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! 

Letting in the Light

Letting In the Light

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

    I have been painting a lot in the last few weeks, but not posting anything, anywhere. I usually work on a couple of paintings at a time, for a bunch of reasons, and eventually they all seem to 'get done' about the same time. Then I need to live with them in order to see if they need more work or are really 'done'. So now it's time to post and show off all the good stuff.

    This work was actually one that I painted years ago after a trip to Scotland several years ago. 2015? You can see the earlier version below. Recently I realized how I could take it further. It seemed to be waiting for me to develop a more abstract vision, which I have been working at over the last few months. So it's not so much a 'redo' as a 'continuation'. The earlier version featured lots of wet paint and drips, which was fun to do. The new work is structurally and compositionally tighter (grids and lines sort of do that automatically) but there is lots of scumbling and areas of colour graduation and variety. The colour shapes and 'lines are only suggested. Love this one, it really does have a special light quality!

Squaring Off

Squaring Off

10" x 10" - acrylic on canvas - $65.

I painted this a couple of months ago but had a hard time getting the shape just below the 'sky' the right colour. In my recent frenzy of finishing paintings that were almost done, I took another stab at it and finally the wee problem was resolved.

Playing With Blocks

Playing With Blocks

24" x 30" - acrylic on canvas - $450

In the winter of 2018 I was taking a 'Master Class' in Sarasota Florida and was experimenting with de-constructing the landscape into shapes of colour (think Richard Diebenkorn).  I eventually painted the work below, hung it in my house and this winter it sold to friends. 

In April I started a landscape that was very loosely based on a photo reference and the following progress shots show how it developed into the final painting. 

I really liked the potential in the beginning........

but by this point I hated everything about it! What to do....????

with nothing to loose.....I decided to abstract it by breaking the composition down into large rectangular  shapes using a soft white pastel to draw the lines... .

..then I began to see the potential (again) and kept painting, re-defining those shapes through colour and gradation.

Of course the work grew tighter as I painted but I liked the shapes so much that I went with it.  Eventually I added the tiny pieces of collage paper, which are more visible in the the detail below. The idea was to suggest that these colour shapes are lifting up and off the canvas.  

Have to say that I love the finished painting and am really excited about exploring these ideas further.....hope you like it too! 

Wild Garden & Escarpment

Wild Garden

24" x 30" - acrylic on canvas - $400

    This painting is about abstracting forms and using a more muted

(for me) palette.  In this painting I wanted to portray a garden-like field by breaking up the foreground area into abstracted shapes reminiscent of plants and behind that - trees, a lake and distant hills. I was really happy with the composition as it developed and eventually the palette and the overall dominant muted green hue. 

I actually started this work in 2017, however, it languished until this week for a number of reasons, both technical/artistic and timing. I have been on a bit of a 'studio cleaning up binge' lately, finishing a number of works in a similar 'almost done' situation and after an hour at the easel resolved some minor issues in this painting. It's done -  yeah! - and I am really happy with it.  

I have to say it looks fabulous next to another painting I did, started and completed two years ago, called Escarpment.

I now realize/see that I never posted it on this blog, so here it is...

Escarpment

30" x 40" - acrylic on canvas -$600

Again I abstracted the vegetation and trees, and used a palette with an overall dominant muted colour - blue-violet.

More finished works to come soon.

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

Listen to the Trees

Listen to the Trees

24" x 30" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

    This painting was inspired by an earlier one in which the individual brush strokes played a major role in the suggestion of form. Painting using this kind of brush work is a process of layering separate strokes of colour, and hoping that something emerges! 

    Two of the process photos are below and give you some idea of the way in which the painting evolved. The final colour scheme was a bit unusual for me (so much green) but what I really like are the 'neutral greys' or the light grey-greens. Unfortunately some of the subtlety and richness of the colours and palette (even the greys) are lost in the photo.