Friday, February 08, 2019

Recycling



A couple of times a year I do a clear up and purge of art supplies and old paintings.  I throw out or burn unusable things, give away what I know I'll never use and recycle what can be saved.  I also vow to not buy more supplies than I know I'll use.  Well, I try.  To be honest, I don't buy a lot of random art supplies any more.  I have a pretty strict art supply list that I stick with that consists of oil paints and canvasses and tend to buy in bulk twice a year.  Of course a few "treats" find their way into those orders, using printmaking supplies and a nice fountain pen and ink.  See how easily I get waylaid?

Among the usual stash of pencils, paints and papers that I part company with, there are always starts on canvasses.  They were ideas that never took shape or simply went in the wrong direction.  If they're not textured and if the medium used can be painted over, I reuse them for another piece.  Sometimes, I gesso over the piece, sometimes, as in this one, I draw directly over the old start then paint over it.


This was a start of a flooded path in the woods that didn't inspire me so I turned it upside down and created this dory.  I rather like how the boat form envelops the previous work in its initial stage.

So what does your stash look like?   Do you have a sampling of everything or do you stick with materials that you constantly work with?

Sunday, February 03, 2019

Puffins


Mind Your Head
12" x 12"
oil on cradled wood panel
Available for purchase online  Click here for details

Puffins are the Atlantic version of parrots.  Colourful, stocky and low flying, they seek shelter and homes on outcropping on the edge of land or on islands just offshore.  And in Newfoundland, we are lucky enough to have them close by and see them from land or on a boat just off shore.  At present, about 60 percent of the North American population breeds on four islands in Witless Bay off the east coast of the island of Newfoundland

There seems to be a universal appeal for these birds, especially in their breeding season when their beaks are brightly coloured.  After the breeding season, the beaks change to a dull grey, making them almost look like an entirely different bird.

They aren't elegant and if you've watched them take off and land you'd see their lack of grace as they crash into other birds as they land or fall into the sea when taking off.