Toaster

And now for something completely different.  Shelly Ross suggested painting your toaster for this weeks Daily Paintworks Challenge.  It is a great idea, the really reflective surface of the metal was exciting to paint.  I was surprized when I looked at the toaster at all of things in the room I could see including the pink stripe on the corner which is me.

Birches at Crooked Slide

I painted this and had some trouble again with photographing.  When I have a lot of blue in the picture the camera seems to add even more blue to places where it really dosen't belong.  Despite the slight squew to blue the colours are fairly accurate.  I love painting the landscape in Ontario, it is so unbeliveably beautiful here.

East of Meath Hill

This sketch is from the same painting day as the Snake River sketch.  Marina and I drove down some back roads looking for interesting compositions.  It was the beautiful yellow poplars against the dark forest interior that caught our eye on this one.

Grey Day on the Snake River

This post has been a long time in coming, we have had a lot of cloudy weather and I have had difficulty in having enough sunny days to photograph my paintings.  I admire those painters who have solved their photographing difficulties and who consistently post great shots of their work on their blogs and Daily Paintworks and other internet sites.   Enough with the woes!  Marina and I went to the Snake River east of Pembroke and I very bravely drove our old Dodge Caravan down the railway line where the tracks had been lifted a few months ago.  We stood on the old railway bridge and got these great shots up and down the river.  It was a very atmospheric day, gloomy and haunting.  When it was time to leave Marina said to me where are you going to turn around, knowing there was no place I said I'm a great backerupper, and we backed up down the old railway line at least a half a mile. I know she was very glad when we finally reached the gravel sideroad. Another wonderful painting experience!

Dusk - Variation 1

This sketch like the one before it was painted very quickly from the photo that I took on the way home from Crooked Slide Park,  I really like the image and have enjoyed exploring different ways of portraying the sky and water at this time of day.  I would like to take more time and do several large paintings using the ideas from these sketches.

Dusk

The sun had gone down and Sue, Marina, and I were on the way to the Wilno Tavern on a Tuesday evening when we saw this beautiful sunset.  The sun was already below the hills and although the sky and water were still very bright the trees and land in the foreground were dark,dark, dark.We stopped and aahed, unable to paint anymore that day being cold and tired.  I took some photos to remind me of the scene with the intention of working up a sketch and maybe a larger painting during the winter.

On the way to Crooked Slide

Today my painting buddies Marina and Sue are on a workshop in South Carolina given by Ian Robarts.  I am missing them and am posting a small landscape I painted from a photo that I took when we all went to Crooked Slide Park together just after Thanksgiving.  I know that they are having a wonderful time out all day painting and learning valuable lessons from Ian.  Painting is such a joy, and to have friends to share this joy with is truly a blessing.