Friday, January 29, 2010

Grace


Time for roses again, and all their tricky captivating nuances. The brass jug has become a favourite of mine.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Three Amigos


Found some round red mangoes in the grocery store today.....time for some fresh subjects.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Waterlilies


Last summer, I drove past these lilies near Kaladar, Ontario. In the depth of winter with the pristine snow spoilt by rain, I am pulling out my photographs, sketches, and notes of all the things I would paint some day.....and the day has come.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

April in Tuscany version 2

In the first version, I wanted soft pastel evening colours, and thought the result to be a bit rich in saturation, so painted the whole scene again, curious how it will turn out with more greyed down colours. The result is very similar. So - wherever I go, there I am. Good to know - again!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Baby Melon

This little watermelon graced the fruit bowl for along time, and yet it was still sweet and juicy. It was delightful to paint its curvey shape and the wonderful colour contrast.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

April in Tuscany


This was done from a photograph that I have had for a while. The scene was so idyllic - I wanted the soft colours of a spring evening but it turned out quite strong . The buildings were difficult because they really are crooked, and nearly patched together, but that is their charm too.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Green Grapes


Grapes are in the house - a tricky new subject. One broke off and rolled into the little saucer. I like the colour contrast and the deep dark background, and of course my favourite - reflections.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Je ne sais pas

With these roses, my objective was to really accentuate them, and I think that happened with the darkened background. I was in the midst of posting and asked my husband what to call the painting - he was busy and said that he didn't know - but he said "je ne sais pas.....and so they are named.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Chinese Teapot


Painted at Mary's today. This teapot was complicated to draw but I think I got it. The background is brushstrokes of different grays, which could have been darker and look even lighter in the photo. I am still working on brushstrokes of mixed colours, same value, no blending and it is coming along.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Winter Sky


This painting had all cold colours, so I gave it a bit of pink highlight where the emerging sun was striking the frosty snow. I am on a posting marathon, something for every day of January, no matter what. This one might qualify under "what".

Monday, January 18, 2010

Going Home


The last of the evening sun around 4:30 pm turned the sky peachy and reflected off some of the ice on branches as I skiied home the other day.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Tea Party


When the girls were small, they had numerous tea parties and these are their little cups. Sundays are the days that I find hardest to paint, and tend to study more. Today it was all about colour bias and creating vivid saturated colour - maybe that is why the background is such a high key green!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Morning Light

The morning sun blazes on the little forest where I go cross country skiing behind our house. Snowmobile trails follow the edge of the field. I wanted to get the effect of the warm morning sun and the cool snow shadows.

Friday, January 15, 2010

This little piggy.....

Another piggy challenge - for practice with shapes, values and all that wonderful stuff.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Brass Jug #2

Another quick one of the jug. Have bought some new brushes to try out tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Brass Pitcher

The other day, I found this brass pitcher in an antique store - what a delight! The plan is to paint it a lot more. Mary and I painted together today, with a nice wood fire to warm us. Winter does have its perks!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Frosty Morning


Since we are snowed in anyways, I am still on the hoar frost theme. I wanted to see how few and specific my strokes could become.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Twilight

Driving home from Ottawa last night, the sun had just set and the horizon was brilliant. I wanted to remember the colour sequence and paint it for the sheer joy of the colour.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The National Gallery of Canada


Was in Ottawa today at the National Gallery - saw lots of wonderful paintings - Group of Seven, Clarence Gagnon, Suzor-Cote, Shadbolt, Monet, Klimt, van Gogh...and more. It was a most inspiring day.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Nutty Ensemble


Some whole nuts were left over from Christmas, so I decided to experiment with values in the different nuts. There is very little dark, lots of mid range and some light. The open walnuts had the best contrast.

Friday, January 8, 2010

January Light

At 4:15 pm, I can see across the snow covered field, the the last sliver of light from the setting sun. Snow is on the distant Laurentians. I set out to make distinct strokes of many colours - but it turned into a blending again.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Fruit Juice

Went about it looser and definite second time around, light coming from a bit different angle. Don't see much difference yet.


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The Delft Bank


Mary had this nice Delft piggy bank that we decided to paint today. It had odd slant eyes and a windmill on the other side. I decided to do something different because I have been reading about gradated dark backgrounds. The front cloth colours are blended, but the pig is done with decisive strokes. And the background is hard to see but contains blue, brown and red, becoming lighter towards the shape of the bank. Does he not look like a fat and greedy little pig!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Exercise # 1


Back to the Arthur Stern book to paint exact patches of colour - turned out a bit too green!


Monday, January 4, 2010

Melon et al

Deliberate strokes on the melon - and on the clementines but lost their essence a bit - still keeping with my challenge.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Three is Company

Back to specific strokes ! I gave the canvas an orange priming, and the finished painting has a nice glow. I was focused on not overworking anything, getting the folds and the shadows. And no blending!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Frothy Frost

Some improvement....?
Sometimes painting a magical moment in nature borders on appearing tacky. Lost are the deliberate strokes of my new plan, and something else burst forth, all frothy and pastel coloured. It was fun though, and the journey continues.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Bowl of Plenty



Today I made a real effort to work differently - with mindful strokes. I love to blend, and blend some more. A brushstroke needs to be put down with purpose, and needs to be specific. My challenge this year is to do that. It will be interesting to compare at the end of the year.
I think it will be a very mindful year....to do things with attention, appreciation and presence.
Happy 2010.