Oppede Soleil - theme and variation

Oppede Soleil

18" x 24" - acrylic on canvas - $400

I have said  this before.....I love working with a subject and interpreting it in different ways. In the last two months I have returned to a photo reference and subject that I am fond of and that evoke good memories of shared painting experiences. This is the photo of the olive grove below the Provence village of Oppede-le-Vieux....

September 2016

I have worked on this painting on and off  over the last 3 weeks. 

Here is an early photo and later one, as it evolved....

and a detail from the finished work

and two recent variations.....

Oppede-le-Vieux

Pink Olive Trees  sold

ok, think that's out of my system for awhile!

Tapestry Garden, with Hollyhocks

Tapestry Garden

20" x 30" - acrylic on canvas - $400

It has been a long time since I have painted any flowers. At one pointed I painted lots of tulips, singly or in small groupings. I loved how they looked once they were open in the latter stages of their short but expressive lives.

This new painting may be a brief foray into that subject realm, or may usher in a renewed interest. Whatever, the subject, a detail from a larger flower garden with hollyhocks, called to me and I decided to respond. I didn't exaggerate the palette or shape of the flowers and leaves but this time just enjoyed painting a semi naturalistic version of a slice-of-life-detail  from a hollyhock garden. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

detail

Blue ZigZag - fun fun fun

Blue ZigZag

acrylic on paper - 11" x 11" - SOLD

Sometimes I 'design' my landscape composition, but more often than not I base it on something that exists. In this case I started with a photo I took in Shenandoah National Park when travelling through Virginia in late October. 

It's not much to look at, is it?

However I liked that one lone tree in the centre  and when I cropped it down and saw the the zig zag arrangement of the road in front I knew I had a design to work with, and then had lots of painterly fun!

Pink Olive Trees

Pink Olive Trees

15" x 19" - acrylic on paper - SOLD

I seem to be in a pink phase these days. It's just such a happy colour and harmonizes so well with blues and greens, not to mention purple, yellow and orange - all the colours I love. The scene is based on a photo from the Provence village of Oppede-le-Vieux - and the olive grove situated at the base of the village walls. Fun to paint, and full of colour on a December day!
   

Blues

12" x 12" - acrylic on canvas - $125

I have painted this scene several times before, always different in some way. I wanted to try it again (think comfort food/comfort painting) but restrict the palette to mostly blues. Of course I had to have some fun with the water reflections and those colours. 

Summer Nights, past but not forgotten!

Summer Nights

24" x 24" - acrylic on canvas - $425

I have been working on this canvas for a couple of weeks and it's finally finished. It started out a over a year ago as a very sketchy abstract image using the same palette, but when I saw it recently, languishing against a studio wall, I thought it needed 'more'. I maintained the overall idea of the landscape with trees and a dark sky, but added the foreground flowers and jazzed it up using an acrylic white marker, creating lots of graphic marks and lines. I really liked how the painting evolved and am very happy with it now!

And BTW if it's Thanksgiving Day (or almost) where you are, have a wonderful holiday. 

Lakeside, mixed media fun.

Lakeside

8'." x 9" - mixed media (acrylic & marker) on paper - $25

Trees near water, is a favourite subject matter. Experimenting with different application methods (brush vs knife etc) and then adding media, acrylic markers ....all good fun and I liked the result.

BTW....I paint on archival quality heavy paper designed for acrylic paint.

Giverny II

Giverny II

13" x 12" - acrylic on paper - SOLD

Another painting inspired by Monet's waterlily pond at Giverny. I really had fun with this one, right from the beginning....

This is where (for me) the excitement started, in fact I could have left it here and said 'done', but....

I loved the looseness and dark messy brush strokes here and knew I had to finish quickly or it would end up over worked.

I am really happy with the final work, and it's painterly freshness. Seems appropriate for a 'Monet place'.

Monet's garden in Giverny inspired paintings

Giverny I

12" x 12" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

Last year we visited Giverny and Monet's house and amazing gardens. It was May and the gardens were ablaze with colour. Since then I have wanted to try to use them as subject matter, but the tree and vegetation 'forms' are difficult to see clearly in photos, so even making drawings from those photos was a challenge. But, everything is a challenge these days....so better to plunge in, try and fail, than not at all. 

This is the first of several I have now painted from these photos and I am having fun and getting looser and more experimental with each. This one is the most 'naturalistic' and  I am really pleased with it. It was a dull day when I took the photo and I maintained that in the work. I didn't get too crazy with the palette, for a change. Saved that for the next ones, LOL. Stay tuned.

French Trees are so Chic

French Trees are so Chic

12" x 12" acrylic on canvas  SOLD
This is a variation on a theme, meaning, I have painted this subject before, varying the colour palette, size and format of the surface, brush stroke and ov erall interpretation. Think comfort food for the art soul. The subject is based on a number of photos I have taken of olive trees in the south of France. I did not get there this year so I am indulging in my memories and taking comfort in familiar shapes and ideas! 

Oppede-le-Vieux and painting

Oppede-le-Vieux

11.5 x 11" - acrylic on paper - $65

Wow, four months have passed since my last post....painting after arm and shoulder injuries has been a trial but things are improving. I have said this before, prematurely, but I see some light, Yeah!

It's a case of 'balance' in every meaning of the word: physical, mental, emotional and when it comes to the 'act of painting' - deciding where and how to position the surface (paper or canvas) so that one's neck and painting arm/hand are not stressed. And of course restricting the amount of time spent painting, which for me is really hard. I am not one of those people who need to do laundry or clean house before painting, LOL. 

At this point I need to paint 'small' and in shorter bursts of time which I think is helping to stay loose and painterly. This work is based on many photos from some plein air painting time in a sweet little village called Oppede-le-Vieux in Provence. And I had fun, as you can probably tell, with the palette. 

I am really happy with this one, and hope you like it too!

Have a great day.

Nature's Gift

Nature's Gift

14" x18" - acrylic on canvas - sold

In June a friend commissioned a smallish landscape painting for a mutual friend who was retiring from teaching. This is the finished work.  I didn't set out to use such a warm and predominantly pink palette. It resulted from starting with a magenta coloured ground, and as I painted I realized how much I was liking the base colour, so began to vary it but maintain it too. My friend who commissioned the painting was very happy with it, and our friend who received it was thrilled. And so am I that it worked out so well.

where there is a will there is a way

where there is a will there is a way

10" x 10" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

This is the first painting I started last week, using my left/non dominant hand.  However, as it came together I could also use my right hand with mostly wrist movement and small brush marks. 

Computer dictation functions have helped me write this post. 

The scene It is based on a photo I took last summer at our cabin up north, a place I would love to be. 

better days ahead

better days ahead

12" x12" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

It's now five weeks since my fall and I recently decided to try to paint with acrylic on small canvases propped on the table and therefore using my wrists more than large shoulder and arm movements. And of course I worked carefully and for not long periods of time. So over the course of several days this is what I finished. I was quite please with the result and I had a good time too! It's based on a portion of a photo I took many years ago while traveling on Prince Edward Island. The colour palette is my own. Cheers! 

left handed drawing and painting

It has been almost 3 months since my last post in mid April. A long time I know, but, I was working on several canvases through May and June, and then almost 5 weeks ago sh*&#*&% happened. I fell in a stupid accident and broke both of my arms!!!! I am past the worst of it now, casts have been replaced with braces and I have started physiotherapy. I am able to move my wrists, and arms in limited ways. For a number of reasons my left arm is healing faster than my right (dominant) one, but I am optimistic and expect a full recovery in the future.

                                        

Last week, I needed some art therapy, so I finally started drawing, using my left/non-dominant hand and then added some water color paint. It felt so good to do both after what seemed like an eternity. The results are above.

The three sketchbook paintings below are ones I did before the accident, using a similar technique. 
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Marsh on the 118

Marsh on the 118

12" x 36" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

Every year on our drive to and from our cottage in Haliburton, we go past this view along the188 East, and every year I take photos, and several have inspired paintings. Here is the (cropped) photo.....

In this, the latest painting, I used a different and challenging (for me) format - the wide horizontal canvas - and interpreted the scene in a more painterly and less stylized manner. I was really happy with the finished painting.

A close-up view of the left portion gives a better view.

And the previous paintings based on this photo....

Radiant River 

(sold)

Scorcher

(sold)

Sunny Day, Provence

Sunny Day, Provence

acrylic on canvas - 18" x 14" - SOLD

Several years ago I discovered a site that offered week-long painting sojourns in Provence  - the dream holiday for a landscape painter, foodie, market-shopper and confirmed francophile. This painting was inspired by a scene near where I stay there, and is one I did last year as a workshop demonstration piece. The workshop was about how to experiment with landscape space and abstraction through simplification of forms. 

Here's to sunshine and spring!

Collage 'Scape 5

Collage 'Scape 5

mixed media: acrylic & rice papers on canvas - 16" x 20" - $90

This work is the last of a group of landscapes created through layering acrylic paint and decorative rice papers on canvas, to build the image. 

The subject is olive trees.  

Thanks for looking - have a great day.

Collage 'Scape 4

Collage 'Scape 4

mixed media: acrylic paint & collage papers

9" x 11" - SOLD

The fourth in this small series. The composition is based on a Scottish landscape photo. I did not add as much paint on the surface of the papers once glued down as in some of the other works, because the papers allowed me to say what I wanted.

Collage 'Scape 3

Collage 'Scape 3

mixed media: acrylic paint & collage papers on cradled panel 

9" x 11" - $65

My third interpretation of a landscape using decorative collage papers and lots of paint, both underneath and overtop of the papers. This one is a little more abstract than the others.

Here is what it looked like when I started - and I liked that too, and wondered about stopping - but did not, and I love the finished work. BTW, the entire surface is protected and sealed with a varnish.

Collage 'Scape 2

Collage 'Scape 2

acrylic & rice papers mixed media on canvas - 14" x 11 - $75

This is the second mixed media landscape using a combination of acrylic paint and decorative papers to build the composition and image.

The first stage in which I glue the papers on to the canvas is below, to give you an idea of how I start.

Collage 'Scape 1

Collage 'Scape 1

acrylic & collage papers on canvas - 14" x 11" - $75

I did this small mixed media work a year ago. Recently I took another look at it and decided to use the same technique (of painting the subject's basic shapes then gluing ripped and cut pieces of decorative rice papers over the painted areas, then applying more paint to soften edges, then add more paper etc. until it felt done) in a series of landscapes.  I have worked this way on paintings in the past, and have enjoyed the process, and really liked the results. 

Uncharted Waters

Uncharted Waters

acrylic & inktense pencils on heavy archival paper - 11" x 13" - $50

This painting was inspired by another that I finished recently - a larger (24" x 30") acrylic work on canvas. I have painted this subject (reflections in water of shoreline, trees and rocks) many times, in a variety of ways ranging from somewhat naturalistic to fairly stylized and abstract. Once I finished the larger painting, I continued to think about extending it into another and because working on paper gives one a sense of a freedom and allows mixing of media more easily, it was the surface of choice. I am quite happy with the results. Unfortunately the surface qualities and transparency of the colour layers does not come through on the screen as well as in life, but that's life in the digital age, I guess. 

Below is the first painting, which I am still contemplating. Now, not so sure it is finished.....any comments?

Blues & Greens

Blues & Greens

acrylic and ink tense pencil on acrylic paper - 9" x 11" - $50

Playing with abstracting the 'land' and painting loosely. 

The Here and Now

The Here and Now

8" x 8" - acrylic on canvas - $70

(includes shipping in USA and Canada)

The third in this small series of small landscapes executed (mostly) with a palette knife and some sgraffito work into the paint. This work is about suggesting a landscape 'mood' through texture, colour and marks, rather than suggesting a particular place. 

Thanks for looking!

All 3 available as a series for $150, or individually priced at $70 each.

Scottish 'Scape

Scottish 'Scape

8" x 8" - acrylic on canvas - $70

(price includes shipping in the USA and Canada)

This painting was inspired by a photo I took while travelling in Scotland, I think near Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye in 2016. 

It is the second of a small landscape series 'threesome'.  They are priced individually at $70, but are available as a set of 3 for $150.