And More Buildings

More Buildings

I spent the day sketching at Fanshawe Pioneer Village. The Gallery Painting Group held a workshop there today with most painters working in oil. I did two sketches of buildings, even though there were some wonderful vistas for landscape paintings. I promised myself that I could do landscape on Tuesday when we meet again, and so I completed two sketches of buildings using pen and ink with watercolour. The first is the Millar home and the second is the Peel residence.

Fanshawe Pioneer Village is a nice place to visit and sketching subjects are everywhere...lovely old buildings, cabins, gardens, antique farm equipment, people in period dress, lovely shop windows....an endless array of possibilities. I am sure to return here to sketch several times over the next few months.

Sketching Buildings

I have been meeting with my friend, Cheryl Radford, once a week for a few months in order to try to improve my sketching skills, particularly sketching buildings,  in preparation for an upcoming trip to Italy where most of what I will be seeing (and painting) is architecture. Cheryl does beautiful architectural sketches, so her work is certainly an inspiration! Today we met at Starbucks on Richmond Street and then walked down until we found something promising to sketch. I worked first in graphite and then in ink to produce the sketch above. Hopefully we will continue to meet and sketch so that by the time we are in Italy buildings won't be so difficult for me.

Daniel's First Paint Out

The Gallery Painting Group met this morning at a farm on Westdel Bourne. My husband and I took our grandson, Daniel, who is five, along for his first paint out. We wandered around the property, visiting the cows, watching the sheep and horses and examining the farm equipment up close. Of course we took lots of photos too.The weather was damp, cold and windy, but Daniel and I hunkered down behind the car, out of the wind, and we were dressed in lots of layers so it was enjoyable for us both to do some sketching while my husband walked the property again taking more photos. Daniel did three sketches...two of clouds and one of the cow who had earlier seemed very interested in Daniel.We all three took a hot chocolate and windmill cookie tailgate break and then finished up our sketches. I did a pen sketch with watercolour added at home this evening.

On Location with The Gallery Painting Group

This is a small watercolour sketch done on location this morning. The Gallery Painting Group meets regularly in the spring, summer and fall to paint on location. It's a great group of painters and we have fun together while also learning. At the end of each session we critique each other's efforts, offering both praise and suggestions. This morning we gathered at a dairy farm where there was an amazing variety of subject matter. I chose to do a landscape view across the road from the farm. I spent more time chatting than painting, but that's part of the appeal of this group... a chance to talk with other painters and compare ideas, methods, media and goals.The spring greens, yellows and pinks were fun to paint ... much softer and more high key than my usual palette...   Next week we are meeting at a different farm. If we are very lucky the weather will be as nice as it was today.                                                                                             

A Visit to Sifton Bog in London Ontario

My husband and I spent the afternoon at the Sifton Bog with our grandson. The weather was perfect and there were so many beautiful things to see. The tamaracks are in bud, lovely soft green misty shapes. Because the trees are not yet in leaf, blue sky is reflected everywhere, dancing and sparkling in the sun. Spring green clumps of moss are dotted through the bog along with geen shoots of all sorts including skunk cabbage which hasn't yet unfurled. I took several photos and will return as soon as I possibly can to sketch and perhaps do some watercolour studies. So much inspiring subject matter to choose from, but today was for family, not for sketching. Our grandson had a great time watching dragonflies, ducks, and geese and he spotted a racoon asleep up in a tree. We looked for, but did not see deer. We did run into a long time friend and artist who was also looking for and finding lots of painting material. After our walk we stopped and enjoyed coffee, juice and a snack sitting on rocks in the sun, chatting about all we had seen and heard. A great day!

Getting Ready For A New Season

Today I drove to Sunset Arts Gallery in Grand Bend to get ready for the Grand Bend Studio Tour , Arts & Eats. The tour will take place on Saturday May 14th from 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday May 15th from 11am to 5 pm.
Sunset Arts will be open on weekends until June 17th when it will be open daily until September.
The photo is my wall at the gallery. Every year I either under or over estimate how much work I will require. As you can see from the photo, this year I underestimated! So... another trip to the gallery this week to finish hanging my wall. I really don't mind. This time of year the countryside is lovely to drive through. Today the willows along all the streams and creeks were a breathtaking sight and the orchards we passed were pink, not with blooms yet, but the bark was pink in the light rain.