Sweet Spot IV

Sweet Spot IV

7"x7" - acrylic on paper - $30

The last of four paintings done at the same time.

Now, just need to scale up - and that's when it gets scary, as in scary fun, lol.

Sweet Spot III

Sweet Spot III

7"' x 7" - acrylic on paper - $30

Number three of four small paintings done together.

Sweet Spot II

Sweet Spot II

7" x 7" - acrylic on paper - $30

This is the second of the four small paintings created at one go, on one piece of paper divided into four sections. No subject here - just intuitive painting.

Sweet Spot I

Sweet Spot I

7" x 7" - acrylic on paper - $30

A few days ago I masked off four more or less equal sections of a large piece of paper designed for acrylic paint, thinking I would paint four small works, at once. I didn't have any particular idea or subject in mind, I just wanted to play with composition, colour and marks and thus painted intuitively as much as possible. 

Below is what the larger paper looked like when done. 

I wanted to stick to 'the less is more' mantra, and believe I stopped at the right moment. I have to say that I love the resulting four small paintings, the first of which is above. 

Summer Sizzle

Summer Sizzle

12"x12" - acrylic on canvas - $45

     This one is all about line, shape and colour - and you can probably tell what is what in this little stylized landscape. 

    Hope wherever you are, your summer is turning out to 

be a good one.

Wind in Her Sails

Wind in Her Sails

12" x 16" - acrylic on paper - $75

This stand of trees has been an inspiration for many past paintings and perhaps because I am staying on Redstone Lake in Haliburton, it's summer and I am in close proximity to the little island on which the trees sit, it spoke to me once more - or maybe I just returned to tried and true imagery - and had some painting fun once again. 

Harlequin Reverie

Harlequin Reverie

24" x 30" - acrylic on canvas - $450

This is my new favourite painting, but I do have to say that several recent works are also in this category LOL! That's a good thing, yes? This one in fact falls into the re-done category. 

Several years ago I painted this work....

.....and was happy with it at the time. I particularly loved the lower half of the composition, its abstract nature and of course the pink- hued palette. However, it did not sell, and was moved around my house, my studio and finally into a dark corner. 

Recently I took another look at it after painting 'Playing with Blocks' (another one I love) and saw how I could keep some of the lower bits, maintain the palette, and re-work the top half into something far more interesting

 

I started by basically blotting out the blue trees, then drew overtop of the composition with a pastel to creating varied tonal/dark and light shapes that implied space, and finally just started painting. 

After about a week of looking at it and really liking it, I realized that it reminded me of the work of Joan Miro, the Spanish surrealist painter whose work you can see here. It wasn't until I had been away for a couple of weeks and then saw it with refreshed eyes that the word 'harlequin' popped into my head and I realized that it was Harlequins Carnival I was connecting to. There is much joy to be found in Miro's famous painting, and I feel the same happiness when I look at mine. In case you are wondering, my harlequins are the round striped shapes moving in a dream-like landscape. They are more abstract rather than anthropomorphic. 'Reverie' means a state of being pleasantly lost in one's thoughts; a daydream. 
Hence the title. Enjoy!

BTW - the colour you see in the painting posted is almost perfect - but reds are difficult to capture exactly, so please know that the work is more red than orange, and much better in life.

Deep Dark Woods

Deed Dark Woods
8" x 9" - acrylic on heavy wc paper - $45
The last of the 6 small paintings done in a day, about a week ago. I can't find or even recall the photo which inspired this scene but I do like the freshness, brush strokes, colour palette and intimacy of the space.  Stay tuned for some larger canvas paintings that took me many, many days to complete!
Have a good one.

PEI Escape

PEI Escape
8" x 10" - acrylic on heavy wc paper - $45
PEI is Prince Edward Island, home of Anne of Green Gables, red soil, friendly people, beautiful beaches, lobster dinners, and so much more. It is a very special place and if you have not been, put it on your list! Several years ago I did a road trip with our daughter and snapped photos, of course. This small painting is based on one of those. The clouds were so fabulous that day that they need to be painted again and again. Cheers!

Dancin' Trees

Dancin' Trees

9" x 11" - acrylic on heavy wc paper - $45.

This small painting is really a variation on a theme, inspired by the photo image below. 

This image was the starting point for two recent larger canvas paintings......

Listen to the Trees    sold

Regeneration   sold

.......but of course one idea tends to breed others, and so I wanted to try a more extreme variation; painting on paper, using a 'hot' palette and loose brushstrokes resulted in this. I think the trees are dancin', don't you?

Summer Haze

Summer Haze

9" x 11" - acrylic on heavy wc paper - $45
Another of the quick painting series. All of these subjects are ones I have wanted to paint, and it has been great to 'try them out' on paper before committing to canvas and a larger scale.  
Cheers!

Rockin' the Shoreline

Rockin' the Shoreline

acrylic paint on wc heavy paper - 8" x 9.75" - $45

This is another small painting started and completed in the 'fast and loose' painting session from yesterday. Each in this group of 6 is quite different from the others, intentionally, as I had a number of ideas that I wanted to try out without a big time and material commitment. This one reminds me of a very large (4'x6') painting hanging in my living room (but is only about 85% complete - yes another  one of those not-quite-finished-paintings  - but at least the group is starting to shrink) in that there are lots of dark outlines around small and large colour patches and when seen together make up this wonderful kaleidoscope of a landscape. Here is the work in progress...

I think this small painting has some potential for being worked up into a larger canvas, and if that happens, I will definitely get the other one done too. There are just so many things to paint!!!! Love the line, shape and pattern here, and of course the palette of pinks and greys. 

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Hot Fun in the Summertime

acrylic on heavy wc paper - 10" x 10" - $45

I have been away from my studio for 2 weeks and did not bring many painting materials with me, however I finally broke down and bought some heavy watercolour paper and liquid acrylics yesterday and have had the best day of play, today! Six paintings in 6 hours. I started 6 paintings and then moved back and forth between them and all were done in about 6 hours. 

Here is the first - hope you like it!