Meet Leslie Redhead

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed me to ask if I would like to be involved in the blog hop. I was thrilled, as Leslie has been a very good friend for me in the art world. She is always there to answer questions and give advice. And she even adjudicated my work for full active membership in the Federation of Canadian Artists. She is a full-time artist and art instructor, living in Vancouver with her husband and two teenagers, and the infamous Twilight. I have met her wonderful family, and even had Twilight stay with me over Christmas holidays recently.
I find Leslie's work to be beautiful, rich and vibrant. She is an inspiration to me, as well as a friend and mentor. Leslie has given me some information to post, as well as her brilliant painting of a milkweed pod. It is one of my favorites as well. I must admit, though, that I first fell in love with her poured watercolors. She is a master of this technique, so I am going to include a few of my favorites of her work in this genre.

Willie's Bakery

Bridge to Ronda

The Harmony Gate

The Matisse

Strands of Silk

Leslie was born in Murray, UT and was raised in Maryland where she was exposed to all the wonderful art that the museums of Washington, DC had to offer. Her degree is in Zoology because she planned on doing scientific illustration. However, after a move to Boston and the birth of two children, she began painting and teaching more in watercolor. Eight years ago her family moved to Canada which is where Leslie's husband is from. Leslie's paintings are in private and corporate collections worldwide. She recently graduated with a Master of Education in Art from the University of Victoria and has signatures with Northwest Watercolor Society (NWWS), Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC), and the Federation of Canadian Artists (AFCA). Leslie continues to teach and conducts workshops in Canada, the U.S., and Spain. Her work is featured in Splash 10: Passionate Brushstrokes from the Splash: Best of Watercolor series, Leslie Redhead: the life of an artist, and Making It! Case Studies of Successful Canadian Artists.

Leslie currently resides in Vancouver, BC with her husband, two children, and dog. She is represented by Madrona Gallery in Victoria, BC. More of Leslie’s work can be seen at http://www.leslieredhead.com and http://leslieredheadart.blogspot.com

Thank you for dropping by. I hope you enjoyed Leslie's work as much as I do!

Just a Quick Update ...

Wet paint! Just finished up another botanical of blackberries that I started when working on the hawthorn berries.

Reference photo of Maggie. She is a very striking, almost eerie-looking dog ... very wild-looking. It must be those yellow eyes. And it is hard to get a good photo of her. She rarely is still. She has settled in well though - no more disappearing shoes or slippers, and no more new holes being dug in the yard. And she comes when called, at a flat-out run. :)

My drawing, done with a grid, has been traced onto watercolor paper and ready to be worked on though I don't think I'll have time till Sunday to work on it. 

I left the horse and rider painting here ...

Since then, I have darkened the horse [still need a bit at the front end]. The rider is done, though the tack and saddle pads need  some touching up. And I am working on darkening the background - it seems to add depth to the painting overall. This is a reasonable approximation of the colors and values, though I find that the more color and depth you have in a painting, the more difficult [if not impossible] it is to capture the actual look of the work.
I am trying to savor each remaining morsel of summer, spending a lot of time outside. And I start teaching my first class this Saturday, so I've been picking up a few supplies, and giving thought to what I will do that first session. I was nervous when I found out I had 8 students, but that has passed. I think we will do washes the first class, and I will chat with each of the students to find out their art experience and class expectations.

Thank you for dropping by!!

Bruno Took on a Different Role Today ...

Miss Brielle up top with mom.

There was a big audience of great-grandma, grandma, grandpa and others. All the green foam at his lips is from the munch of grass he had while waiting for Miss B's diaper to be changed. One never rides in a soiled diaper :)

Bruno was so well-behaved and gentle.

My landlady's family was out today for a visit - it's so beautiful out here, and the weather is still summer-like.  As I was grooming Bruno, Henry [aka grandpa] watched with Brielle, who thought she'd like to try riding Bruno. While they watched, I lunged him, and then rode him, and he was extremely good, so I had no qualms about having wee tots on his back.  Brielle decided she'd like to have mom up there with her. So Katie got on, then we handed Brielle to her, and Katie put her in front. I walked them around for about 15 minutes, till Miss B. decided she'd had a long enough ride. She was very good and quiet, and I am so happy she had a great first- time experience with a horse. And Bruno was a super-star!

Get Your Red-Hot Hawthorn Berries HERE

Hawthorn berries
8.5 x 5.5 in.
22 x 14 cm.
$93.00 Cdn. plus $10.00 shipping anywhere

Sorry, I am having the devil of a time to get a paypal button to show on this page, but it is available through paypal.

Trying Out Some Botanical Painting while I Creep Up toward the Front of the Horse ...

Slowly working my way forward, doing detail work - tail done, hoof shadows, some  work on the tack ...

I started two botanical style paintings. These are hawthorn berries. The berries were started with quin. sienna. The leaves were done with a wash of aureolin, followed by quin. gold and phthalo green.

... glazed with alizarin crimson

... realized the reds and oranges were not going to give the depth of shadow I wanted, so did a dry brush glaze with a brown mixture.

Now I am back to glazing with sienna here, and will move to alizarin and see what I get.
Painting is 33 x 14 cm.

Blackberries - some berries were started with cobalt blue, the others with brown madder and a aureolin/brown madder/cobalt blue mixture.

Then I quickly got them dark - the berry on the left I tried to paint without masking, got impatient and masked the rest of the dark ones.

Now I have to go back and soften and play with the edges left by the masking.
This painting is 33 x 16 cm.

It's a gorgeous, sunny day here, but the wind is HOWLING! I'll have to wait till it calms a bit before going out to play with the lad. He's been feeling very feisty lately with the cooler weather.

Thank you for dropping by! 

It's a Beautiful Morning ...

I just had to get these photos just now, looking past the barn to the field and park beyond.

These two images are about the same stage, just different lighting/times of day when the photos were taken. I have most of the local color down. Now it's a matter of finishing the details, and taking a good, long look to see how dark I would like to take the background, and integrating the foreground with the background.
I have been doing double duty with animals, helping a neighbor, while she is away, with her two horses, two dogs and cat. So I haven't had as much time to paint, but it's coming along in the right direction.

Thank you for dropping by!!

Some Time Away from Horses and Watercolor ... and It Was GOOD

Heading down to the beach ...

... more stairs

some gorgeous views on the climb down

... and still more stairs

locals at the beach - got some good reference photos of the gulls

... and a steep climb back up

I spent Monday afternoon away from horses and painting, and visited a friend in White Rock. It is a lovely, still small and quaint town. I think it started out as a beach community, and moved up the hills over time. The beachfront is busy all year round, especially in summer. It's a lovely stretch of homes and shops and restaurants. Pearl and I hiked down through forest to the beach, and ambled along for a while.  Then we stopped for a lovely leisurely lunch. A bit more ambling on the sea-walk, then back up the dreaded hill. WOW ... it's steep! My calves are still stiff four days later, and I thought I was in reasonable shape :)

Thank you for dropping by!