Another World

This painting has taken days to manifest - but it is finally born! I seem to be attracted to elements of magic and enchantment, even being a bit surreal. This is the garden in Kiawah Island, and it felt very much like another world there.

The Barn

Painted this from a photograph that I took in November. I love the late fall colours - oranges and purples with that unusual splash of intense green. It is all buried under a foot of snow now. Enjoyed the painting process in this one.

Snow Apples

Finally I got to painting again......I have been busy but also in a reflective state post workshop. Where am I going with painting, what do I really want to paint, what makes me happy........
So while I muse, I painted the frozen apples outside our window.......

Winter Sunflowers

Painted with Mary today, looking out of her kitchen window. The landscape was full of information, but I wanted the full focus on the beauty of the inert sunflowers. It was a very foggy afternoon. The cool background worked well with the warm tones of the plant.

Val des Monts

I have passed this spot so many times, and have seen it in all seasons, but on this day it seemed especially magical. The hills were so blue and the solid shapes of the masses gave it a dignified simplicity.

The House on the Island

This was painted quickly and loosely from a photo I saw on Facebook (thanks Mary Beth) - I loved the angle and the bluish cast of light with the intense sunspot.

Enchantment

After finishing a painting, I turned around and the sun was shining through the grey spanish moss hanging from the oak trees. It was so luminous and enchanted, that I had to paint quickly paint it. The colours were intense, there was a vertical and horizontal in the design, strong lights and darks, and most important - I loved it!

Secret Garden

I am back from South Carolina, from a workshop with Ian Roberts and my dear friends on a beautiful property on Kiawah Island. We spend days on difficult exercises to train the eye, and to slow us down in the painting process, to see and see properly. And when we did get to paint, all of that knowledge had to be tested. I feel like I am going through layers and layers of the same information and same process, until it will someday finally gel.

The Umbrella Tree

The gardens on the grounds are designed, and we tried to use that to our advantage in designing a composition. For a while I felt that the umbrella shaped tree looked like a hot air balloon that had landed, but then Ian came and added a "shape" resembling a tree in the distance behind it. I think in the future I will think also of artist license to move the little green meatball bush....

Rivercourse

It was windy, cool temps, and we were in the shade...brrr...but the process took over and we were painting shapes, distilling it down to pieces of shapes keeping in mind design, hues etc. It was exhiliratingly exhausting.

Sweetgrass

Evening on Kiawah Island ....

Duo

What interested me about this duo were the differences in the shadows.
I am off to South Carolina to paint with Ian Roberts and a group of friends. More shapes and values concepts to be integrated into my brain pathways. Will be back posting in two weeks.

Lake Dore

On the orange and blue theme, my oranges have a huge range from a yellow orange to a red orange, in case it is argued that these trees are yellow. I saw this lovely contrast the other day, driving home from somewhere. I painted it quickly, just a combination of shapes, but it is always the colours that are exciting.

Autoroute Decarie

Driving through this underpass in Montreal, I was attracted to the....orange and blue colours and how the angles created momentum.
And I have a new point and shoot camera with lots of features that require a bit of figuring out.

Montreal Lookout

We were in Montreal this past weekend visiting our daughter Alexandra, who took us for a walk in the Parc du Mont Royal where there was a wonderful lookout over the city, with the St. Lawrence River in the distance. Fall has promoted a focus on painting compositions with orange and blue.

Tamaracks

Since it was suddenly so warm - our Indian Summer? - we went out to paint. Humidity was high today, giving better contrast, and the only colour left in our fall landscape are the bright orange tamaracks.

Paint Out

Today I joined the EOAA paint out near Lake Clear. The weather was great considering there was a rain forecast. The leaves are essentially all down and yet it was beautiful in the many variants of grey. It was a great experience all around.

Pumpkin Row

The pumpkins are still in the field behind us. I am focused on warm and cool colours right now - the orange being warm, the bluish vegetation cool. I am wondering about the tiny bit of fourth pumpkin seen at the top - maybe I will grey it down.
Have reposted - lost the sharp edges and greyed it...more subtle?

In and Out

During a busy time of travel and activities, I tend to get out my painting routine, with the result that I feel "off". The best way for me to get into the groove again is to go back to basics - doing still lifes. It is amazing what is involved in a simple little set up - all the challenging components of painting.

Pumpkin Field

>This Thanksgiving, we had several guests in the house, and Pia from Hamburg showed me all the photos she had taken of pumpkins, behind my house! I was so surprised to find a long strip of pumpkins behind us. They were blocked by the trees but now as the leaves fall, we can see it. Of course Mary and I had to go out there and paint. The hills were so blue and the pumpkins so orange..... and I keep working on the pumpkins to get the front ones to pop out a bit more.

Schoolhouse Road

Mary and I went out today - although the sun was shining this morning, it was overcast by the time we went on location. The yellow populars radiate from the general greyness starting to come over the landscape and there is the wonderful smell of fall in the air. I was focusing on a few simple solid shapes that held a design together.

Red Maple

A flaming red maple in autumn - just had to be painted. I had painted this same tree in late spring when the field was ploughed and trees were all green.

Fall Trees

Blazing Maples

Combermere

Back from Germany, filled with new impressions, and out with Mary to paint...asap. I haven't painted since Mackey Station, and really missed it, so it was wonderful to get those brushes going again. It was a beautiful day to be out in the splendor of the fall colours.

Mackey Station

It is wonderful plein air weather, so Mary and I went on a road trip scouting for locations. We painted this scene at sunset, because we liked the design.
'Tomorrow I am leaving for Hamburg Germany...back in October. Will definitely sketch and take photos.

Red Apples #2

Red Apples #1

Up the Hill

We had time to do another quick sketch yesterday. The grasses were turning yellow but I have exaggerated the colour. A highway actually goes through there. I like the sky...it actually glows.

Hidden Corner

Today Mary and I met at a small lake where we had wanted to paint all summer. But it was windy and chilly and as a result, we were uninspired. So we continued down the road to a laneway that I had often wondered about and there we parked ourselves, sheltered with a great view, and happily painted and drank hot tea. The sumac was still very green, but I wanted colour, so here is colour, soon to be anyways.

On the Farm

Mary and I went to paint and repeat abundance from my brother-in-law's garden. A storm was brewing, so we set up to paint under a roof. Sure enough, it started to rain, then pour, then thunder and lightening. We finished our paintings and went in for coffee.

By the Fence

I get very mesmerized when painting with so much yellow - it just draws you in.

Breakfast Bunny

One more bunny painting that actually was really difficult to get the values....but the dish ellipse came easier than usual.

Nico Swimming

I was standing on the dock at my cousin's cottage, watching the kids swimming, and captured Nico in the water - reminded me of a Sorolla painting. This is my attempt at painting it.

Stillness

So I have been painting every day, just not able to post from the cottage. This was painted on a hot, humid and quiet/still morning. It was an exercise to get the values of the background trees, and to not niddle with the flowers or the pine boughs. I like the yellow sky - the more I looked, the more I saw that the sky truly had a yellowish hue to it.

Ralph

It was raining - I was tired of still lifes...so I painted my car from the kitchen window. Great exercise for drawing shapes!

Going to the Lake

It has been humid, misty weather and the hills turn so blue on the way to the lake. I have enjoyed this view all summer when travelling back and forth. It can only be seen from this one spot on the highway, and I could not stop, so I painted it from memory, simplifying the shapes.

Peekaboo Bunny

One more bunny painting - going for light as dominant value, blue dominant colour.

Lazy Hazy Day

It has truly been those lazy hazy days of summer lately, and this little painting was to honour the lake. I dropped all the learnings and just painted what was in front of me. The sun was shimmering on the water and blue was soft....nice way to end a wonderful August.

Together

These are two different varieties of sunflowers in my brother-in-law's garden. It was a challenge to get the darks of the upper one without being too dark. Am enjoying this subject a lot.

Hello!

It is sunflower season again and I am back at painting them. This time felt a lot easier and looser, even though it looks like lots of details. The leaves are just shapes of light and dark, the petals were modeled at the end. It was a very satisfying experience.
Frohe Geburtstag Claudia in Hamburg!

Time for Tea & Oranges

Mary and I painted together again - both on the same subject - and we struggled with our cup shape until we finally got them - such a simple looking thing took so long.

Brook at Wolfridge

My posts are coming in lots instead of days - that is because I am without internet at the cottage, but I am painting.

My husband brought me to see this creek at the golf course where he had just played. We had had torrential rain, so it was rushing and full like in springtime. I focused on simplification of the area, painting shapes and minimal detail.

A Hat for Me?

More of the rabbit......

My darling Clementines

The ceramic rabbit is a wonderful little project to paint because it requires me to pay a lot of attention to each stroke, and to get away from my love for blending.

Holding up the Watermelon

Where am I?

After the workshop, I have been working on the exercises that we came home with and therefore no posts. But one day while sketching, I noticed the shadows created by this ceramic rabbit that I had used as a paper weight on a road map in the wind - at the beach. Since then I have been painting him - he is my muse while I work through the exercises.

Rabbit & Tomatoes

I was thinking here dominant value and dominant colour, and getting the values correct on everything!

Workshop Mango

Just back from a wonderful workshop with Carol Marine. What a phenomenal teacher! Every step was well thought out and organized for maximum learning. Great demos and exercises really helped to experience the concept.....my brain was fried by the end. And with the handouts and exercises, there is so much to continue with at home. The three days were filled with tons of valuable information, delivered in her clear and lovely way. No wonder everybody is crazy about Carol! She is awesome. Thank you Carol.