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Monday, June 27, 2016

TRAIL MIX - Salmon Arm Art Gallery



I was lucky enough to be one of the artists juried in to this amazing show "Artists and Guides Explore The Shuswap". Selected artists went with a guide and photographer to a designated park or hiking area. Shirley was our guide and knew the Skimikin area in and out through her equestrian interests. She led CIan (photographer) and I up to Cougar Bluff where I painted two paintings. Shirley worked on clearing the trail and Clay took photos of the whole event and views while I painted. We ate lunch and hiked back down. Clay carried my large wet panel (16"x20") and I had all my oil painting supplies in a large backpack. 

"Next Generation" 10" x 8" En Plein Air Oil

"Cougar Bluff View" 16" x 20" En Plein Air Oil

After we said our good byes I stayed at Skimikin Lake and painted 3 more paintings until the light was flat (you can tell by the sky colour dimming) and I was losing interesting colours (and was in an exhilarating and exhausted state). I have never painted that much or that long en plein aire (outdoors on location) or indoors! The changing light was hard to give the paintings a cohesive feel and I wasn't used to painting orange lit hills.The five paintings are displayed with our write up and Clay's visual photographs of our day. The show is at the Salmon Arm Art Gallery www.salmonarmartscentre.ca and runs from July 1 to August 27.

 "Ready And Waiting" 10" x 8" En Plein Air Oil

"Skimikin Lake View" 10" x 8: En Plein Air Oil     "Dusk Lighting the Hills" 10" x 8"En Plein Air Oil




I am sooooooo excited after attending the "Meet The Artist, Guide and Photographer" for the Salmon Arm Art Gallery Trail Mix! Above are three pictures from the opening...the first is the "Trail Mix - Artist & Guides Explore the Shuswap" book for sale and the show brochure. The second picture is a photo of me beside my "en plein air" paintings (on site) and the last one is of photos taken by Ian of our shared day - hiking, clearing bush (Shirley, our guide kept busy) and Ian taking photos of the day.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Plein Air Painting on a rainy day


This was my view from the beautiful covered deck at Hyde Mountain Golf Course in Sicamous B.C. Kim gave me free rein to paint where ever and however long I wanted to. I had no competition for the deck so hid under the canopy and happily painted. It was raining hard and the clouds were moving quickly, you can see the difference in the two pictures. By the time I got to the closest hill the colour green was finally emerging. 


"Rainy Day plein air from Hyde Mountain Golf Course"
8" x 10" oil on canvas board

Sunday, June 19, 2016

FCA Calgary En Plein Air Workshop June 2016


This is my painting that I was working on in an en plein aire workshop (outdoors, on location) during the Calgary Federation of Canadian Artist en plein air June workshop. As we stood on the edge of a path along the river in Canmore Alberta, Terry Miura painted a demo explaining his shapes, colour choices and colour mixing, it was like watching magic happen. It was an overcast day with bit of sun coming through. We were all busy with our own paintings while Terry walked to each participant answering questions and making suggestions.

The day finished abruptly with a huge gust of wind that knocked my palette over and sent my painting tumbling away...no doubt it is a plein air painting with the extra dust, rocks and tumbling marks! With the heavy wind and rain just beginning we hastily packed up and ended the successful workshop. With mixed feelings it was the last workshop Tami and I are organizing for the Calgary Chapter of the FCA. I am looking forward to taking workshops with Caran and Sheila as the new organizers.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

FCA Calgary En Plein Air Workshop June 2016



These two paintings were worked on in Canmore, AB during the Federation of Canadian Artists, Calgary Chapter En Plein Air workshop with Jerry Markham. We had overcast skies, rain, wind and a little bit of sun but a very enjoyable time was had by all! He even gave us a demo while we hid under trees to get out of the rain! Jerry is a fun, energetic and very knowledgeable instructor, meeting you where you were in your painting journey and skills. He bounced from participant to participant repeatedly helping, guiding and discussing the paintings in progress.



Sunday, June 12, 2016

Antarctic Series #4 - Icebergs Outside British Base, Rothera



"Icebergs Outside British Base, Rothera Antartica"
Oil on canvas  18" x 20"
#20012616

This view was very serene and still. Our son took the photo reference when he was flying in the Antarctic. It had a real majestic, ancient and cold look to it.






Thursday, June 2, 2016

Bebo Grove #2, Fish Creek Park, Calgary


"After The Flood", Fish Creek Park, Calgary
8" x 10" Plein Air, Oil on board
This is the second outdoor painting I did with Deb. There were quite a few trees down due to the Calgary flood.The challenge here was to use fun colours instead of the painting a reality view. I really enjoyed painting this one and it was fun making it evolve. I had bright orange and yellow on the path to the water but it ended up to garish.

Below is the under painting, quite a difference from the finished painting. You can just feel the fun I had with colour!


Here is my painting partner Deb almost finished her first painting.