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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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…
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Scent of Spring and some self reflection
Scent of Spring lilac painting in oils I completed Scent of Spring yesterday actually. I can tell you that I did a lot of self reflecting while working on it. There were some painting sessions where I literally spent hours working and you know, you could not tell I even touched it. It developed slowly. I knew it would and thought I was prepared for that. I stayed with it and am sure happy that I did. In one of those moments of when I was questioning myself, this quote found me: “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” ―…
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A nice story
I love a nice story. And I have one to share with you. Awhile back I offered to donate a pet portrait as a fundraiser for a group (Red Head Strays helping cats strut) that works tirelessly to rescue and foster cats. I thought I would have completed the painting in January,but Mother Nature had other ideas. I think you know the story. Snow. Rain. Flash freezing. Flash flooding! inside my studio unfortunately. And of course, pretty sure you know how this went – the basement and studio mess as a result. Back to the story Once upon a time there were two little girls who liked to swing on…
