Silk and Persimmons

Silk and Persimmons  Oil on Linen  11 x 14

This was an experiment with a high horizon line, playing with the rich colours and folds of the silk fabric. I really enjoyed painting the persimmons as well. All the warm nuances and shadows. I'm not sure if I'm completely finished on this one. I may add some glazes in the fabric.

Silk and Persimmons

Bowl of Mandarines

Bowl of Mandarins  Oil on Linen  8 x 8  NFS

I finished this little painting yesterday, and it wasn't until I posted it, that I realized I don't like the dark background. It's too harsh  and cold, with the warm soft colours of the foreground. So I will go back into it and make some changes to the background, and then repost once I've made those changes. I think maybe a subdued wallpaper, or kitchen tiles. Any ideas for the changes?

Bowl of Mandarines

Red Reflected

Red Reflected  Oil on Linen  8 x 10  $300

This one was challenging but a lot of fun. I wanted to create some drama with the lighting, emphasizing the red of the pomegranate, as well as practice painting reflections. I had to really stick to 'paint what you see' because the reflections were not what I expected, in terms of value and colour intensity in some areas. All in all I'm pretty pleased with results.

Red Reflected

Avocado

Avocado  Oil on Linen  6 x 6  NFS

I'M BACK! ! ! I've been very busy for months, and have had the hardest time trying to paint regularly. Then I started painting again and had to keep scraping everything off, or sending the piece to my painting graveyard. Yes, I have one of those. I've never painted an avocado before, and it was kind of fun. I placed it on an old Canada Dry pop crate I have to make it bit more funky. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with my old blogging friends and make some new ones!

I've been busy researching for a new website provider. I need an automated site but one that provides exposure as well.The ones I'm considering are FASO, FolioSnap and Foliotwist. If you have an suggestions or comments or have had a great experience with a website provider, please let me know.

Avocado

Still Life Painting Workshop

Today I taught my first ever painting workshop! I had so much fun! I hope my participants enjoyed it as much as I did. We started by discussing values and creating form, did a grisaille, an underpainting in earth tones, applying the colour overtop. We were using transparent acrylic colour, working on creating luminosity in the fruits. We then went on to painting a small still life set up following the steps we had learned. One of my participants, who was very talented, told me at the end of the day she is 90 years old! I thought she was at least 15 years younger! I hope that when I'm 90 I'm still busy learning and honing my painting skills. Having her in my class made my day. :-)

On my last post where I changed the background of my painting, after the recommendation of my painting buddy Virginia Floyd. I thanked her and linked to her website, but then I changed the font and didn't realize that the link was broken, so here is the link to Virginia's blog.

Still Life Painting Workshop

Pomegranate Again

This is an updated version of the pomegranate painting I posted early this week. It had a lighter, warmer background, and when I saw it online I thought it looked it too subtle, and posed the question whether I should I darken the background. My blogging buddy Virginia Floyd suggested that it would make a more dramatic painting, so here is the changed version. I'm pleased with outcome. Thanks Virginia!

Pomegranate Again

Pomegranite

Pomegranate  6 x 6  Oil on Linen

I just love the rich reds of pomegranates. They are such a paintable fruit. I'm not sure I like the background, I'm thinking of darkening it. What do you think? Would a darker background improve this little painting?  I'm currently working on some small pieces for the upcoming Small Works Shows, of which there are many around the Christmas season. This is the first of them. 

BTW I've forgotten to tell you that I entered the Daily Paintworks Challenge for the Children of Africa a while back. I'm really pleased to say that my painting sold, and I will be making the donation to the Canadian Red Cross in the next few days.

Pomegranite

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

Train Art

Recently we were in Whistler BC, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Our daughter decided to show us some unusual art in an even more unusual place. Way off the beaten track, in the middle of a beautiful west coast forest, lies a train wreck from the 1950's. Over several decades, many artists have graced the interior and exterior walls of the train cars that are wedged between the trees. It's so colourful and  organic, with trees and plant life growing on and in the cars.

Whistler has a lot of artists, but also a lot of mountain bikers. A crew of die hard bikers have built ramps and jumps starting with the car at the highest elevation and continuing down through the train cars, like a crazy obstacle course. We didn't see any bikers while we were there but kept an eye out for bears and cougars. The whole thing had a haunting kind of beauty to it, and certainly a lot of history. I kept trying to figure out what decade the various pieces of art had been painted.  The total quiet and peace of the forest combined with the street art painted train cars and the obvious force of the derailment, gave it a surreal effect. We're still talking about it!

Train Art

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

10 Minutes Study in Acrylic

I'm teaching my first painting workshop next month, which is very exciting and a little bit scary. It's a still life class in acrylics. I haven't been doing much in the way of still life or acrylics recently, so I've decided to get back into it with some simple little 10 minute studies, a la Carol Marine, to remind myself of all the techniques I use when painting with acrylics. The two things that came back to me quickly were :

• using layered transparent colours to create the glow in the fruit
• using acrylic medium and painting wet in wet to blend in some areas
• so far lost edges are easily achievable but the soft edges will take more practice

If you paint in acrylics and have any soft edges pointers, please share. I don't think I knew what soft edges really were until I started painting in oils. :-)  Well, off to do some more studies. Talk to you soon.

10 Minutes Study in Acrylic

Help the Children - Aid for Africa

Just Desserts  Oil on Linen  6 x 6

To purchase this painting click here.

Proceeds from the sale of this painting will go directly to the Canadian Red Cross Aid for Africa Fund. I thought this painting of simple apples, the biblical fruit, something that many of us eat as dessert, was a good choice for this Daily Paintworks Help the Children Challenge. I hope these apples tempt you into purchasing for a good cause. 

The UN estimates that up to 400,000 children in the Horn of Africa could die if they do not receive aid, and up to 11 milllion people need food assistance at this time. I have donated this painting to the aid effort and invite you to place a bid and help make a difference. Click HERE for "Help the Children of Africa" online auction, and place your bids! The bidding will continue for 7 days and payment will be made through Paypal. It's so easy!

Help the Children - Aid for Africa