Here's good friend, Rick McDiarmid and I in the demo tent at Painters Lodge last weekend. It was the 19th annual gathering of Painters at Painters in Campbell River and we had a wonderful time as always. I was just freshly home from Italy so was a little jet lagged but it was well worth the effort to get there.

I just went through my Italy photos and I have so many good ones, I don't know where to start. Italian paintings coming soon. Meanwhile, for anyone who wants to see the finished version of the painting I was working on at Painters, I will post it when it's done.

Lynn Canyon Pool

Here are sequential shots of my latest painting. It's a 30 x 40" acrylic and I used green gold as the under-painting colour. I love the image- it's my favourite kind of place and the painting unfolded without too much struggle, despite all those little rocks under the water. Good thing because I abandoned the previous painting after struggling with it for days. And so it goes..........

Satsumas

I began this little painting as a demo in my intermediate acrylics workshop last weekend. I liked the way it was going so I decided to finish it. The canvas was painted black to start with this time.

"Satsumas"  11 x 14" acrylic

This painting has been sitting in the studio almost finished along with a few others in the same state. It is the second in my tree portrait series. I may still go back in and tweak a bit but I think it's pretty much done now.
I'm still exploring neutral colour in oil paints- using limited palettes and trying to keep the values doing most of the work. I used about 3 colours plus white in this one, as opposed to 2 colours plus white in the pine tree painting. I don't have a title for it yet but the size is 24 x 30.

Cherry Blossom Workshop

Here's the intrepid and courageous group that braved the chilly weather at Van Duesen gardens last weekend. With numb fingers clutching our brushes, we attempted to paint the cherry blossom trees. Thanks to all for your great attitudes- it was fun.

Home studio workshop

Last weekend was a basic acrylics workshop in my studio. I had a fantastic group of people- hardworking, brave and easy going. Thanks everyone- I really enjoyed working with you all!

Next home workshop will be June 8th & 9th- another basic techniques class. Let me know if you'd like to come- it 's already half full, so I'm expecting it will fill up quickly. All details on my website or you can email me.

Still in the Woods

                                                  Back to the Woods  16 x 36" acrylic

I had one more forest painting that I had to get out and now I'm moving on to rivers and beaches. If you're interested in a workshop that will focus on the elements of our local landscape, I'm teaching one on May 4th & 5th in West Vancouver- details on my website.
I also have a new page on my website called "What's New". There are buttons there that you can click if you want to be added to my email lists.