Porcelain and Pears

Porcelain and Pears   Oil   8 x 10  SOLD

This is another piece from my Eastern Aesthetic series of blue and white porcelain. It was a small work that I painted for my Studio Tour.  It was a popular piece over that weekend, and ended up going to new home. The lovely couple who bought it have taken painting classes from me, so I was very happy that it went to a good home with people I know and enjoy. Our paintings are almost like our pets! 

Porcelain and Pears

Asian Still Life with Satsuma Oranges

Satsuma II   Oil  12 x 16   SOLD

Here is another Asian inspired painting from from my blue and white porcelain series. I love painting blue and white porcelain with all the beautiful patterns, and organic shapes. I drew inspiration for this painting and the painting in my last post, from Matisse, who combined many patterns and textiles in his still life paintings. I incorporated a silk paneled tapestry in the background, reinforcing the Asian theme, while relating the background with the foreground. I have a thing for Satsuma oranges, which I've painted many times. For me they speak to the genre of the still life - a simple everyday object given a special beauty through the study of light on form. 

This painting is going to new owner on the weekend, as it was purchased at my recent Oak Bay Artists Studio Tour. Thanks to all of you who came out for the event, and stayed for some great conversations. I so enjoyed meeting you!

Asian Still Life with Satsuma Oranges

Oak Bay Artists Spring Studio Tour

Satsuma III   Oil   16 x 16  $750

Wow, it's been so long since I posted, that I had trouble getting into my blog! I've been having wonderful adventures which have resulted in some series of paintings. My husband and I spent two months travelling to Hong Kong, Australia, and Bali, and had the time of our lives. I've just spent a few months since our return quietly painting away and trying not to be distracted by things like social media and housework. ha ha!  

Above is an Asian inspired Still Life that I'm really pleased with. I've been working on utilizing textiles in the background to reinforce the theme of the painting, to create depth, and to relate the background with the foreground. 

This upcoming weekend is the Oak Bay Artists Spring Studio Tour and I will be opening my home studio to the public, and exhibiting my new series of Still Life and Bali paintings. If you are in the area, I hope you can drop and say hi! Here is a link to a printable online map and brochure for the tour. You will find the PDF at the bottom of the page.

Oak Bay Artists Spring Studio Tour

Federation of Canadian Artists Fall Juried Exhibition

I am so pleased to have received Honourable Mention for my painting Satsuma at the FCA Fall Juried Exhibition!  The quality of paintings was very high and I truly feel hounoured to be recognized for my work. If you are in Victoria do drop by Dales Gallery in Chinatown and enjoy the show!

Satsuma  Oil  16 x 20  $1200 

Please contact Dales Gallery for inquiries

The photograph of this painting did not really turn out well. I tried shooting it a number of times using a grey card and I still ended up with a high tone photo, so that the value nuances are not really evident. I learned a lot painting Satsuma, because I layered not only patterns, but also white porcelain in front of each other. So the painting became all about values in order to create the form of each object and to have them stand apart from each other in space instead of blending.

Federation of Canadian Artists Fall Juried Exhibition

Tea and Tonic - AGGV Summer Small Works Show

Tea and Tonic  Oil on Linen on Board  8 x 10  $300 SOLD

In my last post I talked about a workshop I took with Tanya Bone. This painting is one I did following her workshop, focusing on edges, brushwork and a painterly style. I was quite pleased with the outcome and also because it has been selected into the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Summer Small Works Show. The show runs July 12 - Sept 5, in Massey Hall, and features beautiful small and affordable pieces by many of your favourite Victoria artists. Be sure to check it out when you're in the neighbourhood. 

Tonight I attended the Artists Reception for the Mystery Show at Red Art Gallery. This is such a fun event! There are 40 artists and 40 works. All works are 10 x 10 and priced at $295. The mystery is who painted what? No names appear on the front of the paintings. There is a lottery style draw to determine who gets first pick and so on. When your number is called you have 60 seconds to put a red dot on the painting of your choice. Last year this event was a huge success and a great patron pleaser, and this year promises to be just as much fun. I'll post my mystery painting after the show.

Tea and Tonic - AGGV Summer Small Works Show

 Lemons and Lace  Oil  16 x 16 SOLD

This is the largest oil painting I've ever done. I'm still learning how to paint with oils and the larger the canvas the more intimidating it seems. I was very systematic with blocking in the entire painting and slowly building the layers and in the end I though "Well that wasn't so scarey after all". It's funny how we psych ourselves out isn't it? The vase and pedestal plate are two new finds from a local consignment store. I absolutely love them, so I'm sure they will show up in many more paintings. 

This is a very high tone painting for me. I usually go for more colour saturation and I frame all my paintings in black front loading floater frames. This one called for a silver frame and because it was on a deep canvas the selection was limited and very expensive, forcing the price of the painting up. So I did something else I've never done before and this was REALLY scarey. I took it off the deep stretchers and restretched  it onto narrow stretchers thereby increasing my selection of framing. I just lined the stretcher bars up along the creases that were alreadyin the canvas from the deep stretchers. I put one staple in the center of each side, working to opposite sides, and then worked my way out to the corners, putting in one or two staples on each side before switching to the opposite side.  The corners were already creased in the folds, so they came together very smoothly.   I do a lot of fabric stretching in my work and have done reupholstery but this was very nerve wracking and I had to do it when no one else was home so I could give it my full attention. I was thrilled it went smoothly without any horrible moments. The custom frame is going to be ready this Saturday and I can hardly wait to see how it looks framed.

This painting will be featured in the upcoming Oak Bay Artists' Spring Studio Tour on April 20 & 21. If you're in the area feel free to drop by and bring your friends! For a tour brochure, click here, the tour map link is at the bottom of the page. The link is compliments of Elizabeth Anderson who helped me with the link address. I was having trouble with links on my last post because I was using the permalinks in the side bar instead of the link on the top menu and I couldn't get it to work. Thanks Elizabeth!

Melon and Berries

Original Oil on Linen 11 x 14 - SOLD

I recently participated in a workshop on traditional still life and wanted to reinforce the skills I learned, so I set up this composition and painted it from life. It took several sittings to complete, and I had to keep lifting the setting, which I'd made on top of a wooden pop crate, off of my dining room table and placing it elsewhere while we ate. The cantaloupe was wrapped and put back in the fridge several times. Because of this the folds in the fabric kept changing and the melon started shrinking and the berries were all wrinkled and dried up. Instead of hindering me, I realized that it aided me in painting from an emotional place and adding what I felt was needed for the picture making rather than being tied to the subject. I was able to concentrate on edges, and to adjust the shadows and highlights as I felt added to the painting.

I've mentioned a few times that I would like to loosen up my painting style and create more visible brushwork. Hmmm....It does look a little tight, but in real life it seems to fall somewhere in the middle. I'm thinking of entering it in an upcoming show. What are your thoughts?

Melon and Berries

Clementines

Clementines Original Oil Painting on Linen 8 x 8 Framed - SOLD

Free s/h CAN & USA International please email for shipping rate

I had a very slow start on this one. I wiped it off twice before finally deciding to sit down, thereby changing my viewpoint and avoiding drawing the opening of the pitcher. Some days you just can't make it happen! I ended up liking this composition better and am pleased with the outcome. I'm working on more painterly brushstrokes, which I think I achieved on the pitcher and the cloth. The clementines ended up a bit tighter, but you have to start somewhere!

This painting is of one of my favourite belongings - a Tuscan pitcher. I bought it at a flea market in a little village in the Southwest of France. The woman who sold it to me, told me a wonderful story of how she came to own it. A flea market vendor in Tuscany was berating the crowd for being so cheap and not buying anything from him on this particular day. He held up the pitcher and kept lowering the price until finally he offered it for free, at which point she stepped forward and accepted it. The irony is that she didn’t pay it forward, she charged me for it, and quite a healthy price too! But I’m happy I own it all the same. :-)

Clementines