Paradise Lost

Debbie and I spent a wonderful week, with my father, at my parent's house on Paudash Lake.  I used to love the lake with all the small cottages tucked in the birches and pines but oh how that has changed over the last few years.  More and more of those cottages are being replaced by huge summer homes with massive lawns spreading down to the lake.  Stone walls and concrete docks are replacing the trees and the lilies.  So many people think that they are escaping the city when in fact many of them are just bringing suburbia with them.

Now when we look down the shore from my parent's beach all you can see is very expensive toys.  This view used to me one of my favourites anywhere.  This painting will never be for sale because I wasn't in a happy place when I painted it.  We tossed around names such as "The Joneses" and "Conspicuous Consumers"  These boats are rarely away from the docks and they are far too big for our lake with all its small bays.  The sole purpose of the boats and other toys that I left out is to impress.

McMichael Canadian Art Collection

On Sunday August 26th a large number of the members of the Ontario Plein Air Society (OPAS) met at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection to paint, socialize and have a one day show in the gallery complete with juried awards.  I didn't win any awards or sell any paintings but again I didn't expect to.  It was hot and sunny but the humidity was low so it was a perfect day for watercolours.  A number of us produced paintings of Tom Thomson's shack. I would like to go back some day and attempt it again.  I have it looking much larger than it really is.  The shack should be smaller and the trees a bit larger.

The Original Centre Lake Retouched

I have started reworking old paintings that I don't like.  My past disasters.  The improvement in the first one was so dramatic and exciting that Debbie suggested that I go back into the original Centre Lake painting.  I was hesitant because although not a great painting it was a great souvenir from "A Brush with the Highlands".  I broke down and decided to take another shot at it and again the improvement was rather dramatic.  It still isn't a great painting and not where I want to be but it is a huge improvement over the low key original.  I am excited about where my work is taking me.

Centre Lake revisited

My goal is to get much bolder and looser.  In the past I have been painting but always with the intent of producing a finished painting.  I am now starting to work/play just for the sake of learning.  Yesterday, with that in mind, I pulled out a cheap watercolour pad and tried Centre Lake again painting from my original painting.  It isn't a good painting but it was never intended to be.  There are some things that I like about it and it is overall better than the bland original so in my mind it was a success.

A Brush with the Highlands

What an amazing weekend!  Over 40 great artists gathered at Wilberforce Ontario for two days of plein air painting at ten locations followed by a show and sale of their art in the community centre. I painted for two days solid in a very hot sun and then I was upset because it was raining and too wet to paint on the day of the show.  The upside of the rain was that I spent the time mixing and chatting with some of my favourite outdoor artists who treated me as an artist and most cases an equal.

I was inspired.  I am now seeing myself as an artist and not just as a retired guy who likes to paint.  It is now a job that I intend to work at.  Seeing my work hanging with the work of other great artists has put it in context for me.  I now know I have the required technical skills so it is time to pay more attention to composition, especially colour.  I need to be bold and take chances.

This painting was painted on Friday at Centre Lake which is only minutes from Paudash Lake.  It should have had more contrast and more intense colour but I am happy with the sky.

This next one was painted at Magnificent Hill Farm which is on Magnificent Rd in Highland Grove, Ontario.  The couple that run it are doing a fantastic job of homesteading and selling pies, preserves and produce.  I was standing in front of the chicken coop trying to focus with the aroma of fresh baked pies wafting by and the sound of baby goats bleating right behind me.  It was awesome!

I am inspired.  Now I have to keep the momentum going. I will definitely attend "A Brush with the Highlands" again next year.

Ontario Plein Air Society paint out at Scotsdale Farm

What an amazing day.  16 degrees celsius and not a cloud in the sky.  I met 5 other OPAS artists for the first time today at Scotsdale Farm which is just north of Georgetown.  The weather was perfect, I was with some fellow artists and there was lots to paint.  I stood in a field and painted some open space in the morning.  I am not excited about this painting but I am okay with it.  It looks much better matted and framed than it did in the bright sun.

In the afternoon I retreated into the shade of some cedars. I kind of like this one.

It was a great day to be painting.  

Rachael's Farm

What a great day to paint.  It is so nice to be painting outside without a coat.  I forgot my hat and my non darkening glasses so I had to remember to take my glasses off every once in a while to check the colours that I was using. This isn't one of my best paintings but I am okay with it.  Everyone but me seems to think that it is finished so I will look at if for a while and decide.