Second Oil: Memories of Gros Morne

Oil Painting

I have been taking oil painting lessons for a few weeks now. This is my most successful effort to date. It was done from a reference photo taken near Sault St. Marie on my first visit to the area. I am enjoying working with oil, more so since my husband installed a ventilation fan in my studio! I am currently working on three more paintings and hope to have something to post soon.

Two More

Missing The North

Distant View

 Circumstances were such that I have been unable to travel "north" this autumn. To alleviate my sadness about this, I have been going through photographs from previous painting trips. I decided to do some sketches with pen, brush and ink.
Distant View was done directly with a brush and ink with no preliminary drawing. The sliver of lake in the distance is a sight that always makes me happy and hopeful.

Tumbling Water

For Tumbling Water I did a preliminary pen sketch and then completed it with brush work. It is based on a photo taken near Sault St. Marie.

Reflections

Reflections was done directly with brush and ink. The photo for this is one I used to make a watercolour painting several years ago. I find the line of the tree tops very appealing and will likely paint this again sometime.

Doing these sketches has helped me to remember wonderful painting trips to the north with good friends, to be greatful for those opportunities and to look forward to future painting trips.

Random Splatter and a Stick

Poppies

I pass through Birr on my way to work at our co-op gallery,  Sunset Arts, in Grand Bend. Earlier this summer, just outside of the general store, there was a large bed of poppies. I returned the next day to enjoy them and to take some photos for reference as sketching them from the busy road or the parking lot didn't hold much appeal. I sketched poppies from memory when I got home and have been working on this painting ever since, using my sketches and reference photos. It is a watercolour but I used watercolour with very little water added to the paint from the tube to do the random spatter and I scraped some on here and there with a stick. I left a band at the bottom free of spatter to give allow for depth.

Landon Library: watercolour, pen and ink

I've been walking through Wortley Village with my friend Cheryl Radford, sketching and taking photographs and looking for inspiration. Along with my friends, Len Hughes and Amelia Husnik, Cheryl and I will be having a show of Wortley based art in November of 2013. It may seem a long way off , but time has a way of flying past so quickly these days, that it seemed like a good idea to start looking for ideas.The piece above was done in the studio and is based on one of the photos I took. I drew the scene and then washed it with several layers of watercolour and finished it with pen and ink.

The second sketch was done on location, around 5:30, sitting on the steps at the front door of one of the churches in Wortley Village. It's a sketch of a house on Elmwood Ave. The view of the house was partially obstructed by trees, but I enjoyed sketching it anyway. This time I used watersoluble ink and water.

This painting is of a house on Princess Ave here in the Woodfield area of London. I have been looking at this house for a couple of years now, wishing I had the time to sketch or paint it. I finally got the opportunity to do so this summer. This painting will be in The Gallery Painting Group's show in October at the Byron Memorial Library. The information about the show follows.

Blackfriars Estate Revisisted: A Quiet Corner

An earlier post featured pen and ink drawings of some of the architectural details which attracted my attention while on a paint out with the Gallery Painting Group. Yesterday I finished this watercolour painting of a quiet corner of the garden surrounding the building. I use a limited palette to convey the quiet, almost dreamlike atmosphere I found here. I loved the morning sunlight and the shadows it produced on the wall near the structure of the fire escape.

Blackfriars Street Bridge

I finished this painting of Balckfriars Street Bridge today.

A Work In Progress, part 2

I have had this ready to paint for a couple of weeks, but just started painting it today. 

Painting around the bridge instead of using  masking fluid was time consuming but worth it.

About half way there but finished for today.

A Work In Progress

A few days ago I went to the Thames River near Blackfriars Street Bridge to sketch with the Gallery Painting Group. Here is where we were.

Here is the first thumbnail I did. I liked the way the very dark shadows on the rocks seemed to lead back to the bridge.

The second thumbnail was less concerned with values and more with the shapes and randomness of the exposed river rocks.

Finally I did a quick watercolour sketch. I now have enough information to begin working on a painting in my studio. When the painting has been completed I'll post a photo on my blog. I may include a heron we saw perched up in the trees. You can see him ( her ?) in the photo below.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

View from Clarence Street side of Victoria Park

A Gallery Painting Group paint out took place this morning. I knew that it was going to be very hot so I decided not to lug my painting gear and instead work in my sketchbook with my Lamy Safari pen and watersoluble ink. There are some problems with perspective here which need to be worked on, but I think once they have been sorted this should be the beginning of an interesting painting. I am attending a perspective workshop on Friday and Saturday and I'll bring this along for suggestions.

Studies of Poppies

Poppy Study 1, June 4

I belong to an artists' co-op gallery in Grand Bend, Sunset Arts. Last Saturday it was my turn to work in the gallery. On my way home I noticed a beautiful garden of poppies in front of a store beside the highway.  I didn't have time to stop but I went back this week to do some very quick sketches ( the garden was very close to the highway and it didn't feel very safe to set up there with traffic whizzing by) and to take lots of photos.  Since then I have been happily painting small studies of poppies. I have been playing around with composition and with background colours. These two are my most successful to date, but I think I need to do some more studies before I start my painting. When I finish the painting, I'll post it here.

Poppy Study 2, June 5

Remembering Venice

Reflections: A Canal In Venice

I had the good fortune to travel to Italy with a group of artists in 2011 and my favourite place was Venice.  I did several sketches and took many photos while my husband and I strolled through the streets. The old buildings and their reflections were wonderful. This watercolour painting was finished two days ago, using photos and sketches as references. It will be entered into the Square Foot Art Exhibition at The Art Exchange along with two other paintings. Some day I would love to go back to Venice. 

Two Consecutive Days Sketching

 I pick my grandson up after school most days. Since there seems to be construction everywhere, I have been leaving early and, if not delayed by construction or detours or traffic jams caused by lane reductions, I spend my waiting time sketching homes in the adjacent neighbour hood. Both of these were done on location for the most part and finished at home.

pen and ink wash

graphite

Architectural Details Blackfriars Estate Condominiums

 This heritage home in a parklike setting along the Thames River was the location for two Gallery Painting Group paint outs this past week. These studies of a couple of the architectural details which caught my eye were done in pen and watersoluable ink, so I could go back in with a wet brush to soften some areas.
The home was originally built in the Italianate style by a man named Kent and later became owned by the Catholic Church and was used by the Bishop and named Blackfriars. The Catholic diocese sold the building a few years ago and it has now been converted into large condos, preserving the original architecture. The gardens are lovely and have statues, terraces, pathways,ponds and fountains. These paint outs will certainly be my inspiration for some paintings in the near future.

Gallery Painting Group: Wild Phlox

 Yesterday the Gallery Painting Group was invited to paint at the home of one of our members. It is a property on Westdelbourne which was called Fern Hill in days past. There are still lovely ferns on the hill where the house is located, but we were there to paint the wild phlox which were blooming in a wooded field down near Dingman Creek.  My first sketch was of  trees and phlox which reminded me of the day a few years ago spent painting in a wood near Turville, U.K., which was full of bluebells. In both cases the weather was perfect

 My second sketch was a closer view of the wild phlox. This sketch and the one above were done in watercolour on paper which had previously been coated with Daniel Smith watercolour ground.

My last was a pen and watercolour done in my sketchbook on paper previously coated with gesso.

plein air watercolour: Thames River Trestle Bridge

Yesterday was my first paint out with the Gallery Painting Group this season. The weather was wonderful and my husband found a wonderful place along the river where we painted. The trestle bridge, which crosses both Oxford Street and the Thames River was an interesting structure with lovely reflections. We were visited from time to time by pairs of Canada geese. It was a peaceful place to paint even though the sound of traffic crossing the Oxford Street bridge was continuous, and the thump thump thump of someone practising tennis against a wooden wall competed with the bird's songs and the geese honking. Occasionally something would jump in the river leaving beautiful patterns of concentric circles. I was unable to spot the circle maker, but just as we had packed up and were leaving, Brian saw a small mouth bass jump, so maybe it was the circle artist.

Anna's encaustic paints

What a great start to our season at Sunset Arts! This weekend we took part in the Grand Bend Studio Tour. The weather was perfect.
One of the gallery members, Anna Koots, demonstrated her encaustic painting just outside our front door. On Sunday, at our back door, a musical group entertained the crowds and us. All of our guests enjoyed the nibbles and the treats from Hayter's . I met so many interesting people and it was great to welcome back customers from previous years.

I'm looking forward to this weekend's studio tour in Grand Bend. Stop by for a visit if you are in Grand Bend. My work will be in Sunset Arts Gallery on 63 River Road during the tour and for the summer too.

Sweet Tea and Memories

Sweet Tea

This watercolour painting is called Sweet Tea. The tea pot shape is the silhouette of a very small tea pot, a salesman's sample of a royal crown derby tea pot, which belonged to my late Aunt Dorothy. The sweet peas are from the pattern on a cup and saucer inherited from my Mom. The black background with the green crescent shape is inspired by the saucer which was black with a white centre. Since the tablecloth is white, I made the centre green, repeating the green from the stems of the sweet peas.
This is a departure from my usual work, being more decorative in nature and certainly not a landscape or city view, or a traditional watercolour, but I enjoyed painting it and the memories of loved ones it engendered.

Busy Day

It was a busy day today. I drove to Grand Bend to pick up the Grand Bend Studio Tour brochures, prepared note cards for Sunset Arts Gallery, delivered the watercolour painting you see to the left to the framer's so it will be ready for the studio tour, finished my tracking sheets for the work which will be in the Lambeth Art Association Show and Sale this weekend, and packaged up the paintings and matted work for the LAA Show. I am now going to relax a little.

Sharing Studio Space

I am now sharing my studio space. My new "roomie" takes things without asking and doesn't put them back where he got them. He chews on my sketching pencils, walks on my work and chats away constantly. Frequently he decides the studio is a good place in which to groom himself or to take a nap in my designated painting chair. In spite of all this, his good looks and charm  make him hard to resist and I worry when he doesn't arrive at the same time I do. While he was napping, I made a quick pencil sketch of him, which you can see below. By the way, his name is Merlin. He is 2 years old. We adopted him from a rescue home.

Spring Cleaning With Tea ??

Tea With Tiffany

A few weeks ago, I was determined to get started on Spring cleaning. I began with the dining room sideboard, which, as it turns out, was a mistake. I found a forgotten little gem. It is a salesman's sample for china. From the tip of the spout to the handle is approximately 3 inches long and the pot is a little less then 2 inches tall. The pattern is Royal Crown Darby and the tiny teapot started me on a series of tea pot paintings that are still underway. This is the first. I placed the shape of the little teapot on an imaginary table and put that in front of my rendition of a Tiffany window, inspired by a placemat, also found in the sideboard. The medium used is watercolour. Some artists don't like the use of black in watercolour. I do. I am now working on painting number 6 in the teapot series. I don't know if anyone else will like them, but I am having a wonderful time with them. So many ideas and possibilities are really making me a bit giddy. Great fun.

  If you'd like to see more, the complete tea pot series to date can be found on my website .Just go to Galleries and look for Tea Pot Series. Some of these will be in the matted works section of the Lambeth Art Show April 26 to April 28 at the Lambeth United Church, Colonel Talbot Road and Main Street, Lambeth.

And, by the way, my Spring cleaning is still not finished.

Brush and Palette Club's 40th Anniversary Show This Week

I have paintings in this show and will be at the show all three days. I hope to see you there!

Lambeth Art Show 5% discount

Print this coupon and bring it with you to the Lambeth Art Show for a 5 % discount on your purchases!

Pen at Play

Woods

Northern Shore

Shutter and Brush Galleries

On Sunday I went to Port Stanley to drop off two pieces for the Artists In Italy Show. It was the first time I had seen the gallery and I was blown away! Mary Louise Whites's glass pieces are fabulous as are David's photos. I fell head over heals in love with a wonderful bowl created by Mary Louise and her Italian trip inspired pieces are just wonderful. Some of the work for the Italy trip show has already been delivered and are great. This is definitely something you don't want to miss.

Good Intentions

Morning In The Sault

I started this painting some time ago with the intention of entering it into a show. It is an acrylic on canvas, 22" x 28" and is based on a sketch I did a few years ago while on a painting trip with friends. The entry date for the show has passed and I just finished the painting this morning. Life trumps good intentions! There are several shows this Spring so it will go into one of them instead of its intended show.

Painting for the Spring Shows and Summer Galleries

Daylily

I have been busy painting, getting ready for the Spring club shows....Brush and Palette and Lambeth Art Association as well as getting work ready for The Boathouse Gallery in Port Stanley ( opening March 1st) and Sunset Arts Gallery in Grand Bend (opening May 5th ). This little watercolour will be at one of the shows or galleries. I haven't decided yet where it is going to go.

A Different Approach

Winter Walk: Medway Ravine

I have been experimenting with a different approach recently. This is one of the paintings resulting from my experiments. It was inspired by a walk in the Medway Ravine near my home. I enjoyed playing with this painting and plan to continue with my explorations. 

Artists In Italy

I am busy working on some paintings for this show and organizing the ones I have already finished.It will be so great to see everyone again and to see what they have produced since we got home. It will be fun to revisit sketchbooks and work done on location too.

On Location In The Snow

I have been working up my courage to sketch and paint on location in the snow. Previously, I have hiked out to various locations in the snow to shoot photos and then used them as reference material. Yesterday I went out with a friend and finally worked on location in the snow. To keep things simple, I decided that I would sketch in pencil for this first attempt. It was really not much different than sketching on location in warmer weather. We had a beautiful sunny day to walk through the grounds and find a location. Next time I will bring along a small paint box to paint on location ( and perhaps some toe warmers, my backpack for supplies and my walking stick to make the uphill and downhill paths in the snow less of a worry ).
The sketch to the left was done down by river on the Elsie Perrin Williams Estate. The water was running quickly and combined with the sound of birds singing and the barking of happy dogs being taken out for a walk by their owners, background music of a sort kept me entertained. I must admit that when I returned to my car I very much enjoyed the thermos of hot cocoa waiting there for me!

Weekly Sketching

This is my pencil sketch.

My friend Cheryl and I get together once a week to sketch together. We have been doing this for about a year now. This week we decided to meet at Dundas and Richmond in the Starbuck's coffee shop with the intention of sketching the view through the windows of the buildings across the street. It was snowing heavily and many people were scurrying through the cold and snow as well as waiting just outside the window for their bus. Needless to say, our view was pretty much obstructed. After chatting for quite a while  we decided to do a 5 minute sketch of the people inside the shop. While it was fun, I didn't produce anything much. I had taken some photos through the window and on my way back to the car too. Most of them were pretty uninspiring, but when I severely cropped one I ended up with something I wanted to sketch. I did a pencil sketch first and then the next day I began a small watercolour painting which I finished today. I am now considering painting a larger piece in acrylic on canvas.

This is the small watercolour.