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.

"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