Paint, Places and Perspectives

New Home, New Work....

2012-02-12T13:05:00.003-07:00

Well, we have settled in to our new home on Quadra Island on Canada's west coast - and I am finding new inspiration in my surroundings here! Having these beautiful rain forests all around me really draws me to paint them.... having avoided painting much landscape work in the past, I now find myself tilting in that direction. This images is from one of my favourite trails near where we live, where the light filters through the trees in a different way every day - endless fodder for paintings, I suspect!!!

Birds as Protest Art

2011-12-15T10:53:00.001-07:00

As a diversion from posting paintings, I am posting a short video which comments on the risks of oil spills (a subject of concern in BC these days...) and offers an interesting project using printmaking for political comment... Have a look:

http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/oiloncanvas

Fall Brilliance

2011-10-07T17:29:00.003-06:00

Cool mornings working at the Inglewood Bird Banding Station are rewarded by these stunning images as the colours begin to change. This is one of the brightest works I have done so far - really fun to work with such intense colour!!!

Crow Show now Up in Medicine Hat

2011-06-18T16:30:00.003-06:00

Counting Crows, a show that I have been working on with 3 other artists, is now up in the Medicine Hat Cultural Centre (until June 28). It is a lovely space - and the show looks great! Natalie Kurzuk, Pam Weber and Penny Corradine and I have had a lot of fun exploring this theme. The show will be touring to a few other locations, so stay tuned if you can't catch it in the Hat...

Water - The Essence of Life

2011-02-23T16:22:00.002-07:00

I am excited to have put together a short slide show that offers some of the insight behind where my paintings in the Water Series come from. Have a look at:

Summer thoughts...

2011-02-08T12:35:00.003-07:00

Sherbrooke Lake Shimmer

diptych - oil on canvas

42 x 43.5 in.

It has been so brutally cold lately - it has been good therapy to pull out some photos from warm summer hikes to play with in the studio. I am very attracted to diptychs - they seem to emphasize how the image is a segment(s) taken out of a larger reality... The subtle colours of logs as they are immersed in water was a fun challenge in this piece. Aahhh, to be hiking again soon...

Corvids - Crows, Ravens and Relations

2011-01-31T14:57:00.002-07:00

Struttin'

mixed water-based media

8 x 8 inches

I have work in a show in the Art Gallery of St. Albert (formerly Profiles) from February 3 to April 2. The show is called "The Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep" and there are 4 other artists participating - Susan Casault, Judith Martin, Arlene Wasylynchuck and Lesley Roy. Should be a good show - drop in if you are in the area!

Water - a return to Kyoquot Sound

2011-01-25T18:14:00.002-07:00

Kyoquot Ripples - BC

21 x 60 in.

Oil on canvas

I had a great time painting this image - felt as if I was bobbing along in my kayak again. I worked from some reference images I took in Kyoquot Sound two summers ago. Makes me want to get out the paddle again soon!!!

New Photos... finally!

2011-01-19T09:04:00.002-07:00

Drift

Oil on canvas

51 x 137 cm / 20 x 54 in.

Finally - it warmed up enough to get some photos taken outdoors - they way I prefer to photograph my work. Given our recent stretch of cold, I thought I would post a wintery image of a drift that I just completed. The roadsides offer such a sculpture gallery after there has been a bit of snow and wind!

A New Year - and more painting...

2011-01-14T15:22:00.002-07:00

I have been in the studio and painting - but I put off photographing the work (which I do outdoors) until the temperature sank into numbers starting with -2... so no photos to post.

But, happily, I do want to announce that my book is doing very well! It has been on the local non-fiction best-seller list almost all fall, and this week it is standing in No. 1 position! So I am delighted with how that is going!

And I will post some paintings soon - when the weather starts to cooperate, and I can take the work outside and not suffer frostbite!

My Book is Out!!!

2010-09-22T16:45:00.005-06:00

WEST ON ONE

(by me!)

is now available!!!

It can be ordered at www.pipestonepress.ca/westonone

or purchased at independent booksellers along the Bow Corridor

(list of merchants also on web site)

Please join us for the official BOOK LAUNCH

on Thursday, Sept 30, 7:30 pm

at Pages in Kensington

1135 Kensington Road

Calgary, AB

Hope you can make it - should be a fun party!

And yet more water...

2010-09-20T18:27:00.003-06:00

Brittany Coast III - France

39 x 28 in.

oil on canvas
I seem to be revisiting old themes a lot - this is another from a series of photo references I took off the Point du Raz on the western tip of Brittany a number of years ago. I love the dual layers of the ocean bottom and the swirls of light reflected on the water surface - a challenging subject!!!

More Water...

2010-09-16T17:27:00.003-06:00

Reflection: Burmis Lake, AB

Oil on canvas

36 x 36 in.

This painting came from the weekend I spent in the Crowsnest Pass area last spring, at a painting excursion organized by the Alberta Society of Artists. One day we visited this small lake, which had gorgeous shifting reflections in it. I took lots of reference photos and did a few quick colour sketches in paint. This is the first large painting to come out of the ideas I brought home with me.

Back to Painting Water!

2010-09-02T10:14:00.002-06:00

Under Aero Pier

Oil on Canvas

32 x 38 in.

On a recent kayak trip to the Charlottes we stopped to explore an old logging site where they cut Sitka spruce to make aricraft during WW I. It was an interesting place, but what intrigued me most were the patterns and reflections I found as I paddled slowly under the pylons of the old ruined pier. This painting is an interpretation of that image - probably one of my most abstract so far in this series.

Forest Landscape

2010-09-01T10:58:00.003-06:00

Regeneration

Acrylic on Wood Panel

23 x 33 in.

This is from a hike up to Stanley Glacier - an area that has been heavily fire affected... and is now showing signs of exhuberant new life!

Painting again.... at last!

2010-08-30T15:20:00.003-06:00

After being totally distracted by working on my book for the last half of the year, I am back in the studio and doing some warm-up landscapes. I decided to have some fun with combining some fairly loose colour application in paint with some drawing work on the image. I quite enjoyed the process and rather like the outcome...

Last Summer Revisited

2010-03-11T19:14:00.003-07:00

Kyoquot Entrance

28 in x 39 in

Oil on canvas

Yearning for summer and putting that paddle in the water again... I worked from a moody image from our September trip on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Paddling through the mist toward the entrance to the inlet, one always wonders what lies in wait out in the open water. Once past those islands will it be big and scary? or will this mellow mood carry on, and the wind stay low and kind to kayakers? I hope that some of those feelings come through in this painting.

Ravens - again!

2010-02-24T13:59:00.004-07:00

The Alliance

Finally I have been able to get back into the studio and back to my favourite subject - ravens!! This pair seem to have all the attitude that these black birds typically display. Don't mess with them!

a wonderful bird...

2009-11-20T10:17:00.005-07:00

...is the pelican...
its beak can hold more than its belly can....
(a quote from Ogden Nash, I think...)

And they are wonderful birds - they look so primitive and ungainly, but in the air their flight is so beautiful to watch.

A stormy damp purple day and a group of these amazing birds taking flight...

Purple Rain

Acrylic and mixed media on mounted paper

20 x 28 in; 50 x 71 cm

Another Coastal Image

2009-11-18T15:31:00.003-07:00

The reflections along the coastline as we explored Kyoquat Sound last September gave me so many ideas to bring back to the studio. This is another interpretation of the "green wall" along the shore - and the beautiful broken reflection patterns which are so fun to paint!

Tideline III
60 x 24 in.
oil on canvas

New Work in Oil

2009-11-04T15:17:00.007-07:00

Tideline II, Kyuquot Sound, BC - 24 x 60 inches - oil on canvas

I brought home lots of inspiration from our paddling trip to Kyuquot Sound, on the NW side of Vancouver Island, this summer. This is not plein aire - it is 60 inches wide! - but I can see how my plein aire work is paying off in the studio work. I really enjoyed the bright greens hovering over the water. The vegetation is cut off by the salt water at the high tide line, and at low tide you can poke around right under it in your kayak.

Invitation to an Art Show

2009-10-18T18:07:00.004-06:00

I will have a number of these paintings for sale at the Leighton Centre on November 7 - 10 am to 4 pm.... for more information check their web site at leightoncentre.org...
Hope you can make it to this event!!!

Some final posts for October....

2009-10-18T18:02:00.003-06:00

Rundle is one of the most painted mountains around... but this stormy day offered some unique lighting for a sketch

Yet more fall colour....

2009-10-18T17:58:00.005-06:00

Here is another 8 x 10 "sketch"...
And the 11 x 14 painting from that sketch....

More Fall Colour

2009-10-18T17:48:00.008-06:00

I thought it might be interesting to see how the small plein aire "sketches" evolve in the studio... so this entry is on that topic - taking an 8 x 10 "sketch"...
...to an 11 x 14 painting - not much bigger, but a very different context, in the studio..

Aspen in fancy dress

2009-09-29T16:14:00.002-06:00

Fall in the foothills - eye candy everywhere!!!

Painting Week on Gabriola Island

2009-09-23T16:43:00.003-06:00

Many of the waterfronts around Gabriola are sculpted from a lovely reddish rock. At low tide, the shore is a great place to explore for interesting forms and reflected colours.

Painting Week on Gabriola Island

2009-09-23T16:41:00.002-06:00

There are gorgeous old apple trees on many of the small farms around Gabriola Island. Clearer weather and more light - I was able to get more insense with my colours...

Painting Week on Gabriola Island

2009-09-23T16:39:00.004-06:00

The weather on Gabriola cleared a bit more every day, and I was able to get some more distant views from the higher points on the island.

Painting Week on Gabriola Island

2009-09-23T16:36:00.004-06:00

I am just back from a week of painting on Gabriola Island, BC (off of the west coast of Canada). The week started a bit rainy and misty - which meant working under my umbrella and using softer colours. This is an early morning view to the southeast.

West of Calgary

2009-08-27T16:17:00.007-06:00

Brushy Ridge

8 x 10 on panel

OK - It's not in the mountains... but I don't get up there all the time... This was a pond I passed while out taking photos for some writing work I am doing - a nice spot for a quick sketch in paint. Brushy Ridge runs north from Highway One toward Cochrane.

August hike in the Canadian Rockies

2009-08-24T21:05:00.002-06:00

Molar Meadows
5 x 7 on panel

My first blog entry!!! I am hoping to use this space to share my plein aire work, and the resulting images from places that are special to me. This 5 x 7 acrylic is from a lovely day up the Icefields Parkway west of Banff - toward South Molar Pass. Lots of late summer flowers - asters, paintbrush, etc. It's a nice memory from a gorgeous day to get this blog rolling!!!