Wind Damage

So far this year we have had quite a few Meteorological Alerts and Warnings from Environment Canada; and today we are having another batch.

We are under a severe  thunderstorm warning, a severe wind warning with the wind speeds to reach 55-60mph (90-100km) and a severe rain warning with another 3/8" (10mm) and the temperature to reach 70F (21C).

It was overcast and fairly calm until around noon and then the wind started to pick up, the thunderstorm rolled in bringing the rain.

With all this going on, we also lost power a number of times during the course of the day and into the evening.















At the end of the storm more branches came down from the willow tree, a few of the pine trees lost the top branches and the maple in front of the house also lost a few more branches.















The maple tree at the back of the house lost a large limb and the old apple tree along the fence line had its trunk snapped in half.















The south walls on the east and west barns took  a major hit with the west barn losing eight boards and the east barn losing more than ten boards and the wind breaking one of the doors.

Although, the damage could have been a lot worse than what happened.

Rusty Stuff 1 - A Work in Progress

After completing the barn chores and as I was leaving the barn I saw the hinge on the window ledge and decided to do some more work on the painting that I had started of it a couple of years ago (see post on 12 February 2015).

The first thing I did was make a wash of pure burnt sienna and painted the base coat on the hinge.

Using a pencil I straightened the top edge of the ledge board, followed by the facing edge.













Next I mixed a very dark grey, using French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and a small amount of alizarin crimson for the shadow in the wood.

I painted the wood texture onto the vertical edge of the window and as I was working on the shelf board I had company drop by for a visit.

I will post this piece at a later date once I have completed the barn board and the concrete wall.

Last Day of the Shades of Summer Art Show and Sale

Today I worked with pen and ink on this drawing that I started a while ago (see posts on 28 September 2013, 15 May 2016 and 06 April 2017).

I started by inking in the small apple tree and then began working on the marking on some of the birch trees, but couldn't really get into to doing them.

So I moved on and started working on the old hay barn and put in the roof and some of the barn boards.

I will post this drawing at a later date once I have the barn completed.
















Barn IX

Today was a very busy day with fifteen paintings purchased from Diane Collins, Ron Desjardine, Heather Grant, Sharon Harper, Susan Sydney and Bonnie Windover. Pottery was sold by JoAnne Connell Northey and small items were bought from Diane Collins, Penny Little and JoAnne Connell Northey.

I would like to thank new collector Ms. Lucy MacRae of Barrie, Ontario on her purchase of Serene Place I (see post on 22 June 2012) and Drive Shed I (see post on 09 June 2012).

The hours for our show are:
20 Aug 17 - 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Hopefully some of you will make it out to see the show before it closes.

Dark Water I - A Work in Progress

It is going to be another hot 90F (32F) and very humid 106F (41C) day.

Ron and I continued to work on replacing a section of the barn floor that had rotted (see post on 09 July 2016) from many years of the rain coming in through the opening in the loft where we put hay out for the horses.















By late afternoon we had it completed and Ron tossed some hay down onto the floor from the mow.

I wanted to do a little work on one of my sketches and I picked this one that I had worked on last month (see post on 02 July 2016).















I started by adding more branches and details to the dead twisted cedar tree.

Next I added in some rocks along the shoreline and a few dead pine tree trunks behind the live pines.















Lastly I drew in the distant treeline into the background.

I started with the trunk of the large cedar tree in the foreground, but before I could get too much further on the drawing I realized it was time to start supper.















I will post this drawing again once more work on it has been completed.

Replacing Some of the Barn Floor

Parts of the barn floor in the mow are gradually starting to get "mushy" and Ron decided that before I fell through carrying a bale of hay to feed the horses, he would replace the floor.















He started by removing the panels covering the floor by the doorway.















Next he removed the first layer of the floor boards which showed signs of deterioration and these were put onto the trailer to be dumped as fill at the side of the track.















This was followed by the removal of the second layer of boards which were also put onto the trailer.
















He then squared up the edges of the opening in preparation to replacing the boards.















In the meantime I picked up all the small pieces of wood and took them out of the stall and they went with the rest of the boards onto the trailer.















Sepia 1

While Ron was covering the opening in the mow and emptying the trailer I thought I would start a couple of little monochromatic landscape paintings.















Sepia 2

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once they have been completed.

OSWOA - Moonlit Buildings 1

I see that deer hunting season has started and the hunters are running their dogs and they are on my property with the intent to hunt without my permission. So once again I will just have to take photographs of the hunters, their vehicles and plates as well as their dogs and continue to report them to the Ministry.

It is sad that some people have no respect for another person's property and I am sure they wouldn't like me trespassing on their property with a rifle and shooting at things without their permission.

This is a painting I started earlier this year with its companion piece Sunlit Buildings 1 (see posts on 07 May, 16 September and 18 October 2015).













I continued with adding more detail to the barn board using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson.

Next came the roof; the raised tin was painted with the dark mix as were the eaves and fascia boards. Using pure burnt sienna the rust was added onto the tin roof.

A small piece of masking tape was added to the open door to keep it lighter.













Now it was time to be bold and glaze over the entire painting to darken it and change it into a night scene.

I mixed together a wash of French ultramarine blue and then added small amounts of burnt sienna, Antwerp blue and alizarin crimson until I was happy with the colour of the paint.

Setting it on a flat surface and using a large brush, I washed over the entire painting and set it aside to dry.














I removed the friskit and the masking tape from the door and the window.

I painted the light into the window and the door with raw sienna and a touch of cadmium yellow. The with more of the glazing colour I darkened the shadows behind the building.

If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

The OSWOA 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 $40.00 and sold unframed.

Moonlit Buildings 1 - A Work in Progress

We had a hard frost this morning with the temperature at 29F (-1.7C) together with a few snow flurries and the high for the day in the late afternoon was 38F (3.3C).

Last month I completed the companion piece to this painting (see posts on 07 May and 16 September 2015).

I wanted to at least get a more work completed on this one and perhaps get it to the stage where I would put the dark wash over it to turn it into a night painting.

I started with a greyed mix of raw sienna and burnt sienna and put in some of the barn board on the lighter coloured walls of the buildings to give them a little texture.













With a dark mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I brushed in some of the barn boards on the shadowed side of the building and also gave a little detail to the window frame.

I started adding some of the shadow under the eaves of the roof and the corner of the building when I was interrupted by unexpected phone calls which took most of the afternoon.

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

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

OSWOA - Sunlit Buildings 1

I started two paintings with Doug Mays in the spring (see post on 07 May 2015) at which time he showed us how to change a painting from day time into night time.

This painting is the one which I decided would be kept as the one for the daytime and once I have it completed I will work on the other. 

Working with various shades of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, I put in the barn board texture with a dry brush.

I added a little alizarin crimson to get a an almost black colour and painted in the window sills on both buildings, under the eaves, the missing boards on the barn doors and where the tine had lifted on the roof.

Next I used a grey mix with the barn board colours but more to the brown and painted in the tin roof on the barns. I painted the rusted areas using pure burnt sienna.













I removed the tape from the window on the closest barn and painted the light area with raw sienna and added the dark colour to both windows.

With the darkest mixture I painted in some of the dark tree trunks and branches into the background forest.

With various mixtures of raw sienna, burnt sienna, French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue and aureolin the greens and yellows of the overgrown grasses, weeds and growies were added to the painting.

Lastly, the dirt pathways were added to the painting.

The OSWOA 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 $40.00 and sold unframed.

If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

Barn X

Today I wanted to work on some of my drawings and I pulled out a number of barn sketches that I had started a few years ago (see post on 28 September 2013).

I started  by working on the back part of the barn by tidying up the roof, giving definition to the barn boards and putting the frame around the window.

Next I started on the main barn putting the frames around the windows, the door jamb around the door and added the latch onto the door, leaving the concrete base of the wall untouched for now.
















I did the same to the front of the barn fixing the window, drawing in the barn boards and leaving the concrete alone.

The roof was the last thing that was worked on, putting in the roof cap and running the siding down to the edge of the roof.

Lastly, I indicated where the patches of snow would still be on the ground.

Resting on a Hinge - A Work in Progress

I always enjoy watching my swallows as they twist and turn in flight and they are often out with me while I am mowing the lawn and stirring up bugs for them.














So rather than have them in flight, I chose to have a swallow resting on one of the hinges on the large barn doors of the west barn.

I will post this sketch at a later date once I have completed the outline drawing.

West Barn I

Today had some of my friends over for a paint out at the farm which was a lot of fun.

They arrived around 10:00am, had a cup of tea or coffee before settling down and finding a place to paint or sketch.

Lunch time was enjoyable with many of the artists having completed some drawings or sketches and had a good start on a painting.















In the afternoon I joined some of the group that was working on drawings or paintings of my barns.

Everyone had a wonderful time and succeeded in getting a drawing or painting completed.

I did this outline drawing of the west barn which is the one closest to the house.