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! 

Edge of the Lake

Edge of the Lake

20" x 16"  - mixed media: rice papers and acrylic paint on canvas - $125

I have been experimenting with this landscape view for over a year. It is based on a photo I took at a friend's cottage in 2014, and then used as a reference for a painting at that time.

In this new version I have maintained the same overall theme and composition as in the photo, but wanted to try something different with media, and the surface tells the tale - though I realize it may not be as visible in the photo! If you could see it closely you would see how the surface and image is built up with rice collage papers and how the paint is applied over top and then more paper was added and then the edges were softened with acrylic paint. Back and forth until finished. It's really quite lovely! 

a colourful tree painting - nature abstracted

Inventing Nature, One Tree at a Time

24" x 18"  acrylic on canvas 

For sale - contact me for price if interested.

I am presently at my cottage, on an island in the woods, in northern Ontario, surrounded by trees and trees and more trees.  It's wonderfully green and peaceful. Upon returning to this place I found a painting that I started either last summer or the previous one, but had found difficult to resolve at the time. 

                                                          

The inspiration for it had been the plane or platane tree, and it's camouflage-like patterning of the bark - which became a feature in two paintings I did in 2013, which I felt were very successful and I was pleased with.

                                  

I think it was the bark however that had stalled me in this third, vertical canvas. Several days ago I began to really look at the trees around me for some further inspiration, and decided to paint out the camouflage patterning, drew into the body of the tree, and then just kept going with lines and colour, re-inventing nature. 

I am really pleased that I did not abandon this one, and finally found a creative solution, and I really like the result. 

More Colour Fun

Evening Glow
20" x 30" - acrylic on canvas  SOLD

This is the second of the two paintings I worked on in the last few days. I think it really helped me to stay loose to go back and forth between them. I usually have a couple of paintings on the go, but this was the first time that I can recall, that both were resolved and completed in a relatively short time. Simply put,  I was in the (painting) zone and it was great! 

The subject for this work was another photo I took whilst visiting Vancouver Island several years ago. This shot from the car window is looking up at the giant fir trees. As beautiful as the scenery there is, the real colours (green and grey) were boring and the lighting was flat - so I took creative license and turned day to dusk and green to purple, blue, pink, orange and yellow.