Artist in Residence

Painting at the Parkside Hotel

I recently had the pleasure of being the Artist in Residence at the Parkside Hotel in Victoria BC, Canada. I painted each day in the most beautiful studio ever, the lobby of the hotel, with floor to ceiling (three floors) windows, Koi ponds with a bridge and exotic tropical gardens and waterfalls. How lucky was I? 

I'm best known for my still life work, so although that is what I'm painting in the photo, I mostly painted west coast scenes,which was a lovely change of pace. I had a large gallery space just adjacent to where I was painting, which unfortunately didn't photograph well, so I don't have photos of that. Painting still life pieces from life requires choosing the objects and setting the scene with a single light source, as well as a lot a close observation and working on depicting form, volume, the drama of light and shadow - the reality. Painting land and seascapes allowed more freedom of creativity, combining photo reference, changing colours and basically having a whole of fun! Below is one of the paintings I completed. It was a combination of photos adding the water flowing down the sand to the shoreline, and I also played with colour and enhanced the reflections. I was pretty happy with the result.

Coastal Reflections  Acrylic  12 x 12

Artist in Residence

Oak Bay Artists Spring Studio Tour

Tour Brochure and Map available HERE.

Enjoy an afternoon walking, biking or riding the lovely streets of Oak Bay, as you visit the studios of Oak Bay Artists. I have developed a new studio which will be open to visitors. My Camino de Santiago series entitled "One Million Steps" is growing, (see below) and some new still life paintings also await. If you're in the area I hope you can drop by and say hi!

On 'The Way'   Oil   12 x 16

Oak Bay Artists Spring Studio Tour

Daybreak on the Camino

Daybreak  Oil  12 x 16

I'm so excited and honoured to announce that my painting Daybreak was awarded First Place on Thursday evening at the Federation of Canadian Artists Juried Spring Exhibition Opening, at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. There are so many lovely paintings by some of Victoria's favourite local artists in the show. The exhibition continues through to March 31st so if you are in the area, do try to drop by and enjoy the art. 

This painting was inspired by an early morning start on the Camino de Santiago last May. We had stayed overnight in an ancient stone Abbey, and I was SO COLD the entire time. We left early and as a make up for the night before, the sunrise was magnificent, providing many opportunities for inspired paintings. 

Daybreak on the Camino

Hot off the Easel!

Daybreak  Oil  12 x 16

Green Tea & Oranges/Suzanne   Oil  16 x 16

I'm pleased to announce that these two paintings were accepted into the Federation of Canadian Artists Juried Spring Exhibition 2019 at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 

March 3 - 31.  Our Opening Reception will be on March 7th, 6:00 - 8:30pm. The artists will be attendance, along with live guitar jazz and refreshments. Entrance to the Massey Gallery is free of charge by checking in with the front desk on arrival. If you live in the area I hope you can drop by!  The exhibition poster is below.

Hot off the Easel!

Spring Art Exhibition

Federation of Canadian Artists

Juried Spring Exhibition 2019

Everyone Welcome! The Federation of Canadian Artists in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, are hosting our Juried Spring Exhibition and Sale at the AGGV, in the Massey Hall. This show featuring emerging through to professional local artists, will be exhibiting the highest quality paintings. Our Exhibition Opening is Thursday March 7, from 6:00 - 8:30pm, with artists in attendance, live jazz, and refreshments. We look forward to welcoming you there!

The Exhibition continues March 3 - 31 with Gallery hours listed below:

Tues-Wed, Fri-Sat 10am-5pm, Thurs 10am-9pm, Sun 12pm-5pm, and Monday Closed

Check in at the front desk to visit Massey Gallery at no charge.

Spring Art Exhibition

Asian Themed Still Life

Eastern Elegance II  18 x 24  Oil

I love the Asian aesthetic and have painted many paintings with Asian inspired objects. Living on the west coast there is a lot of Asian influence and it's easy to find beautiful props in thrift shops or consignment stores. 

This was the first painting I did in my new studio inside my house, which I was still busy trying to figure out. I now have great lighting in the room, so I can easily paint at night time if I want to. The bulbs I purchased are Satco LED A19, 15.5W, and 5000K which provides full spectrum light. I can easily see the colours on my palette as well as on my canvas. Because I paint from life and try to have only one light source, I set up my still life in a black shadow box, with a spot light trained on the set up. I then taped some wide sheets of Aluminium foil attached to each other as one, from the ceiling, blocking the room lighting from hitting the still life set up. The shiny side is turned away from me, which is working, but I may change this to a dark fabric. I also have black out fabric curtains to avoid sunlight coming in when painting a still life, as I have a south facing studio. It's heaven to not have to set up and break down all the time, and to have all my reference books, magazines, props and painting materials all in one place!! What is the best thing in your studio that you're really happy with? 

Asian Themed Still Life

Old Stone and Cats

Siesta  Acrylic   SOLD

Here's another painting inspired by my walk across the north of Spain, on the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. I loved the old stone buildings that had stood for hundreds of years and been repaired many times with plaster. I also loved the hundreds of cats along the route, draped in the sunshine snoozing.

I really enjoyed painting this one. What was interesting, was that capturing the feel of the old stone required painting in the stones and then taking a palette knife and covering over some of them. Like stone repair with plaster. Sounds weird, but that's what really made the effect of old stone.

Old Stone and Cats