Pear and Grapes

I did this study yesterday but did not finish it until the evening. I have to photograph my paintings in daylight so was unable to post until today. The composition is a little spare but I was very happy with the grapes.

Swamp Iris

This is the second painting done on Monday at the same location as the previous sketch. The Snake River passes under Stafford 2nd Line through 2 large culverts here and there is a large marsh populated with numerous birds, animals, insects, and plants. The beautiful blue flags, or irises were in full bloom in clumps growing out of the water and near the stream. As always, I was attempting a loose painting style over a design of several colour shapes which formed the composition.

Into the Swamp

Monday was a perfect day for painting this view of the Snake River. The day was cool with wind, which kept the bugs away, and the sky was full of clouds which kept moving, letting us enjoy lots of sunny periods. Marina and I are working on developing a method for our outdoor sketching which will keep us true to our design and original concept. It is so easy to get lost in the complexity of colour and detail when painting outside, to the point of losing the impact of the large picture.

Pinks

These are some of the lovely flowers that grace my garden this time of year. I was aiming for a simple composition that echoed the simplicity of the vase and the flowers themselves.

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.

Katie's Tulip

The title of this painting comes because of the very sweet influence of Marina's daughter-in-law who spent the afternoon with us while we painted. She worked on a screenplay she is creating and the three of us worked harmoniously in a soft, joyful atmosphere, which I think can be perceived in the painting.

Scillia

I am so enjoying the spring flowers! The cup gave me a little trouble on the left side in terms of the lost/found edge, but I persevered and added a light reflection which seemed to improve the depth illusion.

Pulmonaria

I had only one day off before going back to the hospital so I decided to putz around in the garden since it was such a gorgeous day. As I was doing a little weeding and planning and picking up sticks and small branches from the poplars the little multicoloured pulmonaria asked to be painted. They are so lovely with their pink, blue, and purple flowers all on the same plant. I came inside with a small bunch and did a very quick study in my studio on some formcore I had prepared with canvas primed and glued on.

The Visitation

Every so often it seems like a painting asks to be painted, this is the case with this small piece. Although it is abstract in appearance it feels to me to be concrete in the abstract values, strength and stability. I hope it projects a positive and supportive message, as that is its purpose.

Early Spring

This painting was done on the property of my friends Nick and Biela Muhlen. It is a pond which Biela had Nick dig for her so she might have a frog pond. I used the palette knife to sculpt the tree forms and lay in small branches. It was a fairly cool day that started out sunny and very quickly became overcast and cold. Marina and I had to paint like the wind to get the major shapes and colours down and even then I had to finish the piece off in the studio as it turned to cold to stay out.

Too Many Kumquats

This very small painting is on a scrap of unprimed birch panel. My husband Phil, my most helpful critic said of this piece, " I quite like the way you painted the teapot and the little teacups, but there are way too many kumquats in the composition. " Not surprisingly, my friend Marina, made the same observation......too many kumquats. Since today is April Fools I thought it appropriate to post a painting which is not too serious!

Pink Tulips

I painted this picture from the study "Red Tulips" which was painted a few weeks ago at Marina's. I worked on improving the design and making more interesting brush work. There are still a few details to be worked out but I hope to be finished this piece today. I want to make the leaves on the left more interesting and varied and am wondering if I need to add a bit more weight to the left to balance the composition. This is the reworked painting, I added light green to the leaves on the left side and extended some of the leaves to the left edge.

Snowdrops

I have wanted to produce an all red painting for a long time. It came to me when I saw the first snowdrops in my garden that they would be a great foil for all of the red that I wanted to use in the composition. It surprised me how easily this piece came together, I think having a strong idea in the beginning laid the groundwork for the later steps. It was a joy to paint.

Brushes and Palatte Knives

On Monday I went to visit my friend Marina who had just returned from Mexico from a painting workshop by Frank Gardiner. She shared her experiences from painting in the semi-arid ranch of Frank's to visiting the beautiful city of San Miguel de Allende. We then set to painting a pot holding some of her painting implements for the rest of the afternoon.

Oriental Teapot and Apples

I was pretty happy with the painting of this piece, except I noticed a very hard edge on the main apple after I had taken the photo. I need to go back into the piece and soften this edge, I also might extend the value range by deepening the cast shadow behind the teapot. Photographing your paintings is a great tool for learning, it separates you enough from the work to be able to be more sensitive to minor flaws.
I have posted a new image after working on the painting a little more.

The Red Bowl

I painted this a couple of days ago in my kitchen as I have been wanting to paint this ivy all winter in its beautiful creamy white pot. I just finished a couple of very busy shifts in the ER and I didn't have the energy to pack up my painting gear and go outside to paint even though the weather is incredible for this time of year. Maybe next week I'll get out to sketch.

Red Carnation

I was given this pottery jam jar quite a few years ago and had never got around to painting it. When I saw these red carnations with the deep blue I felt they were perfect together.

Ceramic Bird with Geranium

This ceramic bird is part of a pair that sits on the hearth at Marina's mother and father's house. One wintery afternoon we set up the pair in the basement studio to paint them. Soon, outside the window which was at eye level a flock of about 25 wild turkeys came and were scruffling around in the snow eating the birdseed that had fallen from the birdfeeder. It was amazing to be so close to these enormous beautiful wild birds and have them be oblivious to us.

Apples and Brass Pitcher

This was a fairly quick study of some fruit and an antique pitcher. I like the looseness of the brushwork and the simplicity of the composition.

Carolyn's Garden in Winter

After much driving around looking for a place to paint that wasn't too cold and windy I ended up at my friend Carolyn's place. She made me a cup of hot green tea and after cookies and a catch up conversation, I set up my painting gear and did this quick sketch of a view over her garden. I was happy to be painting outside again if only for an hour or so.