Monday 22 October 2012

Week 33 – Oct 15-22 – 3 flowers


Fall is upon us and winter is not too far behind.

This past week, I begun the dreaded task of cleaning up the yard for the season. In doing so, I was reminded of how, the now old dried up sticks and stems once held gorgeous blooms.

Painting these flowers is my way of dragging out the good weather as long as possible.



Iris
Oct 20, 2012






Carnations
Oct 19, 2012







Glads
Oct 18, 2012






Monday 8 October 2012

Week 32 - Oct 1-8 - One view, 3 ways


I kept with the fall theme this week as it is all around and fantastic.
I am also working on some new larger pieces and needed to do a bit of experimenting for that so I took 1 view and worked it up in 3 different ways. 
I think I got what I needed for the larger works but it will be a while before they are unveiled and the choice of direction taken here is revealed.






Fall Road 3
October 8, 2012





Fall Road 2
October 7, 2012




Fall Road 1
October 6, 2012



Monday 1 October 2012

Week 31 – Sept 24-30 – Fall is here


I didn’t get a lot of work done this week, but I did get out and enjoy the great colour around us. 
Fall colour is finicky this year, not even started in some places and full blown colour in others.

I did get a couple of quick works done however. 
The colours are a bit primary but that is what they feel like when you are outside on a glorious, crisp sunny day.


Sept 30, 2012
Fall Tree






Sept 29, 2012
Fall in the Distance


Monday 24 September 2012

Week 30-Sept 17-23 - White Boxes in a Field




I actually painted this week in my new studio. 
I had to force myself to stop rearranging everything and just pick up a brush.

I decided to carry on with images from my day of painting on the Escarpment on August. While walking through the lush fields I could see this great cluster of bee hives. The stark white against all of that colour made them really pop out of the landscape.




Sept 23, 2012
Bee Hives 3




Sept 22, 2012
Bee Hives 2




Sept 21, 2012
Bee Hives 1

Monday 3 September 2012

Week 29 - Aug 27-Sep 2 - A Day on the Escarpment


Yes, I was back at it again this week. 

I spent most of this summer preparing to move, so painting took a back seat. I was pleased, however to spend a day with a painting pal, Jan Yates in a lovely area behind her home on the Niagara Escarpment, where everyway you turned there was something beautiful to look at.

One view was a wide open field, another area was lined by gorgeous pines and many hay bales sat in the middle. Another was rolling hills and yet another, rambling grape vies and goldenrod. It was difficult to decide what to work on and I am sure I will do more work based on this afternoon.
The day was perfect and it was fun to get back outside and paint.

You can see Jans’ work at http://janyates.blogspot.ca/



August 29
Fall Colour Starting
I hate to admit it, but the trees are starting to change. The subtle colour on the hill was lovely.





August 29
Red Barn
The contrast of this great red barn against the surrounding green was stunning.




August 29
Day Ending
As the day got later, the sun was starting to set behind the pines on the hill.


Sunday 15 July 2012

Week 27 – Week 28 June 26-July 8 - Behind again

I am so far behind I have posted 2 weeks of pics together.

It looks like my only impetus to paint lately is a mini vacation. I just can’t seem to get in the studio these 
days.

I was invited by friends to a place just outside Gravenhurst ON for the first week of July. It was horridly hot in the city, but fantastic by the lake. Lots of swimming, reading, great eating and a bit of painting.

There is a great island in view with a lovely rock outcrop and tons of trees. It was really interesting to see how it looked differently throughout the day as the light changed. I actually painted early each day, not too long after sunrise but the best light was late in the day. I was chastised for my picture taking as I did not wait for that perfect time around dinner where the light was directly on the island, just before the first shadow appeared along the tree line.

I was ambitious at first doing 2 paintings a day for 2 days.
Then Canada Day arrived and I figured a true vacation day was in order.
I did do a few more pics the next day and those are the works of the second week posted here.




July 2, 2012
Pine Lake 9



July 2, 2012
Pine Lake 8




July 2, 2012
Pine Lake 7




July 2, 2012
Pine Lake 6




July 2, 2012
Pine Lake 5




June 30, 2012
Pine Lake 4





June 30, 2012
Pine Lake 3



June 29, 2012
Pine Lake 2






June 29, 2012
Pine Lake 1





Tuesday 12 June 2012

Week 26 - A Week in a Day


I took a 24 hour mini vacation this week with one of my painting pals. We were at a lovely cottage/home down on Lake Erie in Ontario.  After a rainy night, we took a morning walk down the road and managed to get a couple of quick sketches done. It is a great spot with the lake on one side and farmers fields on the other.

We went back to the cottage and proceeded to paint for a couple of hours. I got these four pics done during that time. A weeks worth of work done in one day. It was a good thing as I hadn’t even started anything else earlier in the week.




June 9, 2012
After The Rain



June 9, 2012
Lake Erie Through The Trees


June 9, 2012
Lake Erie



June 9, 2012
New Corn


Monday 4 June 2012

Week 25 - Break is Over


After a couple of spring shows and a mini vacation, it is time to get back in the studio.

I spent a few days visiting friends in Maryland and while there visited Great Falls National Park. With a fantastic boardwalk over part of the Potomac and a look out at the end, I was able to get some great images for these quick paintings. The river drops about 60 feet and there are fantastic rapids that people apparently some can actual navigate in kayaks - no thanks.
Much safer for me to have camera and just observe. I gathered lots of images to work up back in the studio.



June 3, 2012
The Mighty Potomac, MD





June 2, 2012
River Bed





June 1, 2012
Great Falls MD





May 31, 2012
C&O Canal, MD



Wednesday 9 May 2012

Breaking 99


 Not golf or a hockey reference. I have done 99 of these acrylic 8x10’s since I started this journey.

I now have a couple of weeks of spring shows coming up I need to take small break.

For anyone in the Hamilton area, be sure to check out WHAT this weekend May 12-13 10-5pm.
I am at Studio 5. 123 Chedoke.




In the meantime, I picked out a couple of that I feel most closely met my original goals of loosening up.

I still have a long way to go so I will be back soon with number 100.




March 29, 2012
2 Cabins




Feb 9, 2012
Rolling Field


Feb 1, 2012
Autumn Field



Jan 13, 2012
Lilies




Tuesday 1 May 2012

Week 24 - Barns


The very first painting I did in this series was a barn. Since then, of the 90 odd paintings completed, only 5 or 6 contain structures. So for this week, I added back the buildings.

Barns in fields.

Unfortunately, many of these structures are slowly falling down while the land around them becomes consumed by housing.



April 29, 2012
Big Barn


April 28, 2012
2 Barns



April 27, 2012
Barn in a Yellow Field



April 26, 2012
2 Old Shacks

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Week 23 - Spring Almost



The weather has still been off and on spring. But it is soooo close.

This week I used the reference of a friends photos of our blooming spring in Toronto as well as a couple of local rural images where spring is still a bit away.


April 15, 2012
Cherry Blossoms
There are everywhere. To bad they don't last longer.



April 13, 2012
Waiting for Leaves
Depending on the type, some trees are still waiting for that first hint of green.


April 12, 2012
Big Daffodil
Much as I tried, I could not do get what I wanted from this one.


April 11, 2012
Hay Bale
Some fields still have last years crop sitting around.