Elegant Elm I

I set out the way I wanted to place the leaves in his painting last month (see post on 16 October 2018).

I used gold paint on the cluster of elm leaves on the branch first and set it aside to dry before painting the three individual leaves.

Once all the leaves were dry, I used acrylic gloss medium to glue the leaves into place and set aside to dry.

Next, I applied four layers of acrylic gloss varnish, making sure each layer had time to dry completely.

This original 8" x 10" framed, mixed media painting is available for $150.00.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Simply Cedar I

I pulled out my box of dried and pressed leaves and found he parcel with small cedar branches.

After sorting through them I found four branches that would fit my canvas.

I painted my canvas with the background colour using a mixture of black and iridescent acrylic paint and set it aside to dry.

Next I used combinations of metallic paints including emerald green, copper, bronze and gold ring to imitate the colours already on the cedar branches. As each one was finished I set it aside to dry.















When the branches were completely dry I used acrylic gloss medium to glue the branches into place beginning with the ones on the bottom first and gradually working up to the ones on the top layer.

I let this layer dry and lastly to make sure they didn't move and were protected, I applied four layers of acrylic gloss varnish giving each layer time to dry completely.

This original 8" x 10" framed, mixed media painting is available for $150.00.

Silent Sumac I

I had set out the sumac leaves on a canvas last month (see post on 19 October 201) and I wanted to complete it today.

First I painted the canvas with a mixture of black and iridescent acrylic paint and set it aside to dry.

Next while trying to keep the colour patterns of the compound leaves, I used the metallic red, emerald green and gold acrylic paint on the leaflets. Each set of leaves were set aside to dry.
















Once everything was dry I used acrylic gloss medium to glue the leaves into place and again set aside to dry.

Lastly to make sure they didn't move and were protected, I applied four layers of acrylic gloss varnish giving each layer time to dry completely.

This original 8" x 10" framed, mixed media painting is available for $150.00.

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.

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

Shades of Summer Art Show and Sale

Today we have Meteorological Alerts for heavy rains and flooding with 1-1/2"-2" (35mm-50mm) of rain as well as severe thunderstorm warnings.

As I arrived to open the show you could see that the storm clouds were rolling in, the wind was picking up and you could hear the rumble of thunder.

Yesterday, I did a drawing of a bunny wearing a jacket so I thought I would start on a drawing of a bunny wearing dress.

It was not long before the rain began to pour down and I stopped drawing to go to the window and watch the lightning light up the sky.

When it was over and the sun came out I returned to do a little more work on this drawing.

By the afternoon the temperature rose to 77F (25C) and the humidity made it feel like 95F (35C).

Hug Me! 1

Once more the skies got cloudy and the second thunder storm came rolling in along with heavy rain and high winds.

Pottery were purchased from JoAnne Connell Northey and small items sold by Diane Collins and JoAnne Connell Northey.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

The hours for our show are:
17 Aug 18 - 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
18 Aug 18 - 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
19 Aug 18 - 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

We hope you can come out and enjoy the artwork.

The Mix

Today is the first day for "The Mix" exhibit at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio.













It was an interesting display that featured a mix of traditional art placed together with various paintings in mixed media.












It started today and continues through to 12 February 2017, with the opening reception on 22 January 2017 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.










If you have a chance, please come out and view the show.

Mixed Masters

Today I was at Art on Kent for the last day of the Mixed Masters exhibit.










There were many interesting pieces hanging on the walls in a wide variety of media.

Some of the acrylic had various metallic pigments and textured gels used in them.














Others were collages with cut outs from books and magazine pasted onto a background and painted.

Some were made of layers of cut paper and put into shadow box frames giving them a three dimensional affect.














I also took in my paintings for the upcoming show called "The Future is Now" which is Part II of a show held in February this year called "Blast from the Past".

The new show will feature the artists’ interpretations of items and images that had been displayed from the Olde Gaol Museum.














The opening reception for the new show is on 01 October 2016 from 1:00p.m. - 3:00p.m. and the exhibit will continue until 22 October 2016.

When I returned home it was to find that Ron had been very busy working on the new door he was putting into the living room.














He had taken out the support beams which has been on either side of the smaller door and replaced them onto either side of the new doors.

While the work on the door isn't finished yet and my living room looks like a battle zone I know that it won't be long before everything is finished and I will be able to enjoy the magnificent view from the top of my hill.

Abstract Horse Head 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I injured my knee and I have my leg in a splint that goes from the top of the thigh to the ankle and I am on crutches; not what I needed at this time of the year.

I thought I would make the best of it and play with a little bit of colour; I wet some areas of the paper and left others dry.

Next I mixed various combinations of colour together and put it on the paper and in other areas I used pure colour. Some I brushed onto the paper and some I simply dropped into various areas.















Once the paper had dried completed I looked to see if there were any shapes that could be made into anything recognizable.

It didn't take long until I found a partial horse head and drew it in with pencil.

Next I started to put pen and ink on top of the pencil outlines, but I didn't get too far along with it before I decided to set it aside for now.














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

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

Crashing Surf

It has been an interesting few days with the power going out at 10:00am Friday morning and finally getting the power back shortly after 9:00pm tonight.

During the day I decided to work on this piece that I had started a few years ago (see post on 27 December 2010).










In the white areas of the spray on the waves I added various soft grey greens and yellow greens using various mixtures of raw sienna, Antwerp blue, French ultramarine blue and aureolin.

A few areas in the waves needed to be darkened. For this I used French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue and burnt sienna.

This original mixed media, collage when framed will be available for $185.00.

Volcano

This morning I helped set up the panels for the Peterborough Garden Show at the Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Road, Peterborough, Ontario. The show runs from 12-14 April 2013 and I hope the forecast for bad weather does not prevent you from coming out and seeing this exhibition.

Once I returned home I decided that I would work on this piece that I had started quite a while ago (see post on 26 December 2010).












I wanted to keep the white of the oriental papers as though it was steam rising out of the lava and to keep some of the lighter areas looking as though a steamy mist was just hovering over the moving lava.

Using various mixtures of alizarin crimson, aureolin, new gamboge, cadmium yellow and cadmium red I went into the bottom area of lava and tried to give it a flowing effect and to get rid of some of the white areas in the lava.

Using a mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson, I brushed in some streamers of dark ash rising up from the lava.












Next with, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow and alizarin crimson I added small dots of glowing sparks through the areas of ash.

This original 7" x 12" mixed media, collage when framed will be available for $185.00.

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

A Secret Place

Today I couldn't get into finishing a painting or starting anything serious, so I decided to play and work on a mixed media piece.

I came across some rubber stamps of snowflakes that I used with my daughter when she was a little girl and thought I could use them in this painting.

Using cadmium yellow, aureolin and Antwerp blue I put a flat wash of colour over the paper.

While the background paint was drying I mixed a small pool of burnt sienna and raw sienna, then another of lemon yellow and cobalt blue and a larger one of French ultramarine blue and raw sienna.

I put the first mix into some areas by pouring it and rolling it around on the paper.

Using the larger pool of dark green I poured it over some areas of the paper, rolled it around and with a sponge I created some leaf like shapes being careful to leave some areas of the background colour showing through.

Then with the sponge and the last pool of medium green I put areas on around the edges of the painting and in a few areas to create some lighter coloured leaves.

The painting was then set aside to dry.














With a heavy mix of China white and cobalt blue I applied it to some of the snowflake stamps and pressed the image in a couple of areas on top of the darker green paint.

I also splattered some of this paint throughout the painting.

Using pure burnt sienna I put in a few branches through the painting to tie all the leafy areas together.

With gold paint I lightly splattered a little into the bottom of the painting first. Then I put in a few star shapes, small branches and twigs, as well as highlighting some of the larger branches.

Lastly I washed some glitter paint throughout areas of the painting and set it aside to dry.

This original 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" mixed media painting when framed will be available for $85.00.

I would like to thank Mr. Derrick Ryan of Hastings, Ontario on his purchase of Bufflehead Duck (see post on 16 November 2012).

Dixon Cove Wreck I - Revisited

After working on the companion piece to this wreck I felt it needed a little more work and I rather liked the "rust" I put on the Dixon Cove Wreck II (see post on 27 Nov 2012).














There had been a spot in the sky that I really didn't like so I repainted the sky to remove it (see post 23 Apr 2012). Next I put a wash of burnt sienna over the wreck to give it a similar look to what you actually see of it in real life.














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

Dixon Cove Wreck II

Back in April I was at a workshop with Frances Ferdinands (see posts on 21 and 23 April 2012) and had enjoyed doing the mixed media collages featuring wrecks so much that I have decided to do a couple more of them.

Many stories abound about the two Dixon Cove wrecks. There is a version that maintains one of the ships was a Cayman-owned vessel run aground intentionally for insurance. Another colourful story that keeps coming up is that the ships were involved in the Nicaraguan revolution, and then abandoned.

Perhaps one day I will find the true story, I will just have to keep digging every time I go to Roatan to dive.














I added a wash of burnt sienna over the image of the wreck to give it a rusted appearance.

This 8" x 10" mixed media collage painting is of the other wreck in Dixon Cove, Roatan . I have photographed both of these wrecks many times. This painting when framed will be available for $150.00.

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

Dixon Cove Wreck II - A Work in Progress

This is the under painting for the second Dixon Cove wreck (see post on 23 April 2012 for the first one).














This is the second of two wrecks grounded close together within the confines of Dixon Cove which is located between French Harbour and Coxen Hole.

Stories about the ships abound; some claim one ship, with a cargo of lumber, ran aground in a storm. The second ship came to assist, and also ended up on the reef. The lumber was off-loaded in a futile attempt to save the ship, and was collected by local residents.

I will probably never know the true story about either of these two wrecks, but perhaps the next time I go to Roatan I may find one of the older residents who does know the truth.

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

Dixon Cove Wreck I

On Friday I was at a workshop with Frances Ferdinands and this is one of two mixed media collages featuring wrecks I did using gel media and acrylic paint.

As you drive between French Harbour and Coxen Hole, the Capital of Roatan, which got its name from the pirate John Coxen who lived in Roatan from 1687 to 1697; you will come across Dixon Cove.














There you will see two ship wrecks visible from shore, their names are supposedly the Tulom & the Alexandria, but so far I haven’t found anything to substantiate that claim other than a mention of the names on a travel website.

Some of the locals I have spoken with claim that the wrecks were two separate incidents and one ship carried lumber and the other carried paint. Both ships caught fire and were abandoned, what remained of their cargos pillaged.

During an attempt to tow the ships out to sea, they broke free and came to rest in Dixon Cove where they have remained since the 1970’s.

This 8" x 10" mixed media painting is of one of the wrecks, which I have seen and photographed many times; when framed will be available for $150.00.

I will post the other beached wreck once it is completed.

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

Sable Island Wreck I

Yesterday I was at a workshop with Frances Ferdinands and this is one of two mixed media collages featuring wrecks I did using gel media and acrylic paint.

This 8" x 10" mixed media painting is of a wreck on Sable Island, which when framed will be available for $150.00. SOLD

Blue Thunder

Today I was just in the mood to play with colour so I chose to use French ultramarine blue and Antwerp blue.

I mixed up pools of each colour and then poured them over wet watercolour paper and rolled them around allowing the paint to mix on its own.

As the shine started to leave the paper a sprinkled salt into the paint and set it aside to dry.













Once the background was dry I went in and drew a galloping horse and inked it in to complete the painting.

Thank you to returning collector Mrs. Christine Connelly on her selection of this original 5" x 7” mixed media painting for her home.

Falling Down I

Many of the barns across the country are left abandoned to slowly fall apart and collapse. They are parts of our heritage that are being lost forever.











This is a pen and ink drawing that was washed over with mixtures of burnt sienna, raw sienna and French ultramarine blue.

Falling Down I is an original 4-1/4" x 9” framed mixed media painting available for $145.00.

Nightmares - A Work in Progress

This is another painting where if you look closely you can see faces and various creatures within the painting.

It is much like Trapped Souls (see posting on 07 January 11).

I will have to work out what forms I wish to capitalize on and what needs to be added into the painting.

I will post this painting once it has been completed.