Liz Wiltzen & me

Me, Rick McDiarmid, Alan, John Salminen, Liz & Stephen Quiller

Alan and I just returned from a glorious week, painting on Salt Spring Island with the Federation of Canadian Artist's Plein Air painting workshop. The weather was amazing and I came home with a ton of subject matter. I also was happy to note some improvement in my outdoor painting skills. I should have photographed my efforts but ended up selling them all at the final show.

Our instructors were Stephen Quiller, John Salminen, Carla O'Connor and my good buddy, Liz Wiltzen. Being able to paint and hang out with these amazing artists was truly a gift.

The two landscape photos posted here are ones that I plan to paint from for my upcoming show at the Federation Gallery. It opens Oct 30th and is a group show with Liz, Gaye Adams, Sarah Kidner, Jean Pederson and my sister Suzanne Northcott.

I will be hitting the studio hard as the show is right around the corner.

 This painting was done a few weeks ago at the 3 hour painting competition at the Birthplace of BC  Gallery, here in Fort Langley. I painted it in acrylics, outdoors, on one of the hottest days of the summer. Blending the colours was challenging, to say the least. I wasn't totally unhappy with the results but I did feel that oils might be a better medium to use for the subject.

I borrowed the painting back from the gallery and over-painted it today in oils. I think it looks a lot more polished and it didn't take long, as I had already made most of the decisions in acrylics. Once its dry, it will go back to the Birthplace of BC Gallery.

I finished this painting last week- "The Way Through" 40 x 30" acrylic. It's another Calvert Island Piece. A little different for me as the light is quite subtle. Strong light and shadow edits the details and I think, makes the image easier to paint. This one was a lot of work but I'm pretty happy with the results. I love the colour transitions in the rocks.

I've entered the painting in a competition- will report on how I do once I find out. I would like to enter more competitions- I think it's a good way to challenge oneself.  In the past that hasn't been a priority for me but I am ready to be more open to getting my work out there, beyond the commercial galleries.

Speaking of getting the work out there, a group of my paintings were rented out last week to a movie production. One painting had a small featured role with a close up. It represented the transformation of the main character, an artist called Sarah Robertson. They had to use my last name due to the signature on the paintings!

The experience of renting was ok but we did have 4 frames that were damaged by the production. They are going to pay to replace them but this is something that I will consider next time I'm approached to rent.

Here is my finished piece for the Raincoast book and show. "Fly By" 30 x 40" acrylic.

I don't know opening dates yet for the show in Victoria but the show will be in Vancouver from Nov 26th to Dec 1st- at Performance Works on Granville Island. There will be well over 100 pieces in the show, as so many artists want to get involved and lend their voices to the efforts to protect our coast from the threat of an oil spill. Also there will be a coffee table book launched this fall with images from the trips taken in June by the original 50 artists.

Thank you again to Mark Hobson, Brian Falconer, everyone at Raincoast Conservation Foundation and all the others who made it possible for this project to happen. I hope that your efforts will be rewarded and that the Gateway Pipeline will not go ahead.

 Here I am putting the final touches on my painting for the Raincoast project. I was asked to do something that would fit in the wildlife section of the book, so there is a solitary seagull flying through the image.

July was a month of constant travel with a lot of teaching. I plan to stay put for most of August and hit the studio hard. I have a group show at the Federation gallery in Vancouver that opens on Oct 30th, so I will need quite a few new pieces for that. Details about the show are on my website.

Along the Great Bear Coast

"Along the Great Bear Coast" 30 x 40" acrylic

Here's the progression of my newest large painting. It's of one of the many stunning beaches on Calvert Island. I decided to start with purple underpainting, just for fun and because that's what my friend, Mark Hobson, does in all his paintings these days.

 In a way, I don't think the underpainting color is all that important. Different colors of underpainting may give a slightly different final effect, but I don't think there are any wrong colors to underpaint. We all have our favourites and mine is probably still quinacridone gold.

This painting will be on it's way with me to Whistler next week, when I go up to teach a 3 day workshop. I will be having a little feature of my work at the Adele Campbell Gallery in the Westin Hotel, Friday, 5:30 to 7:30. Please stop in and say hi if you are in the area.

Here's my gang from the basic acrylics workshop I did last week at Coast Collective in Victoria. I had a blast with everyone- a wonderful group of 13 women and one brave man.

Coast Collective is an art centre in the Esquimalt area of Victoria, housed in a beautiful stone mansion on the edge of Esquimalt Lagoon. The Centre is the creation of 5 dynamic women and has a large art gallery, gift shop and classroom space, plus outbuildings that are home to a variety of creative pursuits. The workshop program is ongoing and I have already committed to go back in March for an intermediate acrylics workshop.