Spring Run-off

Finally we got to go plein air painting again and it was perfect - gurgling water, sunshine and fresh air, friendly landowners who invited us for return visits.....I think I was hopeful and painted the land more green that what it is.

Challenge part 2

O'Grady's Cow

It was time to paint a cow, and being a beige cow (not too far from white) gave me lots and lots of greys to worth with.

Ceramic Bunny

This is my submission to the DPW challenge for this week - doing a small painting one stroke at a time, mixing a new colour with each stroke. Ohhhh is that a test...but an excellent exercise!

Castello di Montegufoni

Lately I am painting from my photographs. It makes me appreciate plein air, but also the comforts of the studio. My sister Francesca and niece Vanessa joined me today. I have been wanting to paint this doorway in a dreamy location in Tuscany, where life stood still for a while.

Zipped

A Zippo lighter was the piece featured in the DPW Challenge this week, and it was to be painted with only ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and white. This is my submission.

Juicy Fruit

This time I took fruit up a notch - in size. I found it very different painting fruit large .... big strokes, big areas of colour to cover and yet try not to lose the value shifts.....

Red Pine Plantation

A few weekends ago, several of us went for a walk on the family farm of yesterday. The red pine plantations are 50+ old now. I enjoyed the way the sun slanted through them and lit up the little balsam trees. When painting, I was paying attention to the shift in values with each tree, and giving them some texture and individuality.

Hibiscus

Flowers bring such joy, especially in the thick of winter. This hibiscus is bravely blooming on my windowsill, and since a bloom usually lasts only two days, I had to honour it.....and paint it.

Green Apple

Another 10 minute challenge - with a timer, and the apple did get rotated for different angles. I am impressed with how much improvement there is with each try.... I really start to "see", to the point of wondering what in the world I was seeing with the first square.

The Challenge

Carol Marine double dog dared everyone to do this ten minute per square challenge. Having attending Carol's awesome workshop this summer, Mary and I knew this was a good exercise, so today we did it, and what a learning curve that was.....and so much fun too! I think that I need to do a lot more of these.....soon....like tomorrow.

Amaryllis

Again a flower is blooming in front of me and being in the depth of a northern winter, it was just too desireable to paint it. For once, a subject that works in this 8 x 8 square format that has been waiting to be used. The petals are verigated and that made it rather difficult to get values right...which was a real test in the best of places.

In the Spotlight 2

Am fascinated by the contrast lately....the black cloth is velvet and very rich, the apple so shiny and bright. There is still a bit of glare in the photograph, no matter which angle I positioned it in. Maybe that will improve once it is dry.

Hot Sumac

I have been playing with the idea of painting our fall sumac bushes, and did several small sketches. This one was the impromtu extra that just seemed oh so happy!

Early Spring

Reworked a painting from about a year ago....wanted the reflections in the water to come more alive.

In the Spotlight

Today I wanted to try a really dark background. It is strong....and quite dramatic! I rather like it.

We Three

There is much to be said about doing several quick studies of the same subject......to a timer. It just brings out the best and the worst, and hopefully lots of improvement. This was my third go ..... What else do you do when it is -30 C.?

From my Children

My children sent me this bouquet, for my birthday, the day my youngest flew to Australia. I wanted to savour it longer, so decided to paint it - life size. The one gerber daisy to the right could have been placed a bit higher to balance the three out, but otherwise I am happy with it. The process was very satisfying. And so this is how I start the new year with painting!

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.