"Sunshine Flowers"

"Sunshine Flowers"

24" x 30" oil on board framed

#20028116

I enjoyed the freedom of big brushes and a big subject. I loved the juicy warm and cool colours I played with. I have painted this in 2 other sizes as well this January, but particularly enjoyed painting this large for a change. It felt bold and physical.

"Dragon Boat View"

"Dragon Boat View"

Oil on board 21 3/4" x 27 3/4" in silver metal frame

#20009116

This is a typical scene of the very quiet Mara Lake early in the morning. Our group would gather for the 6 am - 7 am paddle before the lake would get busy with boats. This mist would just be lifted and the water was reflective and peaceful. I have such great memories of the last summer's fun and looking forward to more adventures this summer.

Workshop with Doug Swinton-Sunday

click on picture to view larger

I painted these 8" x 10" oil paintings all on the second day in a work shop with Doug Swinton. Again, we set up Saturday night with clean, full palettes and lots of brushes. These paintings were done in the same format of approx. 20 minutes (up to 30 if Doug was distracted enough). Instead of 10 paintings everyone completed 8. We just ran out of steam.

To hear the groans when the photos were projected on the wall was really funny. The subject matter was so varied, there was something for everyone and we were really challenged to paint subjects or vistas we would of never chosen for ourselves. I went home with that really exhausted but happy feeling. I learnt a lot, especially where I was challenged...with values but could see the progression over the workshop. I would highly recommend this class to oil or acrylic painters, just be prepared to go through A LOT of paint!

Workshop with Doug Swinton-Saturday

click on picture for a larger view

I painted these 8" x 10" oil paintings all in one day in a workshop last weekend with Doug Swinton. His course was over an evening and two days. He taught the class on Friday night and did a demo, using a lot of examples and every day experiences to describe common problems in painting. We set up Friday night so we were ready to go first thing Saturday morning. He gave us approximately 20 minutes to paint the picture projected on the wall. With this lack of time we could not get bogged down in details and had to get over the fear of starting.

Doug walked from easel to easel to offer help, words of encouragement or to paint right on our canvas to explain the process. We then had about 5 minutes to put our wet paintings on cardboard in another room and clean our palette, then on to the next one. Wow, boot camp for artists! I will post Sunday's paintings later.

Inka Gala Fundraiser

I have the following 2 paintings at the Inka Gala Fundraiser on March 5, click here for tickets for this event or information. Last year's gala brought in enough money to purchase 220 satchels of school supplies and 440 Peruvian children were impacted. Your ticket includes Admission, Welcome Drink with Inka Snack, Catered Authentic Peruvian Food, Entertainment, Shopping, Silent Auction and Fun!

R.B. Sunset

Oil on board 9" x 12" framed

"Leila's Treasures"

Acrylic on watercolour paper matted in 16" x 12" frame

"Sunflowers"

The picture above is the painting about midway. I took it to my class with Doug Swinton as I was unsure of how I wanted to proceed. I realized with Doug's help that the photo reference composition was stronger than my layout. Doug helped me to make the flowers larger (like the photo) as well as with the background. I am going to paint this one again as I really like the shapes and colours.

"Sunflowers"

Oil on board 11' x 14"

#20002116

"Coming to Shore"

"Coming To Shore"

Oil on board 18 1/2" x 22 1/4" in silver metal frame

#20014116

I initially struggled with trying to figure out how to paint this one. The photo reference also had a bird (crane) in the front. I liked both features but then the painting was confusing... what was the focal point? I decided I would use the same photo reference and paint the bird as the focal point at a later date. I am really happy with this painting and enjoyed painting the larger format.