Garden shopping

Instead of going to the market this morning I was able to go to our "garden" -  it has been a long time  since we actually had a vegetable garden so it felt really good to know we will be enjoying some fresh vegetables alongside our beautiful flower arrangements.  So nice to smell the roses and the peonies came out yesterday!

Two boxes made… one more to build.

 Doug built these garden boxes, I planted with a few starter plants and seeds as seen here.  Now everything is growing and we even have one tomato which is 'almost ripe' - had to cover part of the garden boxes to keep the birds from demolishing the swiss chard!

lettuce, swiss chard, basil, dill and mint 

"unnamed"…..

Just finished this painting and am searching for a name for it … always a conundrum for me! 

In the meantime, I'm pleased to be finished.  It is a 36x30" acrylic painting which has taken several weeks to complete … and I have reached the point where I don't want to 'fiddle' with it anymore. So I guess that means it is indeed finished!

A few small studies...

I've been busy working on a few smaller paintings.  I'm rather at a loss as to what to say about them except that:

1.  I like how yellow and blue complement each other - which makes our Saskatchewan landscape so lovely in the late summer,

2.  The clouds have been magnificent this summer!!

3.  I've missed sitting by the lake this year but will always find peace by the shore - even if a storm is brewing and the waves endlessly splash against the rocks.

So perhaps these paintings will remind you of summer on the prairies.

Still  [6x6" acrylic]

Summer Fields [6x6" acrylic]

Turbulence [8x8" acrylic]

Clouds Falling  [8x8" acrylic]

Sunrise [6x6" acrylic]

Prairie Summer [8x8" acrylic]
 

Storm Brewing [8x8" acrylic]

Evening [8x8" acrylic]

Rhythms of Water & Sky [8x8" acrylic]

Candle Lake [6x6" acrylic]

Sunset Begins [12x16" acrylic]

travelling with the clouds...

Today we travelled and visited for 12 hours with most of that being the travelling part.  This past month the skies have given incredible cloud displays and today did not disappoint.  The clouds seemed to go before us, follow us, surround us and hover over us!  I felt enveloped by the skies while the land took the lesser place.  Here are a few photos.

Moving towards the night...

This turned into a rather dark and somewhat foreboding painting. Some evenings are like that… especially when there are a lot of clouds.  The clouds reach down to envelop the earth in darkness but the sun sends forth its last few rays of light.  Night after night, light and dark settle into a peaceful co-existence.

A good vantage point to watch this is on the river hills looking along the river towards the city.

"Moving Towards the Night"  [36x30" acrylic on canvas] 

Lavender fields

Last summer while visiting family in Langley we were surprised to hear about a Lavender farm.  I was delighted to be able to visit this farm south west of Cultus Lake just steps north of the Canada-US boarder.  Since then I have found that there are a number of lavender farms scattered around BC.

I've tried to paint this field in acrylics - using two different techniques - one, using a paint brush and you can see this is quite 'smooth' and the other with a painting knife, referred to as impasto.  The first takes much longer and requires a lot of blending while the impasto I find much quicker but it takes longer to dry so changes may be delayed which adds time.  It is also more impressionistic. Both are on board which is new to me as I generally paint with acrylics on canvas.  These are small - 6 x 6" and I did enjoy doing them.

Musing about landscapes...

A few days ago a friend was looking through photos of my paintings and it occurred to me that I really do not stick to one theme when I paint.  For which I mumbled a bewildered 'apology' to her.  Her response was to never stop painting a variety of topics. This was encouraging and helped me in overcoming my phobia of not painting in a particular way or being consistent in subject matter.

Last week an artist in our group came with oil paints to give away saying that she was sticking to acrylics from now on.  Since no one else wanted them I gladly put them in my bag.  In fall I was going to "learn to paint with oils." At least I am hoping to take a class to teach me the process.  But on Saturday I stopped at the art shop and purchased walnut oil and a turpenoid cleaner and I just might open up those oils soon.  So not only will I paint a variety of subjects, with a variety of techniques but I may soon paint with watercolours, acrylics and oils.

In the meantime I've spent several weeks working through Peter Fiore's dvd titled River Bend.  While he paints with oils I've been plodding through this with acrylics and have come back repeatedly to subdue the brightness and to blend the colours.  I think I am almost finished.

River Bend .1  22 x 28 acrylic

I am encouraged by those who tend to paint in a less detailed manner - less realistic but not abstract.  Impressionistic - perhaps one might call it expressionistic because there is movement and a sense of place in many of these. Well I am working at it! 

The two paintings below which I've just finished are quite different.  This first of the prairie landscape is done with a larger brush using looser strokes.  I have tried hard not to be 'too fiddly'. 

Prairie Landscape  12 x 12"  acrylic

Below is a rather turbulent water and sky scene done with my favourite palette knife using lots of soft gel medium.  With this method I tend to play a lot with the paint and medium and gradually form an image.  I like the brightness of the colours and the movement that happened.

Rough Waters 12 x 12 "  acrylic