I just spent 5 weeks of acrylic classes with this lovely group of people. The next session will be here in Fort Langley, starting in October. Details will be on my website.

Revamp

      
This is the reference for the painting below. The painting was done about a year ago and I just recently got it back from one of my galleries. I think this is a classic example of following the reference photo too literally. After pondering the painting for a while, I decided that the black sand was too somber and also that the featured wave needed to be more interesting.
     
I decided to repaint the original acrylic painting in oils and to lighten the sand and revamp the waves. I think it's much improved. "Shoals and Riffles"  36 x 36" oil.

Beaches

We started this year with a trip to San Jose, Mexico. Alan and I have 2 great galleries that we are represented by, down there- The Old Town Gallery in San Jose , and The Golden Cactus Gallery, in Cabo. I love the beaches in the area and since we got home, I've been working on a series of beach paintings. These are oil paintings, and each one is teaching me more about working with oils. Painting #3 is well along.

I've gone through a lot of cobalt blue so went off to Opus yesterday to get a big new tube- wow- cost about $100.00! Too bad I love that colour so much.

Spring classes are about to begin. I have weekly classes starting in Fort Langley in March, plus a weekend class in West Van in April. Just booked a summer class in Whistler in August. All details are on my website if you're interested.

Pine times 2

                                                Against the Sky  22 x 24" oil

Against the Sky- study 14 x 11" acrylic

Now and then I like to do a small study first, before I do a larger version of an image. I had fun doing both pieces and learned some things from the study that, I think, helped make the final version stronger. I wanted the rocks to be looser and for the shape of the tree to be less busy. I painted the final version in oil so I could really blend the transitions in the sky. I do like the drips in the study though.

Raven I & Raven II

Here's the newest two raven pieces. They are 9 x 12's and have been delivered to the Birthplace of BC Gallery in Fort Langley today.

Creatures

These are three of my recent animal series paintings. I'm still exploring the textured abstract backgrounds with realistic subjects. I'm having way too much fun and getting more confident as I do each new one. The white chicken was done right after the crows. After the uber- colourful background in the crows, I suddenly felt the need for extreme colour restraint, so I started the chicken piece with black.

Bully Boys

"Bully Boys"   18 x 24" acrylic

This is another painting done on hardwood panel. I'm into experimenting with texture right now and marrying the realistic with the abstract. I started the background first, then roughed in the calves. Then I went back to working on the background with a lot of drips and scratching and dragging through the wet paint. Once everything was dry, I finished the calves and then went back into the background with more negative and positive shapes. I kept to a limited palette for this painting: ultramarine blue, quin red, quin gold, quin burnt orange, dioxazine purple and white.