Just Jack - A Work in Progress

We are having the typical rainy weather, which unfortunately seems to be normal for Hallowe'en.

Today, I came across a box of paintings that I did in the Still Life class at KAGS and I selected this one that was started a long time ago (see post on 12 December 2014).

After looking at the sketch I decided to remove the witch's hat on the Jack O' Lantern as it dragged the eye out of the drawing. I also had to change the name from "Jack in the Hat" to "Just Jack".














Next, I reworked the stem, followed by adjusting the outer edges of the pumpkin's shell and lastly, I changed the teeth on Jack's smile to make them a little more crooked.

Using new gamboge, I painted in the glowing eyes, nose and mouth.

I will post this painting at a later date once more work on it has been completed.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Countryside Art Group Blog - Show Updates

On the first of each month I will update the Countryside Art Group's blog with a listing of shows where the various artists in the Group are exhibiting their work.

If you get a chance come out and visit them at one or all of the shows.

ACEO - Pink Sky 7

Today I pulled out this painting that I had started a while ago (see posts on 26 December 2016 and December 2017) and wanted to get it completed.

Using burnt sienna, raw sienna, alizarin crimson and a small amount of French ultramarine blue I painted in the rocks on the far shoreline, and washed the colours over the large rock face in the foreground.

Making various greens from French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue, raw sienna and new gamboge I added some variations in colour into the background trees.

Next I darkened the greens with a little burnt sienna and painted the needles onto the foreground trees.

Using the greens and burnt sienna, I painted in the tree trunks and branches on the pine trees and the shadows on the rocks.

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Setting up the Nature's Splendour Exhibit at KAGS

Today I am at the Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio setting up the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Exhibit called Nature's Splendour.

Since Carol, Vera and I are co-conveners of this show we arrived early to measure out the floor space for the exhibitors and put their names on the wall with tape.













We were then able to set up our own displays. I started by setting my table up first and then took out my paintings from their containers and lined them up against the wall.

I put my largest painting over the table and placed my two smallest, a pair of framed ACEO beneath it.













Next I placed two pieces to the left side of the table on above the other.

From there I started on the right side of the table where I wanted a grouping of paintings and I staggered the paintings to create movement.















Now that all the paintings are hung in the wall I can set up the display on the table.

First I covered the table with a lace tablecloth, followed by placing the rack in the centre of the table and putting the shrink wraps in the rack.















I finished by putting the card rack with my biographies on the left and on the right I placed a small painting on an easel.

The show opens on 24 October and continues until 11 November, with the opening reception on Sunday 28 October from 1-4 p.m.

Silent Sumac I - A Work in Progress

Earlier this month (see post on 16 October 2018) I worked on a couple of pieces using elm leaves and today I thought I would set out sumac leaves.















I laid out a number of the compound leaves in various patterns until I was pleased with the design.

I will post this piece at a later date once it has been completed.

Abstract 45

This is the last technique we learned called a swipe pour in the Pour Your Heart Out workshop with Valerie Kent at the Cavan Art Gallery.

I used three different colours putting each one into separate cups, then adding Floetrol and water in all of them and adding from 1-3 drops of silicon.

In my first cup I used Mediterranean blue and added one drop of silicon.

In my second cup I used teal and added two drops of silicon and in my last cup I added three drops of silicon to silver paint.



















Each colour was poured onto the canvas in a loose circular coil shape much like a wave cresting.

Using a palette knife, putty knife or spatula spread the paint around and then roll the canvas slightly.

This original 2" x 2" acrylic painting and will be available with its own display easel for $25.00.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and enjoy the artwork.

Elegant Elm and Elegant Elm I - Two Works in Progress

Today I pulled out a box containing various leaves that I had pressed and dried earlier this month.

I started by picking out all the elm leaves that had been dried so I could decide how I would like to place them on a canvas for a mixed media painting.

I had two different sized canvases that I was planning to use for a series of paintings of different kinds of leaves.

On the larger one I hadn't painted the background colour onto the canvas, but on the smaller one I used a mixture of black and iridescent acrylic paint.

Next I placed the leaves onto the canvases and moved them around.

Elegant Elm

It took quite a while, but I finally found how I wanted them placed

I put the rest of the leaves away and I will have to decide what colour or colours I will paint the leaves before attaching them to the canvas.

I will post these pieces at a later date as more work on them is completed.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.


Elegant Elm I

ACEO - Dusk 4

Today I wanted to finish this painting that I had started last year (see posts on 08 March and 13 July 2017).

With a pale green of raw sienna and Antwerp blue, I put in the trees on the far side of the lake.

Next I added some French ultramarine blue to the green paint to darken it down and painted the three pine trees into the foreground.

Using various mixtures of raw sienna, new gamboge and aureolin I put in the grasses and growies at the base of the pine trees.

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork. I hope you will return often.

Abstract 40-44

The paintings shown here were created with the run off  paint from the bottle bottom pour (see post on 10 October 2018) in the "Pour Your Heart Out" workshop with Valerie Kent at the Cavan Art Gallery


















Abstract 40 SOLD

With the larger canvas raised up off the tray with a 3" (7'6cm) block the smaller canvases were placed under each of the edges to catch the paint as it dripped down.



















Abstract 41 SOLD

As paint covered each of the small canvases I tried to remove them and replace them with a new canvas.


















Abstract 42

For the most part, other than making sure that the paint flowed over the edges of the canvas, there was very little work that needed to be done to create some interesting paintings.



















Abstract 43 SOLD

Each of these canvases were set aside to dry as they were completed, with only the last canvas not having very much of the bright neon showing in the painting.



















Abstract 44

Abstract 40 through 44 are original 2" x 2" acrylic paintings and will be available with their own display easels for $25.00 each.

Creation VI

This is the fifth technique we learned and it is called a bottle bottom pour in the "Pour Your Heart Out" workshop with Valerie Kent at the Cavan Art Gallery.

First we mixed a little Floetrol into some white acrylic paint and put a thin layer across the canvas and set it aside to dry.

With three bright colours, in my case neon green, teal and Copenhagen blue, as well as black and white in individual containers, mixed with water to make them thin enough to pour easily.

We used the bottom 4" (10 cm) cut from a 2 litre (1.76 quarts) plastic bottle of (soda) pop and set it in the middle of the canvas, with the cut part on the canvas.



















Layer each of the colours one after another, in random order into the centre depression of the bottle bottom until the paint runs down onto the canvas.

Keep pouring the layers of' paint until it reaches all of the edges on the canvas and at this point carefully lift the bottle bottom off the canvas and set aside.

If the paint doesn't move into the centre area of canvas left by the bottle bottom, you can add a little of the paint into the empty space and move it around with a palette knife.

Creation VI is an original 12" x 12" acrylic painting and will be available for $250.00.

Garlic 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I was painting with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group and we had Gail Hawkins as our guest instructor.

She was going to demonstrate three different ways of painting in the negative, but unfortunately I could only stay for the first one.

In this one we lightly drew three cloves of garlic with the stems still attached onto our watercolour paper.

We wet the paper thoroughly, leaving the inside of the pencil lines untouched.

Next we brushed in various into pure colours of blues, reds, and yellows into the wet background allowing them to mix together on their own as we moved the paper to help the paint flow through the water.

Lastly, we sprinkled salt into the background before setting it aside to dry.

Once the background was dry I brushed off any access salt remaining on the paper and started to paint in the garlic.

I will post this painting at a later date once it is completed.

Burleigh Inn Pine Tree I - A Work in Progress

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

We have just returned from Algonquin Provincial Park and I thought I would do a little more work on this drawing that I had started last year at my first paint out (see posts on 08 June and 21 October 2017 and 02 August 2018) with the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Group.

I started by finishing the trunk on the big pine tree in the foreground first and then continued by completing the remaining tree limbs and added in all the pine needles.

From there I put in the three maple trees to the left side of the pine starting with the tree trunks first and then added in the tree branches followed by the leaves.

On the rocks in the foreground and background I added some of the small bushes, grasses and growies around the bases of the trees and into some of the cracks and crevices in the rocks.

Before putting this drawing away for the night I added some ripples into the water.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork.

Going Camping in Algonquin Provincial Park

Today we went up to Algonquin Provincial Park in Whitney, Ontario for the rest of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

We stayed at the Lake of Two Rivers Campground which is of course, located on Lake of Two Rivers.

Algonquin Provincial Park, was established on 27 May 1893 and is the oldest provincial park in Ontario and the first provincial park in Canada.

Facilities include lodges, campgrounds, scenic drives, hiking and skiing trails and over 930 miles (1,500 km) of lake and river canoe routes.















The park lies across the southern edge of the Canadian shield and is located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River and has Highway 60 running through the south end of the park, while the Trans-Canada Highway bypasses it to the north.

Additions since it was first created have increased the park to its current size of approximately 2,955 square miles (7,653 square kilometres).

The rolling landscape was smoothed and gouged by the glaciers that receded 10,000 years go during the last ice age which also created the over 745 miles (1,200 km) of streams and rivers and over 2,400 lakes which provide access by boat to the interior of the park.















The park is considered to be an area of transition between the Northern Ontario coniferous forest and the Southern Ontario deciduous forest. Due to this unique mixture of the different forest types and also the wide variety of environments within the park, it allows the park to support a wide diversity of both plant and animal life.

The on land the park is famous for its wolves and a wide variety of other animal species are common and almost 250 bird species have been recorded throughout the park. The cold, deep, lakes are home to trout, small-mouthed bass, pike, muskellunge and walleye can also be found.

In 1992 Algonquin Provincial Park was named a National Historic Site of Canada in recognition of its many heritage values, a few of which are its role in the development of park management; it being an important site for wildlife research; its role in inspiring artists, which gave many Canadians an appreciation of their country; pioneering visitor interpretation programs many of which were later adopted by both national and provincial parks across the Canada.















A new visitor centre complete with bookstore, museum and restaurant was opened in 1993 to celebrate Algonquin's centennial.

Algonquin Provincial Park is the only designated park within the province of Ontario to allow industrial logging to take place within its borders. Logging began in the 19th century, especially for white pine and today over 70% of the park is still subject to controlled logging.

Recently park planning and land use pressures and have led to a lot of public debate regarding the appropriate use and designation of the park, which in my opinion doesn't bode well for the Park.

The last thing I want to see is a subdivision in the middle of the park or the lakes being ruined by having hundreds of cottages and motorboat traffic destroying the peace and tranquility of these pristine areas.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Show Updates

I have updated the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog with a listing of shows some of the various artists in the Group are exhibiting their work in during the month of October.

If you get a chance come out and visit them at one or all of the shows.

Confirmed Shows for 2018-2019 - October

This is a listing of confirmed shows that I will be exhibiting my artwork at this year. I will update the list as more shows are added.

Knoepfli Inn, 5484 Highway #124 Magnetawan, Ont.
26 Jun - 03 Oct 18 Scenes of Magnetawan

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
26 Sep - 21 Oct 18 Driven to Abstraction
Opening Reception 30 Sep 18 from 1-4 p.m.
24 Oct - 11 Nov 18 Nature's Splendour - Outdoor Painters' Show
Opening Reception 28 Oct 18 from 1-4 p.m.
28 Nov - 21 Dec 18 and 02-20 Jan 19 On the Move
Opening Reception 03 Dec 18 from 1-4 p.m.
23 Jan – 24 Feb 19 Monochrome and Black and White
Opening Reception 27 Jan 19 from 1-4 p.m.
27 Feb - 24 Mar 19 Awakenings
Opening Reception 02 Mar 19 from 1-4 p.m.
27 Mar – 02 May 19 SPARK Photography Show
Opening Reception 07 Apr 19 from 1-4 p.m.
21 Aug - 22 Sep 19 Stems and Stuff
Opening Reception 25 Aug 19 from 1-4 p.m.
25 Sep – 27 Oct 19 Faces and Figures
Opening Reception 29 Sep 19 from 1-4 p.m.
30 Oct – 17 Nov 19 TBD - Outdoor Painters' Show
Opening Reception 03 Nov 19 from 1-4 p.m.
04-22 Dec 19 and 03- Jan 20 Harvest of Colour
Opening Reception 08 Dec 19 from 1-4 p.m.

Academy Theatre, 2 Lindsay St. S., Lindsay, Ont.
Guild Room
01 Oct - 31 Dec 18

Made In Kawartha Lakes
Fenelon Community Centre, Fenelon Falls. Ont.
17 - 18 Nov 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The Douro-Dummer Library Art Gallery, 425 Douro Fourth Line Road, Hamlet of Douro, Ont.
09 Jan - 22 Mar 19 Scenes of Canada, The Art of Daniel Marlatt and Susan Sydney
Opening Reception 11 Jan 19 from 7-8 p.m.

St. Matthews Church, Buckhorn, Ont.
Buckhorn Artists' Group
16-18 Aug 19 29th Annual Shades of Summer Art Show

Fenelon Falls Fair Grounds, Fenelon Falls, Ont.
Kawartha Arts Festival
31 Aug - 01 Sep 19 30th Annual Kawartha Arts Festival

Please come out and enjoy the artwork displayed at one or all of these shows.

Vertical 1 - A Work in Progress

Today is our last day at the Knoepfli Inn and after breakfast we took down our art exhibit "Scenes of Magnetawan".

But before I went home I wanted to get some photographs of Ahmic Lake and do a sketch of something on the boathouse side of the property.

I took some interesting photographs of the mist rising on the lake and of the reflections of the autumn colours in the water, as well as the bumpers and tires at the edge of the pier and their reflections in the water.

I tried to do a quick sketch of the white bumpers and their reflections but couldn't manage to capture it, so I turned it into an abstract of various shapes and made it into a vertical composition.

I will post this piece at a later date once I start adding some colour to the sketch.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.

Pathway 1 and Reflections 7

Today it is back to being another overcast day at the Knoepfli Inn, but hopefully the rain will continue to stay away.

After breakfast I went down to the Magnetawan River and this time I wanted to sketch some of the trees on the far shore and their reflections in the water.

There were a number of trees that had not changed from their bright green foliage in behind the ones closest to the shore. I liked how the pale dead tree trunk beside a brilliant orange maple were reflected into the dark water of the river.

Reflections 7

I added in a few of the plants into the foreground of the drawing that where on this side of the river.














Pathway 1

On my way back to the Inn for lunch I stopped and did this sketch of the pathway near cabin 1.

I will post each of these drawings at a later date as more work on them is completed.

After lunch Norma and I brought our friend back from the hospital in time to join us for supper. 

The Old Outhouse 1 and Fallen Birch 1

We had a very interesting day at the Knoepfli Inn which started early in the morning, around 3a.m. when one of the members in the group woke me to see if I would take her to the hospital as she was having an allergic reaction to her medication.

Together Norma and I got her safely to the West Parry Sound Health Centre and stayed with her until about 11a.m. they decided to keep her overnight for observation and more testing.

After getting a list of the things she would like us to bring to her for her overnight stay when we return in the evening, we left and headed back to the Inn to arrive in time for lunch.

The Old Outhouse 1

After lunch, the sun decided to come out and I headed down the trail behind our cabin heading to the Magnetawan River. I stopped along the way to do a sketch of the old outhouse near cabins 6 and 7.

Then I continued down the trail to the Magnetawan River.














Fallen Birch 1

At the beach near fire pit, I did a sketch of one of the big birch tree that had fallen across the path
that runs beside the river, making it difficult to continue along the trail.

I decided that I would do a sketch of the fallen birch that blocked the trail.

I will post each of these sketches at a later date as more work on them is completed.