Everyone has dispersed after Christmas so I made it back into the studio today. Just finished this piece that I had started last week. The painting will go to the Federation Gallery in Vancouver for "Crossing Boundaries"-a joint show with the Chinese Canadian Artists Federation. The show opens January 27th, 2011. I will be in Mexico so unfortunately won't make the opening.
"Shelter" 16 x 20" acrylic.

I finally got most of the pre-Christmas stuff done and today had some good time in the studio. This painting is of Lions Gate Bridge from Ambleside beach in West Vancouver. It's a little different for me because of it's urban vibe. I do think that Vancouver is one of the most spectacular cities in the world, although I'm a little biased, having grown up here.
I got a good start on another painting today, as well. It will probably be my last painting for 2010. Will post it when it's done.

Not too much painting going on this past week. Last weekend we drove up to Whistler with our good friends Mike and Nancy Svob, for the opening at Adele Campbell Gallery. We had a great time, saw lots of old friends and the weather was perfect.One of the photos I took during my walk is posted here.
Today Alan and I spent all day putting up lights, including on my new studio. Tomorrow my women friends will gather in the studio for our annual wreath making session.In the evening the men of the group will make dinner.It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

I worked on this little painting at the Salt Spring Island workshop. Just finished it today and I will deliver it to my local gallery here in Fort Langley. "In the Grove" 11 x 14" acrylic.
For those that are interested in workshops, I have posted everything that's scheduled so far for 2011 on my website. There might be a couple more so keep checking if you don't see something that fits- www.janicerobertson.ca

I just got home last night from an adventurous weekend workshop on Saltspring Island. I arrived Friday night and when I woke up on Saturday morning the place was under a deep blanket of snow. It was quite a challenge to sort things out and get going with the workshop- our original location had no power and an un-plowed road to traverse. Half the island was without power and phone lines were out as well.In the end, a hardy group of 7 people, out of the original 17, made it through and we gathered at Judy's home studio. I've included a picture of the view out Judy's studio window. A couple more people showed up on Sunday.
Thanks to organizer, Don Hodgins, who did a great job of handling the challenges and thanks too to my class- you were all a delight!

I started this painting about a year ago and gave up on it because it was not coming together and I got bogged down with it. I pulled it out a couple of days ago and decided that I could possibly make it work now. Don't know why- maybe I just needed some distance from it. Anyway, here it is. It will be going to Granville Fine Arts gallery tomorrow for the show next week.
"Tide Turning- The Gap" 30 x 30" acrylic

Last weekend was my still life workshop in West Vancouver. The weather was beautiful and we were right on the water. Here's a picture of the view and my painter girls, with their bottle paintings. I really enjoyed my time with everyone.

"Persimmon Parade".This little painting is an interesting shape- 10 x 20". I have signed on with a new gallery in San Jose, Mexico, so I'm trying to come up with some pieces that will fit there. So far I have sent still life pieces. I don't know how I will do painting the Mexican landscape, but I will probably give it a try when we go there in January.
The gallery is called Old Town Gallery, and is in the historic art district of San Jose del Cabo.

I have been experimenting with backdrops of fabric for my still life paintings lately. I'm really enjoying the look and have started collecting interesting scarves and remnants to use for future paintings. I like the neutral palette of this scarf with the strong colors of the roses and limes. Painting the design was fun as I didn't get too literal with it- just painted the gist of what I could see.This painting will go the Granville Fine Arts Gallery in Vancouver for the group show in November.
Lime and Roses, 24 x 30" acrylic.

I recently finished this painting. It's of Thormanby Island, one of my favorite places on the planet. Looking at this image takes me right back to the feeling of being there. I think the shape of the canvas adds to the strength of this painting- it's 24 x 48". The painting will be going to my Vancouver gallery, Granville Fine Arts, for their upcoming group show, which opens Nov 18th.

Yesterday was the first annual plein air paint-out at Apple Day near Fort Langley. Apple Day takes place to celebrate the 100 year old heritage apple trees that grow on the Houston Trail, alongside the Fraser River. We had a group of about 15 artists come out to paint together. Here's a picture of some of us at the end of the day. We'll do it again next year- the first Saturday in October. Let me know if you want to be on the list of contacts.

After my struggles with the last painting, this one just fell off the brush. The gods of art are capricious and constantly testing us. Anyway, don't ya just need red every now and then?- I sure do. "Red Mountain Sky" 24 x 30"

This morning I went into the studio and took another look at this painting. I asked my self what kind of critique I would give if it was done by one of my students. Lots came up: colors too garish, foreground grasses too busy, composition needs tweaking and focal point needs more work. I spent the day reworking this painting and I am much happier with it.
Early Winter Bog 24 x 36" acrylic

This painting was quite a slog. I spent a few long days on it and felt I had done all I could do. I wasn't particularly happy with it, but I wanted to be done and move on to the next painting. I photographed it at the end of the day and locked the studio.

Here's a few shots from the wonderful week long workshop that we just attended on Gabriola island. As you can see, I was so relaxed I fell asleep on a rock. Painting on location is challenging for me, but so much fun. If you want to go next year, it will be happening in September and my guy, Alan will be one of the instructors. Check out www.artists.ca for info.

So here's the final result. As you can see, most of the changes happened in the sky- I added some clouds and left some textured brushwork showing.The whole painting got a much stronger dose of color.I don't know if it's great painting now but I am much happier with it.

A recent clean out of my studio storage room revealed this painting. I did it last summer and it never made it out of the studio. I never liked it too much- found it very bland and boring. As I sometimes do with paintings where I feel like I have nothing to lose, I stuck it on the easel and started playing around. I didn't pull out the reference photo- just did what I felt like doing.

Anyone who knows Thormanby Island will enjoy this painting. It's where I spent my childhood summers and still get to go with generous friends that share their cottages with me.

I lost a few painting days when I came down with heatstroke after doing an outdoor agility match with Blue last weekend. The temperature was 30+ degrees and I hosed the dog down regularly but forgot to do myself- yikes- I will be more careful from now on.
I think this piece is finally done- put the finishing touches on it today. I will deliver it to the Peninsula gallery in Sidney this weekend.

I painted this little 8 x 8" piece for a fundraiser for the Whistler Art Workshops on the Lake. Tickets for the draw are $50.00 and the event takes place in Whistler on Sept 12th. If you're interested in more information, contact the Whistler Arts Council 604 935 8410.

Here's today's progress on the painting. The top part is getting near completion. I will post the final image in a few days when it's ready.

I spent a few hours on the new painting today- here's how it's coming along

We spent a great week in Whistler- teaching and hiking around enjoying the spectacular scenery. The weather was perfect. I got a lot of good photos and have posted one of my favorite ones here. The other image is the very early stage of a 30 x 40" painting that I'm doing from the photo. I like to get all the basic elements of the painting in before I get into any detail. I'll post the finished piece when it's done.
Today I'm off to do an outdoor demo for the Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver. It's pouring rain right now so should be interesting- we'll see if any hardy souls turn up to watch the demo.

I'm excited to announce that, along with my husband Alan, I will now be represented by the Adele Campbell Gallery in Whistler. Alan and I will be in Whistler teaching workshops for the Whistler Arts council this week and next, and on Saturday, July 24, there will be a mini show of our work at the gallery. 3:00 to 6:00 pm- come by and see us if you're in the area. Posted here are two of the new pieces I painted for the gallery- "Fallen" 30 x 24" acrylic and "Drumbeg Sky" 24 x 36 acrylic.

Many of the galleries in Vancouver are featuring drawing this month. My gallery, Granville Fine Arts, will have a drawing show opening July 17th. As a kid, there was nothing I loved more than drawing and usually the subject was horses. So choosing to draw horses for the show was a natural for me. Here you see "Mama Clyde" 16 x 20 graphite on paper.

Here's why I love acrylics. This big painting wasn't working for quite a while and I wasn't sure what to do to fix it. Along came my sister- artist extraordinaire, Suzanne Northcott and she said "you might want to lose that tree on the right." After much deliberation, I decided she was right. Out came the tree and I think I got a better painting. "Sundancers" 30 x 40" acrylic

I finally got around to painting the beautiful sunset from the Port Alberni trip. I hope I did it justice- painting sunsets is a risky thing to do- right up there with paintings of kittens and clowns... chocolate box paintings, as my spouse Alan calls them. Anyway you can be the judge on whether I crossed the line. For the record, Alan says he likes the painting. I like it too.

I have been away teaching quite a bit lately. In between, I have been fighting with a couple of large complex paintings. Neither of them are where I want them to be. Last weekend I started this little [ 12 x 16"] painting as a demo for one of my classes. I decided to play with it today and see what I could make of it. I'm pretty happy with it now and it has restored my faith a bit. I titled it "breaking Through" which is hopefully what will happen with the other paintings.

I managed to get a copy of the finished 65 Roses piece. Copies of this poster will be for sale for $65.00 to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis society. Information available through the Federation of Canadian Artists.

65 red roses

Last weekend I was at the reception for the unveiling of the collaborative painting "65 Red Roses". This piece was composed from sixty five 8 x 10 panels all done by individual artists from the Federation of Canadian Artists. The finished piece will be auctioned off by Maynards in Vancouver as a fund raiser for Cystic Fibrosis. 400 guests were at the opening - artists media, and many members of the CF society. It was very exciting to be a part of it all. Here you can see Angela Au Hemphill, Michael King and my guy, Alan in my studio assembling all the little paintings. I've also included my rose painting. If you want to see the finished piece, go to www.Web.me.com/angela.au.hemphill/Paintings_65_Red_Roses/Welcome.html. or google "Painting 65 Red Roses".

It's amazing to me how challenging some paintings can be. This one was a fight the whole way. I changed everything over and over until I finally felt I had given it my best shot. The myriad changes were to make it warmer, cooler, more colorful, more neutral, more detail, less detail, trees in, trees out, clouds out, clouds in. The final result: Desolation Isle 24 x 36" acrylic- I need to go lie down for a while!.

Just back last night from a three day workshop in Port Alberni. I had a great time- the group was willing, enthusiastic and fun, the scenery was gorgeous and they treated me very well. I made it out to Long Beach for a few hours and took a bunch of photos but my favorite was one I took in a Port Alberni valley just as the sun was setting. Now I just have to paint it. Skies are a bit of a nemesis for me.

Today was the day to deal with my pond, which has to be emptied every spring and cleaned out. You can see Phin there helping me. The fish go in a bucket and I work all day to empty and refill the pond so they can go back to their home quickly. I also did some landscaping because of the new studio building. Now I have a beautiful view out of both my north facing studio windows.