After The Ceremony

I was given some flowers and decided to put them on the deck and do a "plein air still life". I think I made up that category but it worked for me. I loved concentrating on the flowers while listening to the lake waves roll in. A large umbrella provided the shade I needed.

"After The Ceremony"

14" x 11" Oil on canvas

#20021816  $150 unframed

Summer Toys

"Summer Toys"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped canvas with painted sides (framing not required)

18" x 36"       $500

#20028715

This painting is from a photo I had taken on Whidbey Island. I worked on it in Kelowna while I was looking after my convalescing Mom last winter. I was using the new Opus Artist Quality oil paints for the first time. They were interesting to mix with and the colours were slightly muted but I was happy with the result.

"Waiting For PlayTime 2"

"Waiting For Playtime 2"

Oil on gallery wrap canvas (1 3/4" painted sides - frame not required)

40" x 30"
$1200
click on either painting for a larger view

This is one of my favourite paintings! I currently have it up in my dining room and enjoy it every time I go by. Summer and water are two of my favorite things and this painting captures them both, as well as the sense of warmth and play. This is one of the largest paintings I have done and am so happy with it.

Below is the first painting in acrylic from a reference photo showing more of the large dock system and the very small boat. I was really happy with it and found the wood panel I painted on showed the wood grooves which added to my interest. I liked it so much I wanted to paint it larger and in oil. My art friends (Debbie and Linda) suggested I make the small boat larger and leave out more of the large dock (they are sooooo art smart). I am enjoying the acrylic one in my art studio, reminders of summer with the long snowy winter looming ahead.

"Waiting For Playtime"

Acrylic on wood panel 15" x 16.5"

$250 framed in a brown frame painted to match the dock

Happy Tulips

"Happy Tulips"

Oil on canvas 24" x 30 1/2"

click on painting for a larger view

This painting basically started painting itself. I used it to clean my brushes off with all the colours from a  previous painting. I don't usually tone my canvas that way but it was staring at me almost daring me to start a new "large" painting. When I came back to my studio, I could see the tulip shapes on the canvas.

I was quite happy to start painting without having to come up with the idea, design, colours etc, they were already basically there. I have some texture on it as well, but it doesn't show up in my photos. I painted the sides so it can be hung without a frame. A large, nice happy, and bright cheery painting.

Paintings for sale can be found on my website.

Fish Creek Park - 26 C

Fish Creek Park -26 C - SOLD

Oil on canvas 16" x 20" in a barn board frame

This painting was based on a photograph my friend Sue took on a very cold winter day last year. I loved the colours, the beautiful blue sky reflected in the snow, the crispnessness that can be felt in her photo as well as the location! The buyer recognized it as Fish Creek Park and wanted art representing Calgary for his new condo. My thanks to Sue and Vishnu!

Self portrait #2

After having one class on a self portrait with Ingrid. I decided to start fresh on my own at home, where I wasn't distracted with the beautiful art coming alive all around me in the class. I also thought I would take a few more pictures of how the painting developed for my own reference later. What I found interesting is how focused and concentrating my facial features were. This apparently was serious business in both self portraits!

This is the underpainting where I am trying to place all the features as well as get the size and placement correct. I toned the canvas first with a warm golden yellow.

The painting is now at mid completion. I have also worked on the background and am quite happy with how it is at this point. Will post the final product at a later date when I get time to work on it again. The good news, the subject is always close at hand!

Second figure class

We had our second figure class with Ingrid Christensen painting in oil. The model was lovely with a combination of bare legs and a flowing dress. We did thumbnails first to decide on what we wanted to include and the placement of subject and empty space and how we were going to link our darks. From where my easel was, the view was mainly of her thighs and everything was foreshortened. Here is my view from my easel and the painting so far.

Ingrid showed me how to make the folds in her dress on my painting. I scraped the paint off at her suggestion and then did it again myself. The other difficulty I was having was the size of her hand and the fore shortened forearm. Again with Ingrid's help, I was much happier with my result. This was a one evening class so once again, a full painting was not completed, but I am happy with the result below.

Still life lesson on pattern

This was an (one) evening set up of a teapot and dried sunflower heads. The lesson was on how to paint a pattern to get the essence of the pattern without painting every little detail. It was extremely daunting to look at the set up and again begin with a blank canvas. Below is the my view of the still life and my work in progress.

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Ingrid's demo was starting the painting with the still life set up on the other side of the room (round bowl with delicate flower pattern) to show us how to tackle a pattern and still get the roundness of the bowl. Again, this painting is not finished as I plan to finish all the paintings from her class when the class ends or I have more time. I still want to work on the sunflower and the area under the teapot.

12" x 16" Oil on canvas

click on picture for a larger view

MRU Memorial Garden Daffodil

This oil painting is from a picture taken in the Mount Royal University Memorial Gardens. This well kept garden has a variety of flowers, rocks and seating areas and is a very peaceful setting. It is a wonderful place to sit and enjoy lunch outside. I was drawn to the single full flower against the solid rock and the wonderful shadows highlighted on the rock.

16" x 20" oil on canvas, unframed

click on picture for a larger view

Kananaskis

I loved how this picture turned out! The colour, shapes and shadows all feel right! The colours were on my photo and my goal was to match them.

Kananaskis

Oil on birch board

12" x 16" framed

click on picture to see larger view

Fall in Chase

This oil painting is my interpretation of a beautiful fall day taken by Sue Bingham in Chase, B.C. Her photographs are often an inspiration for me and she willingly shares her talents. I love pictures I feel invited into!

I was painting this in the Robert Wood's class and Deb suggested that I paint the sky in the background instead of the brown hill. Robert helped with the colour and he added the blue on the ground and tree trunks for me. It was amazing to see it brighten up further. It was such a bold use of a colour that was not in the picture! I really did not like it until it was added to the trees. This photo does not show the colours in the painting well.

Oil on canvas 16" x 20" 1/2" deep with painted sides, no frame required

Finished oil painting

I had a hard time trying to get the background hills/mountains the right value, but am really happy with the finished picture. It evokes the feeling of calm and warmth to me. Again the photo is more muted than the painting.

Oil on canvas 16" x 20" 1/2" deep with painted sides, no frame required.

Sunrise at Duck Lake

I have started taking an oil painting class from Robert E. Wood. My Creative Path Artist friends (Suzanne, Joan, Deb and myself) signed up together to make up a class of 10. I painted this one at home after watching his demo. I have painted this one before in water colour as a thank you gift for our friends we stayed with but it sold before I could give it away. I painted it again and gave it to it's rightful owners and now have enjoyed creating it again in oil. I am still learning how to take pictures for this blog as the painting is really quite bright and this picture shows it quite dull in comparison. Again, painting it brought back fun memories of a wonderful weekend with friends. I have it framed in a silver metal frame 13x10 3/4".

I am currently working on this Vietnam picture in oil. I am hoping to finish it tonight (might be too optimistic). Robert is very helpful and encouraging. We paint on whatever we want individually and he goes around the room to help and make suggestions. It really is inspiring to watch different pictures with different painting styles come to fruition.