A Visit to Hycroft House

Porte cochere/ main entrance to Hycroft.

My beautiful niece/model in one of the gorgeous sun rooms.

It is lovely and cozy, with a fantastic view.

One of the larger rooms for entertaining.

Another warm sitting room.

Paulina is checking out the books in the library.

Beautiful stained- glass leaded windows 

An Italian garden 

Back of the house, leading to the gardens

A few days ago, I received an invitation from my friend and fabulous watercolor painter, Leslie Redhead. She is having an exhibition of her work at Hycroft manor. I thought Paulina [my niece] would like to go with me. She loved it, and wants to do more things like this. [My auntie's heart is thrilled!] We viewed Leslie's great landscape paintings, chatted with Leslie and some of her students and painters, and then went off exploring. These are some of the photos I took. I could easily spend a week there, photographing and sketching - it is GORGEOUS!!!
A bit of history ... The house was commissioned by a Vancouver businessman, Alexander Duncan McRae. The architect was Thomas Hooper. The home was completed in 1911, and was apparently well-known for its balls and parties. The McRae family sold the property to the federal government for $1.00, to be used by the federal department of veterans' affairs. The University Women's Club purchased the property in the early 60's, and restored it superbly. That is its story to date.
I am posting a link to Leslie's blog - I know you will enjoy the visit!
http://www.leslieredheadart.blogspot.com

Thank you so much for dropping by, and your comments are most welcome!

The Cushy Shoes ... Holes and All

These are my favorite, most comfortable shoes. They have seen a lot of wear, and sadly we may have to part soon.

I've had to mask, using Pebeo this time.
I have done one graded wash of aureolin, and two of quin. burnt orange.

Another graded wash of quin. burnt orange and quin. violet.

Yet another - this time orange, violet and indanthrone, with some thicker mixture dropped in for the shadows.

I've done several washes of the orange, violet and indanthrone, and the last two were of violet and indanthrone only, to get really dark.

Now, I am starting on a road map of the shoes. With all the mesh of the shoe material, and the laces, it is quite complicated. I am also trying to come up with a drawing for a narrow street scene - my version of a landscape.

Thank you for dropping by, and your comments are always welcome!

The Evolution of Sludge ... or ... Why I Don't like Painting Landscapes

The reference photo was a lovely, brooding, foggy scene of Verona by the old Roman bridge. I have tried to maintain the misty look. I am using suitably subdued mixtures of aureolin, brown madder and indanthrone blue.

This is as far as I'll probably go with this painting. I could darken the bridge, and lift some spots to be more precise about the reflections but the latest pair of shoes is grabbing my attention.

Thank you for visiting. Your comments are always welcome!

Meanwhile ... Back at the Swamp ...

I've been playing around with landscapes. I wish I could be doing this in some hillside Italian village, but ...
 This is on "0" Avenue, the road following the U.S./Canada border. At one point, there is a fabulous swampy area. I drive by it several times a month, and have always found it quite attractive - in a marshy sort of way.
When starting something new, I tend to be quite tentative. You can see this in the photo.

I've strengthened it a bit, but it still needs oomph.

Another view of the swamp.
I enjoyed painting these two, and I have another more complicated one on the board to paint, as well as another pair of shoes.

Thank you for dropping by. Your comments are always welcome.

Odds and Ends ... More Odd than Anything Else!

The photos came up in reverse order. However ...
I took this and the one below of Fat Bastard [her favorite] to take in when I visited my aunt. She is still in the hospital - hopefully set free today!

Hoping for a raisin ...

You KNOW I made some touch-ups - can't resist. It's signed, and cropped to about the size it will be when mounted on the cradled frame. [still waiting for the wood stain to dry]

This one is done, too, and will also be mounted on a cradled frame and varnished.

While waiting for the stain to dry, I've been playing around with some landscapes.  Both are renderings of La Specola observatory in Padua, where Galileo made some of his brilliant, paradigm-shattering discoveries on our place in the solar system.

Thank you for dropping by, and your comments are always most welcome!

Feeling a Lot like Nero, Playing His Violin While Rome Burned...

I have darkened the greens with a thin glaze of the same violet I am using on the petals.  To bring the eye more to the upper right, I am glazing the petals with a warm [more pink] or cool violet - permanent rose and indanthrone blue. This is another painting I want to mount and varnish, to show at the gallery in Vancouver next month. The allusion to Nero is that I feel it's too much time spent on something this small [6 x 8 inches] and that won't sell.   Yes, I am having a bit of a bad day with regards to my painting. Probably a good time to leave this, and go play with Bruno! 

It's Been a Long Time, but ... PROCESS ...

This poor clematis was planted about five years ago, and never bloomed till this year. It is really making up for lost time. The blossoms are huge - probably ten inches across - and profuse. And the flower itself, as you can see, is gorgeous! It must be all that good composted horse manure. :)

This is my reference photo for a smaller painting - 6 x 8 inches.

I start with the greens - the background colors are a mix of quin. gold and phthalo green[YS]. The inner color is aureolin with a touch of pink and cobalt blue.

For the shadows, I am painting all w/w, using cobalt blue and pink. I use a grey mix [cobalt blue, aureolin and pink] for some of the darkest areas, then glaze over with the pink and blue. I am darkening the greens with phthalo green, quin. gold and alizarin crimson.

Here, I have put a mat around the painting to see how it looks. 

And here is where I am now, still playing with the pink and blue to get more depth.
A few people have asked me if I intend to varnish all my watercolors. This one will certainly be mounted on a 6 x 8 inch cradled frame and varnished. And I am just staining the frame to mount the sexy shoes. I don't think I'll varnish all the work I do, but some of the fun, smaller paintings - yes.

As always, it's great that you visited, and your comments are most welcome.