Thank You Bea!

Today is the last morning we will be at the Knoepfli Inn and we will return home after an enjoyable time spent painting the fabulous autumn scenery and relaxing in the evening.

This year it was my turn to make the Thank You card for Bea. She had told me at one time that she likes everything that features a bumble bee.













So it was a simple decision to do a smiling bee for her on the card to let her know just how much we enjoyed our stay with her at the Inn.

After breakfast it was time for all of us to pack up our paintings and the rest of our belongings and return home.

I am already looking forward to returning once again next year.

Foggy Day 3 - A Work in Progress

As usual when I am at the Knoepfli Inn I wake up early in the morning to the sound of the Magnetawan River, make myself a cup of tea, pick up my camera and go out for a walk.

I have not yet walked through all of the 400 acre (161 hectare) property that straddles both sides of Highway 124, but each year I explore more of the land along the river and go through the forest.

With this morning being very foggy I went across the Highway to the farmhouse and wandered down to the boat house and dock and took photographs of the mist shrouded Ahmic Lake.














Ahmic Lake is a part of the Magnetawan River waterway in the Almaguin Highlands region.

The lake is approximately 12 miles (19 km) long and has a maximum depth of  89' (27m) with the average depth being 27' (8m).

Many of the cottages and homes on the lake have remained with the families that purchased land around the lake as far back as the 1860s; making Ahmic Lake's shores intact over the years with very little change.

After breakfast I did this quick watercolour sketch and I will post it at a later date once it has been completed.

Autumn Trees 10-14 - Five Works in Progress

Today at the Knoepfli Inn, the sun tried to come out from behind the clouds and while the rain had stopped for the most part there were a few mild showers on and off during the day.

It seemed as though overnight more of the leaves on the trees had changed colour, which was wonderful to see although there were not as many of the brilliant reds that we had seen in the previous years.

I decided that I was going to set myself up on the porch of the farmhouse which is across the road from the Inn and paint some of the trees along the road.

Autumn Trees 11

It didn't take long for me to set my paints up  on a bench by an open window.

As usual before I could settle down to paint I walked around the property taking photographs of the buildings surrounding the farmhouse including both of the small cottages and the main boathouse.

Once I entered the building again, I was enchanted by the curved windows and doors of the building and took photographs of the interior.

Autumn Tree 12

I am sure that I will be using many of them at a later date for other paintings.

For the first one I painted in the entire paper as sky using various mixtures of French ultramarine blue and cobalt blue with a touch of burnt sienna to grey the colour slightly before I set it aside to dry.

I started a number of other paintings using the same sky colours in a vertical format only painting the top half as sky.

Autumn Trees 13

By the time I had put the sky into the fifth painting, the sky on the first one was dry and I could start laying in the under paint.

Using a mixture of Antwerp blue and raw sienna I put in the topmost green leaves that were still left on some of the trees.

I added a little French ultramarine blue to the green mixture and put in some of the slightly darker green leaves that were in shadow and then added the growies down near the bottom of the trees with a darker mix of the colours.

Autumn Trees 14

I added a little burnt sienna to the darker green and painted in the shadowed areas beneath the trees and the dark ground.














Autumn Trees 10

Next using various mixtures of cadmium yellow and raw sienna I put in the leaves that had changed near the tops of some of the trees.














Autumn Trees 10

Using a dark mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson I painted in some of the main branches and the trunks of the trees being careful to leave some of them covered by the leaves.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date as more work on them has been completed.

Pacer 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

Last night we went to Kawartha Downs for the Harness Racing. We haven't been to the track for quite a while.














Pacer 3

They have drastically cut back on the number of race dates at the track from 95 races in 2012 to 20 in 2013 when the track almost closed to 18 days in 2014 and now 21 days for this year. It is just sad that the government is trying to destroy a local industry that supported so many people.














Pacer 2

I was able to get three sketches of the Standardbreds doing their warm up and training miles prior to their actual races.

All of them are of pacers as there are usually only two trotting races on the card compared to the eight races for pacers.















Pacer 1

When I develop the sketches into outline drawings I will post them again at a later date.

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

Today I am on my way to the Knoepfli Inn located at 5484 Highway 124, Magnetawan, Ontario for a couple of days to paint with some of the KAGS Outdoor Painters' Group.

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.

Exhibition at Dancing Blueberries

Today I met Lorraine Ryan in the morning at the Dancing Blueberries to exchange our paintings in the dining area.














Lorraine was there ahead of me and while we waited for them to open the doors and let us in to change the art work we moved my paintings from my vehicle to the door.














Once the doors opened it took very little time to move the paintings inside and stack them at the back.














It was easier for me to climb the ladder to take Lorraine's paintings off the wall and hand them down to her.















I unwrapped my paintings and then Lorraine handed them to me and made sure that they were hung on the wall straight












It didn't take long for Lorraine to wrap her paintings and for me to set up my biographies, price list and cards on the shelf.














I put my empty containers into my vehicle and then helped Lorraine take her paintings to her car.












From start to finish it took only 45 minutes to make the exchange and we were out with time to spare before they opened the door for their customers.

Confirmed Shows for 2015-2016 - October

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

Township of Douro-Dummer Library Art Gallery, Warsaw, Ont.
08 Sep - 24 Oct 15 Three Good Friends
Opening Reception 11 Sep 15 from 7-8pm.

Dancing Blueberries, 360 George St. N., Peterborough, Ont.
02-28 Oct 15
28 Sep - 03 Nov 16

Kawartha Artists’ Gallery, Peterborough, Ont.
KAGS
11-29 Nov 15 Outdoor Painters' Show - Elements of Nature
Opening Reception 14 Nov 15 from 1-4pm.
02-20 Dec 15 and 06-17 Jan 16 Christmas Show and Sale
Opening Reception 05 Dec 15 from 1-4pm.
24 Feb - 24 Mar 16 The Abstract Show
Opening Reception 28 Feb 16 from 1-4pm.
13 Apr - 05 May 16 Floral and Still Life
Opening Reception 17 Apr 16 from 1-4pm.
15 Jun - 10 Jul 16 Figuratively Speaking
Opening Reception 19 Jun 16 from 1-4pm.
24 Aug - 11 Sep 16 Black and White Plus 1 Colour
Opening Reception 28 Aug 16 from 1-4pm.
28 Sep -23 Oct 16 Fall Show
Opening Reception 02 Oct 16 from 1-4pm.
26 Oct - 13 Nov 16 Outdoor Painters' Show
Opening Reception 30 Oct 16 from 1-4pm.
30 Nov -18 Dec 16 and 04-15 Jan 17 Christmas Show and Sale
Opening Reception 04 Dec 16 from 1-4pm.

Kawartha Arts Network - Art on Kent, Lindsay, Ont.
KAN
05-28 Nov 15 Transitions
Opening Reception 07 Nov 15 from 1-3pm.
03-31 Dec 15 and 07 Jan-16 Jan 16 Affordibleism
Opening Reception 05 Dec 15 from 1-3pm.

The Evinrude Centre, 911 Monaghan Road, Peterborough Ont.
08-10 Apr 16 The 16th Annual Peterborough Garden Show

Extendicare, 860 Alexander Court, Peterborough, Ont.
07 Nov 16 - 02 Jan 17

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