Lloyd Leaner [oil, 10”x8”]

There are so many scenes available to paint at Lloyd Park [SW of Calgary].  None are quite as tempting as this gnarly spruce tree which imposes itself in the foreground of many views.  It’s an interesting contrast to all the horizontals in the rest of the land/lakescape.  I struggled with the shapes in the background and although this was painted 90% on site last Saturday, I puttered a bit with it at home as well.  I can see that it’s important not to overdo the studio putzing…  the freshness needs to be retained.  Looking forward to more plein air this weekend at Leighton Centre!  Have a great day!

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Little Falls at Big Hill Springs [oil, 6”x8”]

This little painting was also done at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park yesterday.  After a morning of chatting with passersby at the main falls, I took a rest break and then set up in a more secluded spot.  This little scene was so peaceful and calm.  Relative to some of the views it was quite boring.  However, sometimes “boring” is just restful… except we’ve lost our capacity to rest!  The sound of the waterfall was peaceful in the morning so I didn’t want to go too far away from it.  Consequently, I stood with a smaller waterfall spraying just a bit onto my left foot when I painted this scene.  Refreshing indeed - plein air painting was made for such a day a this! 

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Foothills Fields [ 9”x12”, oil]

Just a little sketch of the rolling fields and foothills of Alberta today.  Country roads take me home….  have a great day!

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May Showers [oil, 9”x12”

I just had to get out of this house today…  packing and reorganizing seems to be the theme at our place right now.  It’s been inspiring to reorganize my art room and find all kinds of ideas that I’ve jotted.  All are now safely stored away in a much more organized fashion.  My art accounts and invoices are also.  Phew! 

So, to reward myself for all that hard work I grabbed my gear and headed to the park on the ridge in the community of Tuscany.  Set up is so fast with my BestBrella and my Alla Prima pochade box.  I was looking west towards the Rockies and the clouds were rolling towards me.  I expected rain before I finished so I was hustling to get started.  That’s when I discovered that, although I remembered the all important mosquito repellant, I’d left my medium pots at home.  No walnut oil nor thinner to help with paint control. Too late for that – I sketched in quick and grabbed my palette knives.  Consequently, this painting is thick.  I basically slathered the paint on with my knifes and used a bristle brush on most of the sky – it was amazing how fast those clouds were moving!  But, the distinct line of dark was constant like this for a long time.  It didn’t rain on me but it certainly was raining at Springbank Airport.  Eventually the wind picked up enough that I had to collapse my umbrella but I kind of like this painting – LOVE painting with the knives [loved the sale at Curry’s too]! 

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Bridge to Apache Lake (14”x10”)

The hills around Apache Lake were lit up by the profusion of yellow from the Palo Verde blooms this April.  This painting doesn’t do the scene justice and I’m way too tired to analyze the problem tonight.  I may be seriously overdue for a good critique – any takers out there?  Feel free to provide it by commenting or emailing me…   Ciao!

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Work in Progress...

This is my first painting attempt using fluid acrylics from the outset. I love how they flow almost like watercolors. However, they dry very quickly so I was behind the eight ball as far as edge control goes on this larger format (22x15 inches). Stay tuned as I'm definitely not done with this one... Happy Valentines Day! Retweet this

Red Trees revisited

I've revisited the infamous red tree composition and made another attempt in watercolor. Here is the result. I'm much happier with this painting than I was with the original watercolor. I was able to keep the feeling of the light coming through the trees in this version. Come daylight tomorrow I do plan to make a couple of changes to this painting so, as usual, I'll keep you posted ;o)

As I type this I am sitting at Ron's computer desk and wow, is it ever uncomfortable! My [Dell] laptop (aka "craptop") had the video card wrap up it's ONE year of useful life yesterday. It is on warranty so I will ship it off to Dell tomorrow and I should have it back in about a week. This isn't the first time it's had to go back either. Happy camper?... not me! Buyers be warned! And now I have to move my purple bracelet (why? click here). Have a great evening!

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Tigers Do Best in Full Sun II (6"x6")

I had two purchasers for the lilies painting and so I set up another drawing, same size, same composition, and executed painting one more time. You can check back to July 21 and compare the two if you'd like. I like them both.... I certainly enjoyed painting this again. It's a fun, simple piece and fun to puddle on. My red and pink lilies bloomed last week - finally! I think there will be more lily paintings in my future.

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Still Standing II (6"x6")

It seems that both my dd Kim and sil Stephanie each left a bit of her heart on the West Coast of the West Coast. So, to keep the family peace, I agreed to paint another little scraggly tree as viewed from Pacific Rim National Park. Kim gets to pick which she wants.... She was, as she pointed out, with me when we spotted this tree. The other I will mail to Stephanie in Wausau, Wisconsin (home of the Woodson Art Museum).
Here's my second try at the little twisted pine. This time I toned down the sky by using warm ultramarine blue instead of cool pthalo blue. The tree has just a bit less foliage and I like that. However, my first attempt is, in my opinion, wilder and reflects the mood I was in when I painted it (see July 23rd post). Six of one, half dozen of the other.... Enjoy! Retweet this

Black Pots (8"x8")

Stone staircases like these are the norm for old homes in Manitou Springs. I've got a thing for steps and stairs and the bright light and deep shadows on these fascinated me.

I've been thinking about chiaroscuro, the Italian word denoting the contrast between dark and light. Can anyone think of a word in English that means exactly that? No? Interesting concept isn't it? The Italians have been talking about chiaroscuro for ages. Mainly as it relates to art of course. For you Scrabble hounds, chiaroscuro is in my spell checker as a valid "English" word.

Try to imagine these stairs in flat light - no strong shadows, no strong lights... just straight pink rock. If we were to attempt to ascend that shadowless staircase we would have a hard time figuring out where to put our feet. Our eyes are geared to see light and dark and our brain interprets the information so that we can operate our feet, and climb the stairs to the top. Chiaroscuro is vital information for us.

Now, apply chiaroscuro to life. Would we appreciate or even notice a sunny day if we'd never experienced a rainy one? Would we appreciate a beautiful face without the highlights and shadows? Without contrast, our lives are boring, dull, lifeless. This can be applied in all areas of life - physical, emotional, spiritual. The next time I'm having a dull or dark day, I'm going to be thankful that I've got the ability to recognize one from the other. There's really nothing worse than being stuck in the middle... having a "gray day" or pondering a "gray area" of law/politics, morals. I can be thankful for the dark in the past because it contrasts with the light and helps me see. It makes the path clear. Cheers!

The How-to paragraph - The last putzing hour on this painting involved glazing the stair risers darker and warmer or darker and cooler depending on their location. Then I separated the rock wall that the pots sit on from the wall behind. To do this I lightened the staircase wall by scrubbing it with a sponge, then I cooled and darkened the wall of the house (behind the plants) by glazing it with dulled blue to push it back. A bit of dry brushing over the rocks gave them a rough look, a bit of lifting around the pots sharpened them. Then I added a bit of color for the flowers and it's done.

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Sandy McNabb Park (4x6 sketch)

My brother Harvey, his wife Stephanie, and their two children Ole and Larissa are here for a visit from their home in Wisconsin. Today my family gathered to visit with them at Sandy McNabb Park, which is west of Turner Valley in Kananaskis Country. WOW - I've never been there before and it is so beautiful. And quiet... nice and quiet. We had a great visit and I took lots of photos. Ron took lots of photos too. His are really amazing - he has a gift with cameras. We really need to get him an SLR... but I digress.

While there I sketched up a view of the Sheep River and I added the watercolor just now. I hope you like it... I think I would have been able to get the color better had I done it on site... plein air.

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Sunshine Climb (~10x14)

This painting features Mount Brett on the left and behind her Mount Bourgeau. I just can't say enough about my day in the mountains. Here's the story...

Today I painted with 38 others at the 4th Annual Plein Air Paint Out at Sunshine Meadows. The day began at 7 am when Sheila picked me up for the drive up. We parked at the Sunshine lifts at 8:30 and stretched and visited a bit before our bus left for the top at 9am. The first thing I figured out when we arrived at Sunshine Village was that my camera card was back in my computer at the house. I was so disappointed and I'd stowed my camera for the day in Sheila's trunk when Rita Rankin offered my her spare SD card. I'm so thankful for her generosity - some of you know how snap happy I am and I really took some gems today!

It was so much fun to meet and visit with the other artists throughout the day. At the top, Sheila helped me repack my gear [we left half with the cook] and we were off to hike up to the meadows. Neither of us realized that the hike up would be required. It took about 20 minutes of stop and go walking/hiking to get to the spot we decided to paint from (not the meadows - too far). Duane Hendricks was scoping the place out when we stopped and we decided to stop and paint with him there. We could have painted from that one spot for weeks there was so much beauty to look at.

The weather was not so beautiful - it blew, rained, snowed, and sleeted between very brief sunny periods. I wanted to quit watercolor on the spot. My hands were so stiff and chapped after two hours of holding wet stuff it was hard to keep painting. But, we kept at it and the time really flew with all the weather changes and chatting with hikers that walked by. By about 1 we packed our stuff up and decided that we'd just walk up a little further and see what we were missing. Good grief! I bet we walked another 20 minutes up the path - we just couldn't stop looking and taking pictures. Wow! We just kept going "around the next bend and over the next hill". When we'd stop so I could get my breath back (thank you Mr Pneumonia!) we'd talk it over and decide we wanted to see more... Anyhow, soon we saw beautiful Rock Isle Lake and it made the walk worthwhile. I could be feeling pretty sore tomorrow but it was worth it.

The walk down was much easier. We ate our lunch while we waited for the bus. Then we heard that there was a waterfall immediately behind the building so we stayed another hour to scope that out. It was a long but very satisfying day... I hope you had a good one too!

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Spirit Island, Jasper National Park (18"w x 14"h)

It's been a busy day today so I'm opting to post a painting "new" to my blog but painted late last fall.

I visited Spirit Island in Jasper National Park (Alberta, Canada) last September and I highly recommend the experience! Spirit Island lies toward the north end of beautiful Maligne Lake and is accessible only by boat. 90-minute interpretive tours run frequently and are very informative. Although old, the boats are safe, comfortable (with room to stand if you need/want) and most importantly they are heated!

The day we visited, the fog lifted slowly to reveal a gorgeous mountain landscape... in this view the fog is still gentling the rocky slopes and it set Spirit Island off just beautifully. I used artistic license with my choice of colors, particularly in the mountains, but I rather like how this piece turned out.

Funny story related to Spirit Island - I have it on good authority that the Canadian Government erected the new, small public restrooms a few years ago for the astonishing sum of about $250,000. The need for solar power, remoteness and need for near-zero servicing (honey trucks not an option), and the cost of getting building supplies and workers to/from the site were cost factors. I was happy to utilize the facilities if for no other reason than to get some use out of my tax dollars. I recommend all Canadians attend at least once in your lifetime if for no other reason than putting your tax dollars to work! Enjoy! Retweet this

Still Standing (6"x6")

Late this afternoon I was driving home from a meeting that I found very... long. For some reason the memory of this "survivor" tree came to mind and I decided to make a quick painting of it for a bit of an outlet tonight. This particular tree grew way up high on the west coast of the west coast... Ucluelet, British Columbia to be exact. The winds howl, the rain beats down, and this little tree just goes about the business of growing. It's growing where it's planted... which is all we're asked to do. Often we don't chose the place and circumstances that we find ourselves in and we just have to do the best we can and keep growing. Painting this was a good little exercise for me tonight.

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Scattered Storms in Central Alberta (10"wx7"h)

On our trip to St Albert last Friday I took quite a few photos of the landscapes, skies, even a train! For this painting I sketched a combination of the fields from one and the sky from another. These towering clouds had many hues including a deep blue, light red or pink and quite a bit of yellow. It was a glorious drive... good company, great scenery, the feeling of "getting away" to relax. This little painting is about (10"wx7"h)... and I'm not sure whether I'll do a larger one of this view... but hey, at least I painted some trees!

Enjoy!

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Stumo's Tigers

I sketched and painted these tiger lilies (4x6) this afternoon at the home of Maureen and Stu McLellan (aka "stumo"). They have a wonderful backyard full of all types of perennials, shrubs, and annuals including these amazing lilies in St Albert, Alberta. I had my sketchbook and paint out for about an hour this afternoon and I enjoyed it so much. I think I'm becoming addicted to this daily painting business - I need the outlet. We also had a nice relaxing visit but we forgot to sign Stu's cast (sorry).

Maureen and I took the opportunity to visit a couple galleries in St Albert yesterday. What an amazing art scene they have in their town - just lovely.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I enjoyed mine!

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Frank and Mary's Lilacs

Back in May when the lilacs were in full bloom in Minnesota, we in Canada were waiting impatiently for spring to come. It was a cold spring and we waited until late June to see our own lilacs. Frank, a friend of mine from Minnesota took pity on me and sent me photos of his amazing lilacs. I used those photos along with some of our later Canadian ones as the reference for this quick sketch done last Friday. Enjoy!

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Sheep and negatve painting

The painting of the sheep is done... for now. I’ll be tweaking a few things on this painting before I sign it. This is normal for me – most of my paintings are at about 90% done when I park them on the wall or my table. If I knew what I wanted to do it would be simple. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and I’ll know, but probably not. I used to push until I finished TOTALLY – something I learned to do as an accountant. But, I don’t have to do that with paintings. I can let the back of my brain think about this while I do something else. This has been a huge learning for me – it’s true about paintings (for me anyways) and it’s true about life. I’m much more relaxed knowing that everything does not have to be finished today. And it’s a good thing too because sometimes life isn’t predictable, is it?

As I said yesterday, I want to make a bigger version of this painting sometime soon. I’ll take what I’ve learned on this little painting and, I hope, apply it on the larger one. Look for it here over the next weeks.

For those interested in the “how-to” this is what I did today... I painted the backs and rumps of the sheep by painting either the grass or the dark bits of the sheep body behind them. This is called negative painting... There are a few terms that I use in my posts that require definition. “Negative painting” is one of them. And no, it does NOT mean painting with a bad attitude. I had a hard time with this concept (maybe just me?). It’s as simple as this: the leaves on the left are positive and those on the right are negative. I painted the left leaves positively. Those on the right I painted around and I defined them by what I left white. We end up painting around lots of things to make them show up. Today I painted around grass and around sheep. I also dry brushed (dry paint onto dry paper) some grass areas in front of the sheep. And, that’s a wrap... I'll be sure to post the absolute final painting... but now I must get back to trees. Retweet this

Blue Mountain Pottery and more Sheep WIP

This little painting is 5"x5" and was completed last year. I'm including it here as I'm currently side-lined from my usual painting time and I thought you'd enjoy seeing a painting as a reward for your "click".... This pottery was given to my paternal grandparents by my parents a LONG time ago. About 5 years ago Grandma M gave it back to my folks for one of the grandkids... I'm fortunate to have this tea/coffee set. Of course it reminds me strongly of my grandma who is still living in Fosston, Minnesota at the age of 102. And now... the sheep. As discussed yesterday I reworked the top right section and I like it quite a bit better now. In order to clean off the mess I made yesterday I wet the area I wanted to lift with clear water and then I took my dampened elephant ear sponge and gently agitated the paint until most of it lifted. I did a couple of rinse/repeats and by then I had removed the amount of paint I wanted from the paper. In this case it wasn't necessary (or possible) to lift all the paint... leaving the faint stains provides an underpainting and hasn't detracted from that area (IMO). I let that dry while I had another rest (back trouble, long story).



Later today, I repainted the top right much more loosely than before. Then I had time to round out a few sheep bodies... which has begun to define my centre of interest - the little male with his head upright. I hope to finish this tomorrow... this small painting (~10"x8"), if successful, will be one of the learning steps on the way to a larger painting. I might even try a half sheet (22x15") if I'm feeling brave. This is my first painting of animals... so, we shall see. Ciao! Retweet this

Work in progress - sheep

Hi all... after several hours reviewing medical records today I came home exhausted. After the obligatory rest on ice I decided I'd better do some art therapy - I needed it! And what a gift it is to putter with photos and sketches until I get an idea for a painting. I enjoy it so much b/c it reminds me that I have just oodles of ideas to explore in the future. For now I'm working on sheep.

I transferred my sketch to watercolor paper & decided to get one round of paint on it today. So you are seeing a WIP here... I based this on a "failed photo" that I took of the bighorn sheep herd that hang out at the head of the Columbia River in Fairmont, BC. I call it a failed photo because only one little sheep had his head raised above the herd - in a photo I want more. but in a painting, especially one for the purpose I have in mind (check later for more info), he's all I need.

I started out with a pinkish wash diagonally from left top to right bottom. As I watched this dry I softened it in places, lifted out some sheep rumps, and put down the first darks for the tree trunk and rocks in the right foreground. Next I (over)did the tree area in the top right - I can see that's going to take some work to fix tomorrow. Finally, I washed in the grassy area and the shrubs on the left and puttered darkening the shrubs. Stay tuned and have a good night!

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