30 in 30 - Day 30 - End of Summer I and II

 End of Summer I

11" x 13" - acrylic, pastel, intense pencil on canvas paper - $30

End of Summer II

16" x 12" - acrylic & ink on watercolour paper - $30

Today is of course the last day of September and the last day of the month long challenge of painting 30 paintings in as many days. I actually completed two today and am still not sure which one will be my final challenge piece. I really like them both. Similar palettes and styles and both inspired by travels in France. It has been fun, and I have very much appreciated those of you who looked, commented and purchased my work. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

30 in 30 - Day 29 - Cloud Reflections

Cloud Reflections

10" x12" - acrylic on canvas - $35

This is the penultimate day of the 30 paintings in 30 day challenge. I had such fun yesterday starting with a black ground and painting with loose brush strokes that I worked the same way with this one The composition is based on a photo I took at our cottage several years ago, on a windless day when there were these great big dramatic clouds reflected on very calm water. 

30 in 30 - Day 28 - Farther Afield II

Farther Afield II

16" x 20" - acrylic on canvas - $125

I am always experimenting with different brushstrokes, especially when I have new brushes, and they helped me work a little looser in this landscape. I also started with a black ground, which you can see in places and I think that added some depth to the colour. It's day 28 in the Challenge - yahoo!

30 in 30 - Day 27 - Farther Afield

Farther Afield

8" x 11" - acrylic & ink tense pencil on canvas paper - SOLD

It's now day 27 in the "30 paintings in 30 days" Challenge and the end is in sight. Not that it hasn't been fun, but I am missing painting big canvases, and taking more time with each work. But,  I also think there is a lot to be said for painting quickly and being more bold which always seems easier on smaller surfaces. So it's back to the easel......

30 in 30 - Day 26 - Candyland

Candyland

8" x 11" - pastel over acrylic - SOLD

It's day 26 in the Challenge!

30 in 30 - Day 25 - September Colour Field

September Colour Field

8" x 11" - acrylic on canvas paper - $30

It's day 25 in the Challenge - almost there!

30 in 30 - Day 24 - Miss Molly

Miss Molly

11" x 11" - acrylic on canvas paper - NFS

Our beloved black lab Molly passed away in June at the ripe old age of 14.5 years. She was our third lab and though a strong-willed puppy (she never did come when I asked, even politely) she developed into a delightful companion over time. And of course we miss her. I have been wanting to do a senior portrait of her for awhile, and this is it, the 24th painting in the 30 in 30 challenge. As you can imagine it's not for sale, however, it is an example of the pet (mostly dogs and some cats) portraits I do on commission - so if interested in having your pet immortalized - please contact me - I charge $175 for a 12" x 12" on canvas.  

Have a great day!

30 in 30 - Day 23 - Black Drum

Black Drum

10 x 10 - acrylic on canvas - $30

Black drum is a fish that my husband has had some success in catching when in Florida, and when he does I always take photos. In fact I have quite a few. It's Day 23, only 7 more to go.

30 in 30 - Day 22 - Broom Field

Broom Field

10" x 10" - acrylic on canvas, with a little pastel on top  - $30

Day 22's painting is this one, based on photos I have from Provence, where the broom is extravagant in the spring. It's hard not to like a colourful landscape!

30 in 30 - Day 21 - Northern Scene

Northern Scene

11" x 11" - acrylic and pastel on canvas paper - SOLD

I tried to work the brush marks in this little painting, wanting them to just stand up and be more visible, and then added soft pastel lines on top of that for a little more expression. I really like the result, and have to say that the painting 'in life' is much richer in terms of colour and depth than what the camera (and photographer) was able to capture, unfortunately. 

It's Day 21!

30 in 30 - Day 20 - A Sunny Day

A Sunny Day

10" x 10" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

Another view I have painted before - because I love the curve of the tree! 

This is Day 20!

30 in 30 - Day 19 - Laerg Island

Laerg Island

10" x 10" - acrylic on canvas - $30

This is a view I have loved over many years, usually seen from our little boat as we travel to our cottage by water. The small island has been owned by the same family for over 50 years. I have painted this view before but I think this is the most successful yet.

And it's Day 19 - getting there!

30 in 30 - Day 18 - Olive Blues

Olive Blues

10" x 10" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

When in doubt, paint olive trees, my current go-to subject of choice. It used to be pears, and before that it was tulips. Then there were the sheep......

Anyway, another day, another painting, the 18th to be exact in the Challenge!

30 in 30 - Day 17 - Holly Hock Garden

Holly Hock Garden

11" x 14" - acrylic & ink tense colour pencil on canvas paper - $30

Day 17's effort in the 30 in 30 challenge is riffing on yesterday's theme of flowers, and specifically holly hocks. A lighter, high key interpretation of the subject, using different media. 

30 in 30 - Day 16 - Magic Carpet

Magic Carpet

16" x 20" - acrylic on wood panel - SOLD

I have wanted to paint a garden of holly hocks for some time. I love the way their stems stand up straight and tall, with the flowers and buds forming in vertical rows. That is how this composition and painting started out, with some very stylized flower heads in vertical rows, looking like holly hocks, drawn on a black ground (for some added colour depth). 

 As for the title, well that's just what it feels like to me - a carpet of flowers. It's day 16 in the Challenge.

Have a great weekend!

30 in 30 - Day 15 - Landscape Shapes

Landscape Shapes

11" x 11" - acrylic on paper - SOLD

This was a fun one to paint. It started out in a fairly basic way, inspired by one of my photos, and then it looked too boring, so I began to work intuitively, adding and extending lines and shapes, breaking areas down into smaller shapes, flattening perspective, eliminating reality, and pushing expressive colour. Maybe I will try a larger one like this sometime. 

It's Day 15 in the 30 in 30 challenge, half way there! 

30 in 30 - Day 14 - Where the Wild Grasses Grow

Where the Wild Grasses Grow

12" x 9" - acrylic on wood panel - $30

The subject for this painting was inspired by a photo I took in France, in May. I took great liberties with it, and the result is the day 14 offering in the Challenge. 

30 in 30 - Day 13 - Shoreline Simplified

Shoreline Simplified

12" x 10" - acrylic on canavas paper - $30

It's day 13 in the Challenge. And I am starting to feel the feel the challenge.  Deciding what to paint is the biggest decision. We will see what happens tomorrow. Have a great evening!

30 in 30 - Day 12 - CrossSection

CrossSection

11" x 13" - acrylic on archival canvas paper - $30

Some days you have to work, ie. paint, fast and sometimes the magic happens. That's what I felt after finishing this one - number 12 in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. 

30 in 30 - Day 11 - Paysage Vert

Paysage Vert

12" x 9" - acrylic on wood panel - SOLD

This painting was inspired by a detail from a photo I took in Brittany in May - hence the French title meaning Green Landscape. I loved the shape of the distant trees and that strip of green yellow, and the variety of grasses and vegetation in the foreground and focused on those elements in the painting.

This is day 11 in the 30 in 30 challenge, and I have to say it's going well and I'm having fun. I loved working on this little one and flinging paint, carefully, and am really pleased with the final effect. 

30 in 30 - day 10 - Hot Day

Hot Day

11" x 14" - acrylic on archival canvas paper - $30

It has been a relatively cool summer where I have been for the last few months and I was feeling in need of some heat - visual heat that is - and that called for a hot palette of pinks, magenta, yellows, and turquoise. 

It's already day 10 in the 30 in 30 challenge! Twenty in 20 more to go.

(Please note: the colours here are mostly accurate, but the colours in the painting who you see it are 'cleaner', and nicer!)

30 in 30 - Day 9 - Hinterland

Hinterland

9" x 12" - acrylic on wood panel - $30

I am surrounded by trees, and apparently that is very healthy! 

More trees for Day 9 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. 

30 in 30 days - Day 8 - Apricot Orchard

Apricot Orchard

9" x 12" - acrylic on wood panel - SOLD

It's day 8 in the challenge - and I am back to trees, at least for now - mind you I don't think I have actually left them yet. Hmm, maybe tomorrow. 

Anyway, this is based on a photo I took in France, in May, near the Falaise de Lioux. I actually sat under this apricot tree and painted the scene opposite - you can see what I men here.

30 in 30 - Day 7 - Top of the Hill

Top of the Hill

9" x 12" - acrylic on wood panel - SOLD

The challenge continues, and so does the painting fun! I am having more fun with this whole thing than I did in January, and am giving myself permission to try some things that I never seem to have time for.

The actual painting is dark in value, but what is difficult to see here are the transparent layers of rich colour in the lighter pink-purple hill area - which is really quite lovely, if I do say so myself. 

30 in 30 - Day 6 - Red Field

Red Field

8" x 8" - acrylic on canvas paper - SOLD

It's day six in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, and here is what I have to show for it. I will admit that I have used this composition before, nonetheless, this one is using a different palette......lots of reds, and magentas....think autumn. 

30 in 30 - Day Five - Lake Trees

Lake Trees

12" x 12" - acrylic on wood panel - $30

Here is day five's painting in the Challenge. 

A more tempered colour palette and natural treatment of the scene, 

for a change. 

. 

30 in 30 - Day Four - By the River

By the River

11" x 14" - acrylic on canvas paper - SOLD

This is day four's painting in the 30 in 30 challenge. It started out looking a little more realistic but then some 'fixing, editing and changing" became necessary, and this stylized, over-the-top colour was the result. Good fun on a rainy overcast Labour Day Monday. Hope the sun is shining where you are! Cheerio.

30 in 30 - Day Three - Olive Intensity

Olive Intensity

10" x 10" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

More trees for the challenge. 

In Provence lavender fields grow next to olive groves, so I combined the colours of each, increased the intensity and voila - day 3 is done.

30 in 30: Day Two - It's a Threesome

It's a Threesome

10.5" x 10.5" - acrylic on paper - SOLD

It's day 2 in the challenge, and it seems easier to stick with subject matter I know, like 'trees in a landscape', than to delve into something else. Here is today's effort, with a focus on abstract shapes.  Cheers!

30 in 30: Day One - Still Standing

Still Standing

11" x 14" - acrylic on (Canvas) paper - SOLD

The Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days challenge is on again, starting today, September 1st.  I participated in a similar challenge in January, and the challenge was to complete something and post it each day of the month. 

I have been thinking about how to make this easier for myself and thought that I might explore different themes, styles and techniques. And despite that thinking I painted 'a tree in a field' landscape.  But it was fun and I like it the result. Will see what happens tomorrow.....

Have a fabulous Labour day weekend, wherever you you are.