attempting to portray the secret glance this young man stole whilst sitting with his girl. I found the 6 x 6 format too small to get the hand that was hiding his eyes and the girls legs need to be a touch longer but had to quit before it was finished as my alla prima approach was foiled by a two day distraction. My lesson learned - draw carefully and allow time to finish in one day. I'm really enjoying painting figures and may get brave and move on to portraits.

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.

Another Cafe

Sharing a Cup
8 x 24
oil on wrapped canvas

After having a rather unproductive but fun summer I've plunged right back in with another people scene. I've read recently that French Cafes have been somewhat overdone but I am enjoying painting them and will do a few more I think. This was a scene in Annecy where most cafes are long and narrow lining the numerous canals giving the town it's nickname "Little Venice" An incredibly beautiful place it was the location for this years Tour De France individual time trial and a starting point for our bicycle tour of the Alps. Although I feel the painting needs more work it's time to put it aside for a while.

Lazy hazy summer days

Waiting for the Parade
8 x 8
oil on wrapped canvas

I saw this scene at our local market and loved the way the pooch sat patiently on the bench. The personalities seemed to come out in each of the figures as I painted them and no matter how I tried to change the dog owner I couldn't seem to make him happier...Maybe he'd rather be walking. It's so much fun to go to the markets to see the parade of dogs and to buy local organic produce. I love summer and it so close to being over I can almost smell the fall air. I'm swimming almost daily in the lake for fear it will be the last one.

Smokey Days

Collioure Creameries
10 x 10
oil on wrapped canvas

We are having a bad summer here with the forest fires and one of my challenges is wiping the ash off my paintings when I get up in the morning along with the usual dog hair or two! This is another scene from the Mediterranean which gave me a chance to use lots of bright pure color and to also try to loosen up as it would otherwise take forever with all the detail in the scene. Am starting to get a feel for how I want to paint - loose, what I want to paint - people, and what support is going to work best for me. This was done on a wrapped canvas which means it doesn't have to be framed since I have painted right over the sides, it's a 10 x 10 which is the smallest size I think I want to paint on and the under painting was done in a mid value orange acrylic rather than black which I found kept my paintings too dark.

The Man

Waiting
6 x 6
oil on doorskin

The days are hot now that summer is here and more of my spare time is spent outdoors swimming, cycling or running with not much time left to paint. I am getting out with my camera to the markets and after our trip to France I have a years worth of resource photos but I'm having trouble getting something on the canvas. I find quite often turning to an assignment helps keep me at it so checked in on Karin Jurick's latest posting. This DSFDF Challenge at first seemed daunting but I'm finding it to be increasingly easier to take the subject and focus on value and color, my two favorite components and so then the play began. I think this will be one of the last small paintings I do as I find the 6 x 6 format just a little too restricting and I haven't figured out how to frame them so they stand out well.

Getting Unstuck

Coffee Break
20 x 16
oil on canvas

This was one big project for me and having happily and with ease finished three quarters of it I found I was totally stuck the foreground which should have been relatively easy. No chance to hide or cover up as it is right there in your face. I even put it up on Gimp and created layers so I could change hue, value, intensity in order to resolve the issue. Although my Gimp painting looked okay no way could I transfer that to the real thing. Finally in desperation I threw some different combinations down and there we have the final product - for now anyway. Time to put this one away.

A good way to live

Seaside Cafe
6 x 6
oil on doorskin

Though I'm really a nester and a homebody I can see how travel influences your life and one of the things I've come home with is the appreciation of the slower and more relaxing French lifestyle. Long lunches, afternoon siesta's where the stores are closed and in the evening a glass of wine in a cafe overlooking the sea. This was a scene in Collioure on the Mediterranean where we were relaxing after our week long cycling trip.

Back to the Easel

Afloat
6 x 6
oil on doorskin

Am finally back to painting after being away for almost a month and it was very scary picking up the brushes again and having to reintroduce myself to my paints. A perfect start was the latest DSFDF subject by Karin Jurick which didn't inspire me a bit since I've now got hundreds of resource photos from our latest trip to France. Couldn't help putting a Mediterranean look to this scene. As usual once I started painting the fun began and I realized it doesn't really matter what the subject is. More importantly it is about color, value, line, intensity, shapes, composition and playing with all of these! I got so carried away and put so much paint down it wasn't sticking and I decided it was time to put this one aside and move on but I did really enjoy it - thanks again Karin for the challenge.

gathering resource material

No painting for a bit as I'm in France on a bicycling adventure and am finding lot's of great scenes to paint - can't wait to get started - but first I have to finish my ride from the Atlantic to the Pyrenees - am halfway in Saint Girons. Typical of my luck in Paris there were many street cafes but no one sitting outside as it was pouring rain! Lot's of great villages enroute if I could slow my bike down to take a shot - some of our descents are death defying - of course we are not riding around the mountains but over the cols. Back to the easel in a week!