Another Plane Tree

Platane II
acrylic on canvas  - 30" x 36"This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

After I finished the first Platane tree painting (see below) last winter, I wanted to do another.  I started this one and it languished.......until recently. I just love these trees and the opportunity they present for colourful play.

The Not-So-Plane Tree

Traveling

It has been a busy fall, not so much with painting, but with teaching and traveling. In the latter part of September I spent twelve days traveling in British Columbia and Alberta. The scenery from Victoria to the Pacific Ocean to the interior of BC and through the Canadian Rockies and the national parks of Jasper and Banff, was truly spectacular. I now have delightful memories and over 1400 photos to remind me of what I saw, and to inspire new paintings.  Here is some of what I saw.....if you have not been west, go!

Taggs and Tucker

Taggs
12" x 12" acrylic on canvas  
SOLD

Tucker
12" x 12"  acrylic on canvas
SOLD

Aren't these guys cute? I have to say that I really like painting animals - well - some dogs, cats, sheep and cows - as long as I can paint them the way I want. These commissioned works were fun. 

Rock and Roll

Rock and Roll
acrylic on canvas - 36" x 24"
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

The second painting in what may become a series of abstracts based on details cropped from rocky shoreline photos. The original photo featured some very large flattish rocks along the coast near Halifax, Nova Scotia (not exactly sure whether it was a park or what). I simplified and stylized the rock shapes and added a few extra round ones, and played with colour. Lots of fun!  And of course I am starting another one.....

Rocks as Inspiration

Balancing Act
acrylic on canvas - 36" x 24"
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

I love rocky shore lines and have taken many photos of such over the years, thinking that they might be good subjects to paint - but how? Using my mac, I recently began to select details from the larger photos, cropping out about 90% of the original photo and found that I had some really interesting little abstract compositions of shapes, forms, and lines - and so have begun to paint them.

This is the first of these rock-inspired abstract paintings. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, and particularly like the combination of 3 dimensional forms and flat 2 dimensional shapes. I have another one on the easel.....so stay tuned.

Georgian Bay Rocky Shore

Georgian Bay Rocky Shore
acrylic on canvas - 36" x 24"  SOLD

I took a break from painting, in the latter part of June – and that extended into July as I settled into cottage life in Haliburton.  Looking for subject matter and surrounded by lake, sky and pine forest, I thought (as I do every summer) that I would just paint what was in front of me. Or at least nearby.

This painting is actually based on some photos I took while visiting friends John and Lynn at their cottage on Georgian Bay, last summer. The rocky shoreline is typical of the landscape there and became the subject in this work. The actual veins of colour visible in the granite inspired the exaggerated patterning and I love how they work well with the strong diagonal of the shoreline and overall perspective. I hope that you are enjoying summer somewhere!

Many Thanks!!!!

My studio show and sale took place last weekend and was, thanks to wonderful new and old friends who came out to see (and buy) what I have been painting over the last year, a great success. Here is what it looked like before the doors opened.