Thursday, August 30, 2012

Opening at Gallery M!

My friend and fellow artist Brenda and I in front of a couple of my paintings. The light is kind of bad in this shot, proper photos of these paintings are below:
Bowmen Swamp, 36"x36", acrylic on canvas
Inksetter Pond, 36"x36", acrylic on canvas
Merryn, gallery owner and hostess extraodinaire
 "Incoming", 16"x20", acrylic on canvas
"Apple Blossoms" 36"x36", acrylic on wood
Above two photos: my four biggest supporters : )
Friend and fellow artist Cathy Amos
My painting has taken a back seat this summer. Like, not the back seat of a compact car, the back seat of a looong city bus! But that's okay. School begins next week and I'll be back in a routine.
These are pictures from the opening at Gallery M  in Cambridge, August 17th. Better late than never! It's a colourful, dynamic show on till mid-October. Please pop in if you're in town!


Friday, August 24, 2012

Eat Drink Paint Plein Air at The Good Earth

Today was a smokin' hot, humid day. But did that stop us? Nah : ) I completely enjoyed welcoming 8 creative souls (3 who had never painted in their life) to The Good Earth for a day of plein air painting. A super group! Here are pictures of everyone painting away, and their finished work at the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is going to sleep very well tonight! There is one more plein air day scheduled for 2012 - September 14th. Let me know if you're interested!
There were 2 artists today who I know also have blogs so I'd like to give them some link love. Check out Victoria's here and Cathy's here. Thanks everyone for a great day of painting!
Also: tomorrow (Saturday) I will be painting outside all day at A Day and A Night in Hespeler Village. Art Meets Music. There are a few pop-up galleries in town showing everyone's work along with refreshments in the galleries after three.





Monday, August 20, 2012

Van Gogh! Up Close and personal.

This weekend we travelled to the National Gallery in Ottawa to see Van Gogh: Up Close. What a show! Seriously, I was in heaven and could have stayed there for hours and hours walking back and forth, absorbing, staring, drinking it all in. I almost felt happy tears coming. It was *that* good. The painting that really blew me away was Large Plane Trees - a show stopper. It glowed. I couldn't peel my eyes off it. Such glorious brushstrokes of colour. And he painted the most interesting juxtapositions of colour side-by-side. What a master.
Large Plane Trees, Vincent van Gogh, 1889
Afterward in the gift shop (because everything ends in the gift shop : ) I was disappointed to see that all the reproductions of that painting - in all its many forms - were somewhat lack-lustre. The above repro is very true to the original (but of course that depends on your moniter). If you ever have the opportunity to see this painting in person, go. I promise, it sings
Sheaves of Wheat, Vincent van Gogh, 1890
My next favourite was Sheaves of Wheat and conversely, most reproductions of that piece have bright, saturated, pumped-up colour. This was the most true reproduction I could find and it was glorious in its softness. 

Woman Walking in a Garden, Vincent van Gogh, 1887
I also included Woman Walking in a Garden, which caught me by surprise. When you look at it for a while you realize how beautifully the figure was handled - the skirt blending into the grasses (look at the right side!), the face really a few strokes of brilliant red, pink and mauve. The movement of brushstrokes in the field and forest behind, as well as the colour variations are stunning. The audio guide stated he painted roughly 900 paintings in his 10 years as an artist. 

Almond Blossom, Vincent van Gogh, 1890
And although I could go on and on (and hey - if you've hung in this long I'm tempted) I will leave you with one last treasure: Almond Blossom, which was exquisite. Vincent painted this for his newborn nephew Vincent Willem (Theo's son). 
The exhibit ends September 3rd so if you can find any way at all to get there your soul will thank you. And thank you Vincent for leaving such beautiful gifts for this world.  

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Invitation to Show Opening!

Hello friends! I'd like to invite you to Gallery M in Cambridge this Friday, August 17th, to the opening of a new group show. I will be there showing selected landscapes (a sampling below). I had a sneak preview yesterday and it's going to be a knock-out! Lots of lush, gorgeous colour, expression...  some very cool, exciting artists! Bubbly and light fare will be served (Merryn does great openings! : )
Great White Oak, 36"x36"
Apple Blossoms, 36"x36"
Bowmen Swamp, 36"x36"
Mount Nemo, 30"x40"




Tuesday, August 14, 2012

♪ Ch-ch-ch-changes ♪

I must preface this post by sharing a quote I read on my friend Nicki Ault's FB page last week. It will explain everything : )
"I am always doing what I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." ~ Pablo Picasso 
There. Well said Pablo. Good to remember when you're pulling your hair out. So what you see above is what this piece looked like a month ago. And originally it looked like this:
And then this - which I really was liking. WHY didn't I stop? Anyone?
And now it's this. I know there are some redeeming things in there somewhere, I've just got to drag them back out! I will persevere!


Saturday, August 11, 2012

New work - completed!

I just loved painting this. I don't know if I could do it again, as I built layer upon layer upon layer and it just began morphing - and sometimes it goes south - but I'll certainly try again. A lot of problems to solve along the way but it was great fun figuring it all out. Acrylic on canvas.
 Above and below: details

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Work in progress

This is the bottom half of a new painting I'm working on. Full shot is below. It's morphed a lot - I find it exciting working like this. I hope I can keep it going and not spoil the top!


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Scented petals


 A third. Ah. The sweet smell of roses : )
6"x6" / oil on panel / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Monday, August 6, 2012

Red Red Rose - SOLD

Kind of like "Red Red Wine" by UB40. Do you remember that one? : )
Anyhow, another rose painting. Hope it brightens your day.
6"x6" / oil on canvas / SOLD

Sunday, August 5, 2012

For Rosie! - SOLD

I'm a little late on the rose challenge for Daily Paintworks but wanted to paint them anyway. This one is in honour of Rosie MacLennan who won the gold medal in trampoline for Canada Saturday. Awesome! Way to go Rosie!! You brought smiles and cheers to the country : ) What a performance. I really think Karen Cockburn should have had the bronze and Jason Burnett - well, he's just thrilling to watch. They seem like a cool bunch. I'd love to see the sport in person sometime. Spectacular!
6"x6" / oil on canvas / SOLD

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Baked Lemon Tart

I picked this up in town. I thought from a design perspective it looked so sharp. One rich blueberry smack in the middle of a lemon pool.
6"x6" / oil on canvas / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)