Sweet Peas

I left the painting at this point ...

... and after several glazes, playing warm against cool [using alizarin crimson and W/N red] I think I am done. I want the red to be the complete focus, so I won't put in any background.

Sweet Peas
7 x 8 inches, unframed
$80.00 [this includes shipping cost, too]
Please leave me a note if you would love to be able to hang these beauties.

The source of my inspiration - sweet peas on the left, red runner beans on the right. My landlady grows them every year.

Bruno, and GATE #1

I hope you can see the sweet peas on the far left on the patio, and a bit of GATE #2 on the far right.

There is a story that goes with the painting. Of course!
Bruno has had a sporadic case of gate-phobia. Whether it's a hold-over of his days racing or something else, I don't know. But more often than not, I have to spend a fair part of our ride schooling him past and through gates. Lately, because the ground is so dry and hard, I have been using the entire back lawn, riding out of the gate to his paddock, up the hill, around trees and through the main gate of the property. He has become a bit more stubborn at the main gate lately. He absolutely turns to stone, and will not move - other than tossing his head, or trying to run away from it. MUCH patience is needed on my part! We were schooling on the lawn a few days ago, and it was frustrating. And then, all of a sudden I was enveloped by the glorious aroma of the sweet peas. Wonderful calming effect. :)  So that is the story of the wonderful sweet peas.

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

A Day at Arts Off Main Gallery

This is the new home-away-from-home for my art ...

This is my wall of infamy. :)
I think there are eight artists involved in the coop as members. We each have a wall for display, and the wall spaces are rotated every two to three months, so we all get different exposure. I also have some of my work at LUT, a clothing boutique, about a block away. There is so much wall space there, and the owner loves to have art on the walls, so we sell there, too.

Acrylics, encaustic, photography, ceramics and pottery, jewelry ...

We all print cards of our work - the shop is very popular for really different cards.  You can see my little red hen and Pigaro on the upper right.

This is looking down the length of the gallery.

Love the tiles. I think I'd like to try making some.

Beautiful silver jewelry ...

... and some fun polymer earrings.

We also have a fabulous framer on site. Liz is there Wednesday to Sunday, from 11:30 to 2:30. She framed my latest chicken painting, did a wonderful job [and you all k now how fussy I am] and charged maybe a third of what I have been paying at the larger galleries.
Arts Off Main is literally just off Main Street in Vancouver, on 28th Avenue. It is in quite an arty area - lot of antique stores, cool boutiques, coffee shops ... almost anything. It is a true cooperative. There are eight members, and probably twenty artists there on consignment. We all take turns working in the store, which is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11:30 to 5:30. I believe the hours and days are extended in November and December. I must admit, I am learning a lot about art presentation, promotion and sales working there. And the atmosphere is, for me, energizing and artistically stimulating. If you live in or about Vancouver, or if you are visiting, I highly recommend a visit to the gallery!

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

It's Windy Enough to Blow Me Out of the Saddle, So I Paint

The scent of the honeysuckle and the sweet peas right now is absolutely divine. So I grabbed my camera yesterday, and got a snootful of the glorious aroma while taking a few reference photos. These are two relatively small [about 8 x 8 inches] paintings I am currently working on.

Our superb summer weather is shifting a bit, and a strong wind has come in overnight, before rain tomorrow. I'll have to see if I can muster the courage to ride Bruno today - he tends, like most horses - to get rather full of himself when the weather is like this.

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

Are We There Yet?????

I left Miss Krystie here ...

And, believe it or not,  I have done a fair bit of glazing, both wet-in-wet and dry-brush. I darkened all of her left side in shadow, and touched up the face. I also lightly painted some strokes of thin black on the perimeter of the painting. And I am appalled at how poorly this portrait has come up on the screen, I am almost considering not posting! It is so lacking in richness of color and depth. Never mind. I will take her to Peggy for approval tomorrow.
Sorry about the rant, but there is no comparison between the screen image and the real thing.

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

Background ... Here I Go!

Miss K. before I started ...

This was a variegated w/w wash of aureolin and quin. burnt orange. It seems to have softened her look quite nicely.

Another varied w/w wash, using quin. burnt orange and quin. violet. 

More of the same technique, with quin. violet and alizarin crimson.

Now, I am subduing the colors a bit. I lifted in a few spots, with wet sponge and paper towel, and then did a thin wash of quin. burnt orange. The next glaze will be a very thin one of indanthrone blue.
I read an article about Rogger Oncoy in the last issue of The Art of Watercolour.  He tends to paint his backgrounds last, and said that it was at this stage that many paintings were ruined. I couldn't agree more!

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

I got the blue done faster than I thought. Here she is ...

Here She Is ... the Gold-laced Wyandotte

Pretty Lady
8.5 x 8.5 framable image
Just the chicken, the pigment and the paper. If you bought her, I would ensure she arrived safe and sound, even if Bruno and I had to do an imitation of the Pony Express to hand-deliver it!
$105.00

Here are the stages. After getting the chicken in fair order, I did a w/w background with aureolin, qui.gold and phthalo blue. In later stages, I added quin. pink to the mixture. I wanted something suggestive of leaves.

I did several glazes of the dark area behind the leaves on the shadowed side.

Then I started glazing the leaves in shadow to give some differentiation and depth. I played with the darks of the leaves, and added more detail to the feathers, and ... voila!

Thank you very much for dropping by! Your comments are always welcome.

Cackleberry-maker

I started this with a w/w wash of quin. gold, let it dry, and then did another variegated wash with quin. burnt orange and quin. violet. 

The shadows of the comb and wattles I did in a violet and orange mixture.

Then went over all with cadmium red.

I added all the details, and here she is.
I had never heard the word "cackleberry" till a few years ago, and it still makes me laugh!
The painting is nether framed nor mounted.
The framable size is 7.5 x 4.5 inches.
$75.00

This is the other hen I have started - still a WIP. I found I needed something bright to work on, to alternate with all the darks of the cocker spaniel.

As always, thank you for dropping by. Your comments are most welcome!

Horse Woes

Bruno has these small bumps spread irregularly all over the large mass of his body. They are called "protein bumps". Actually they are collagen deposits, and usually associated with some allergic reaction.

They are on the area where the saddle rests, so I'm not riding till this clears up. In Bruno's case, I think there are several possible factors involved. For one, he is on the new hay. I am sure it has a higher level of protein, so I will have to buy a lower-protein pellet mixture for his feed. Also, he is getting his winter coat. Not only have I found horses to have more sensitive skin at this time of coat change, it is still quite warm, so he may be sweating more. Mustn't forget the bugs - the flies and mosquitoes are always a problem in the summer, and sometimes a horse will get a more severe reaction to bites.
I am not sure if a bath with some soothing soap would help much, other than relieve any itchiness, and he doesn't seem to be itchy. I might get some antihistamine, and dose him with that for a few days. I have put out a call to my trainer, and will try the vet later today. For now, His Imperial Chubbiness is enjoying a break.

Thank you for visiting, and your comments are always welcome!

Krystie's Saga Continues ...

I am still playing with the darks ... 

 ... a violet-black for her face, left [in the painting] ear and body, and a blue-black for the right ear. I also did a thin black glaze over the eye in shadow. That felt a bit risky, but turned out well. More darkening to do yet, and then a background. The owner wants greens, so maybe some thin glazes suggesting stylized leaves.

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

She Is Starting to Look Like a Cocker Spaniel ... a Process

FINALLY started Krystie. I had been procrastinating because she is not an easy subject, and I wanted to do a super job.
 I masked, and put down two w/w washes - a greyed blue, using indanthrone blue, and a purple, made up of quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone. Then I started the ears, using the same three pigments. I painted w/w, trying from the very beginning to create some sense of the wavy hair. 

I did the upper torso, neck and part of the head, then removed the masking, and stroked in some quin. burnt orange for her tan patches.  The eyes I did w/w, with several glazes, and used some alizarin crimson on the inner canthus and lower lid.

More w/w everywhere, and some direct painting to suggest the hair texture.

I honestly didn't think I would get this far. Painting all the texture of the hair was quite a job, but I think it looks credible. The eyes appear a bit off to me right now, but when the shadows are done, I think they will be fine. Spaniels have heavy upper lids, so there is a lot of shadowing. More glazing to be done, but I feel I am on the right track.

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

Daylily

Unfortunately, this painting was framed before I could take a photo, so the image is distorted, but ... 

Daylily
framed with a beautiful dark wood
image size 10 x 14 inches
frame size 19.5 x 23.5 inches
$560.00

I am having trouble figuring out how to change the paypal price for each post. If you would love to buy this, please leave me a note! Thank you very much!!

I Am Starting a New Theme on the Blog

White Hollyhock
11.5 x 7.25 inches
$165.00 Cdn

About once a week or so, I will be posting a painting, offering it for sale.
This painting is unmatted and  unframed, making it much more convenient to mail. The pigments are color-fast, and of the highest quality, and the paper is Arches 140 lb. cold press. The shipping is not included in the price - I imagine it would be about $20.00.