One Bloom

The paint just kept getting thicker and thicker on this one.

Mother's Day Bouquet

This is a painting of the bouquet I received on Mother's Day from my Mother-In-Law. It is still looking great, so I my paint another rendition of it.

Lemons and Irises

These are irises from my garden. I was going for a simple, almost graphic composition in this one.

A Bottle of fuzion

I painted this on friday but it was too rainy and windy to take a photo of it until now. This is a bottle of wine that comes from Argentina called fuzion. I am no expert when it comes to wine, but I quite enjoyed this one.

Myra's Great Art Book

Check out this great movie by artist Myra Anderson at 'Last Cup of Coffee'

(My son is featured as the map maker. He is thrilled and right this minute he is drawing a map to Myra's.)

Thanks Myra, you have inspired him. Evan also wants his own blog too.

Iris #4(blue underpainting)

This is the last painting, same palette but with an ultramarine blue underpainting. My favourite switches daily. What I have discovered is the monochromatic paintings (3 and 4) and the first painting (not sure how you would classify it) have a calm mood and energy. The second painting where I used a complementary colour scheme (yellow and violet) has an upbeat energy.

Have you got a favourite?

Iris #3 (violet underpainting)

Number three - this time with a violet underpainting. I noticed that I am getting looser with each painting as I get more comfortable/confident depicting the same still life set up.

Iris #2 (yellow underpainting)

Here is my second iris painting - same set up, same palette, but with a yellow underpainting. I think the yellow gives this one a different energy than the previous one.

Iris #1 (green underpainting)

The irises in my garden are out and they look amazing. I am going to experiment a bit with them by setting up the same still life for a few paintings but switch the underpainting colour I use on each one. My palette will remain the same, but I will see how the different ground colour influences or changes each piece. This is the first one - I used a muddy green as the ground - you can see it peaking through in the painting.

Little Fairies

This painting is a surprise for my neighbour down the street. This is from a photo of their girls wearing these fabulous wigs. My son thought they looked like little fairies. I agonized over this painting more than usual. I think because I really wanted to get a great likeness of their girls, I wanted it to be special, and I am doing it on the sly and I do not know this family real well. Anyway I hope they love it.

Contemplation

I can feel the sunshine coming. It has been beautiful weather lately and I am so excited for summer. This is a painting of my Mom. It looks like she is enjoying a quiet moment to herself - in reality she was actually watching 6 or more kids climb and jump over the groin she is sitting on. How she remains so calm during all the craziness I'll never know. I guess that is what makes her such a great teacher.

Cheers to you Mom!

Hydrangeas

I am hoping to grow some of these in my garden this year, I just love them.

White Flowers

Happy Easter everyone.

My Children's Book - A Preview

There's a Shark in the Toilet! by Tammy Hext | BOOK INFO

My children's book is finally ready and here is a sneak preview. I just received a copy in the mail yesterday and I am really pleased with the quality. The story is based on a dream my son was having when he was toilet training. I turned his fear into a fun little story where he saves the day in the end. He is really proud of the book and has been busy showing it to all his friends and our neighbours. If you wish to purchase a copy, just follow the link to the blurb store.

Coffee Break

This is a portrait of Al and his coffee. I had a challenging perspective for this portrait and struggled to get the proportions just right.

Sunset

Here is another sunset. Getting things to recede in a square format is a little trickier than when you use a rectangle. I like the square because it seems less traditional a format. Anyone else have thoughts on their favourite format?

Whizzing By

This is a small study for a larger painting. I am trying to work out what black I will use - a more brown one or blue one. I used a more brown based one here and I think it works well with the orange and reds of a sunset.

Palette Knife Portraits - Slideshow

Here is a slideshow of some of my recent palette knife portraits. The first and last portrait shown is of a friend - Haydain Neale of Jacksoul who passed away late last year. The music is by Jacksoul.

In a Hat

The portrait group I joined met again last night and I struggled with this one. I think if I had stopped at the two hour mark I might have been happier. Parts I am very pleased with, and some areas I wish I had pushed further - sometimes three hours is too much time and sometimes just not enough.

Children's book project - update

Here is another of the paintings for the book project I am working on. I am using a company called Blurb to self publish the book. They provide you with the software, you do all the work and they send you a finished book when you are done. They have an on-line store where your book can also be purchased. Once I have one and see that it printed well I will post a link so you can have a sneak peak at the contents.