Road Home

This is a large piece I have been working on the last couple of days. I could not get a good photo of it - either too little light or too much. It looks much better in person.

Slideshow of some of my Paintings

This is the first slide show I have ever put together. Myra at Last Cup of Coffee encouraged me to give it a try and with a little help from my sister-in-law Marlene I got one put together. It showcases some of my favourite paintings that I did this year. Thanks Myra, Thanks Marlene!!

Peaches on Purple

I love purple and orange together! I was going through my paintings, looking at which ones were most successful, which colour combinations I liked the most and came across one in orange and purple - so vibrant that I had to try it out again.

Sydney

This painting was inspired by a photo I took of my niece this summer at the beach. I have been finding that when I work from photos rather than life I really tighten up. My goal with this piece was to stay looser.

Hillsborough Boats

I am back at my easel again. My break was a little longer than I thought it was going to be. My son got his tonsils, adnoids out and tubes put in his ears this past tuesday as an out patient. Unfortunately he got readmitted to hospital on wednesday evening and there we stayed until late friday afternoon. All is well now and he seems to be on the mend. He is my little trooper.

Friendship

Thank you to Nicki a new blog friend for awarding me a friendship award. 

Now the rules for this Award are as follows:

This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming.

These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.

They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.

Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.

Deliver this award to other bloggers who must choose others to pass it on to and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I would like to pass this award on to :

Catherine Jeffrey

At the Moorings

Finished at last. This painting was inspired by a photo I took of my son playing in the sand at my parent's cottage on Lake Huron. I am happy with it. I learned a lot and I think what I learned will make the next painting even better. I struggled with the values in the sand versus the figure and trying to make the figure stand out from the sand. The boats just flowed from my brush - thank goodness - I needed something to keep me struggling on.  

My son had his tonsils / adnoids taken out and tubes put in his ears yesterday so I will be out of commission for a few days. He is being a trooper, but refuses to take the tylenol. I think I will be spending the day cuddling on the couch with him and watching retro teletoons.

Help in the Studio

Here is my helper, hard at work on his alien from Mars painting. This may be why I am having a hard time finishing my painting.

Stage 5

I am having a lot of indecision or doubts on this one  as I paint and it seems to be taking longer than I think it should to come together. I not sure if it is because I have never painted a beach scene before or if it is my help (see my next post) in the studio that has been distracting me. One more session and I think I will be happy with it. I do find if I don't get frustrated with a painting at some point that it does not turn out to my satisfaction in the end, so doubts are good I guess.

Stage 4

I am now starting to add in some of the dark and light values. I tend to work the whole painting at once rather than concentrate on one area at a time. It keeps me from getting too precious with one area - and then reluctant to change something if it needs changing. This piece will need a couple more sessions on it before I am done I think.

Stage 3

Stage 2

At this stage I am just blocking in the larger areas and adjusting my composition. Once I get some paint on the canvas I use the handle end of my brush to scrape into the painting and then may paint over some of the scrapes until the image starts to take shape.

Stage 1

I am working on a beach scene at the moment. I thought I would photograph it in stages. The first thing I did was apply an orangey-red background. My thinking here was that the majority of the painting will be made up of blues and greens and that the complementary ground colour where it shows through will create a bit of a vibration or intensity to the painting. You can see where I shifted my figure over a bit in the foreground. I tend to work out issues (some might call them mistakes) as I go.

Apple2

Another apple. I had some really small panels made up and thought I would try painting a little faster and looser. I like this striped fabric - it keeps begging to be painted again and again.

Apple1

I did this a couple of days ago. I was having trouble uploading images onto my blog today, but it seems to be working fine now.

Takeout

This is takeout from my friends wedding on the weekend. I put it straight in the freezer when I got home so I could paint it. Mary, if you are reading this - it was a fantastic wedding and you looked like a princess to quote Evan.

Let Me Out of Here

Let me out of here seems an appropriate title. Right now I am listening to my 5 year old scream at me from his bedroom. He is on a time out for dumping his chocolate milk all over the table and floor because I apparently was supposed to add the chocolate syrup last rather than first. Who knew, it was fine yesterday when I made it that way. LOL