A Little More Sketching

I wanted to add a few more sketches to the fabric project I started earlier this year.  Local landmarks and scenes have been photographed and slowly I'm getting around to sketching them.  Here is a prototype...

Now that I've assembled the various sketches I will adjust and re-sketch the elements I need before having the fabric printed.

Paintings & TeA

Wow!  It's been a while....but it's been busy in a good way.  At the beginning of August, I had the opportunity to display some of my small format paintings at the tea room here in Hudson (Mademoiselle Clifford's Florist and Tea Room on Cameron).  It's the perfect setting for paintings with a floral theme.

Since then, I was invited to display them here on a continuing basis and I gladly accepted.

Studio Groupings

Working towards exhibitions means pulling out all sorts of props and collected things that I love, and then I hate to put them away after.  I thought I'd 

photograph little groupings of painting projects from the last year.

Favorite Recipe Illustrated

Not exactly my "favorite recipe" as my cooking skills have developed a little more than that over the years but this recipe I've had since I was 16 and I'll leave you guessing how long that might be.  Worthy of an illustration at least.

I always have fun planning what to do for the "They Draw and Cook" website but actually getting around to it takes me awhile.  This is only my second published to that site and I'd like to think I will be doing more soon.

Red, White and Blue

Red Tulips in Blue Milk Jug

5" x 7" Oil on canvas board

The last of the red tulip series.  I had this wonderful wine red distressed frame and after completing several in the 6 x 6 x  1.5 format I realized I really should do one for this frame....and then that's it for tulips.

In fact this week I've been working with watercolors mostly.  There's something about summer, gardens, and the immediacy of watercolor that I enjoy right now.

                             

July Calendar

I missed the June calendar so I made sure to make time to create one for July.  My interest this year has been to use other media and this is a good example.  The pattern in the top half is a stamp I carved, scanned in and altered to fit.   Some photographs of the flowers in my garden layered with pencil sketches of my vintage bistro chair and an old watering can.  I am so enjoying working digitally and putting all these together.  If you wish, just click on the image to expand and drag to your desktop where you can then take into your desktop appearance panel to use for the month. (Please let me know if there are problems fitting onto your desktop monitor, for example, if the image is cutoff at the left or along the bottom.  I can re-size it for different monitor sizes).

A Very Fancy Chair

 Ever since I saw a version of this at Anthropologie, I knew I had to make one. (a patchwork of past paintings) I had already stripped canvases from the stretcher bars of paintings that were never finished and had rolled away for some other purpose so I had only to find a chair.  And lo and behold my local  Saturday morning thrift shop had exactly what I needed.  I love it when projects come together like that. This was a big hit at the art exhibition this past weekend and "yes" I would sit on it!

This Makes Me Happy

Well I'm cleaning up my files (and they do need cleaning up) in the days after doing an exhibition.  I love this part.  Time to reflect on the successes (or not) of the ideas that became reality; a time to decide on what to pursue or leave behind (to be filed under "what was I thinking").  I'll share more of the past weekend in later posts after I've uploaded photos of finished works but I came across this one and I am so happy to see these brushstrokes which may come easily to some artists but that I struggle to achieve due to excessive puttering.

Exciting New Project

I've been working on something new and am excited to finally have the finished product in my hands.  A "toile"* design depicting Hudson.  Snippets taken from my sketchbook of Hudson scenes like the drive along Chemin de l'anse toward the town with the view of Oka across the Lake of Two Mountains,

horses grazing in the fields, the ducks on Pine Lake, the bunnies in our backyards and the birds and bees that frequent our gardens, the fences and flowers that abound everywhere.  The first fabric I have developed is formatted for 16" pillows and there will be (soon) the companion fabric showing more of these Hudson scenes that we call home. 

Black toile design on Cotton/Linen fabric in white.

Other colors will be available upon request.

*

Toile de Jouy, sometimes abbreviated to simply "toile", is a type of decorating pattern consisting of a usually white or off-white background on which a repeated pattern depicting a fairly complex scene, generally of a pastoral theme such as a couple having a picnic by a lake or an arrangement of flowers. The pattern portion consists of a single color, most often black, dark red, or blue. Greens, browns, and magenta toile patterns are less common, but not unheard of. Toile is most associated with fabrics (curtains and upholstery in particular, especially chintz), though toile wallpaper is also popular. Toile can also be used on teapots, beddings, clothing, etc. In upper-class (primarily American, but also northern European) society, toile is often seen on dresses or aprons used at such events as country-themed garden parties or tea parties.

L'Allée d'Art Exhibition St. Jean Baptiste weekend

...and this is what I'll be doing this weekend.  If you are in the area, it promises to be an amazing exhibition.

Blue Bottle and Hydrangeas

8" x 24"

Oil on stretched canvas

$320

I can't believe I haven't done a still life of those beautiful blue bottles that I've acquired over the years.  I included one in this painting and that's inspired me to set up something that will really be challenging.  That's what I need, more glass objects and reflective, metallic pieces.  I'm really happy with the reflection of the apple and bowl in the vase.  The blue bottle appears lighter in this photo of the painting so I may retake the photo.  I still have to

finish the upper left cluster of hyderangeas and sign and then I'll have one more for this weekend's show "Allée d'Art".

Getting Ready

Detail 

18" x 24" cradled wood panel.

Acrylic and Oil

Next weekend is a provincial holiday and I'm participating in an outdoor exhibition.  Rain or shine (and it seems we're getting both).  It's been a long time since I've done an art show outdoors.  I've come to realize though that it's not the success of the exhibition that matters but the work that comes from preparing for it.  The extra push to develop something new, often (not always) results in work that probably wouldn't have happened otherwise.  A slight departure from working on the small format "daily" paintings are the  partly abstracted canvases I'm working on.   I love pattern and texture and I've tried to work that in with the more realistic still life subjects that I am more comfortable working with.  It satisfies the part of me that wants to let

loose!

Back tracking...

Before the series of red tulips I had painted more daffodils, one of which I had posted.  This one is 6" x 12" tall.  I guess since I had pointed out how often I liked to use this porcelain rabbit,  I thought I should post this one too.  The sunlight happened to light up this little tableau on my ledge and I reached for my camera.  I'll have to remember to keep some daffodil paintings to light up my desk area in the greyer months of winter.
Every Saturday morning here in town, there is a second hand shop that opens it's doors for two hours from 10:00 a.m. until noon.  I've been going there for years and find the most wonderful things (like this rabbit).  This morning I bought a porcelain cat in a wonderful shade of gray that I'm looking forward to arranging as well as some great baskets and if I don't delay I should be able to collect some peonies to arrange in these baskets before their bloom time is over.  It's hard to keep up with what's blooming, arranging, photographing, filing away for future reference and prepping canvases!

Red Tulips Series III

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Oil on Wood Panel

Maybe because I painted this trio of red tulips twice before, I think my

favorite part of this one is the backside of the canvas behind it!  Probably

because I wasn't over thinking it.

Available in my etsy shop.

Peaches & Cream

6" x 6" x 1.5" Oil on deep wood panel

$80.00

I suppose the title is misleading but the tulips are a wonderful peach color and I painted my favourite little milk/cream jug and this title just jumped out at me.

It certainly is better than Peach Tulip in Milk Jug which is the way I usually title my paintings :> }  I think I managed to capture the sunny warmth of this image so I am happy with this one.

I am catching up on gardening and haven't created a June calendar as yet.  Hopefully I'll manage to squeeze one in soon.

Available here in my Etsy shop.

Sketching Explorations

Some loose sketches for a project I'm working on.  I don't sketch for the sake of sketching often enough to have a method but I think I'm onto something with these.  Pencil first followed by watercolor working light to dark and then a Pigma

pen to tie it all together.  I was never happy with the cross hatching of the pen so the watercolor shading gives me the shaping I need.

Bunny Revisited

What Have We Here?

8" x 8" Oil on canvas

I don't often re paint images I've done before.  But it's interesting seeing how my approach might have changed in the year since or to see how working in a different size affects the outcome.  I sort of wish I had cropped this one a little more though.

Here is the painting from last year with the little bunny figurine.

Newest Member of our Cat Family

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Oil on wood panel

...and the only one now.  "Frida" is really my daughter's cat but comes to visit every few weeks for a few days.  It's funny to watch our mini dachshund and Frida go through the re-familiarization routine for the first few hours.  The "hunted" becomes the "hunter" and back and forth, until they both lie down inches from each other looking quite comfortable in each other's company.

Red Tulips Encore

Oil on wood panel 

6" x 6 x 1.5"

$80.00

Here is the second of the series.  It's only when I see it posted here that

I recognize the tweaking that needs to be done.  This one is a little cooler

than the previous posted below.  Not a bad thing but I do like the richer

grays of the first one. Here is the link to purchase on Paypal.

My "daily" paintings have become more complicated and almost better suited

to larger formats.  I may have to do some simpler ones so that I can concentrate on the brush strokes.  That was my original intention when I started these just over a year ago now.

I will have another cat painting to post within a day or so....

Tulip Time

I don't have many tulips in my garden so I was happy to see the few that I have blooming their hearts out until I discovered several cut off midway up the stem.  I can only assume the local rabbit population has also been enjoying them.  So I felt less guilty about gathering them all up and bringing them inside. (Believe it or not I do feel guilty even though I get to enjoy them up close).  I could never scold my daughter when she was five and proudly showed me armfuls of garden flowers cut just for me.  I was glad she could do what I

had trouble doing.  So this painting is fresh off the easel and will be followed by a few more of the same grouping.  I had four or five from this last photo

shoot that I'd like to do while I still have the color palette available.

Red Tulips in Blue and White Jug

Oil "6 x 6" x 1.5"

wood cradled panel

Happy First of May

Today is a special day in France. Apparently May 1st is a day to offer your loved ones a sprig of lily-of-the-valley to wish them love and good luck. 

While it's not exactly "dancing around the flagpole" weather here (It's grey and rainy), it is

inevitable that flowers will be blooming any time now.

Two more cats

The black and white one's name was Whitney.  One half of a pair called

Pratt & Whitney.  I do enjoy painting anything white, fur included.  The sunlight he was sitting in cast his fur in a warm light. (Don't they always find the sunlight?)  I don't know the name of the black one and although the photographic image didn't provide me with a lot of reference material, I did

really like the silhouette of the black cat and the gray/yellow color palette.

I'm working my way forward so this one needs work on the sofa pillows.

                          6" x 6" Oil on canvas

6" x 8" oil on canvas board

Cats I Have Known

Last year I had painted my own cats.  Cats that were loved and gone from us.

This year I am painting cats that belonged to friends.  Painting tabby cats is a bit daunting because of their markings especially considering the 6x6 format.

The black and white cat just needs a bit of tweaking and it will be off the easel.

Tabby

6" x 6" Oil on wood panel

May Calendar

Well creating these calendars proved to be a lot of fun and I have a new one for you.  Just click on the image to expand and download to your desktop to open as your desktop image.

I'm just finishing three more cat paintings and may even be able to post them here later today.

Daffodils on my Easel

Daffodils 6" x 6"

Oil on wood panel

$80.00

Last season I noticed my painting became tighter when what I really wanted was to loosen up.   So now I am trying not to linger too long over these small format paintings.  I'd like to say all I want to do with this one is to strengthen values here and there which is why I'm taking a break to let me isolate what absolutely needs to be done and not sit there with brush in hand and putter away.

Wish me luck!

I've also started the May calendar which lets me indulge in digital projects.  Last month was the first one and the response was so fun, I'd like to continue.

I'll post that one sometime next week (lillies of the valley will be part of the May theme).

Apple with Grapes

                      Apple with Grapes

                6 x 6 x 2 Oil on wood panel

                                $80

We're well into Spring now and I've re-introduced the small format paintings again.  I indulged in learning many new skills over the winter but I have missed 

these small paintings.  So here is a new one - still wet and I haven't decided yet on where to sign it.  I am surprised by how much I've enjoyed painting grapes.  My next painting (on the easel as we speak) will be daffodils.

April Calendar

                      

I'm trying something new....all this playing with digital media so I thought I'd put it to good use and design a calendar.  A little late I know....but it's a start.

Please let me know if you encounter any issues.  I'd love to know if the format works.  Just click on the image and download the expanded version to use as your desktop image.....with my compliments!

P.S. I'm excited by the ability to use traditional art media like watercolours and sketching and collaging them digitally.  It's opened up a new world of possibilities.  

My Easter Greeting to You All......

...TOOK A LITTLE TIME TO GET INTO THE "SPRING" MOOD THIS MORNING BEFORE I START THE EASTER BAKING....

April Daffodils

Daffodil in Blue and White Pitcher

6" x 6" x 2" cradled wood panel

Oil

$80

A challenge to paint because of the illusive nature of the color of yellow, daffodils are still a pleasure to paint.

Spring Cleaning

It's funny how you can  turn a blind eye to what should be obvious.  I am more of an oil painter than a watercolorist so when I reach for my tubes of watercolor I resign myself to re-hydrating the dried tubes as I need them.   Dropping a bit of water into the neck of the tube and working from that.  Enough!!  So last evening I decided to slice open at least a dozen tubes and scrape what remained into these little plastic cups and label them.  So much better.... So now instead of using the watercolor palette that had the same basic colors I can now easily reach for the beautiful colors I had accumulated for years.  I still have another few evenings of doing the same to the remaining colors but now I see how worthwhile it's been.

Sketching

Something I don't do enough of but there are some self imposed projects that has renewed my interest in sketching.  For inspiration check the links at left...

one for urban sketching and the other for nature.
As an added note, I did this sketch in pencil and scanned it in to apply a blue filter to it for a project I'm working on.

I haven't used Etsy in awhile so I decided to put these three up this week and was pleased to see one of them sold within a day.  DPW (Daily Painters Website) featured the peaches in the blue bowl on black floral on Facebook so I was doubly pleased!
Speaking of which I really haven't been painting "daily" but.... creating nonetheless.  If not oils, then watercolors and digital collages.  The arrival of Spring
has renewed my desire to set up more still life subject matter to photograph and a return to the oil painting.  It must be knowing that the flowers that I love to paint will soon be available.
I'm happy to say the pears on blue gingham and the pears and daisies have sold!