Gavin Workshop - the ScoutMaster

Last painting of this fabulous workshop - we used a lot of turp to draw and "coax" the figure out, so the paint is a bit light and faded looking, especially in the photo. All of the paintings are unfinished....the point was to get it down quickly without fussing, then go onto the next painting. Ellen was great for explaining things, demonstrating and then making sure that we experience it. She was full of sayings and analogies that were so funny but also hit the mark and were therefore easy to remember.

Now we are back from the US, and lucky me, am leaving on Sunday for an Ian Roberts workshop in Meaford Ontario. This is really getting into the groove.....

Medicine Lake

I have been moving my daughter's things from her university apartment and came across this painting which I had done for her several years ago as a symbol of support and strength. They are the Rocky Mountains near Jasper Alberta by Medicine Lake. It was interesting to see it again - the canvas had been primed with a pink which gives these rugged mountains a soft aura.

Bird Bath

These grouping of Canada Geese were in this small creek last summer, preening and grooming and swimming around together. I liked the S curve in the composition, and the shapes of the geese without using too many brushstrokes.

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.