‘Corner Near the Barn’-oil on canvas – 10″x 12″ I took my new pochade box out in the yard this morning to give it a whirl. It’s great; but I think i could use a stronger tripod, the legs on mine were slipping a bit. After 10 minutes of indecision about where to set up to paint I found this little corner that beckoned. The sunlight was falling across the nasturtiums in the old wheelbarrow parked outside the midget door to the barn. (really!…it’s only 4′ high, and you have to duck big time when you lift the latch and enter! It’s where we store the extra firewood for the stove in the winter.)
Anyway I forgot how much i do enjoy painting outdoors in fair weather. The woodpecker was in the tree next to me keeping time, the chipmunks cracking acorns and scurrying about. When i first decided on painting this scene, the sunlight was the subject; but as I painted of course the sun went in and the contrast levelled out to a dull grey…i had to really engage those little grey cells to remember my focus and stick to my original goal. I perservered for about an hour and a half, then brought it inside. Lucky, because the sky was looking like it would burst any moment with rain. By the time I heated my lunch, it was pouring buckets! After lunch, back in the studio, and re-assesing; i’ve decided to leave it alone…rough and ready little plein air that it is.
Hayfield Halftones -oil on canvas- 28″ x 24″ Oh dear, I think I might be guilty of the dreaded ‘decorative art’ label on finishing up this one! I couldn’t help myself though… i had a lot of fun working out a sort of design-y (oops not a real word either!) method of bringing this painting to completion. It kind of looks cartoonish…but in my mind that’s how that hayfield appeared to me, so that’s what came out when painting it. I drive by it often on my way through Perth to Ottawa…I always marvel at the near perfect haphazard manner in which those bales are strewn about…like they were just challenging me to use them in a composition. The palette I was using was: cad yellow pale, alizarin, cerelean blue, viridian, black, and white. Another experiment, too. 
Wetland - oil on canvas- 48″ x 40″ This is the first large canvas I’ve done on the marsh. I enjoyed working on it, so many possibilities of colour I could have chosen; but I wanted to capture that bright morning sunlight filtering across the wetland, so went with a limited palette of 4 colours plus white. I did do a small plein air painting last summer of a similar subject when I went to the local Conservation area to paint, but it was hard concentrating on painting while being dive bombed by deerflies! I much preferred the process of painting this one in the studio, where there’s time to sit back from it with a coffee, and decide where to go next with it…. I hope to explore some more of the wonderful shapes, and colours of the marshes again in a medium size (28″x24″)painting as well. I find fun is adding unexpected colours and finding that they can actually work, where I thought they might not! REALLY trying to stretch myself with that aspect…but lots more opportunities in the future!
Today i was having a look at plein air painters doing their thing on YouTube, and I came across this wonderful instructional video by the artist 
showing how he had made his own pochade box…it is an amazingly handy little number! It has space to hold a couple of wet panels, and also a nifty little easle that can be raised and lowered as needed. Well….i allready have a pochade box which my dear Dave made for me, but it didn’t have these handy little features, and i wondered if it was possible to remodel the one i have??? Soooooooooo….. I showed Dave the video and he thought it was pretty handy too… it got him interested! As it is Saturday and looking for a little project to occupy his afternoon…he zipped off to the hardward store to get what he needed….and presto! Look at my newly remodelled pochade box! I love it!!! Okay, i know i’m a lucky duck,I’m so delighted!! it can hold three 12×9″ wet panels, and i can fasten it onto a lightweight tripod for easy transporting and set up. Cant wait to get out and give it a try soon! To the left is the open box holding a little panel, and the thumbnail shows the top of the box where you can slide in the panels for storage.
‘Twilight, Eel Bay’ - oil on canvas – 28″ x 24″ 
On recent trip to Wallacks, my local art supply store I was asked by Bill the manager if I would be willing to test a new watercolour product for them. (I used to work exclusively in watercolour up until about 2 years ago) Tri-Art has developed a new line of watercolour pigments that come in plastic squeeze bottles, and also a new watercolour medium to go with them. ??? That got me curious…the only medium i have ever used with watercolour is water, so i’m curious what these products are for, do they give a lustre to the finish that water doesn’t? or maybe they extend the pigment so that it remains more saturated, and doesn’t dry lighter as is usually the case with watercolours? Tri-Art’s sample test packet contains: blue(pthalo),red(quinachridone), yellow, sap green, and a matte medium, and a ‘watercolour medium’(whatever that is). I get the whole jar for free to keep, all I have to do is experiment with them a little and answer some questions for them by Sep 20. I am definately going to give them a test, maybe tomorrow if all goes well…stay tuned and i will post the results.
‘In the Woods’-oil on canvas- 20″ x 16″ Dave and I went bike riding last night after supper. The michael-mass daisies are out along the path now which adds a sprig of blue between the queen ann’s lace and the goldenrod. I always marvel at how nature gets it so perfect… flowers that bloom together in nature always compliment each other so well in colour and form. I know what a challenge it can be to harmonize the colours on my palette, so i think about things like that a lot. Once as we were riding along a deer jumped out about 20′ in front of us and scampered across the path then back into the woods. I smelt the evening air too, it was loaded with the scent of wildflowers closing for the night, ferns and moss. 
I can tell it’s September. All the stuff that was piled up on my desk throughout the summer awaiting attention got sorted through for the first time yesterday. Amongst the papers was notification about an upcoming art show which had a entry deadline of Aug 21. oops. i usually participate in this show, and i had intended to put 2 small paintings in but the date just slipped by me. i decided to call the organizer and asked if it really was way too late to drop off my entry, and to my surprise she said they would be happy to have me. So….
I arrived home one day last week to find a little present from my friend and kindred art spirit 
48″ x40″ I got started on a painting today that I’ve been perculating for a while . The main thing that was holding me up was not having a strong enough easle to support the size of canvas I wanted to use. Now with my new easle, it’s no problemo. The other thing was my usual problem… deciding which colours i would choose to work in. I often do choose a limited palette, but I like to experiment and learn about the effects certain colour choices give to the mood of a piece…so i wanted to try some different colours. This time I chose cad yellow pale, permanent rose, cobalt blue & winsor violet + white. I’m working on a yellow ochre ground which i had prepared months before. I like to keep a good supply of prepped canvas’s with coloured grounds. I usually choose warm earth colours,but sometimes i use grey or greyed violet grounds. I like the depth it creates, even for the initial colour washes. So far I’ve only done the washes on this one. I like that yellow ochre coming through the initial colour washes, it tones them down a tad from how they come right out of the tube. I like the way these colours create neutral mauve and greens. My plan is to keep it simple and understated throughout, i dont want to overdo it with detail. I’ll post it again when done . The subject is a lovely marsh on Unity Rd just down from where I live…they built a higher road for the bridge that runs through it last year, i think the turtle pedestrians are very much happier because of it:)
Moon Over Amherst Shore – oil on canvas – 28″ x 24″ Back in the studio after a break away from things it’s easier to see which areas need a rework. This painting was completed about 6 months ago, but it didn’t sit well with me and i couldnt figure out why. Today I could tell i needed to change the forground foliage shapes, they were spiky and abrasive before. I’m much happier with it after the rework. It reflects more of what i’m interested in at the moment; the breaking down of details…and some sort of harmony.
Ahoy there! Yes that’s me on the boardwalk at Eastern Passage in Nova Scotia. We just got back from a fabulous week in NS highlighted with lots of family visits and time exploring little seaside towns and villages like this one. We are most impressed with the friendly and helpful nature of the people we met there. That’s Dave heading into a great little seafood restaurant where we had THE BEST fish n chips.
Needless to say we were so pre-occupied by things to do on our holiday that i got NO painting done at all although i did take my supplies. I did however jot down rough sketches and notes in my trusty little moleskin which i carry around with me, that helps jog my memory about things that stood out for me, and i like referring to it when perculating ideas in the studio. o yes i am smitten with Nova Scotia.
Tomorrow morning we are heading out at zero-dark thirty to hit the road for our week down east…I hope to be able to enjoy the countryside on the way and sketch a bit. I doubt i’ll get much opportunity to paint as we’ll be visiting family. But I will perculate all that i see and hope that the weeks after the trip produce some of the trips energy in my work. I thought I’d post a photo of the light this evening on my front gate. I love early evening light. Perhaps it will turn into a painting sometime. The painting below is probably more like what the weather will be like when we get there! ha! I did this painting in March/April this year. Nova Scotia Weather – oil on canvas – 24″ x 20″ 
Here’s Dave assembling my new easle which i bought at Wallacks today. I’m really glad to have this. Up until now I’ve been painting on a home-made easle that Dave made me. It’s been fine and I’ve been thankful for it, but one problem is that when I am painting vigorously, it walks away from me! That can be annoying when i have a fist full of brushes and i have to stop and reposition it. This new one is certainly not the most expensive easle you can buy, but it looks like a good one. It has wheels so I can move it easily when i want to, and a brake that i can put on when i dont want it to move. Also there is a fancy little tray under the ledge to hold stuff…brushes, medium? paints? i’m not sure yet, but i’m sure i’ll use it! I’m really delighted with my new easle, cant wait to use it. In the picture you can see one of the starts (top left corner of picture) I worked on yesterday, and below is something i started today…a hayfield spied from my car while driving near Perth. Hayfield in Halftones – oil on canvas – 28″ x 24″ 
I’ve been meaning to reorganize my studio for about a year now. I wasn’t finding it very practical the way i had the furniture, easles etc set-up. I want to buy a new easle for myself; but with all the clutter i wasn’t sure it was going to fit…so i shifted things around a little…of course it didn’t turn out to be ‘little’…it took me the better half of the day to shift the furniture and while i was at it, i threw out all kinds of junk i had accumulated, that i hadn’t used in at least 5 years! Out it went! it felt very cathartic to get rid of useless junk, and now that it’s done it’s made a much larger space for myself. I’ve posted pics above and below which i took this afternoon after i was finished. Below is a picture of my sink area and and then the area where i store my large canvas supply…it is directly on top of a large trap door over a stairway which leads down into Dave’s workshop. It’s the quickest way out when i am lugging paintings to a show. All i have to do it move the canvas’s which are pretty light. The small canvas supply is stored in the shelf above the vertical storage bins. It’s much handier now. I love it. Now I’ll be interested to see if the re-organized space assists me in the creative process. I think it probably will. kinda like the feeling i get when i start my day with freshly washed hair. 
Frangipani – oil on canvas-24″x24″ I got to deliver the frangipani painting to my daughter yesterday. She loved it and hung it up right away over their new fireplace! I am going to frame it for them as part of their housewarming gift, but Holly didn’t want to part with it to do so! She said she doesn’t mind it unframed, so we’ll see if she still feels the same way in a month or two. Here’s a pic of Jeff looking at it, and a thumbnail of Holly and Jeff in their new home. They have just moved in and consequently are still unpacking heaps of stuff. We took a load of their stuff (which they had stored here for about 3 years while traversing South Asia and Australia)to Ottawa in the truck yesterday. Have to admit is was a great feeling to unload their stored items in their own home! Yay more room in my studio closet now for my junk! ha ha.
Sheepscape – oil on canvas 20″x28″ I painted this about 6 months ago, but as i’ve nothing new to post I figured i’d give it another whirl. It didn’t make it into the Juried Arts Salon this year, although it did get by the first stage jury. I personally love the ’storybook’ atmosphere of this piece. i didn’t have anything big i was trying to say when i painted it; i know i was drawn to the light pattern falling on simple shapes. I worked from a photograph i took of sheep on a farm in the late evening light(about 8pm)near where i live, but i made up the hill they are on and the placement of them. Of course i also took liberties in my use of colour; that, plus the unusual lollypop trees probably contribute to the ’storybook’ feel. It was fun working this way and i will no doubt have another bash at this sort of thing again sometime. i like the ‘unserious-ness’ of it.
Up Against The Wall – 16×20″ -oil on canvas – I’ve been striving to join my shapes into larger ones… it’s a bit of a challenge with this dappled sunlight against the wall and delphiniums; I didn’t want to lose the variations in the shadow tones while massing shapes…my goal was to find the balance so it’s remains identifiable. I enjoyed working with this analagous palette. Another rural south eastern Ontario subject…there’s lots of them around me to choose from.
Acrylic on board – 12″ x 9″ 
