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COVID-creations

Andrew and I were scheduled to have a 2-person show this summer. What with the COVID situation, the show was cancelled and yet… we still have all that work in our studio! I’ll show you what’s been happening on my side of the studio over the past year or so, below. Larger versions of this work can be found in Nature Work and Landscapes.

I’ve made progress on finding a surface that really works for me (Arches oil painting paper) and have started seeing a personal style develop. This is something most artists strive for and I’m very happy to see it and to push myself to keep on track with it.

All work is for sale (unless indicated). Please email Faye if you are interested.

Small Birds of BC – Series 1

View larger images in Nature Work.
  • Western Bluebird, oil on paper, 5”x7”
  • The Purple Finch, oil on paper, 5”x7”
  • The Semipalmated Plover, oil on paper, 5”x7”
  • Gold-crowned Kinglet, oil on paper, 5”x7” SOLD
  • Wee Chickadee (Black-capped chickadee), oil on paper, 5”x7” SOLD
  • Grey-headed, dark-eyed Junco, oil on paper, 5”x7”
My first set of 6 small bird paintings. The original paintings are for sale (unless indicated) as well as a set of 6 greeting cards (on demand). Please email Faye if you are interested. Individual cards can be purchased at Picture Perfect Gallery.

Small Birds of BC – Series 2

View larger images in Nature Work.
  • The Western Tanager, oil on paper, 5”x7”
  • The North American Robin, oil on paper, 5”x7”
  • Stellar’s Jay, oil on paper, 5”x7”
  • Tree Swallow, oil on paper, 5”x7”
  • Black-capped Chickadee, oil on paper, 5”x7”
  • Anna’s Hummingbird, oil on paper, 5”x7”
My second set of 6 small bird paintings. The original paintings are for sale (unless indicated) as well as a set of 6 greeting cards (on demand). Please email Faye if you are interested.

The Mean One

Studio landscapes

Working on composition and the flow of the eye as well as painting style on the wonderful oil paper.
A closer and more abstract view of the landscape and light we see in the forests here in BC. Working with colour and visual texture.
One of my favourites because of the contrasting light and balance of structural and organic details.
A local farm scene (Sooke) and the texture of rock formations in Jasper, Alberta
An in-progress view of Jasper mountains.
A wet coast scene at Cattle Point and a flowing Athabasca river.
Ocean and forest.
Everyone loves an old barn.
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Size Matters

My last post was a while ago but it’s interesting that it ends off saying that I wanted to paint bigger… because I’m painting bigger now! Well, sometimes. Painting en plein air with a large panel is difficult because you turn into a human kite. So mostly I’m bigger in the studio. I have been working on a few low tide scenes. All that variation in colour and texture is so fun to play with, it allows me to add more colour and use the palette knife on the more hard-edged stones and the depth of field helps me to work on composition – drawing the viewer’s eye into the scene. It’s all just huge fun.

Here’s a piece in progress (below). I believe I have just a bit more work to do – on the upper left side rocks. Since it’s so big, it has taken several long studio sessions and as I am back at work after vacation now, even more 1 hour sessions after work. I’m using a solvent-free medium rather than linseed oil to loosen the paint and it creates the ability for me to use transparent layers of colour. Very nice. However, if you use too much of it, the medium won’t layer on top of itself anymore – it just pools. Live and learn, people. Live and learn.

The Sidney Fine Arts Show is being adjudicated right now so we’ll see if either my work or Andrew’s is accepted. Hopefully both!

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Falling into Place

Frosty roofs and thin crystalline ice on the ponds tell me winter has arrived here on the wet coast. As I walk through the woods to work I think to myself that I should be stopping to paint here where the mist is rising off tall golden grasses or take reference photos of the red shards of light from the low-sitting sun reflecting on tall, bare trees.

Our lives are finally finding a routine, a pattern, as we work our way out of the funk which the late spring brought. Friday morning sessions with the Al Frescoes plein air painters is one sure way to anchor that pattern to our passion for art. Another is my morning mediation routine which provides my brain and body a chance to let go and float into a more peaceful day.

My plein air work is still a fight. I’m working my way towards more abstract work. It’s taking more time and effort than I ever imagined. Though I am not complaining when it involves being outside in such beautiful surroundings.

Walking Into the Fall, plein air and studio oil on cradled panel, 8” x 24”