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.

Emerald Forest

Emerald Forest  30 x 40" acrylic

I've gone back to my roots with this painting. I've been doing paintings of forest trails for as long as I've been painting. This photo is from Calvert island and just through those trees is the most beautiful beach you can imagine.

It was a good thing to choose this subject, given that I have been going though a bit of an identity crisis lately. It took me back to what is authentically me- I have spent my life in forests like this and it feels like home to me.

I need to take the advice that I so often give students in my workshops- paint what you know and paint what you love. Never choose a subject because you think it might be marketable if it doesn't make you feel inspired.

Here's Suzanne and her wonderful group of students in my studio this weekend. They were doing photo transfer and mixed media and some beautiful work was produced. I just love seeing my studio buzzing with all that creativity. Both Suz and I plan more workshops in the studio later this year. I have one coming up in 2 weeks- it's full, but I will post any new ones on my website.

Well, it seems I wasn't finished this painting after all. The rock in the right foreground was bugging me- I needed to change it. I changed the shape and lost the edges on the top. Then I laid in some glazes to make the colours of the water a little richer. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

After a great deal of tweaking and fiddling, I think I'm done on this one. "Solace II"  40 x 30" acrylic. I plan to submit this to the Painters at Painters event catalogue. Painters at Painters is an annual event that happens at Painter's Lodge in the end of May. Over 30 artists in residence, discussion groups, demos and other presentations- it's a really fun weekend event for artists.

Great Blue

                                             Great Blue  24 x 36" acrylic

This is the second painting I've done from this photo. I did a 20 x 30" version last fall and then clients from one of my galleries wanted a bigger version. They also wanted more detail and a bit different colours. I was a little more restrained with the colours than in the first version and spent more time polishing details. Coming off of the pine tree painting, it was a pretty easy transition and I enjoyed painting this guy.

It's been an interesting few days in the studio. I'm still working on several pieces at once. In my quest for more subtle colour, I decided to repaint the sky in a finished piece that hadn't left the studio. Sad to report that I have now made the painting much worse. I will leave it for a few days and then have another go. Sigh........

The biggest of the current pieces is a 40 x 30" river piece. I am very excited about it and happy with the way it's coming along. However, I'm not out of the woods yet so hopefully will not go sideways on this one too. I'll post it in a few days.

Lonely Pine

Lonely Pine 30 x 30" oil

I seem to be in a phase of starting things and not finishing them. I've been working on this piece, plus a figurative one, a landscape and one of two crows on the beach. As soon as I got bogged down on one, I would go to another. I don't know if this is a good thing- I really like finishing paintings so it left me feeling kind of scattered. However, it did enable me to hang in with each piece and try different ways of working them.

This painting started as an acrylic and I tried to make it work. However I really wanted a seamless flowing background and oils are so much better for that. I started with a transparent glaze and worked the creamy passages into it, wet in wet. I am thinking of doing a series of tree portraits as I had a lot of fun doing this one.