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Pretty In Pink completed
I love the feeling of satisfaction I get when I realize that a painting is finished I’ve let this one percolate long enough to call it completed. I am done looking at it with the squinty eyes and scrutinizing. It is time to put down the paintbrushes and wash off my palette. When I get near the completion of a painting I spend quite a bit of time assessing and reassessing it and second guessing myself. This is a normal part of the painting process. I want to ensure the warm tones are balanced over the painting and that the cooler tones are the right shade and the values are…
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Demo Poured Painting Colours of Autumn
Yesterday was such a nice day. I had the opportunity to paint at the Hooper’s Studio in Hampton with some really great folks. This is the kick off weekend for their Small Works Show and they invited a number of us to participate. I worked on a demo poured painting piece. As this was a demo, I had to take some “short cuts” to try to get it done in a day. Typically I prefer to pour one colour in a session. For this piece I had to pour two and sometimes three colours in one session. I liked the way the colours mingled on the wet paper but…
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Great News “Call of the Raven” Won an Award at the CPSWC Open Water Show
Dear Helen, we are thrilled to inform you that your painting Call of The Raven has been awarded theD.L Stevenson Award, (Gift certificate award)…. Congratulations on this prestigious prize. Pretty exciting. Especially since I embarked on a project to paint ravens with the CSPWC Open Water juried show in mind. Last year when we visited Yellowstone National Park there were a number of particularly friendly ravens in the parking lot at Artist’s Point. They were walking around the travel trailers looking for handouts and cawing their hearts out. One raven in particular was following me around and without being intrusive, I was able to get many really nice reference photos.…
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Don’t Butter Me Up
Buddy here is an interesting crab He is really big. Covered in barnacles and maybe tough and old! It’s so big that the crows and seagulls thought better of going after him. They were very much interested but he was too big for them to tackle. He was very aware they were nearby. Not sure how crabs hear but for sure they can see. He kept turning into their direction to keep an eye on them. When you are only here to be food From what I have observed throughout my entire beach combing experience is that crabs are really on this planet as a food source. So many critters…
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Recap first 14 Days and a stall tactic
So… Day 15s painting is going to take 2 days to paint. It is well underway…just no way close to being finished. I sort of promised myself I would not fall into my own detail trap – but I did. Day 15 will be day 15 & 16
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That September Feeling in the Air
Ahhh, the scent of fall You know it. A slight crispness in the air. Freshly sharpened pencils. And new art supplies for a project! On the same line – one of my favourite memories is how excited my kids would get for their new “school suppiezes”. I think I know where they got it! Look at all these goodies Aquabord, Claybord and Gessobord. A fresh tube of white acrylic paint. I mean how did I ever allow myself to run out of white paint is almost beyond anything I can comprehend. But I did. And a replacement gray strippable pallet. With these supplies in my studio I can get down…
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Plein Air at the Red Head dyke
The best intentions do not always go according to plan I had the day planned with intentions to paint in the morning at the dyke in Red Head. Got up. The sun was shining. Yes a wonderful day to paint Plein Air. I loaded up the car and drove into Saint John. As I approached town you could not help but notice the fog. Heavy fog over the Bay. Fog so thick you could not see Partridge Island, my intended target for the day. Anyway I set up my easel. Got my pallet out, poured water into the funny blue cup you see there on the easel. Then one…
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Painting at the Nature Park
Oxymoron alert Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I had to get outdoors and paint. Oxymoron alert – Spontaneity like this requires a lot of thinking on my part. Do I want to take my watercolours? Or perhaps my Oils? Or even acrylics? As I pondered and gathered up all my stuff, I decided to bring both watercolours and acrylics. Ran through the usual checklist, water – check, paper towels – check, garbage bag- check, hat- check etc. Finally felt I was ready to go with he car all packed up. Then another decision – where to go? I went to Meenans Cove Beach but was unable to…
