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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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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…
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I see you – painting of a sparrow
I See You is an 8″ x 10″ acrylic painting on Claybord of a white throated sparrow watching me from my apple tree. Luckily, I almost always have a camera on the ready within reach. On this particular day I was perched on my deck, hunkered down, camera focused on our bird feeders. The birds were so active. Swooping in for a sunflower seed and then rushing off with their treasure to peck it open. And then swooping back in for another. Over and over and over again. The only problem is how fast they move. Just as soon as I would get one little bird in focus, poof it…
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Two in their new home
Ever since I painted these two dahlias, my daughter Jenn has had her eye on them. We finally had the opportunity to get them out to Vancouver without the hefty shipping charges. How you ask? Out of the frames, off the stretcher bars, rolled in towels and placed in her sister’s suitcase. Although it is a bit risky to put valuables in a suitcase, it worked and they arrived safely. Although I probably would not recommend this by the way. Do as I say, not as I do My father had an expression that made me crazy “do as I say, not as I do”. And here I am…
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Summer’s Jewels – Nasturtiums
Summer’s Jewels was so much fun to work on – I mean I completely love these colours. And I completely loved pouring the colours of nasturtiums! There were a few moments of uncertainty – like when the making compound really did not want to come off. Took me a few hours…. and a blister to make it happen! This painting went through seven different pours – one colour I applied twice to increase the intensity. Below is the peel reveal I friend and I were recently discussing colours what subjects pour better or what make a successful poured painting. Whether monochromatic or complimentary colours pallets would be more effective? I…
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Sunshine Yellow Azaleas
I just finished this poured watercolor commission of sunshiny yellow azaleas I think what I like best about poured paintings is how fast they seem to build. The process keeps you engaged daily – I typically work on them each day for about two weeks. Each stage has to dry completely before you move onto the next. But the progress really builds nicely. There were seven pours with this painting. Once completely dry I removed the frisket. I call this the peel reveal. Some artists take their work to this stage and call it done. I personally cannot do this, although I have been tempted a few times with the…
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Duckie Duet and trouble with my easel
So today I had one of those days in the studio Everything I touched went wrong. Easel Troubles. The bottom support on my big easel dropped to the floor right through my fingers with a loud bang and a bad word. The ball bearings in the crank mechanism hit the floor and rolled all over the place. Unfortunately we were unable to recover all of them. Does anyone know how to reassemble a crank easel? The air in the studio has to be exceptionally dry this time of year with the electric heat going all the time. Because of the dry wood on the easel frame we couldn’t tighten it…
