Ready To Play

This painting is of our neighbour's dock. The beach toys were just beckoning to be used. I loved the bright colours and different shapes, a real "summer at the lake" view. I found it challenging to make the top of the green tube to look like "see through" plastic.

This painting is currently hanging in Gallery 150 in Sicamous, B.C.


"Ready To Play"
20" x 24" oil on panel (framed)
#20010917

Dreama's Online class - Week 2

I have signed up for an online workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry. Her first image and instruction (week 2) is of a photo she took of a cupcake. I watched the video instruction and painted along (first cupcake). Later I painted a second cupcake just using the photo reference. I enjoyed painting these cupcakes so much I am going to have to buy some fancy ones,  paint them and then enjoy eating them (at least that is my excuse!).

"My Little Cupcake 1"
8" x 8"
Oil on wood
#20021617A

The second painting was done on canvas paper so it had a different textural feeling. I used the same colours and reference photo but the speed and how I felt while painting it was so different.

"My Little Cupcake 2"
8" x 8"
Oil on canvas paper
##20021617B

Roselyn's Garden

Roselyn's Garden

12" x 12"   Oil on board

#20001617

The reference for this photo was shared on a painting course by Esperanza Arato for other's to paint in the group. The photo is of her sister Roselyn's garden. It was a very busy and complicated photo therefore a challenge to add and delete elements as I saw fit. Roselyn's garden is a cornucopia of shapes, sizes and colours, it must be truly beautiful to enjoy it personally.

End Of A Great Day

"End of A Great Day"

16" x 20" Oil on canvas - framed

#20026517

This painting is in the juried Federation of Canadian Artists - Calgary Chapter "Absolutely Art" Show at the Earl Grey Golf Course in Calgary tonight 4pm - 9pm and Saturday 10am - 5pm.

Ruby Red

"Ruby Red"

8" x 10" Oil on canvas board

$80 unframed

#20013716

I saw this car at a car show and was attracted to the colour and highlights first, then the great shape. I don't even know what kind or year it is. By the polished look and shape, someone loves it a lot.

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

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.

Antarctic series #3 - Departing British Base Rothera

"Departing British Base Rothera"

Oil on canvas   16" x 20"

#20029516 $300 unframed

The reference photo is a view from the plane just leaving the base in Antarctica taken by our son while working as a pilot for Kenn Borek Air. I loved the colour and shapes as well as the feel of the isolation and lack of human intervention.

Antarctic Series #1 - Antarctic Fall

This is the first painting I did in a series from photo references our son Curtis took while he was working as a pilot in Antarctica over 2 seasons. I tried to capture the majestic size and shape of the mountains and icebergs in this series. I found them very awe inspiring and was so grateful to have his reference photos.

"Antarctic Fall"

16" x 20" Oil on canvas

$300 unframed 

#20023516

Antacrtic Series #2 - "Patagonia"

I painted the first of this series earlier on, you can see it here. The reference for this one was a photo taken by our son on his journey to Antarctica. This is a view from his plane of the Patagonia mountain range. Cerro Torre is the peak on the left with Mt. Fitz Roy on the right. This was a very challenging view as it did not have a foreground, middle ground and back ground. One of Doug Swinton's suggestions was changing the colour of the sky to make it recede into the background and that solved the visual perspective problem. This was challenging as I had never painted anything quite like this top of the mountain view. I really love how this turned out!

"Patagonia"

Oil on canvas 16" x 20"

#20010316

5. Nature's Path

"Nature's Path"

20" x 16"

Oil on canvas framed

#20025216

$350

This was a challenge for me as I wanted the flowers and grass to be loose but not look like I had 2 separate paintings with the mountains behind. With Doug Swinton's help I feel like everything is well balanced and interesting. I am really happy with this one!

Birthday Cupcake

"Birthday Cupcake"

10" x 8" Oil on canvas board

#20002316

I made a batch of cupcakes to surprise my friend Karen on her special birthday, dropping them off early in the morning so she could share them at work. One just happened to stay on the plate, ready to paint (and then eat). Thinking of chopping this painting down to the 8" x 8" size below, making a better design.

8" x 8"

Buffalo Painting #2 & #3

" Soaking In The Sun"

Oil painting 8" x 10" on canvas board  #20027216 

Reference photo by Susan L. Hill

"Family Time"

Oil painting 9" x 12" on board  #20028216 

 Reference photo by Susan L Hill

These two paintings were from photo references Janet's Mom Susan took. Just mentioning I would love to paint buffalo, Janet dug into her box of fabulous photos her and her Mom took and generously offered me three! I love being with generous artists (photographic and painters)!

At Rest - Buffalo painting #1

"At Rest"

8" x 10" Oil on canvas board

#20026216

Photo reference by Susan L. Hill

I was in my art class and asking about using internet references for painting as I wanted to paint some bison or buffalo and had no photo references myself. As luck would have it, Janet has a treasure box of photos that she and her Mom have taken. Janet said her Mom wouldn't mind me using hers so I am grateful to use Susan L. Hill's photos as references for a series of 3 buffalo paintings.I really enjoyed painting this one and the 8" x 10" size was perfect.

"Just A Few Minutes, We Won't Get Wet"

"Just A Few Minutes, We Won't Get Wet"

12" x 9" Framed Oil Painting

#20018216
A Silent Auction Donation to the Generations Of Hope Fertility Fundraiser

Painting this was a labour of love. I took the reference photo when I was painting en plein air at the Sicamous Public Beach. These children looked like they must of been travelling as they were not in beach clothes but kept inching further and further into the water. It really reminded me of my kids when they were little and their pleas for just a little more beach time.

FCA Richard McDiarmid Workshop - "Shared Wisdom"

I painted this acrylic mixed media painting in a FCA Experimental Painting Techniques workshop taught by Richard McDiarmid. On the first day we started with an under-painting, mono-print, stencils, and a whole variety of mark makers that we could find and share in the classroom. The idea was to make various "starts" and backgrounds then Day 2 was to bring it together to finish our paintings.

The variety of subject matter and initial starts was huge. Richard demonstrated various techniques on his own work and then off we went. I really enjoyed the workshop and found myself less tentative the more I worked with the acrylics. It is hard to see in the photo but this painting is very textural. We talked about each person's work and Richard only demonstrated on his own work, preferring to leave our paintings as ours.

"Shared Wisdom"

24" x 18" Acrylic Mixed Media on canvas panel

Totem pole photo reference supplied by Richard McDiarmid

"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.

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.

"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.