Paudash Lake again

It was another fantastic day at the lake.  I lazed about all morning and then we spent the afternoon in town.  We got back just in time for me to rush outside and paint before it got dark.

The upside of rushing out at dusk was I got fantastic sunset lighting but the downside was it got very dark very quickly so I had to rush.  Rushing is not easy when it is -10 C and my paints are very thick. The medium that I use to thin my pigments was so thick that I couldn't get it out of my squeeze bottle so it was no help.  The sky was mostly clear except above the horizon and the sun was setting behind me which made the clouds glow wonderful roses and oranges.  I really need to add a tube of quin rose to my bag.  This isn't a great painting overall but considering it was painted in the cold in about forty-five minutes I am really happy with it.  I feel that I am constantly learning and improving so that is good for me.

Happy New Year

What a great start to the new year.  We are at my parents home on Paudash Lake.  There isn't much snow but it is very cold and the wind is howling.  I have been told that I need a vision and I am trying to sort out just what that might be.  I love painting skies so that is an option and the roiling clouds late this afternoon were about as inspiring as they get.

I wanted to get outside to paint but it was just too wild out there so I set up in the garage.  The clouds were a swirling mass with this warm glow where they were thin and backlit by the sun.  Everything was hazey because of the blowing snow and it was all constantly moving.

I have no internet connection with my laptop so this is done with my iPad which means that I have far less editing control of both the image and the blog post.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

Happy Holidays

I think that I am going through withdrawal again.  I haven't held a paintbrush in over two weeks because of a nasty cold, poor weather and then Christmas.  I did have a great Christmas with family and friends and am healthy again so I am itching to get out painting.

This is a painting of our youngest grandson Max and the gift that I was working on.  I painted this as a demo during the Art Gallery of Burlington Christmas show and sale.  I was working in the hallway and at least a couple of hundred people watched and/or chatted with me at various times.  I wasn't at all happy with it but I lightened and blued the dark green background, warmed up his sweater a bit and softened some edges.  I am very happy with it now and am thinking that it is time that I did more portraits in oils.

We are thinking of heading up to Paudash Lake for New Years and I can't wait to get out painting up there again.

I Love my Job

Creativity for me is so unpredictable. Today was 4 C and cloudy and on top of that I was painting an urban scene which is not one of my favourite things to do.  All that should have conspired against me but I ended up having a good day.

This is not one of my best paintings however it is probably the first urban scene that I have ever been close to happy with.  Picone's grocery store in Dundas is getting ready to celebrate its hundredth anniversary and it has been in the same family the whole time.  I have often thought of painting it and I will likely do it again at some point.


This took me three hours and at the end my fingers were so cold and stiff that I could hardly control the brush.  It is usually tough to decide when a painting is finished but winter makes it easier.

I am Delighted

Tuesday was a great day.  It was about -2 C and cloudy.  It was the last Catherine Gibbon class this semester and since Debbie and I live about a hundred metres from the park I invited everyone back for an after class social.  It was delightful doing the critique with wine in hand.

This is my painting.  It is another of the many black willows down in Warren Park.  The light was very flat and I wanted to capture the visually warm feeling on a cold day.  I am not sure how I feel about this painting.  It is one that I will have to look at for a while to decide.

Now for the reason that I am delighted.  I had four paintings hanging in the Ontario Plein Air Society annual show in the Project Gallery in the art district on Queen Street East in Toronto.  Twenty-eight very accomplished artists were showing well over a hundred pieces and I was proud to be included.  Eight or so paintings sold and when I went to pick up my paintings yesterday I was delighted to discover a red dot beside one of mine.


This is "Coming This Way" the painting that sold.  We were camping in Wilberforce and the forecast was for severe thunderstorms and gale force winds.  This was painted in a hurry with an eye to the sky.

Gone South

It was about 2 C and very windy today but eight of us braved the elements to paint at Princess Point again.  It was one of those days where the light was constantly changing and the wind was rattling my board around but it was great to be out there with brush in hand,  It always is.

I noticed this bird box framed by the willow and sticking up out of the weeds and grasses last week but it was too exposed and windy to paint them.  It was even colder and windier this week but I was determined to paint them.  I am not sure if I am happy with this or not.  I will have to look at it for a while.

Next week we are supposed to be in downtown Dundas.  I really struggle with buildings and I am rarely successful but I love a challenge.  Especially in locations with lots of pedestrian traffic. Not!

Of Trees and People

Catherine Gibbon has me thinking more and more about developing a vision to direct my work.  She also suggested that I find a place that I have a strong attachment to and start painting there regularly.  I have been pondering both.  Last week our class painted in Warren Park which is right at the end of our street and was a childhood haunt. I had an epiphany.  I have many fond memories of that park and I love trees with all their distinctive personalities so why not do a series of paintings of trees in Warren Park.



This painting was painted Monday at Princess Point.  It was pouring rain when we got there and only three of us stuck around.  The rain did stop and we even got moments of sunshine which lit up this sycamore tree in front of a very dark and angry sky.  If I had used my brush strokes to show the contours of the ground this would have been much better.



This tree was a huge old willow painted in Catherine's class on Tuesday.  It was very cool in hue and the background was very warm.  I struggled to make this work to no avail and actually scraped off more paint than I put on this board.  I realized with this painting that I need to paint portraits of trees and not just trees.  I hear Catherine saying "Don't paint a tree.  Paint that tree."

I felt that I need a change so on Wednesday I took my watercolours to the sketch group.  The model was Melissa with her three month old daughter Ellie.  She was looking down with a look of pure adoration and I wanted to capture that feeling.  It has been quite a while since I painted a portrait in watercolour and I wasn't very successful but it was fun I plan on using them more when we have portrait models.  Yes the baby's head is much bigger that I made it.



I was always concerned that I would paint too much and burn out but the opposite is proving to be true. I have become addicted to painting.