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.

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!)

Madeleine Island Dunes

Madeleine Island Dunes

36" x 36" - acrylic on canvas - $700

In September 2015 we spent a few days touring the Les Iles de la Madeleine - a small archipelago (the red islands in the map below) in the Gulf of the Saint Lawrence, that is part of the Province of Quebec. 

As we drove all around the islands we stopped at many of the beaches, not to swim, but to just breathe the ocean air and marvel at the size, isolation and beauty of the them. Some were rugged and some were surrounded by magnificent sand dunes, like these below, the first of which inspired the painting above.

The painting evolved this way......

When I started painting I wasn't sure how much of the magenta ground would ultimately show through. It did however determine the other colours I used, and I really liked what was happening.  It is definitely a lively, colourful painting, but for me, reminiscent of good times, and a beautiful pristine spot in the world. 

Haliburton Rocks Trees and Colour

Haliburton Rocks, Trees and Colour

36" x 36" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

Rocky shorelines, trees, and reflections on water are things I am surrounded by each summer in an area called the Haliburton Highland of Ontario. It is a theme I continue to explore and paint every year. I began this particular painting last summer. 

 

The first version appeared on a rectangular - horizontal  canvas, and looked like this (above).

While there were many things I liked about the painting at this point, there were also things I didn't like. I decided to start again but use a square canvas and focus on the areas I thought were the most interesting. 

Comparing the 2 pictures above you can see what I maintained in the square version.

I also decided to limit the palette to blues and greens and at this stage really liked the abstract qualities of the landscape space, and ambiguity as to what exactly was depicted.  

 

 I continued painting however, and reached this point (above) and it seemed much less exciting. I left it for a few months. At some point last fall I began to tinker with the palette and it looked like this....

and I stopped, not really liking it anymore. In July I decided to give myself and it one more chance and painted a skim of whitish paint over the canvas that left the ghost of the original image. I worked from that but also made changes, re-drew and re-worked the shoreline, background trees and reflected shapes. I came to terms with the palette I wanted. I tried to work quickly and not over work any areas. 

I am really happy that I took another stab at this one, and am really happy with the results, especially the richly coloured palette and the arrangement of and contrast between dark and light coloured abstract shapes.  

Thanks for reading and looking!