Ubud, Bali - Original Acrylic Painting

Path Between the Rice Paddies   Acrylic   16 x 20

This past Fall my husband and I went on a two month trip to Hong Kong, Australia and Bali, to celebrate his retirement. It was the most amazingly fabulous trip with every single day rated 10 out of 10. Bali was our final destination, and it was very special for a number of reasons. The most important though, is that I was celebrating my 60th birthday ( I can't believe I typed that!), and both of my kids (now young adults) arrived in Ubud, Bali to surprise me for my birthday! The whole family spent two weeks together island hopping and bombing around on scooters. What a treasure of memories I have! This Bali painting is called 'Path Between the Rice Paddies'. This was a truly magical day in Ubud. After lunch at Sari Organics, an outdoor restaurant in the middle of the rice paddies and organic vegetable garden, we wandered this path for a few hours. It was so beautiful and exotic, and full of friendly smiling people whose conversations with us made the experience extra special.

Ubud, Bali - Original Acrylic Painting

Still Life - April Afternoon

April Afternoon   16 x 20   Acrylic

This upcoming Sunday, August 10th is the Oak Bay Community Artists summer event, the Bowker Creek Artists' Brush-Up Show and Sale. It's a wonderful outdoor art event in Bowker Creek Park. There are 35 artists this year who will demonstrating their work in the lovely dappled light along the sides of the creek. Join the fun and participate in a piece of public art set for silent auction at the end of the show. As well there will be an art station for kids, some environmental groups helping us understand how to keep our community green, and a gourmet hamburger BBQ presented by The Oaks Restaurant. If you are in the area, please do drop by and say hi! 

Still Life - April Afternoon

Step by Step Landscape in Acrylic - August Afternoon

My main genre is still life, however I really enjoy mixing in a landscape or an architectural painting, just to loosen up a bit. This image is the entrance to the old farm on Hornby Island, British Columbia. It's a beautiful spot. Every time I visit Hornby I photograph the entrance to the farm. There's something so peaceful about it, and the road leading in makes me want to follow it.

I started by cropping the image for compositional purposes. I wanted the two trees to fall at the 'law of thirds' intersection. For those of you who may not know, if you divide your canvas into thirds horizontally and vertically, the intersection of the lines in four places, offer good locations to position the focal point.

Using Transparent Red Iron Oxide, I warmly coloured the ground on the canvas, and to blocked in the basic shapes. A warm red tone is a nice counterbalance to the greens in the trees. 

I started to block in the colour in each shape and to develop the foreground a bit. The darker shade area in the foreground and the light of the sky, helped to gauge the values of the rest of the painting.

I continued developing the painting adding a bit more red tone with burnt sienna mixed with some napthol red, creating branches in the trees. I removed the barn because it was distracting from the focal point.

I broke up the solid tree branch shapes with more variety in value and colour,  strengthened the colour of the sky, and cooled down and lightened the background trees so they moved back in space. The foreground was developed a bit more as well. I used acrylic medium to blend the grass shapes and added some more darks.

The name chosen for this painting is August Afternoon, and I felt the colour of the field wasn't reflecting the impression of a hot summer afternoon. I used glazing fluid and glazed a warm golden colour of hanza yellow deep broken with a bit of ultramarine and alizarin crimson. I added some grass in the field, and developed some lights in the trees to finish it off. 

On a hot August afternoon the entrance to the farm is so still and peaceful. You can hear a few crickets and the breeze moving the branches and it's all about sun and shade. Truly idyllic.

August Afternoon   16 x 16  Acrylic  $650

Step by Step Landscape in Acrylic - August Afternoon

Ottavio's Olives

Ottavio's Olives  Acrylic  10 x 10  $295

Ottavio's Italian Bakery and Deli is one of Oak Bay's favourite shops and coffee shops. You just can't go there and not go home with a bag of delicious gourmet items and a fine crusty baguette! One day I dropped into Ottavio's and when my eyes lit on these multi-coloured olives I knew I simply had to paint them! 

Ottavio's Olives

Jazz Art

 Backstage Beebop  30 x 24  Acrylic 

Musical Spaces II 48 x 36  Acrylic 

These two Jazz music inspired paintings are part of my Jazz series called Musical Spaces. It's currently showing at Serious Coffee in Cook St Village, Victoria BC. This is a fabulous coffee shop and meeting place in the heart of this busy neighbourhood. If you're in the area please drop by and enjoy the show and a yummy specialty coffee. The works will be hanging for the month of March.

Jazz Art

Foxy in France

Foxy in France  Acrylic  24 x 30 SOLD

This is a commissioned piece that was fun and challenging to paint. My client wanted something with flowers, the colour pink to work in the room it was intended for, and to include her beautiful black cat Foxy. The cat became the challenge because I put her into a partially imagined scene, and I was concerned about getting her the right size.In the end I think she's the right size, as she's a very long furred, voluptuous cat. Painting an all black cat is a bit tricky as well, but I had fun using the vibrant colours in the scene to create her form through the highlights. Happily my client was very pleased with the outcome.

I'm off to Mexico for a couple of weeks with my sisters the first week and my daughter the second. What could be better than that?! (my husband and son may have some suggestions) LOL I've decided to sketch and do ink and watercolours on my trip as they transport so well, and don't weigh much. Happy painting everyone and I'll talk to you in a few weeks.

Foxy in France

Pineapple

This is a commission I completed recently. My client wanted a full pineapple standing up. I found some tropical fabric in my fabric box which she liked, and she requested a red hibiscus as well. I have to say I struggled with this one because it didn't feel like me at first. I made quite a few changes to the pattern in the fabric, using it more for inspiration, and did a number of grey tone value studies  to work out how to desaturate the background keeping the intensity of colour in the pineapple and flower. I was inspired by the interesting shadow cast by the foliage and I added lots of fun colours to the brown and yellow skin of the fruit. In the end it was all about light, shadow and colour and I enjoyed the process.

 

If you're in Victoria and haven't made it to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Christmas Small Works show yet, do drop by and have a look. Many of Victoria's favourite artists have pieces in the show and they are all priced from $100 - $150. It's a wonderful opportunity to give the gift of original art to someone special. In fact you're pretty special yourself, why not take a piece home?!

Pineapple

Still Life with Starfruit

This is a step by step of a commission that I just completed for a client who is collecting a series of these long narrow still life canvases. I had never thought of painting starfruit because it wasn't a fruit I was at all familiar with, however, it has beautiful form and created an interesting shadow along the edge of the bowl. My client requested this particular cloth, which is an Egyptian Prayer Rug, and the plate is Turkish. It made a nice exotic combination.

 

Because the plate had white in it, the cloth was creamy white, and the starfruit was basically white with touches of yellow and green, I had to evolve into how to create a vibrant colourful painting, as my client and I both love colour. So I started with something I know well - grapes.

I started adding colour and pumped up the vibrancy of the star fruit by bringing out the yellow and green.

I decided at this point that the contrast of the shadow shapes in the cloth were far too strong, (I was working from a few photographs as well as some of it from life) so as I changed the colour of the cloth, I also softened the shadow effect.

This photo was taken inside on my easel and the colours appear very cool. I slept on it and decided to soften the contrast slightly and warm up the lights a bit.

Here is the final painting which I shot outdoors in the shade. The colours came out much warmer here. I felt it was a very busy painting with the patterns in the cloth and plate, so for compositional purposes I softened the colours in the fabric above the plate. 

I find commissions very challenging because they are someone else's inspiration rather than your own. In the end, this painting became one of mine, but I had some moments of struggling. I really like the person I was painting this for, and concentrated on created a thing of beauty for this special client. 

When you paint commissions how do become inspired by the content if it's not necessarily something you would choose to paint?

Still Life with Starfruit

More Still Life Step by Step

So where have I been this year? Why am I blogging so infrequently? Well...I’ve been busy with family. My parents are both quite elderly and living in Vancouver, and I’ve been travelling back and forth quite a bit, and will  continue to do so. Add to that my full time Display Design work, my art shows, my own family, the house and garden etc. and something had to give. So blogging has slowed right down, and some months painting has as well. However, I’m fortunate to live close enough to visit my parents to help them out, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. So please accept my infrequent blog posts and please send me a comment when I post, because I love to hear from all of you and appreciate the feedback.

This is another commission piece for one of my collectors. There is a series of these long narrow still life pieces coming together. They are all 24" by 12" on Gallery Wrap canvas with the image wrapping around. I applied some texture to the canvas first with modelling paste to create some energy and movement, and to add another dimension to the painting. Starting with a value study in Transparent Red Iron Oxide, I then built layers of transparent or semi-transparent paint in the fruit. I like to use these transparent colours, because the light can pass through right to the white of the canvas, creating an inner glow in the fruits.. 

The fruit bowl is cobalt blue glass with some rings of texture running around it. I started to build the reflective quality of the glass, and the beaded table center underneath.

Everything but the table cloth is now fully painted.

I completed the table cloth, added depth and colour to the shadows, and added more texture and colours to the beaded table center. Again like in my last post, this was a commission for a strip out of one of my existing original paintings, so I used my previous advise and tried to see the image with fresh eyes, trying not to ask my myself how I painted parts of the image last time. For me that's important in order to enjoy the process and not second guess myself. I have one more painting left to complete in this series of six and this next one features star fruit, something that I've never painted before, so I'm looking forward to that!

More Still Life Step by Step

Still Life Step by Step

This is a commission piece I recently completed. The commission request was to paint a section from another of my originals, capturing the essence of the image, but in a different format. The original was square and this one is long and narrow. I don't know how you feel about painting similar images in different formats, but I find it very challenging. Instead of enjoying the process and problem solving naturally, with spontaneity etc, I find that I keep asking myself, "how did I create that effect last time?" or "how did I mix that colour?" I decided to approach this painting slowly and to fight the urge to ask myself those kinds of questions. To force myself into a fresh approach.

 

 I painted my value study in Transparent Red Iron Oxide. I prefer this colour to Burnt Sienna for example, because it's transparent, and the light passes through it to the white of the canvas. Subsequent layers of other transparent colours such as Napthol Red and Hansa Yellow, again allow the light to pass through the paint to the white of the canvas, creating an inner glow in the peppers. 

 One thing that I found extremely difficult was the rounded edge of the colander. I used a grid to draw the image, capturing the turn of the bowl, and the proportions, instead of sketching loosely in paint and adjusting as I go. But during the painting process I inadvertently  made small adjustments to the edge of the bowl and kept changing the shape and losing the circle. Without the line continuum, I kept reading the shape incorrectly. I had to regrid in some areas twice during the painting process to get the shape back again.

In the end it was a lesson in both patience and persistence, and I was pleased with the outcome. But the biggest lesson on this one, was to see the painting with fresh eyes, and to not go where I'd already been, trying to second guess myself. It allowed me to experiment, improve on the outcome, and most importantly, to find the joy of painting the image a second time, as if it was the first. And that was a well learned lesson for me. How do you handle commissions and requests to paint a similar image in a different format?

Still Life Step by Step

Summer Citrus

Summer Citrus  Acrylic on Canvas  16 x 16  $500

This still life was painted from a series of photos I shot in my garden last summer. I loved the light reflections on the glaze of the pitcher, the bowl and the fruit. There was a lot of light play on the tablecloth as well. I enjoyed interpreting the various components in the colour scheme of blue and yellow, carried through in the tablecloth, and the fence and foliage in the background. I think the final effect is quite harmonious.

My Tuesday night Still Life Painting Class had a go at this image as well. They had a photograph to take home and work on for a few weeks, between our painting from life studies each week. I was very pleased and impressed with the results. Unfortunately I didn't get any shots of their work, but they're a bit shy anyhow. 

I'm getting ready to hang a show this upcoming Sunday April 1st, for the Oak Bay Artists Society. A group of sixteen of us, is having a show at the CAC Gallery at Cedar Hill, April 1 - 8. This is a preview show for the Oak Bay Artists Spring Studio Tour, taking place on April 14 & 15, 12 noon - 4:30pm. Both shows feature some wonderfully talented artists and a host of mediums. If you're in the area, drop by and say hi! We'd love to see you!

Summer Citrus

Oops!

 Silk & Things  Oil on Linen  11 x 14  

On exhibit at the FCA Spring Exhibition at Goward House

....a little mistake. Well you know how sometimes a message gets passed along and by the time it arrives to you the info isn't quite right? Well that's what happened with the message about which of my paintings was accepted into the Federation of Canadian Artists Spring Exhibition. The one in my last post was not accepted, but this painting, Silk and Things was! If you're in the area, the show is on at Goward House, 2495 Arbutus Rd until March 28th.

And if you like the painting below please "LIKE" it! This painting is in this months BoldBrush Competition, and you can vote by clicking here and when the voting page opens, click the "Like" button below the image. Thank you!

ACRYLIC PAINTING CLASSES

Coming up on March 20th is a new set of Acrylic Painting classes that I'm teaching. This set is about painting reflective surfaces. If you are in Victoria and would like to join us, we have lots of fun while learning! The classes are at Monterey Center in Oak Bay, Tuesdays Mar20 - April 24, 6:30 - 9pm,  6/$75

Register by phone @ 250 370-7300 Reg#103003

My new website has a newsletter that comes out every 4 - 6 weeks. Apart from my classes and shows, I also include an educational section covering an art topic to appeal to both art lovers and collectors alike. If you are interested in receiving this email newsletter, please click here and to view my website click here.

Oops!

New Website and New Show!

Morning Calm  Acrylic  16 x 20

Happy New Year! I always start the New Year by analyzing the past year, and planning for the new year to come. One of my goals for 2010 was to get a new website. I did it! Okay I left it to the last possible moment.... between Christmas and New Years I had the time to sit down at the computer for two days and I can now be found at www.clairechristinelfineart.com . Please take a moment to check out my site and let know what you think. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I've got the bones of it together and it was really fun to create. I went with FASO, recommended by fellow blogger Carrie Waller and I have to say that I'm really impressed with their product and their service is amazing! 

Another exciting thing that happened for me this year is that I started teaching still life painting classes in acrylics. That has been a very fun experience and also a huge learning experience. When we paint it's often very intuitive, and to teach you have to stop and think about each step and why. I learned all sorts of things about my process that I'd never really analyzed or put into words before.

I had some great experiences in shows and events throughout the year. One of the things that I realize is that with each great art experience I meet new artist friends. And it's those artist friend connections that make this industry such a rewarding place. The same is true of my blogging friends. The caring, sharing, support and enthusiasm is so rich in the art blogging world. We spend so much alone time when we're painting, but we go online and discover friends internationally. So I want to thank you all for visiting my blog and extending your kindness toward me, and becoming a cherished friend.

My first show of the year is at the Oak Bay Marina Cafe. Because it's on the water and surrounded by boats, I decided to show mostly west coast seascapes and boating paintings. The above painting is part of the show. If you are in Victoria and out for a seaside walk, drop into the Marina Cafe to warm up and enjoy my show!

New Website and New Show!

Morris Gallery Show

I'm really pleased to tell you that this painting "Pacific Sunrise" was accepted into the Federation of Canadian Artists' Fall Juried Show Sept 28 - Oct 31, at the Morris Gallery, in Victoria BC. If you are in the area, please drop by for the opening Friday Sept 28, 6 - 8pm. There are some wonderful artists and beautiful pieces in the show. You can view the works online once the show gets underway, by clicking here.

Morris Gallery Show

Walking on Sunshine

Original Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 30

I'm walking on sunshine, and don't it feel good?! That's the song and sentiment that was going through my head when I painted this scene. Some days are just so beautiful and peaceful. This scene is a walk down the beach from Whaling Station Bay on Hornby Island, one of our favourite places to holiday. The gorgeous big arbutus tree, with it's unique red bark, hanging out over the sandstone shoals was picture perfect. I was quite pleased with my interpretation of the tree, until I browsed through Julie Davis' blog with her wonderfully informative tree studies, and I realized that I could definitely reinterpret this arbutus. However, not wanting to upset this sunshiney feeling, the fact that I could have interpreted differently, applied fewer highlights, created a more active/passive approach to my tree, is not something to feel bad about. It's something to look forward to! I can take Julie's pointers and do my own tree studies, and use that information to inform my next tree paintings. I'm still happy with my tree, I just know I could improve on it. But then Van Gogh felt that way about everything he painted.Speaking of which, I saw on Virginia Floyd's blog, that she is feeling frustrated with her painting process these days, and her husband said "You're not going cut off your ear are you?" I laughed out loud when I read that! We need to take ourselves less seriously, and just enjoy the journey, and keep learning from each other. I strongly believe that apart from a painters need to create, the fact that painting is not static, but a continual learning process, is what keeps all of us coming back to our easels each day. Smile and onward!!

Walking on Sunshine

On a Clear Day

Original Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 48

On a clear day, the name of my newest painting, is the view that we are lucky enough to see from the beach just a 5 minute walk from my house, when the clouds lift and the air is clear. This is the view from Cattle Point, looking across the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward Washington State. The gorgeous mountain in the background is Mt. Baker, which is always capped with snow. it's truly magnificent and on a day like this everyone asks "Did you see Mt. Baker today?" I had to adjust the tones of the distant islands between the water and the mountain. I didn't have them pushed back far enough. But once I painted in the foreground it was obvious that the tones in the background needed to be lightened a bit. It's all relative...



I had another great day yesterday painting on the lawn of the Empress Hotel again. I won't tell you about the gale force winds when we arrived. I'll just say that EVERYTHING was tied or taped down. I almost attached myself! But, are the skies ever clear now! Not a cloud to be seen! Mt. Baker is once again in full view. I had the opportunity to chat with a lot of tourists and almost all of them were from Texas or Alabama. When I asked why so many people from that area were up here in Canada, they all said "Trying to beat the heat!" I told them that they were fortunate to come from a place filled with so many talented artists, and that I was in awe of the amount of talent residing in Texas. Okay, I know it's a big State but still! I can tell you they were visibly proud! :-)

On a Clear Day

Artishow Plein Air Event - Empress Hotel Victoria BC

This past Sunday was the Artishow Plein Air kick off event. Every Sunday throughout the summer, artists will be demonstrating their work at hotels around the Inner Harbour of Victoria. Painters and sculptors will be out interacting with the public, both locals and tourists. It was a great day, and I spoke to people from many parts of the world. I'm very honoured and humbled to be with some of Victoria's best artists at Artishow, plein air summer event. Check them out - Annie Pelletier, David Hunwick, David Goatly, Tara Juneau, and Robert Amos.





The painting I started on Sunday is a view from Cattle Point, a few blocks from my home, across to Mount Baker in Washington State. We can go weeks without seeing Mt. Baker because of cloud cover, but when we do, it's absolutely breathtaking. It just looms up and glows in the sun.

The canvas is 24 x 48, and did I mention that it's always windy in Victoria? We're right on the Pacific Ocean with nothing but wind and water between us and Japan. Luckily I brought bungy cords. I had my canvas attached to the easel with a bungy, and the easel attached to a box holding supplies and a heavy jug of water. I was painting in acrylics, and with each gust of wind, my paint dried at high speed. It made covering a large canvas a bit of challenge, but I got around it with acrylic medium and mixing the colour inside a yogurt container.





I'm posing for my girlfriend Kerry, who came down expressly to capture these photos for my blog. Thanks Kerry!




Chatting to some interested art enthusiasts, who just happen to be locals. We have a vibrant arts scene in Victoria and many dedicated show goers. I'm almost finished the painting, and will most likely post it in a few days. This upcoming long weekend, Sunday July 3rd, from 12 noon - 6pm, we will be out again on the lawn at the Empress Hotel. If you're in the area, we'd love to see you!

Artishow Plein Air Event - Empress Hotel Victoria BC

Spring Bloom

Original Acrylic on Canvas 14 x 18

Although Spring has not officially arrived in Victoria this year...it's SO cold!!! we do have the wildflowers blooming everywhere. They are actually about one month behind their normal blooming schedule. Usually we paint en plein air Easter weekend, and capture them just before they finish, but the blue Camas are still opening. This is Beacon Hill Park near my workplace, and at lunch I captured this shot while taking a walk. The shadows were very short because it was midday, but the colours were wonderful. As always, when I have a lot of green in a painting, I struggle a bit with foreground, midground and background. I pushed and pulled the values and finally settled with this version....for now. Do you find paintings with a lot of green challenging? Do you have thoughts on how to overcome this problem, other than practice?

Spring Bloom

Autumn Escape

Acrylic on Textured Canvas 30 x 40 $1200

I've had the busiest couple of months doing lots of organization for shows coming up throughout this year. I've been submitting for entrance into shows, helping to apply for a grant for the Bowker Creek Brush Up Art Show and Sale in August, and I've been varnishing and framing like a crazy woman! As well I've been suffering from Blog Withdrawal and thinking that I'd be forgotten, when two of my blogging buddies, Virginia Floyd and Lorraine Shirkus, sent me kind messages checking in on me. Thanks ladies you really made my day!

This weekend is the Oak Bay Artists' Spring Studio Tour. I've spent the last few weeks preparing for the show by painting this larger version of a smaller piece I did called Country Road. When I completed Country Road I immediately thought that it was an image that could easily be much larger. So I went to a 30 x 40 canvas, and textured it with molding paste. I'm quite happy with the results, and when I compare the two, I prefer the brushstrokes of the smaller piece. But they both have their merits and I feel equally happy with them.

I have just finished hanging my show, and standing back and looking at it, I can honestly say it's my best Studio Tour Show to date. I have over 50 paintings, from 6 x 6 up to 30 x 40, in oils and acrylics, featuring still life and west coast scenes. It is the culmination of one full year of blogging, the goal of which was to push myself to improve my craft. I see so much personal growth as I look at all these paintings. This year I learned to paint with oils (I'm still learning), I experimented a lot with brushwork and edges, and I can definitely see and feel improvement in my craft. I absolutely love that! I also love how great blogging is, as a sharing forum and making friends with artists who I have only met online, but who I feel connected with.

Now that I'm starting my second year of blogging, I'm going to launch a blog project, starting soon (if only the weather would warm up). But first I'll be posting an interview with my good friend, portrait artist Manon Elder, who has an impressive exhibit at the Provincial Museum here in Victoria. I'll look forward to sharing her story with you. Talk to you soon!

Autumn Escape

Opulence - Step by Step

'Opulence' Original Acrylic on Canvas 30 x 30

I'm back! It seems like forever since I posted and talked to everyone. I was sick with a cold, then went out of town to visit my parents, and then my daughter came into town to visit us. It's been great spending the time with family and having so many laughs!

I think I'm finished this painting, but I'll need to live with it for a few weeks to really know. Because of the time lapse since I started posting the Step by Step, I decided to post them all together so you get the effect. There's a bit of glare in the upper right hand corner, probably because I used some glazing fluid and it has a bit of sheen. Once I've decided that it's finished, I'll varnish it so the finish is consistent.

Now has this ever happened to you? When I went to make this blog post, my image upload window wouldn't let me upload any pictures. I am a bit technologically challenged so things have to be pretty basic for me. I've been checking my 'cache' and my 'cookies' and updating Firefox and finally googling how to revert to the 'old editor' on my blog. Phew!

Opulence - Step by Step