Artful Reflections
Artful Reflections are my personal insights, stories, and musings shared in a collection of blog posts. This is where I share my conundrums and philosophies about my creative life behind the canvas.
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Horizon Health and the most excellent after care
Thank You to my Amazing Hospital Care Team with a big shoutout to the Physiotherapy Team! I really want to thank the incredible team at Horizon Health and St. Joseph’s Hospital. This whole experience was so much better than I could have imagined. Recovering from a total knee replacement isn’t exactly a walk in the park… however, everyone I encountered — from Dr. Kerr and the surgical team, nurses and PT treated me with such professionalism, skill, and genuine kindness. The experience I had a few things that caused me concern. First was getting discharged from the hospital and thinking I was going to be kicked to the curb without…
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Muscles, Mussels and More
Well it’s been an eventful bit of time between rendering mussels, nurturing muscles and more. Gathered by the Tide The shore has always captivated me. From my early years in Cape Breton to the many beaches in New Brunswick – the shore has always been an important part of my life. There is something mesmerizing about the quiet beauty of a beach scattered with shells that were Gathered by the Tide. Treasures waiting to be discovered. The way the light catches the shells revealing their iridescent blues and purples. This painter’s delight! The salt-worn edges that contrast with their smooth interiors. It’s a subject that I will always keep returning to.…
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The missed shots
Thinking about all the bird photos that weren’t meant to be This post is a tribute to all the photos I meant to take, the ones that got away, the ones I thought I actually captured – because those might be some of the best images that I imagined i could translate onto canvas. What I managed to capture are images of the feeder swaying after a take off. Bird rumps and tail shots. Blurry birds and fuzzy feathers. Innumerable bad shots. The ever elusive blue jay. I’ve missed the blue wonder countless times, and with every miss I had to laugh a little more. I mean what else could…
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Where oh where has my Get Up and Go gone?
Artful Reflections Where oh where can it be? I was laying back in my gravity chair taking in all the senses a late summer day offers. When inspiration for a new blog post hit me. I was lamenting my lack of productivity and the lame excuses that I had for not painting. Hit me hard enough that I got out of the comfy gravity chair and went directly to my laptop to get it started before the MASTER Procrastinator in me could strike again and I’d put it off waiting for a rainy day. However, I am productive on rainy days. My motto has always been if the sun’s out…
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Playing with ChatGPT
I’ve been thinking that I should be more open to new technologies and decided to play with ChatGPT. I was working on a painting of a lupin with a bee and frankly was stumped how to describe my work. I was looking for prompts – sometimes when I am painting my energy is all about how I want the painting to look not necessarily on how i’m going to describe it. Quite often I have a notebook where I write down my thoughts as I paint for this reason – sometimes not always and definitely not in this case. So I turned to ChatGPT for inspiration. The result was superfluous,…
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I’m happy to be OuTSiDeY
I just learned a new wonderful word. Outsidey And I identify with it so much. I love the fresh air, the warming sun and gentle breezes. Long walks on the beach. A hike in the woods. All the little critters (except ticks, hornets and black flies) I also love creature comforts. Like heated car seats and heated steering wheels. Air Conditioning! Indoor heating and warm showers! I’m essentially a wimp. I’m kind of amazed that at this point to discover a new way to describe myself. I mean I always sort of knew it – but never had a word to describe it. Outsidey! Discovering something new, no matter how…
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My Painting Process
Phase 1: Exploring the concept Often I will have an idea of something I would like to explore as a subject to paint. My first step is to scan through thousands of my reference photos looking for that aha moment. Should that moment of inspiration escape me, I make a plan for how to get there, thumbnail sketches, wishful thinking, researching etc. Most often this will include a photography road trip or several. Quite often it will include my favourite – a Plein Air painting session. I typically work in series so I’m pretty specific with what I am looking for and what I think I want to achieve (mostly). …
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Spring is finally here
Spring fever and a generous slice of humble pie As we finally start to move away from the distractions that we all lived with during much of the pandemic, I am so happy that the warm Plein Air painting opportunities are slowly returning and to see smiling faces once again (maskless). I don’t know about you – but I have serious spring fever! It’s been a Corvid kind of Covid As you probably know, I almost always paint in a series. This year is no exception I have painted three crows and a blue jay! Both are members of the Corvid family! A Tale Unfolds Intrigued We started to feed…
