My other favorite thing....

Scissors on Patchwork

6" x 6" Oil on Wood Cradled Panel

$80

Late last summer I drove to Kennebunkport, Maine and spotted these scissors in a little home decor boutique that was about to close down.  I only bought the one pair but now I wish I had bought several.  I enjoy sewing but I enjoy fabric shopping even more.  These scissors just called out to be painted as I walked past my sewing machine and enjoyed the look of the brass against the patterns of the fabric.  I'm sure they will make their way into more paintings in the near future. 

A new year and a new painting...

Daisy

9" x 12" Watercolor

$125

We are well into January already!  Those first weeks after Christmas I use to

delve into more new books, thumb through the magazines I didn't have time for before, plan new projects, dream my way through Pinterest (I love Pinterest), but all of a sudden I wake from this reverie and realize it's time to create!

Last year at this time I was just beginning to learn Adobe Illustrator and use more of my digital drawing apps (there are so many!).  Well I put my new found skills to good use and created fabrics from my sketches.  That was exciting and probably the hilite for me for 2012.  I have started to lay a foundation for textile designs and want to learn more, so I will be creating more fabrics for 2013.

But after all this I realize what I was missing were my paints and brushes.  I'm even thinking this image above may end up being printed on some cotton sateen!

Hello to a New Year!

My last post of 2012....

Thank you for your kind words and for new friendships.

I wish you all a happy and peaceful New Year.

Farewell to Christmas 2012

This is my Christmas montage....from store windows in New York to our very own Main Street, the warmth of a kitchen in a baking frenzy and a single tree in our backyard at twilight.  It all goes by so fast!  Until next year.....

End of Another Year

I had a few really good Aha! moments this year, and I hope to keep the momentum up in the year ahead.  I'm just approaching my 100th small format painting!  I selected a few of these in my first ever 2013 Calendar available in my Etsy shop.

Picture Perfect Pets

It's funny, I never set out to paint cats in particular.  But they languish and pose so beautifully, how could I not?  Just a few of the cats I painted this year....with more to come judging from the growing collection of photos I've been sorting through.

Art to Stitch

...and this is why I haven't been posting paintings lately.  The art to fabric project I've been working on has kept me busy especially as Christmas approached.  Taking sketches of local places (beautiful Hudson on the Lake of Two Mountains), I created a "toile" design for fabric and have been happily sewing these into pillows.  The second image is of some teacups and florals

inspired by a favorite tearoom/florist here in town (Mademoiselle Clifford).

The design was adjusted here to reflect the favorite colors of two little misses by the names of Madeleine and Lily who are in to fuschia and purple and Alice in Wonderland.  I have so many ideas for the new year using these fabrics!

Ragdoll Trio

I do miss blogging at this time of year.  It gets so busy... but for good reason. Inspite of three power outages in three days, I managed to finish this trio of paintings.  My favorite is the one on the far right.  Long hair cats are a bit of a challenge and I am constantly switching between "brights" and chisel edge brushes. Delivery is tomorrow and then it's Christmas!

Ragdolls

No, not a mistake....the title is correct.  This is the first of a trio of "ragdoll" cats that I have painted this week.  I hadn't heard of this type of cat until recently.  Distinguishing features are their beautiful fur and blue eyes.

This one is 95% finished.

Ruby

6" x 6" x 1.5" Oil on Wood Panel

Commission

December 1st!!!

I worked on some new sketches to add to my fabric project.  I will likely add more new dog breeds like Yorkies and Dachsunds.  The ones you see here are
from the top, German Pointer, lower left, a Nova Scotia Duck Toller Retriever,
and a Boxer.

I can never get over how quickly time flies once November is over!.  It's already too late to add to my Etsy shop and shipping will be hard to predict.
Luckily my project is a local one and is doing well with more new plans for it in 2013.

This morning I prepped three new 6" x 6"'s too so I will start my day tomorrow by working on these oils...a commission to paint three beautiful
Ragdoll cats.  This is a breed I had only recently became aware of.  All Ragdoll
cats have blue eyes and beautiful long hair so they will be a pleasure to paint.

So I have dogs to sketch and cats to paint!.....and Christmas presents to shop for, baking to do, wrapping gifts, cards to wri.............

And as time is flying...I have added a link to my 2013 Calendar available in
my Etsy shop.  It is at the top of the list of links to the left.

Switching Gears

Well it has been a busy month and now it's time to switch gears.  This past month was sort of an official outing of my Sketchbook project which was exciting.  The response was terrific and many pillows were sold.  The potential
for expanding on this idea is established.  I am starting to miss the painting of the small formats though so I will be prepping sketches for that this week.

Pumpkin Times Two

When painting smaller formats, I rarely stray from the 6" x 6" size but thought I'd repeat this subject at 8" x 8" size on a deep stretched canvas this time.  I have one more 11" x 14" I'd like to do with pumpkins as the theme before I move on to other subjects.  I am enamoured of the colour orange these days.  Both are available on my Etsy site.

Would you prefer tea?

In addition to the calendar I prepared using sketches from my home town, I created more sketches with a tea theme to use in our local tearoom.  This worked very well as fabric for pillow panels and I'll also (eventually) make a repeat pattern to use on fabric which can be bought by the meter (or yard if you're in the U.S.)  Can you tell I'm having fun!?

....and now I'm thinking why not coffee?

Soon to be available on Etsy, details to follow.

Pumpkin Time

Fall Harvest

Oil on wood cradled panel

6" x 6" x 1.5"

$80.00

Okay, I'm getting my orange fix satisfied this month by painting pumpkins.  This little size was just to whet my appetite for a larger format.  I look outside and the yard is ablaze with golden leaves and the pumpkins on my front porch are being nibbled on by squirrels.  It's a good thing I've taken all my reference photos already!  

I thought the corn would be the most difficult but the corn husks were the real challenge.  There is a lot of color in these.  Everything from cadmium oranges to purples and corals and the color reflected from the kernels. But that's okay...I want to do it all over again!

2013 Calendar

2013 Calendar

5" x 7"

$20.00

I'm never one to get anything done ahead of time, but this was one project that I was too excited about!  I will have this 2013 calendar featuring a sampler of my daily paintings in my Etsy shop.  I love how it turned out.   Printed at 5" x 7" on satin finish card stock, the images can be framed when the month is over.

It's Fall and I Love It!

Fall means so many good things.  Apples and pumpkins and falling leaves and all those wonderful colors.  I took this image last year at this time and was longing to paint it and was just able to get around to it this past week just in time for the once a year studio tour (happening right now!).  This one is my favourite of the small formats.  It has the type of brush stroke I've been trying to acquire.

Apples on Blue

6" X 10" stretched canvas

$120

Getting Ahead

Here is a preview of my latest project!  The 2013 calendar will have a sampling of the "daily" paintings I've been working on, printed on a beautiful satin finish cardstock at 5" x 7".  The photo above shows the images displayed side by side but I will post more photos of the actual calendar soon.

The original March and October paintings are still available at $90 for October and $75 for March.

Available here, payable through Paypal or through my Etsy shop. (soon to be added).  The calendar will be $20 plus shipping.

Bowl full of cherries....

Cherries on Blue Cloth

6" x 6" x 1.5" Oil on Wood 

Sold

Although the cherries are certainly the subject of this painting, I've had it in mind to introduce more fabrics into my paintings.  I've seen beautifully rendered textures and patterns in oil paintings and I may start taking photos with that in mind.   Always wanted to paint cherries with all their little reflections and the delicious reds...........done!

Hudson Sketchbook 2013 Calendar

I've always wanted to create some calendars with my art work and this one came together as a by product of the fabrics I've been designing from sketches I've done in and around my home town of Hudson on the Lake of Two Mountains (half way between Montreal and Ottawa).  I enjoy the view across the lake as I drive home and am always inspired no matter what season or weather.  I've had this one printed on a cotton twill, finished the edges and added a dowel for hanging.  I'm enjoying this application of art to fabric

tremendously!

The second image below was designed for the Nichoir Bird Rehabilitation centre we have here to help raise funds to build a proper new facility.  Also

printed on cotton twill and finished as the one above.  If interested, please

email me.  The price is $20 plus shipping payable through Paypal and 20% goes

towards the centre.

Touching

I was asked by a friend of my son's to paint this painting from a photograph taken at her friend's wedding a year or so ago.  It was a very busy photograph with people in the background and these photographs are not usually suitable subject matter for oil paintings but I'm always up for a challenge.  The format is small at 6" x 8" but the only way to know whether I could do it was to just get started.

My beginning was pleasant enough and moved along and I was encouraged to continue.  The second photo is at 95% finished and I've decided to let it sit for a day or so but I'm already itching to correct and finish it.  I'd like to make the brushstrokes in the background less busy, lighten the bride's shoulder, finish the mother's hairline and a touch more on the glasses.  I'm so happy with the results so far and grateful to this friend for the opportunity to discover the things which I thought beyond my abilities.

And my title?.......a mother's hand and the gesture speak volumes but especially that I have just discovered that the mother in this image has just recently passed away.