Venice Windows 1, 2 & 3

I decided to leave a lot of space around the windows in the hopes of creating a simplistic painting with an obvious focal point.

It was difficult to leave the space as is and not fill it with some sort of detail, it was also a good exercise in tonal balance.

Each painting is 12" x 12" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Journey

This is one of my favourite drives along the Cowichan Valley.

I think this will be the last of the landscapes for awhile, I have a few days off so I'm hoping to paint larger and spend some time experimenting with monoprints.

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD

Fields of Gold III

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD

Back-roads II

Another painting from the back-roads.
There is a lot to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

6" x 6" acrylic on cradled wood panel - SOLD

Back-roads

Starting this week my commute will change to our new office which is about 1/2 hour from our home.

There are two ways I can drive, the crazy highway or the back-roads.

This painting is from the back-roads.


6" x 6" acrylic on cradled wood panel - SOLD

Different Strokes

This was a fun little exercise for Karin Jurick's blog Different Strokes. It's interesting to scroll through and see every one's interpretation.

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.

Country Roads II

This sheep looked a little lost... These days I wish I had the time to do a little plein air painting, the air is warm and the colours are changing.




6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - Private Collection

Country Roads

The word "bucolic" came to mind while painting this picture. The word "sheepish" came to my husband's mind when he saw the painting.

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - Private Collection

Boulevard Trees

I didn’t set out to paint these trees which are outside my window but there was something appealing about their colours set against the blues and greys of the street.

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Anticipation!

A year ago I caught a glimpse of my daughter through a window, just before her wedding ceremony.

This painting has been hanging on my studio wall for many months unfinished, but I’ve come to like it as it is..

Happy Anniversary Megan and Dan!

8" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas- NFS

Untitled

I’m working on a few small paintings that I haven’t finished yet, in the meantime I thought I’d post this watercolour that I painted a couple of summers ago.

I had just moved into this place and I wasn’t familiar with these flowers, my neighbour (the gardener) says they survive by neglect and she has never been able to grow them. Well, they grow really well in my garden and the best part is, they glow at night when all the other gardens are dark.
The mask is African which I bought that summer while volunteering at Ten Thousand Villages. I’m not sure why I put them together but I think in a way at the time they represented hope.
10" x 14" watercolour on Arches 300lb paper - NFS

Last Light

I am quite pleased with this painting; it shows the cool breeze coming off the ocean, with a bit of warmth left from the day.

10" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas -SOLD

Evening Stroll

This is the same path as "Evening Jog" (see April 10), the grass is now long and golden.

It's nice to have an extra day off for painting. I was reading Julia Cameron's book "Vein of Gold" this morning, she's talks about the importance of walking each day. "Walking, with it's constant inflow of new images, gives us new thoughts that nourish us."

8" x 8" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas - 

Seven Trees

A weekend trip away reminded me what a beautiful island I live on. The landscape is very lush and green but in this painting I wanted to simplify some of the shapes and colours that were part of the scenery.

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD

Mom's Guitar

My mom received this guitar as an engagement present from my Dad, but I never heard her play it because it was broken all the years I was growing up. After she passed away my brother-in-law fixed it and now my husband plays it almost everyday.


8" x 8" acrylic gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD

Colour of Water

An evening walk through the harbour of our city is always entertaining, especially when the weather is warm and there is a big yacht race the next day.

A new job situation this past month has left me with little time and energy for painting, but it feels good to be back!!

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Earth Day

I painted a landscape today in celebration of Earth Day. I haven’t painted a landscape in a long time and certainly not in acrylic. I used the colours of early spring and kept it loose by using one large brush.

Today is a good reminder to take care of what was given to us.


8" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canva

Sunday Afternoon Read

It's been a very cold spring. Today the sun was out and despite the cold wind, there were people out enjoying the day in their winter parka's.

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Evening Jog

I love the fact that the evenings are getting longer. This is another painting of the oceanfront walk near our place. When we first moved here, I would walk here almost every night. It’s time to get back into the habit, not only for the exercise, but also for the painting inspiration.

6" x 6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas

Coffee Walk

A few blocks from where I live there is a beautiful walk along the ocean.

On sunny, Sunday afternoons it becomes busy with an array of people. There is a place for dogs to play, a place to fly kites, a place to hang glide, and many places to enjoy the view and each other.

These paintings are small studies of two of those people.

4" x 6" acrylic paintings on gallery wrapped canvas

Apples Values 2

I don’t think I achieved the contrast I had hoped for in the second apple painting (see photo below) but while painting I managed to get lost in the colours and shapes.

It was a right-side of the brain kind of painting and very satisfying.


6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped linen - $60. incl shipping

Apple Values

This is the first of two little apple paintings. I was trying to work on my values in painting, the general rule for values is thirds, for example this one is supposed to be two-thirds light, one-third dark with a bit of mid-tones in between.

When I change the photo to black and white, it shows me whether I have accomplished this.... (see below)

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped linen - SOLD

A Touch of Spring

The blossoms are everywhere and it is beautiful..

Have a Blessed Easter everyone!



6" x 6" acrylic on cradled panel - SOLD

The Conversation

I wish I had a really good excuse for not painting these last few weeks, there are a couple I could use, work stress and winter blahs, probably a little of both.

It took a walk downtown on an “almost spring” day to get me out of my doldrums. The warmth of the sun, the cherry blossoms, and this couple enjoying a good conversation were the inspiration for this painting.

6" x 6" acrylic painted on cradled panel 

Indulgence - Repainted

I first painted this last November and was never happy with it. I took some time this weekend to make some changes, using my new favourite colours, green gold and cobalt teal.
8" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Orange Vase with Tulips

It's always nice to receive a bouquet of flowers just because....

5" x 7" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas -

A Walk in Winter

Sadly, I had to be away this past week for my father-in-law’s funeral. It was a time to celebrate his life, be with family and also celebrate my mother-in-law's eightieth birthday!

It also meant flying from the rainy wet coast to Saskatchewan, where the temperature was at certain times -30 degrees. In the midst of one of the gatherings my daughter and I escaped all the food and visiting to go for a walk, it was a very short walk, but long enough to appreciate the beauty of small town, Saskatchewan.

6" x 6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas- NFS

Salsa Bowl with Lemons

I thought I would re-visit lemons today. As with all fruits and vegetables, it was a great colour study and I managed to use all the yellows and blues on my palette

5" x 7" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas -SOLD

Tomatoes

During one of the brief sunny moments that we had today, I managed to capture the tomatoes in the sun and then it was back to the stormy rainy day and back to bed for me with my cold.
I love the colour combination of green, red and orange.
5" x 7" acrylic on gallery, wrapped canvas

Avocados

Avocados make a great painting study, the colours and shapes are seemingly simple but the challenge to arrange them into a pleasing composition took me longer than I would like to admit.

What I also learned, other than how to paint them, was that there would have been about 50 million pounds of them consumed today, Super Bowl Sunday.

Another interesting fact is that they are in the top ten of sexy foods, enjoy!!!

5" x 7" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Blue Sunglasses

In St Mark's Square, there are vendors ( woman with hat) who will sell you corn for the pigeons.
The square is quite the visual sight, packed with equal amounts of tourists and pigeons surrounded by the incredible architecture of Venice.
6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Salsa Bowl with Salad

This was my Saturday lunch. Just before I threw the tuna on, I realized what a good study it would be with all the shapes and colours. I decided to create a warm backgound, with some of the colours I used in the tomatoes. Since blue and orange are complementry colours it made the painting a little more vibrant.

4" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Salsa Bowl with Melon

I received this lovely bowl for Christmas from a friend who made it in pottery class. She called it a salsa bowl, but I must confess I use it for more than just salsa.



4" x 6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD

Broken Pot

Re-awakening my dormant artistic self these last few months has been a challenge. The more I study, the more I realize I have to learn.

When I was having breakfast this morning I noticed my broken pot lying on the wet deck. I thought it would be a good study, playing with warm and cool colours.

4" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - $45. incl shipping

Venice Window

One of my resolutions this year is to learn how to make use of those snatches of time I have in a busy day , so I squeezed in a little painting time between work, supper and playing "Settlers"with my family.

I decided on another Venice painting. I love windows and wanted to try a more traditional painting of Venice.

It's a beautiful city!!

5" x 7" acrylic painting on canvas panel - $40. incl shipping

Venice Bass

Another good memory from Venice. I built up the background with a lot of paint and texture that was such a part of Venice.

Last night we watched "A Few Days in September". It was a good movie and had lovely views of Venice and Paris. When seeing the places I've travelled in movies, it always brings back that wonderful nostalgic feeling.

(Be warned there were a few scenes that weren't for the squeamish.)

8" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD

Venice Packpackers

This painting is a good example of what happens when one is too eager to paint rather than taking the time to plan the composition and the values. There is no real focal point. I then spent a lot of time trying to create one. 

Lesson learned, hopefully!!

I guess I could blame it on my daughter. For Christmas she gave me a gift certificate to the local art store, so I went today and bought new paints and brushes. I couldn't wait to try them out.

8" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Fisherman

A loose study of a weathered face.

4" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - $40. incl shipping

Boxing Day Shoppers!

I never thought I'd see the day when I would go shopping with all the men in my life. We actually didn't do a whole lot of shopping we exchanged a game, went for coffee, enjoying the walk downtown.

We topped the day off by having a supper of nachos with my husbands homemade salsa and we ate all of 8 cups of it. I think it was a reaction to the turkey.

It was a good time.

Happy New Year!

6" x 6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas NFS