Spring Sketch

This view through the trees along this little laneway proved irresistable. It was painted very quickly, I was trying to capture the feeling of stillness and quiet. The trees were still bare and the grass had only started greening up.

May Evening

Marina, her daughter Toya, and I went out to paint last week on a beautiful evening. The sun cast a beautiful golden light on the landscape and as we stood at our easels and painted the scene became more and more beautiful as the sun set lower in the sky. We were at the end of a dead end road looking across some farmer's fields. I had the sun to my back so the sun shone directly on my canvas and on my palatte, big mistake. I was shocked when I saw my painting the next day as it looked so dark. Lesson learned, paintings in brilliant sunlight often are darker when brought inside so the bright light of the sun must be taken into account when mixing colours outdoors.

At Walter's Farm

This is a quick sketch of a little out building that is on a neighbour's farm down the road. It is a gorgeous property with many great looking compositions. Marina and I plan to back and paint there again, when the weather warms up a bit more.

Pond Reflections

This is a sketch from my trip to the USA last year, probably painted exactly this time last may. It was a beautiful clear evening and I wanted to catch the effect of the stillness of the water with the reflection of the trees and sky. It was one of my first outdoor oil paintings and I had a wonderful time painting it.

Lempke Lake

This is a small lake on Doran Road a few miles from my house. One spring evening last June I sat on the dock and quickly painted this scene before the clouds that had been rising all day dissapated. It often happens here in Ontario that the afternoon skies are full of gorgeous clouds and just before the sun sets the wind dies down and the clouds disapppear leaving the night sky clear.

Plate of Fruit

I had a wonderful afternoon of painting with my friend, Marina. After wandering around her yard we decided it was too cold and windy to paint outdoors and instead went through her refrigerator looking for inspiration. She found a bag of apples which she arranged on a simple white plate and we set out to paint. We had specifics in mind i.e. leading the eye, arrangement of lights and darks, interesting brushwork, but as the afternoon progressed we found ourselves back into our old habits.