Storm Warning

 Storm Warning

This painting is available for purchase on my website

There are many small boats around Newfoundland and Labrador, all along the coast, not as many as there used to be with the fishery closed, but they can still be found tied up to wharves or rocks, waiting like patient dogs to be taken out.

A sudden wind and rough seas can spell the end for small vessels and this one had the fortune of being moored snug against the sea wall, waiting out the storm.   Its bright colour would be easily spotted against the dark grey of a stormy sea.

This is a knife painting, lots of juicy colour and loose strokes.  I got covered in paint while doing and had great fun.  Its 9" x 12" in oil on canvas panel.

Pond Study

 
There are a few small ponds in and near my property, some only inches deep, some more substantial.  Late afternoon with a thin ice just forming on the water's surface and the light catching the bracken, making it glow with warmth. 

This is a watercolour study for a future piece on ponds, about 11 x 14.  The shapes of undergrowth around water falls back a bit in winter, giving a better look at the form.  I love how the initial skim of ice affects reflections, clouding and diffusing them.  I initially wanted t use the surface of the pond as a frost piece, freezing the watercolour itself before adding the remaining elements.  However, the weather conditions weren't perfect so I had to make do with observation, sketches, photos and cold hands.

There is so much to explore and capture.  Will I ever have enough time to do so?

Lucie Rose update 3

 Lucie Rose

12" x 24"

oil, stretched canvas

I've rearranged this painting a few times and still am not quite sure if this will be the final composition or not. I removed the quay the boat was tied t as it just didn't seem to do a lot for the painting.  I don't know if it leaves the boat looking a bit isolated now or not.

I'm still working on the shape of the bow which I think is just about there, give or take a tweak.  Now I need to wait for it to dry for a few days before adding the next layers of paint.

Fish bowls

 Salmon bowl

In the process of making gyotaku prints, there are always duds.  Those prints that just don't make the grade, but you're reluctant to throw out 'just in case'.  While I've salvaged a few prints, there are some that I know won't cut it, no matter what I do with them.  Then I had an idea.  Paper fish bowls.

Capelin bowl

Thinking back to grade school and papier mache, but slightly different, I used a gyotaku print for the side that would show inside the vessel, then added layers of japanese papers over it, adhering it with rice paste.  The results aren't perfect, but have potential for further experimentation using different papers.

 

A plain bowl using unryu and colured art tissue