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!

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!
   

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.

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!

Luberon Memories

Luberon Memories

10" x 11" - acrylic on archival canvas paper - $45

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!

Olive Tree 'Variations' at Oppede le Vieux

Oppede le Vieux  is a beautiful village, slightly off the beaten tourist track, and for that reason alone makes an ideal spot in which to paint. There is a wonderful olive grove below the main part of the village, and that's where I sat for several hours in June, painting one of my favourite subjects. Here are two variations on the theme, with earlier stages too. 

Olive Trees at Oppede le Vieux

14" x 17", acrylic on canvas paper - $75

an earlier stage

Oppede Olive Abstract

14" x 17" - acrylic on canvas - $75

second stage

first stage

Tree Paintings from Provence.....

I know that I paint a lot of trees - single trees and groups and forests of trees.....and here is the proof that they are a favourite subject, even when travelling......

Big Tree Behind LesB

14" x 12" - acrylic on canvas paper - $75

I have painted this 'big' tree before because I love the dappled sunlight and distant trees behind the main event.

 

Bonnieux Trees

17" x 12" - acrylic on canvas paper - $75

Another scene I have painted in other years, but in this the two very different trees take the limelight.

Below the Village of Murs

14" x 14" - acrylic on canvas paper - $75

I walked down from the village and found a big tree to sit under, looked across the field and painted this one. 

In the Distance

15" x 14" - acrylic on paper - $75

If you look at the horizon line on the left in the painting Below the Village of Murs (above this one) you will see two small trees in the distance - which became the subject in this small painting, directly above.

30 in 30: Day 18 - Maison a la Campagne

La Maison a La Campagne

8" x 10" - acrylic on Canvas paper 

The French title (country house) for this little painting is meant to connect it to 'place', in this case Provence. It is based on a photo I took while there in September. Below is the photo and a more abstract version I did en plein air, though it doesn't look like traditional plein air. This was a fun one to do, and is the 18th of the 30 to paint this month for the 30 in 30 Challenge. 

More tomorrow!

Amandier Abstract

Amandier Abstract

12" x 9"  -  acrylic on Canson canva paper

This is the second painting I did on the day we painted in the village of Viens in Provence in late September. The first painting showed one view of the old almond tree, and in this you see the other side of it. This was the one I actually started first and got as far as the yellow and black stage. At that point I was in too much sun and had to move and in so doing lost the viewpoint. However,  I later returned to my start, and as I painted, simplified the forms, and eventually added the reddish pastel lines. It was a great day, and I had lots of fun doing both paintings, and was quite pleased with how each turned out. 

Plein Air Painting - Week 2

Weekends at Les Bassacs are changeover and market days. On Saturday morning we have the option of visiting the wonderful market in nearby Apt, and on Sunday morning the market at Isle sur la Sorgue. Both sell essentially the same thing: mostly food (glorious food), but also linen clothing, straw hats, beautiful table linens, pottery and crafts, flowers, baskets, shawls and so on. They provide a pleasant diversion and break from painting.

However, Sunday afternoon we were out once again, back to St. Saturnin les Apt, this time painting just outside the village centre, above which rose the medieval church and ruins of the chateau. 

I chose to paint this view, liking the various tree shapes, diagonal road, and building.

It was another overcast day as you can see in the photograph, there weren't a lot of shadows, and all the actual colours were quite muted, so I decided to stick with what I saw, for a change.

Stage one

This was my start; happy with the subtle palette, and simple shapes.

Stage Two

More colour has been added. This is actually my favourite stage in retrospect - I liked the graphic quality of the lines and the unfinished nature of parts of the painting.

Stage Three

In spite of liking the 'unfinished' big tree, I filled it in, and then of course, did not like it. Time to re-draw, looking once again at the branches and sky holes. More painting and it was finished. I really like this painting - for its muted palette, the loose brush strokes and subtle charcoal markings. A good start to the week. 

St. Sat Village View

12" x 15"-  acrylic on Canson Canva Paper

Variations on a Theme: Below Saignan

During the summer I painted several variations of a particular image that I found both intriguing and inspiring. (Truth be told, I have probably always done this.) This fall I  have been re-visiting images and scenes that I have painted in the past - and that has resulted in a number of related works and variations on a theme. 

The first theme or subject was inspired by a particular view looking over the Luberon Valley (in Provence) from the small village of Saignan. I was there is 2014 and painted this watercolour in situ, at the time. 

                             

Of course I also took many photos and thought that I might do another version in acrylic once home. 

Looking around for a subject in October, I re-discovered these photos and decided to try a much larger version of the same scene - and this is how it evolved.

           

1

2

I quite liked what I had by stage 2, however it really didn't look as good as it does here in the photo. I needed to resolve the middle ground, and the foreground flowers - and keep it loose. Easy! Hah!

3

4

               

Stage 3 was tighter, and by stage 4 it felt like a disaster. At that point I felt quite discouraged and ready to white it all out out and forget the whole thing - or - try something really different  - and turn the whole thing into a mixed media work with collage papers and acrylic paint. This approach sounded like a lot more fun, so that is what I did. I have a very large collection of textured Japanese rice and mulberry papers, in various colours and patterns and began to apply them over the painting, leaving lots of painted areas exposed. Then I painted over those papers to blend them into the painted areas and to soften the colours of some of the papers. I continued working this way until it was finished.  The final work looks like this. It has a wonderfully varied and textured surface, protected by several layers of medium and varnish. I am delighted with the result and will definitely do this again.

The Valley Below Saignan I

40" x 30"  - collage papers & acrylic on canvas 

Chateau de Bourgane Poppies, Encore

Chateau de Bourgane Poppies

24" x 24" - acrylic on canvas
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

I have experimented with this landscape scene several times since my visit to the grounds of this lovely chateau in Provence, last May. While there I painted several abstract versions in watercolour and gouache, but also wanted to paint a larger canvas in acrylic. This is probably the least interpretive version, though I did, as usual take liberties with the intensity of the colour and palette.  Below is a detail of the centre area.

Olive Trees in Sunshine

Olive Trees in Sunshine

16" x 20" - acrylic on canvas
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

The 'Olive Tree' series of 3 expanded to 4 last week with this painting. It is another based on a photo of olive trees from my recent trip to the south of France.  Probably the last one for now. It took a while to finish (and post) as I was working on three other paintings at the same time.  I have moved on to pine trees and lakes in cottage country, my current surroundings, which are just as beautiful as France.

Olive Trees Near Saint-Remy

Olive Trees Near Saint-Remy

16" x 20" - acrylic on canvas
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

 This is the second painting featuring olive trees, based on a photo I took near Saint-Remy de Provence. 

At the end of May I spent a week based in the delightful city of Arles, famous for its Roman ruins and it's connection with Vincent Van Gogh. From there we did day trips to various places in the region, including to the Saint-Paul de Mausole, a hospital or asylum near Saint-Remy de Provence. It's most famous patient was Vincent who spent a year there (after cutting off his ear), from May 1889 to May 1890. During his stay he painted over 150 canvases - many his best known and loved works.

"Saint-Paul began as an Augustine monastery in the 12th century, and was converted into an asylum in the 19th century. It is located in an area of cornfields, vineyards and olive trees and at the time was run by a former naval doctor, Dr. Theophile Peyron. Vincent's brother Theo arranged for him to have two small rooms there —one a bedroom and the other a studio. Though he entered the asylum voluntarily, Vincent was initially confined to the immediate asylum grounds and painted (without the bars) the world he saw from his room, such as ivy covered trees, lilacs, and irises of the garden. Through the open bars he could also see an enclosed wheat field, the subject of many paintings at Saint-Rémy. As he ventured outside of the asylum walls, he painted the wheat fields, olive groves, and cypress trees of the surrounding countryside, which he saw as "characteristic of Provence."  The imposed regimen of asylum life gave Vincent a hard-won stability: I feel happier here with my work than I could be outside. By staying here a good long time, I shall have learned regular habits and in the long run the result will be more order in my life."

It was quite inspiring to be in a an area where he had painted, and see some of the views he may have seen!

Olive Grove

Olive Grove

18" x 20" - acrylic on canvas with pastel markings 
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

I have been fascinated with olive trees for years. I love their gnarly trunks, and airy ethereal foliage of slim silvery leaves. It's the latter, however, that is a challenge to paint! I looked at Van Gogh's paintings of olive trees to understand how he resolved the problem - which of course he did through his wonderfully curving, broken, expressive brush strokes that are so distinctive and indicative of his style.

When unsure of 'next steps', but still willing to experiment with the composition and design, I often get out my soft pastels and draw on top of the painting surface, simplifying shapes, breaking up space, and adding surface markings. With the addition of these marks, I always feel less inhibited about moving away from the original image (this was based on a photo of olive trees) and feel free to add and change the elements to make a better painting. The addition of the pastel lines and the shapes they created suggested ways to simplify the foliage into abstract shapes. I brushed and scumbled on paint, and restricted my palette to a split complementary colour scheme. The process was highly intuitive and I stopped when it felt finished. As I took quite a few photos of olive trees in Provence - this may be the star of a new series!