More Arbutus trees

While looking for something new to paint, I went through some old files of photos from Thormanby Island. The reference photo for this painting was taken in 2009. I never recognized it at the time as something interesting to paint but it stopped me in my tracks this time. The trees were smaller and quite hidden by foliage but I've painted enough arbutus trees by now that I know how to create them without much to go by. I love the colour palette in this piece ; " Against the Sky" 30 x 40" acrylic.

I will be doing a painting demonstration at Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver this Sunday, August 11th  from 1:00 to 3:00. It's free- come and see me if you are in the area.

Go Big

 I have enjoyed a flurry of sales through several of my galleries lately- thank you, Universe. All of the paintings sold have been big ones. I'm not really sure why but I prefer to do big paintings so this gives me permission to do more of them!

Just put the last strokes on this one minutes ago- "Sand and Surf"  36 x 48" acrylic. Another gift of the trip last year to Calvert Island.

Comings and goings

I'm back in the studio after being in Calgary at the Stampede Art show for 2 weeks. It was quite an experience. Although we had lots of advice from artist friends who have done the Stampede show before, there is nothing to quite prepare you for the experience.

First I must say that the spirit and resolve of the city of Calgary and the many volunteers who work at the Stampede was remarkable. Many said it couldn't be done in the wake of the devastating floods, but the Stampede went off without a hitch. The art show was impressive- beautiful presentation and attention to detail. We were impressed with the caliber of art there and also the spirit of camaraderie amongst the artists. Sales for us could have been better but it was a learning experience and if Alan does it again next year, he will have a much better idea of how to manage everything.

I am so happy to be home now and back in the studio. I launched immediately into a huge oil painting of a waterfall I photographed on the drive home from Calgary. Quickly realized that I had bitten off a bit too much for the first piece after a 2 week absence from painting. I put the piece aside and started a 34 x 48" acrylic beach painting. It's about 1/3 of the way along and is going well so far. I hope to take it to the Adele Campbell Gallery when I go to Whistler to teach at the end of the week.

The piece in this post is from my trip to Italy. I put the final touches on it this morning. "A Road in Puglia" 24 x 30" acrylic.

Color sketches

I tried something a little different today in the studio. I am going to be doing a demo this Saturday at Granville Fine Arts Gallery as part of the Artwalk event that day- 11:30 to 1:30 if you're in the neighbourhood.

 I'm planning to paint one of my images from the Italian trip but I wasn't sure which one. I decided to try several 8 x 10" colour sketches. The goal was to be quick, use a big brush and leave out as much detail as possible. I spent less than an hour on each of the three paintings I did.

I had fun, although it was stressful to work that fast and not get into detail. I know this is a very good exercise for me and I plan to do it a lot more- I think my work sometimes suffers from too much detail.

Bye the way, I chose the bottom image to paint as my demo.

I finally finished this painting today- it's the one I was working on at Painter's Lodge. I've been teaching a lot of workshops lately. Other than a three day workshop at Whistler in July, I'm finished with teaching until the fall now. Hopefully I'll get back to more painting time in the studio.

Alan and I leave for the Western Art Show at the Calgary Stampede at the end of the month. Alan will be sharing a booth with our good friend, Rick McDiarmid. This is our first time so we will see how it all unfolds- should be quite an adventure.

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..........