Garden Party

Garden Party

10.5" x 14" - acrylic, collage, pastel on paper - $75

I have recently been thinking about painting flowers, something I used to paint quite a lot in the past.  I decided to start with a wildly abstracted version of a flower garden, inspired by the bounty of colourful flowers that have bloomed all summer long. 

I love the colours of fall in Ontario, but it's sad to see the end of the summer colour. So why not have a Garden Party 

on your walls all year long?!

On the Edge of Abstraction

On the Edge of Abstraction

16" x 16" - acrylic on canvas - $90

An abstracted landscape of 'grounds' or sections, that move back in space towards the distant horizon and sky, with each section suggesting fields, landforms, and so on. I painted it almost entirely with a palette knife, creating lots of hard edges, many of which were then softened with a brush. 

Have to say I love how it turned out and the vibrant colour scheme! 

Inner Garden

Inner Garden

24" x 24" - acrylic on canvas - $375

This painting was inspired by the photo below, which apparently I took on June 4th 2017, while in France - though the view could certainly be anywhere in Canada, in June! I liked the arrangement of lights and darks in the photo and wanted to paint a really abstracted view of the scene. 

A couple of process shots follow. By the last photo I decided the light/white area at the right had to go, in spite of the photo. So it did, and I finished the painting. I loved working on this painting and the ultimate freedom it allowed me to move away from reality. Can't wait to start another and see what happens!

detail from finished painting

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. 

Dreaming in Colour Landscape

Dreaming in Colour

22" x 30" - watercolour on Arches paper - $300

Since the end of the 'challenge' I have been working steadily, trying to finish three larger paintings. I had forgotten how much time they take after the daily small works, but am delighted to post this one, completed today, yeah!  It is based on a photo that I have used for inspiration several times in the past, because as I work, I find that I keep thinking of different ways I could approach the subject, hence the return and riff. 

     

 For a change I worked in transparent watercolour on a beautiful piece of Arches deckle-edge paper. The colours you see are quite true - it's very colourful and the whites are the white of the paper. I have another piece of Arches and have another planned watercolour, but that's for later in the spring. 

Flower Garden 'Colour Pop'

Colour Pop

24" x 24" - acrylic on canvas - $350

After painting numerous landscapes this winter I needed a 'subject' break. I went through my photos of flowers and found one that suggested interesting possibilities for abstraction. It was essentially a garden of multi-coloured flowers. I knew that I did not want to paint the individual blossoms, stems and leaves so tried to suggest something more ethereal with a high key colour palette, circular shapes and a variety of edges, which together produced a good sense of visual rhythm over the canvas surface. I did draw into the paint once it was dry, with a yellow 'inktense' crayon, but the lines are subtle. I enjoyed the break, and will explore and experiment with these ideas again, but not right now! Have a wonderful weekend.