Iris (ii)

Iris (ii)
6x6"
Oil on Panel

I started on a big Kokanee painting today. I think it's going to be weirder than I though going from 6 inches to 6 feet. It's fun though, and I think the precision of the smaller works will help refine my looser big works - and the big work will loosen my small works. That's what I'm hoping anyway. I painted some little cherries after I'd laid down the colours and shapes on the big canvas. I definately felt less 'linear' after warming up with a 4" brush. I'll post the cherries tomorrow and maybe some of the process of the kokanee if I'm feeing brave.

Iris (i)

Iris (i)
Oil on Gesso Panel
6x6"

I saw so many Irises in Santa Fe that I had to have a go at painting them - so beautiful!

Painting in Hope Valley

"Summertime, and the living is easy..Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high ... "

Well, almost summertime. I went out painting with fellow Tahoe artists Bonita Paulis and Penny Shrawder yesterday, to a beautiful area just south of where I live called Hope Valley. It was the first day of good weather in quite a while, and I was desperate to get out of the studio. The recent rains have made all the greens greener in the landscape, and that warm lushness is perfectly complemented by the blue snow capped mountains in the distance.

There were people fishing on the river, and the occasional whoops and cheers indicated that the fish were indeed jumping (albeit on the end of a line, sadly) There was some curiosity about these three smudged women standing at easels on the riverbank, but thankfully the fish were of more interest and we were left alone for the most part.

I was interested in capturing some of the energy of the landscape, rather than try to make a finished piece.

I gave a demonstration at Lake Tahoe Community College on Tuesday evening, to the ceramics students. I had been asked to paint some of my Kokanee on clay, in the loose style of my mixed media pieces, and then if it went well to show the students how I did it. It did go well actually, I was pleasantly surprised at the watercolour effect the glazes made. Explaining something you do instinctively is a little challenging, and it's been many years since I taught. Being able to paint at the same time as talking took the pressure off though, as it's easier to show someone how a flick of the wrist can mimick the movement of a fish tail in water than try and shape your words around the motion. I'll post the demo pieces once they are fired.

With this in mind, I approached this landscape with the same idea of looseness and confidence in your instinct. It was so refreshing and liberating. I was also aware of the value studies we did with Carol in Santa Fe, and found myself boldly laying in light and shade in an abstract way. I'll be returning to the valley with my oils in the next few days if the weather stays good, I'm excited about this composition now, and want to take it to towards a finished piece.

Apple Values
Oil on Canvas Panel
Email me if you would like to purchase this painting

Conversations

Conversations
Oil on Canvas (Diptych)
80x30"

I just finished this today...Irises next!

Limey

Limey
Oil on Canvas Panel
4x7"

'Limey' is an old American and Canadian slang nickname for the British, originally referring to British sailors. The term is believed to derive from lime-juicer, referring to the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy practice of supplying lime juice to British sailors to prevent scurvy. The benefits of citrus juice were well known at the time thanks to the acute observations of surgeon James Lind who noticed that the cabbage eating Dutch had fewer problems with scurvy. Limes were used over lemons due to limes being more readily available from Britain's own Caribbean colonies. The term is thought to have originated in the Caribbean in the 1880s. A false etymology is that it is a derivative of "Corr-blimey" ("God blind me!").

Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff
Oil on Panel
6x6"

I've been busy wrapping two big pictures to send to the Marji Gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe today - quite the task as one of them is over 4 feet long, although I'm working on an even bigger one for them right now. After applying about an acre of bubble wrap, cardboard and duck tape I think they're finally done. I think I've been in America too long..inches, acre? what happened to the metric system I grew up with?

Anyway, yesterday was an interesting day - I had a visit from a chap who wants a painting of Pyramid Lake, and he is collecting works of the same subject for a potential touring exhibition in Nevada. He brought me copies several works inspired by Pyramid Lake which have been completed in the last 100 years. These, along with my painting will be in the exhibition celebrating beautiful area north of Reno. I'm really excited to get started on this - I've never worked on something in this context before, and I think it'll be a real challenge. It's also a fab excuse to go back there, it's soooo beautiful.

The closest I've come is when I did a project with the Royal Oak Hotel in Betws y Coed, North Wales. Our aim was to resurrect the historic link between the hotel and the Betws y Coed Artists Colony, active in Victorian times. The founder was artist David Cox, and the artists used to gather at the Royal Oak Hotel after a day's painting, no doubt to drink beer and argue about aesthetics (no change in artist behaviour there). Interestingly, the old stables where my gallery was (across the road from the hotel) apparently housed the less wealthy artists, who didn't mind bedding down in the hay with the horses. I liked that idea (not just for the history) more than working in a swanky studio actually - we had cobblestone floors, vaulted ceilings and wonky stone and slate walls we would climb on quiet days. The Royal Oak purchased a great deal of my work, both for the restaurant, and for their sister hotel, The Waterloo. My prints hang in every bedroom of that 4 star hotel, and fill the restaurant walls at the Oak.

I still puff up a little with pride when I remember that.

Ray of Sunshine

Ray of Sunshine
Oil on Canvas Panel
6x6"

When I got back form Santa Fe, Taylor had bought me these lovely sunflowers! So I had to paint one...this was the most difficult subject yet, I had a really hard time with it. I'll try again soon when I've recovered!