Lemons & Lace II

Lemons and Lace II   Oil   12 x 16   

Part of my 'Porcelain' series, Lemons and Lace II, features English porcelain and one of my favourite props, a vintage blue medicine bottle. Blue and yellow is one of my favoured colour combinations as I find the freshness of the yellow lemons against the blue patterning of the china very inspiring. In particular I enjoyed painting the varied depths of the shadow from the wedge of lemon protruding over the edge of table. It's these subtle observations that give me so much pleasure in painting a still life from life.

I've been trying to get back into a regular schedule of painting, following the passing of my father. When you haven't been painting very much, each colour mix and how you approach the painting, seems to be full of challenges. I've decided for the next short while to go back down to smaller pieces and try to get back into the groove of painting, and then I'd like to take a little break from still life and get back into some landscape pieces. Landscapes always feel so freeing as opposed to the close concentration of still lifes. They come off my brush in a much more impressionistic style. I hope that by mixing things up a bit I'll get back in the groove. Have you had moments when the paint just doesn't seem to flow off your brush or you're just not getting behind the easel as much as you used to? What did you do to overcome this obstacle? I'd love to hear some thoughts and suggestions.

Lemons & Lace II

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

Cooking with Colour II

Cooking with Colour II  Oil  8 x 8 SOLD

Here's another colourful still life using my new little Mexican bowls from my recent trip. I think I still have some value adjustments to do on the left side of the pepper.

Cooking with Colour II

Cooking With Colour

Cooking With Colour  Oil on Canvas 8 x 8  SOLD

I knew it was going to be an explosion of colour, but I just had to do it!! I bought  these cute little bowls in Mexico and as I have a special love for hand painted pottery from around the world, I had to incorporate these new little beauties into a painting. I've painted and sold still lifes with plates and bowls from Provence, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia, Turkey and Mexico, so other people must also love hand painted pottery too. So here's some more Mexico and this time it's red hot! I hope you like it.

Cooking With Colour

Chinatown Victoria BC

Shanghai City  12 x 12  Oil  SOLD

 

 

This is an image from our small but very vibrant Chinatown. It has a rich and fascinating history, and Dales Gallery which I have shown in, is just across the street. There are many rich colours on this street, but red is a standout, so I did a red underpainting and left patches of the red showing through.

Chinatown Victoria BC

Quince and Crabapples - SOLD

 

When I saw these quince with the leaves still attached and these vibrant crabapples, I snatched them up quick, because they were asking to be painted! I really enjoyed painting the colour nuances in the shadows of the quince. 

The farm shop I bought these at has a petting zoo attached to it, and the chickens and rooster decided that they liked it better inside the shop. As shoppers were wheeling their carts around and others were at bistro tables enjoying a coffee and baked goods, the chickens were pecking  around between their feet, and every now and then the rooster would cock-a-doodle-do. We had so much fun there! Our cashier told us that sometimes a chicken hops up on a shelf behind the cash desk and lays and egg. That's definitely fresh off the shelf!

Pear with Plums  Oil  8 x 8  SOLD

Wow! What a hiatus that was! This first post in a looonng time is a painting I did or the Art Gallery of Victoria's Christmas Small Works Show, a fund raiser of the Art Gallery. See the side panel for information on the show. 

As some of you may know, I've been taking time away from both painting as regularly as usual and from social media. I've  been helping and visiting my very elderly parents who live in a different city. That combined with an unprecedented number of requests for commissions, has kept me away from smaller daily paintings. My schedule is allowing me get back to painting my own inspirations and concepts. I've learned a lot from this year about both creating art and life:

• there will always be things in life that  may take you away from painting for a while - but you will always get back to it. Take time to enjoy those precious moments.
• I've discovered that for me, painting is tied more closely to my emotions than I thought. When crises happen my emotions are all used up and I have nothing left for painting. It's as if I don't know how to paint anymore. I have to take the time to be with family and then get back to painting.
• Commissions are a wonderful compliment to your work, and also a guaranteed sale, but for me, I find that that they redirect my energies away from my creative fires and my need to realize my own ideas. At the same time I grew in my art while painting several commissions, by pushing through and finding really positive outcomes. I painted subjects I would not have chosen to paint, but in the end created paintings that were in fact me.

I also realized that I must create in order to feel balance in my life. How that creating looks may be different because of time and travel. It may be drawing instead of painting, or working out  compositional thumbnails or jotting down concepts for series with quick sketches and notes to support the idea. It's still a creative process that moves me ahead in my art for when I'm ready to paint again. 

How do you work difficult times that may take you away from your easel? I'd love to hear your tips if you have some. 

 

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

Lemons & Light II - Still Life Step by Step

I just completed this painting as a practice with acrylics, for an upcoming workshop I'm teaching on October 23rd, at Monterey Center in Victoria BC  -  Contemporary Still Life in Acrylics. I've been painting all of my most recent Still Life paintings in oils, so I had to do a little practice to remember how to blend, layer colours, and create luminous light effects  Below is the step by step of the painting process:

When painting Still Life, I like to do a quick value study first. Because I wanted to create a sun drenched light effect in the fruit and cloth, I used glazes of transparent colours. This allows the light to pass through the layers of paint to the white canvas below creating a luminous light effect. 

Lemons & Light II - Still Life Step by Step

The Old Farm House

Oil on Canvas 8 x 10 $150 Unframed
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We recently spent a late afternoon painting out at the old farm at Beaver Pond in Saanich. We were hoping for sun so we'd have some long shadows. The sun came and went, but it was out enough that we were able to capture the light effect. It was a beautiful spot with lots of wild rabbits hopping around the field. I don't know the story of the old farm house, but it's definitely old, with a sagging roof. It was a really glorious spot to paint.

This upcoming Sunday, June 26th, is the kick off of the Artishow Summer Plein Air Event at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. I'll be there painting along with a few other Victoria Artists, from 11am - 6 pm. If you're in the area, drop by and say hello, I'd love to see you!

The Old Farm House

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

Sweet Treat

Original Oil on Linen 8 x 8

I had so much fun with the first painting of Bartlett pears that I decided to do another. I'm pleased with the glow again, and prefer the looseness of the brushstrokes in this one.


Tonight I'm going to the Artists' Reception for the CNIB Eye Appeal Art Fundraiser, at Crystal Garden. I donated a painting to this worthy cause. As visual artists it's hard to imagine a life with either limited or no sight. I hope the fundraiser is a great success. The artists' event will be an entertaining evening, chatting with many of Victoria's artists.

Sweet Treat

Pacific Sunrise

Original Acrylic on Textured Canvas

36 x 18  - SOLD

Here is the final version of the Step-by-Step from January 23rd and 24th. If you scroll down you'll find these two posts and see the texture building and painting of this canvas. I had to leave it for a few days and come back to it for the final touches, so I could get a more accurate read on what needed to be done. There's nothing like a fresh look at a painting to know where to go with it. The foreground needed to be darkened and the light on the water needed adjusting. Now I'm pleased with the outcome and had fun with the Golden mediums that I used - Molding Paste and Coarse Pumice. The Coarse Pumice was difficult to cover, so I would most likely experiment with adding some pigment before applying it the next time. Have you tried any of these textural mediums? If you've used Coarse Pumice let me know how you handled the paint coverage.

Pacific Sunrise

Cool Shade - Study

Original Oil on Stretched Linen 6 x 6 SOLD

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This is a study for a larger canvas I have planned. I'm working on a series of landscapes in acrylic, on textured canvas, in a larger format. It's interesting to me how painting these small paintings regularly, can impact my painting in another medium and size. For me, the improved skill set and familiarity of putting paint to canvas, allows for greater freedom and bravery in carrying out a concept. As I get farther along with the larger pieces I'll start to post the process.

Cool Shade - Study

Lemons and Light

SOLD


happy New Year everyone!! So here is the first painting question of the year. Why are lemons so difficult to paint? I find the shadows on lemons really hard. I wiped this one several times before settling on this final version. I kept saying paint what you see, but the darks looked SO dark and when I applied that colour, it just didn't seem to work for me. So now that I've posted this, I can see that I'm going to tweek it a bit.

I would like to thank all of you who have visited and commented over the past year. I never imagined when I started blogging, that I would be introduced to so many kind and giving individuals, who would make me feel a part of a strong supportive community of artists. I have learned so much from all of you, and grown from painting frequently, so one of my resolutions is to keep on blogging, and to do it more frequently. Thanks so much for following my work.

Lemons and Light

Country Road

Country Road  18 x 24  $475

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I blocked in the main colour pattern, concentrating on the rhythmic flow of  the branches, as well as establishing the tree trunks. These masses were then broken down into more varied tones and temperatures. My focal point is where the light hits the end of the road so I worked on establishing the light and dark contrast in that area. I used a number of greyed colour tones to make the more saturated colours pop. Because of all the layering of colours I paid close attention to the arial perspective, so that it layered back in space properly.

I drew in a few guidelines in burnt umber and started to block in the abstract colour shapes. Here everything goes in as a flat field of colour without creating shadows and form. I'm concentrating on the abstract shapes. I coloured the canvas with a sepia tone which I left to show through in small patches throughout the painting, creating colour harmony.

Country Road

Persimmons

Original Acrylic Painting  6 x 6  $65 

The first of the persimmons have just arrived at the grocery store. I love painting these exotic little fruits. I see more persimmon paintings on the horizon....

Persimmons

From the Garden

Original Acrylic Painting  24 x 24  $800 s/h

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This painting was inspired by my time living in the Southwest of France. The people of France live the Zero Mile Diet. They eat locally and seasonally and revel in their amazing regional dishes. 'From the Garden' reminds me of times visiting a relative of my husband, who had a huge vegetable garden and an orchard in the back yard. We literally picked artichokes and peppers as robust as this for dinner. This painting is currently part of the Federation of Canadian Artists Fall Show, at the Community Arts Council Gallery in Victoria BC. If you're in the area do drop in as there are many beautiful paintings to enjoy.

From the Garden

Morning Calm

Original Acrylic on Canvas  16 x 20  Framed $450

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This is a scene from Saltspring Island. I was up early and photographed this peaceful scene with the little fishing boat tied up. I loved the light on the boat and the diagonal line formed by the current in the water, leading in a curve toward the boat. I had to lighten the background mountains a few times to push them back sufficiently. The foreground shadows were formed by a tree and I considered putting in a piece of branch to explain the shadow, but decided it would be too distracting. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? I could still put it in.

Morning Calm

The Boat Garage

Original Oil on Canvas  8 x 8 $150 Free shipping CAN & US
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Here's another scene from Hornby Island, although this time it's a house for boats instead of people. I've been rereading selected segments of Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, and trying to apply his techniques to my painting style. Changing your approach to painting is one of the hardest things to do, but I've been focusing on this while painting this series of beach houses. I have found that with each painting the application of his suggestions has become easier. I started by choosing just one suggestion, worked on that, then the next time I worked on the same thing, but added another suggestion to the mix. Here are the points I've been focusing on. 

• Note the artistic intention - what is drawing you to this image? Decide what to feature and how best to do that.
• Squint your eyes and block in tonal values of light and dark with poster-like flatness, covering all of the canvas.
• Introduce modeling into all the flat values.
• Look for and feel the landscape sense - the artistic expression, the rhythmic reach of the trees.

I feel that I've learned so much from purposely considering each of these steps,  while painting these small beach scenes and I'm totally excited about it. Although these are steps that I use to some extent regularly when I paint, by really giving them consideration, it clarified my values and  improved the expression of my brushstrokes.  If you can get a copy of his book (lots of used ones online), I would highly recommend it.

 

The Boat Garage