-
The Naming of a Painting of a Raven
Naming the bird Here is my yet unnamed and unfinished painting of a raven. My friends at Google tell me that there are three names for a group of ravens. Unkindness. Conspiracy. Constable. When I embark on painting a series I do quite a bit of research on the subject, in this case ravens. I like to title my paintings with meaning whenever possible, especially if I can come up with a name that includes somme tongue-in-cheek humour. What’s in a name? I know ravens are important in the culture of First Nations (and I have this lineage on my mother’s side) so my curiosity is naturally piqued. An Unkindness,…
-
Call of the Raven finished
It is always an exciting part of the painting adventure to call a painting finished. I looked over the “Call of the Raven” numerous times and then called in my critiques er family to scrutinize. I appreciate their honesty, fresh eyes and ability to see what I may be missing or just not seeing anymore. The happy moment is when a painting passes the family test. I have been hunting crows and ravens with my camera for a few years now with a series in mind. This is the first of that work. I delivered this painting into my framer and asked Mario to order in enough of the same moulding for…
-
My Painting in 2014 CSPWC Show
Kudos! My watercolour painting “Sitting Duck”was accepted into the 89th Annual Canadian Society Painters in Watercolour (CSPWC) 2014 Open Water. This was pretty exciting in its own right as this juried show is open to international artists painting with transparent water-colour. Then I received a phone call earlier in the week to let me know that my painting has won a Magazine Award – this is so exciting! Recognition is both liberating (or is it validating?) and encouraging. This is the second award for this painting. It also won second place in the SKB small painting show in Wyoming! As an artist we are most often hunkered down in our studios working away in solitary wondering if we are on the right…
-
Call of the Raven
I admit that from the moment I started planning this raven painting that I was unsure what to title it. While I was uploading photos of the work in progress it occurred to me to name it “Call of the Raven”. This makes sense as it is certainly cawing about something. I did quite a bit of research with my good friend Google to find out “what do you call a group of ravens?” The search came back with a few possibilities such as “unkindness, constable, conspiracy and parliament”. I played with “Call to Parliament” but when I tested it with a few friends they really didn’t understand it…
-
Yesterdays Blooms Finally Finished
The name Yesterday’s Blooms came from a few different ideas I had white working on this watercolour of white roses that grow in the back corner of my yard. Early in the season the blooms are so white, almost a transparent white. As the season progresses, the blooms take on a hint of pink. Only to become quite pinkish and coral nearer to the fall as the bloom matures. I stepped back from this painting for a period (far too long) once I deepened the background. I had to get my head around how deep the values really are on the “white” roses. The value of a grey scale value…
