Toast to Maui Sunset #1

This painting is from the end of a week's holiday in Maui. The sunsets are quick but beautiful. The wineglass was filled with beautiful sunset colours reflected in the white wine. The wine like the sunset, quickly disappeared!

 

"Toast to Maui Sunset #1"

Oil on canvas panel    9" x 12"

 

I plan on doing at least 3 different paintings of this scene (hence the #1) in different sizes and colours.



Drop in Figure Drawing/Painting

What fun last night was! I finally went to a figure drawing/painting open time (no instruction). There were artists drawing in pencil, pastel, water colour and oil painting. The model was accidentally booked for the wrong night so the moderator did short poses (clothed). The moderator was wearing a heavy long sweater and jeans.

 I worked in oils and just wiped my board off after each pose. Luella beside me gave me a piece of paper and suggested I try to paint on it so I could layer and add colour (bottom painting). It felt really dry and I had to really push the paint to move it initially but will certainly do that again. I took photos of some of the quick studies before I wiped them off my board.

If any other Calgary artists are interested, it is drop in on Monday nights from 6pm-9pm at Atlantis Framing. It appears that most of the artists there come weekly. Next week is also pot luck so bring a plate, utensils and something to share!

 

I was just wiping off the lighted area of the face when time was up.

This one looks scary but I was just starting to wipe out the paint in the lit area of the face and hand.

This one is on paper wrapped around my board. A longer pose with time to get the shapes in better but no details.

 

"Nanking Cherries"

I started this painting at the end of Dreama Tolle Perry's workshop in May. Life seriously went sideways and I finally just finished it. It certainly feels good to be painting again!

"Nanking Cherries"

Oil on linen panel 8"x8"

 

Holly McWilliams Workshop

What a fun, energetic and wonderful learning experience it was on the weekend with the FCA Calgary workshop with Holly McWilliams. We all drew then painted the same figure photo reference, learning how to make the body warm and cool (hence the two sides painted differently). It was really fun to work with purples, yellows, reds and blues for the figure.

On Saturday we watched Holly demo and fill our brains with so much interesting information, then we went on to paint on our own. On Sunday we worked on our figure again, then moved on to a photo of our choosing (that is why some of the figure paintings were
 not finished). Holly taught both oil and acrylic at the same time which was wonderful to hear and understand.

 

"Figure in Warm and Cool"

20" x 10" oil on board

 It was a very fun workshop with a wonderful group of artists led by the much loved Holly.

A sad "See you later" to the Pettitt Superman

"In Memory of our Superman - Clay Pettitt"

8" x 10" Acrylic on board

I painted this in an effort to release some of the sadness and shock of my cousin Clay's passing. He died suddenly of a brain aneurism leaving shock, anger, heart brokenness and disbelief. He was the Pettitt family's Superman.

The back of the board was painted bright yellow, a reference to the ray of sunshine he was in so many lives. I printed comments that friends and family had said about Clay on Facebook around song words that meant so much to his wife. Clay loved with all his heart and knew he was loved back!

Sponge Toffee Meets Terracotta Warriors

 

"Sponge Toffee Meets Terracotta Warriors"

Oil on canvas 16" x 20"

 

I received 3 photographs via email from my friend Joan. She had recently been to Bryce Canyon and aptly had already named her photo. Joan is always very generous and allows me to paint whatever she sends me from her world travels. With a title like this one and the wild colours, it was just what I needed to get into painting again! Thanks Joan, keep 'em coming! The bit of shine is from the still wet painting.

Shuswap Villas View #2

This is the second plein air painting that I have painted from the deck at the Shuswap Villas in Sicamous B.C. a couple of weeks ago. The view is large and too much to fit in one canvas so I painted the end of what I could see of the beach beside the Eagle River. This is my view, easel set up and the painting in progress.

 

 Shuswap Villas View #2 (in progress)
Plein Air Oil on board

View from Shuswap Villas

This plein air was painted with an almost aerial view from the Shuswap Villas deck in Sicamous B.C. The deck is on a rock bluff with the view of the lakes and Eagle River mouth far below. Even though this one was painted on site, I decided to do a larger format (16" x 20") and was amazed how much more time it took. I was really happy with my easel set up as I could easily move to keep out of the sun.

 "View From Shuswap Villas"

Plein Air 16" x 20" Oil on canvas board

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sicamous Evening

This painting is from a photo our son Curtis took in the Shuswap. It felt good to turn it into a colourful view of what we see in Sicamous. The moon over the hills and reflections on the lake are very beautiful especially in the early morning. I completed this a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had time to post it.

 

"Sicamous Evening" 

16" x 20"

Oil on board

 

 

...in progress....with the photo above the painting.

 

California Coast

I loved the photograph Curtis took from the plane as he flew over the California Coast with his Mount Royal University Aviation classmates a few years ago. The curve of the land and river, thin cloud silhouette,  malleable looking terrain and the plane wing reflections were all appealing. I thought only a plane buff could figure out what this was but happily a few artist friends got it right away!

 

"California Coast"

16" x 20" Oil on board

 

View from Chase, B.C.

I spent 3 relaxing nights with my friend Sue at her family cabin in Chase B.C. It was wonderful and felt like I finally had a summer holiday. We biked, walked, kayaked, shopped, met a wide range of interesting strangers, enjoyed the sauna, delicious homemade meals and even managed to paint a plein air painting on the dock. The painting started with brighter skies and calm water and then a storm quickly came in, changing the view and colours in a hurry.

Sue took the picture below of me enjoying the moment.

 

 

And the final painting (left as a gift).....

 

 

"View from Chase, B.C."

8" x 10" oil on board

Plein air NFS

 

 

Mid Afternoon, Girona Spain

 

Mid Afternoon, Girona Spain

20"x 16"

Oil on canvas board

 

Finally found my happy place painting again. Life has been so messy and busy for the last couple of months. My last paint out with Deb (previous post) renewed my spirit but I had not painted since. This painting is of a photo we took in Girona Spain last year during a very happy holiday. I have included the photo below but this painting is more a reflection of things going on in my life right now, bright and dark.

 

 

Bebo Grove #1, Fish Creek Park, Calgary

Bebo Grove #1 plein air

8" x 10" oil on board

My friend Deb finally got me out painting again.  I haven't been painting as my world seemed to be on fast forward going many different directions and none of them of my choosing.

 We met at Bebo Grove in Fish Creek Park and walked until Deb spotted this area. This was painted from a dry rock creek bed with water on both sides.It worked beautifully as interested parties could look at us from afar but had to get their feet wet to come up close. It was such a beautiful morning, being outdoors with a friend painting had my heart and head in such a wonderful space.

The colours were vivid from the purple shadows in the water and on the rocks to the lime green of the bushes.

 

This is my set up and the beautiful view.

We were absolutely delighted to watch these fishermen fly fish their way up to and past us. We were all having fun! Looks like a good reference for another painting! 

Zhaoming Wu Workshop - Portrait

Oil on canvas board

16" x 20"

an unfinished portrait

This is the portrait that I did in a FCA Zhaoming Wu workshop held in Calgary, Alberta. Zhaoming is a master painter and it was an absolute thrill that I was not only able to watch him paint live, but also receive instruction during this 3 day workshop.

He painted the live model portrait in the morning, explaining his steps and then the artists painted in the afternoon. There were 2 models and the artists were in a semi circle painting so each view was different. It is incredibly hard for the model to be still and try and stay in the same position, that is why the look on her face is somber.

I found it really challenging to paint the portrait with her head view changing after each break. Even a few inches made a difference in whether you could see her far cheek and how much of her nose compared to cheek etc. that could be seen. Zhaoming helped me with her nose and that put it together so much nicer...a few strokes was all he needed to add where I probably would of still been trying. I was happy and exhausted at the end of the day! 

Celebrating July 1 - Happy Canada Day!

These two paintings are of summer in the Okanagan in B.C. Canada. They make me think and feel the Canadian summer celebration with water, sun and fun - July 1st - Happy Canada Day!

 

The Last Buoy

Water colour 16" x 20" NFS

 

This painting is of my wonderful friend Ev, a gift for a previous birthday. Waterskiing is a passion of hers and watching her waterski is breathtaking.

 

 

 

"Stormy Okanagan Lake"  $350

12" x 16" Encaustic painting on board

click on painting to see a larger view
 

This is a repost of a wonderful area to play on land and in water. I grew up in Kelowna B.C. and boating was a family pastime. The Okanagan Lake can become stormy very quickly and the waves get very large which made for a lot of fun playing in the water, but down right scary in the boat. We would try to get near the shore quickly as the waves would come over the front of the boat and up the windshield. The hills are very dry in the summer and I always loved the "dry & wet" contrast of that beautiful area.

 

Sicamous, B.C. Art Show and Sale

 

Sicamous Art Show and Sale Opening Reception is tonight and the show is on until from Friday June 28 until July 2. I was helping with the setting up and was completely enamored with all of the different art - paintings, jewelry and hand crafts. If you are in Sicamous B.C. for the long weekend, drop by the Red Barn and check out the art sale and show. There is no entrance fee and your creative side will thank you! I have these 3 paintings in the art show plus one more that I just realized I don't have a photograph of! I also have painted wine glasses, cards and original small paintings for sale.

Zhaoming Wu workshop

Tami worked hard over a 3 year period to get a workshop for the FCA by Zhaoming Wu. A demo evening and 2 workshops (Mon-Thursday and Fri-Sunday) were completed to the absolute delight of the attendees. The workshop was on figures with live models.

Zhaoming did a demo in the morning, then the artists all worked from the live model in the afternoons. The idea was not to complete a finished painting, but rather to work in the steps, style and under the direction of Zhaoming. I could of just watched him paint as it was magic to see a figure develop on his canvas. Alas, the same magic did not appear on mine, but I certainly learned a lot. We did two figure studies and one portrait over the three days, again not to completion. I think some of the artists worked on finishing theirs at home from photographs taken. I have not worked on mine, so remember that this is not finished....

12" x 16"

oil on panel

 

This model was thin and tall. I found it challenging to continue painting after she had taken a break as her face and clothing would be in a slightly different position, very different from painting landscape or from a photo!. I was pleased with how far I got on the this painting.

Rocky Mountain Bloom

This painting just flowed. I was following some workshop advice - paint what you love! This painting is of wild flowers with the beautiful Rocky Mountains as a backdrop, a hiking dream. It is the first time I have painted on a linen board panel, a very rough texture.

"Rocky Mountain Bloom"

8" x 8"

Oil on Linen Panel

Whidbey Island Workshop - Day 3

This was our final workshop day and had to head to the ferry then the airport to go home. Dreama Tolle Perry talked about the "business" of art and how she manages her own art business. It was very interesting in how she grew and what she did as well as talk about self promotion which is hard for most artists. After that we worked on a small painting 8" x 8". Dreama handed out about 5 different pictures (the yellow icing cupcake picture was painted upside down). We started on our painting and blocked it in then she had us move to the next easel and continue painting on that one with whatever paints the artist had on her palette. We moved to 6 easels with an unknown time frame at each.

It was interesting moving on to the next easel and look at what others had painted, deciding what you liked, what you didn't and what you were going to paint on it. For tight painters it was mortifying to follow a loose painter and vice versa. Here is my cupcake painting that I arrived back to. We were allowed 5 paint strokes then had to quit. I am still hoping to work on it at home and make it mine. I really enjoyed this challenge and learnt a lot from it.

Dreama just put her photos of the weekend on her website. My blue vase painting is in the second row on the left and the bottom photo is of Deb and I painting at our easels.

dreamatolleperry.com

 

Whidbey Island Workshop - Day 2

12" x 12"

Oil on canvas board

 

This is the painting I did on day 2 in Dreama Tolle Perry's workshop. We all painted this from a photocopy of a picture from Dreama. The groans were very audible as this was a very complicated picture. Dreama again showed us how she minimized the photo, did the under painting and then how to get started.  The 12"x12" was different, but it certainly worked for this picture as there was so much in it. Most people left out the folded up umbrella, but I put it in mine.

 

It was fun to work with these colours and just dove in. I was really hoping to do a building or something other than flowers so I was pleased and intimidated as well. Dreama walked from easel to easel helping us with the "wonky" chairs (which were very difficult for most people).

 

Again Deb and I stayed until our paintings were complete. I was very happy with the day and my painting.

Whidbey Island, WA Workshop

My friend Deb and I flew out to Seattle on Thursday morning, toured around, went to a couple of art stores, had a delicious lunch then made our way across the ferry to Whidbey Island. There were hilarious adventures in getting lost, found, lost, found, lost and found just trying to get away from the airport as well as meeting Mad Madge in the ferry line up! We stayed in a wonderful cabin on Goss Lake, enjoying the canoe and hot tub.

We were both there to learn and enjoy Dreama Tolle Perry's 3 day oil painting workshop. The picture below is of my name tag....perfect! Each tag was different and we read them out when we introduced ourselves at the beginning of the 3 day workshop.

Dreama talked to our group and then started a demo working from a picture. She painted a brilliantly coloured under painting and then we painted ours (from the same picture). We went back and forth about 3 times watching Dreama demo then working on our own painting. Deb and I wanted to finish ours so we stayed and closed the place up for the night.

 

12" x 12" Oil on linen board

 

I enjoyed the whole experience of painting this. I had never painted a 12" x 12" format before and really like the size. I finally found a way to enjoy the Caribbean Blue oil paint and freely created. I was using the colours Dreama recommended for the workshop.

 

 

A birthday present for Curtis

 

"Memory of Thailand"

Oil on canvas 16" x 20"

 

This painting is based on a photo that Curtis took on his travels in Thailand. I also painted a couple other paintings that I used his photos as a reference and offered those paintings to him to pick one as a birthday gift. He hasn't decided but I think this is the one.

 

It looked stunning in a large black frame.

 The other choices were "Panama Rest" previously on this blog and a painting of the San Francisco bridge that I haven't posted yet.

Sicamous, B.C. Annual Art Walk

 

"Sue's Hydrangea"

16" x 20" Oil on panel

These two paintings are in the Eagle Valley Manor from April until September. If you are in Sicamous, B.C. most of the local businesses have maps with a list of all the art all around town that you can go enjoy at your leisure. It will be fun to do a "walk about" and check out the businesses and find your favorite paintings! It is fun to map read and find the treasure, something free to do as a family on a nonbeach day.

 

"Red Delight"

Oil on board 14" x 11

This is a picture of the still life set up and my finished painting. I really enjoyed this one with all the different reds as well as lots of colour mingling in the background. The vase was a challenge.

Sicamous, B.C. Art Walk 2013

 

 

The BC Arts and Culture Week (April 21-27) is the start of the annual Art Walk presented by the Eagle Valley Brush and Palette Club in Sicamous, B.C. The free Art Walk runs from April until September with members paintings in various businesses. There are brochures with maps in each business and you can walk around town and look at the art. The two paintings below are in the Eagle Valley Manor along with 3 others I will post later.

 

It is a fun day to go from place to place, especially if it is not a warm lake day!

 

 

 

 

"Red Amaryllis"

Acrylic 16" x 20"

 

 

"Northern Flicker"

12" x 16" Oil on board

 

www.KarenOliversFineArt.com

Big Hooves To Fill - Juried painting!!

 

"Big Hooves To Fill"  *SOLD*

Water colour 14" x 19" double matted & framed to 16" x 20"
click on painting for a larger view

 

 I painted this after I enjoyed a gift of a hot air balloon ride. What interested me was how little I could see of the cows (basically just their backs) and how much the shadow described them. I loved the contrasting shapes.

 

I am really excited as this painting has been juried into the 11th Annual Juried Members Show at the Leighton Centre (just outside of Calgary). The show is called "Transcending Tradition" and will be on from April 26 through to May 30, 2013. The Public Opening Reception is on Saturday April 27th from 2pm - 4pm. Please enjoy the show if you are in the area, as well as a stroll on the grounds, the views are spectacular!                         www.leightoncentre.org

 

Panama Rest

"Panama Rest"

Oil on board 12" x 16"

click on painting for a larger view

This painting is based on a photo our son took while on vacation. I love the long boats and this one felt like the boat owner decided to have a siesta on the beach during the heat of the day. Actually, I was mentally putting myself there as I was painting!

This is a quick sketch Rick Berg did on oil sketch paper to help me understand how to get a curve in the boat as well as the water flow.


Holiday in Palm Springs CA

 

Hiking in Palm Springs

Water colour 10" x 14" double white mat to 16" x 20"

click on painting for a larger view

 

We just came back from a week in Palm Springs, a wonderful break from our very unsettled snowy and windy winter weather. Love peeling the layers of clothes off to live in summer clothes - day and evening!

 

I had painted this picture after the last time I was there. It was satisfying to stand at the same spot and enjoy the same view and another day hiking.

Mt. Rundle

"Mt Rundle"

Oil on board 12" x 16"

Click on painting for a larger view

This is a view of the top of Mt. Rundle that I get to admire from afar and then up closer as we drive on the highway from B.C back to Alberta. You can see it from quite a distance and it keeps coming in and out of view as you go around corners. I love the jagged top and the long lines of rock, gullies and trees. I find that it is a very striking view from any angle and love the peek a boo quality from the highway.

Deb and I enjoyed painting in Rick Berg's class and I worked on this one there. I needed his help to get the depth and was happy with the final painting.

Wait Up!

"Wait Up!"

11" x 14" Water colour

click on painting for a larger view

I had so much fun with the last zebra painting, I had to do one more! This time with the wonderful trees that were in the background of Joan's photo.  This zebra was smaller and behind the other three and looked like it was trying hard to catch up in the heat.

Three's Company

"Three's Company"

11" x 14" Watercolour

click on painting for a larger view

This was fun to paint, letting my imagination and love for colour loose. I based this painting on a photograph my friend Joan took on her vacation. Love it when friends share photos to paint as I please!! I would love to go to Africa but will have to use my imagination until then!

"Summer Escape"

"Summer Escape"

16" x 20" Oil on canvas

This painting was done in Rick Berg's class. He brought the photo in and Deb and I both worked on the same reference.Rick wanted us to paint with a black and white underpainting, then cover it all in red iron oxide before starting with colour. I wish I had taken a photo with that start. I found this a very interesting and different way to work. I really like the shadows and light in this painting.

 I wish I had a photo of Deb's finished painting. It is just like penmanship and signatures, each of ours is definitely painted individually.

"At Rest"

"At Rest"

Oil on canvas 12" x 16"

This painting is based on a photo my friend Sue took near Chase, B.C. I loved the softness of the mountains behind the dilapitated barn. It has a peaceful feeling, almost as if the work is done and it is now time to rest. The painting was almost to dull until Deb suggested I add the bold yellow/gold ground...just the pop I needed.

Kristen`s World

This is a  gift I painted for our daughter. She had changed jobs and just completed West Jet's rigorous Flight Attendant training. She has travelled quite extensively outside of work and would like to see a lot more of the world. This painting is based on seeing the world without borders, just as colourful continents.

I have painted the outside side edge of the canvas with the English words ``Travelling the world, growing and meeting many new friends that become one family``. These words are then repeated around the side edge in Bulgarian, Croatian, Danish, German, Italian and Swedish. These are languages from countries that she has yet to visit.

"Kristen's World"

Mixed media on canvas 32" x 24"

click on painting for a larger view

This painting was hard to photograph as it has 2 layers of high gloss epoxy finish which is thick and shiny. I also put some glitter over the water areas within the first layer of epoxy to make the water sparkle. I am very happy with the way this came out and so was she.