Some Like it Hot

A still life from real life. How often do we look at these things without actually seeing them? This was a challenge to paint but I was very happy with the result. I gifted this to a friend who is particularly fond of heat.

Old Dogs

Old Hush Puppies never die, they lead a second life as a pair of gardening shoes. This particular pair belong to my husband (who thought I'd lost my mind when I told him that I was going to paint them!) I had fun experimenting with various techniques on this one. 16x16 Acrylic

Just for fun...

"Where's Wonderland?" "Delusions of Grandeur" - a gift to a friend. "Masters of Disguise"

Red Armchair

This one's a little different. It's a scene in an hotel room that has seen better days. 24x24 acrylic.

Don't mind if I do...

My husband claims to have a pet crow which he attracts to the deck railing with "treats". The treats have grown more elaborate over time and "Old Blackie" is living the good life. I joked to Jake that soon he would be feeding it cupcakes! 20x30 acrylic.

Crows

I really love watching crows. I'm convinced they have personalities and I'm impressed by the fact that they mate for life. Being black, they are tricky to paint and I'm still working on getting it right. "Nevermind"

You might want to hand over those fries...

This fellow was very bold (or he really wanted to have his portrait done). The painting was an exercise in foreshortening and I am rather pleased with the way it turned out.

Patience

This was an interpretation of a photo I took at the Gibsons wharf. It's a working wharf with a wide variety of fishing boats. This was a cloudy day and what impressed me most were the reflections of support wires on the water. This painting has been donated to a charity auction. 16x20 acrylic.

Seagulls

Seagulls are plentiful around here, so they make easy reference material for paintings. I actually quite enjoy watching their antics and I'm inclined to assign them human characteristics. The Board Meeting Domestic Dispute Domestic Harmony

Stillettos

Shoes are fascinating to paint - lots of curves and angles and detail. I couldn't actually wear any of these, so maybe it was my alter-ego telling me to paint them. They are titled from song lyrics. Each shoe is 6x6 inches on board and the boot is 6x12 inches.

Sirens

The salmon Siren inspired a small series of "Substantial Sirens". These paintings are all 8x8 inches, on board.

This was my 2007 donation to the Gibsons Salmon Festival auction. Called "A Siren of Substance", she is painted on a four foot long plywood cutout. This is a fun exercise that forces you to think outside of the box (or rectangle)and I credit last year's entry for inspiring me to pick up a paint brush again.

Curiosity Shop

This is the kind of place that will draw me in like a magnet and keep me rummaging around for hours. There are treasures to be had here! I admit to being rather proud of this painting as it is my largest (24x30) and most complicated painting to date.

This was painted as a thankyou gift to a fellow artist. Clarence creates fabulous art and carvings in his studio in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. It is approximately 7x10, on paper.

Bliss

In January of 2007, I had the opportunity to take a weekend workshop with local artist, Greta Guzek. I admire Greta immensely both as an artist and a person. She is also a marvellous teacher, providing the right amount of guidance, without over-influencing the painting. That weekend was better than going to a spa! Here is the result of the weekend's efforts; a painting (20x24) taken from a photograph of a Cuban scene. I chose this subject because I wanted the challenge of trying various textures and figures. I could never come up with a satisfactory title for this piece. It remains in my "collection" (fancy way of saying it is stacked against the wall).

Baroque and Bugs

My next effort was rather ambitious. I had an idea for something somewhat surreal. I was not satisfied with the first version with the hand, however (I thought it appeared disconnected to the body) and despite labouring over the painting of it (hands are difficult!), I happily painted over it and added a few more bugs. There's two layers of Latin text on the final version too, although it doesn't show up very well in the photo. The border on the left has been distorted by the camera. This is on a 16x20 canvas. First Version: Final: Basic traslation of the Latin: :It was like that when I got here"!

Onward

I've decided to post a few pictures everyday until I get caught up. Hopefully a progression (read that as "improvement") will be noticeable as I will post them more-or-less in chronological order. This was my first effort after "Incodnito". It's very small - 8x8 inches on canvas board. Tentative first steps. No reference & I think the inspiration came from a story I had read. The title is almost as big as the painting; A Dapper Little Man on a Stout Horse, Backwards". Trying to find a style, I emulated one of my favourite artists, James Christensen in this little diptich. Each panel is 8x12. I gave the paintings to my nieces. Here's "Soup" (bad title, but I struggled on this one). And then I bravely tackled real-life. I really wanted to paint my friend's dearly departed cat. I was surprised that I managed to get a reasonable likeness. She was pleased with the result anyway. Still small; 8x8 on canvas board.

A Change of Direction

Yes, it has been quite a while. Truth is, I haven't created a sculpted character in well over a year. I can't quite explain it - I just "hit a wall". My timing was poor, since I was right smack dab in the middle of a commission, but I suddenly realised that I just wasn't enjoying it the way I used to. At least I wasn't getting out of it what I needed to, creatively. I hadn't run out of ideas (far from it!) but the actual construction process was just too much hard work and too slow. I'm an "instant gratification" kind of person. Besides that, my sales fizzled and I wasn't prepared to give them away. So that is the whole sad story.... Well, actually, it's not. You can't keep a creative soul unfulfilled. Around the same time, a friend was organizing a local salmon festival. She had produced over a hundred 4ft long plywood fish. These were to be embellished by local artisans and auctioned off. She talked me into doing one, so I grabbed my craft paints and went at it. "Incodnito" is the result. Since then, I haven't stopped painting (I'm using better quality paints these days), and while I haven't given up entirely on the characters, I haven't felt the urge to revisit that artform quite yet. Maybe later...