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

Lucie Rose continued

I've spent a little more time tonight getting shape of the Lucie Rose as it should be.  Close, but not quite there yet.  Serves me right for not sketching it out on the canvas first in charcoal instead of straight in with a brush.

More boat, more colour, more water tomorrow, weekend willing.

Lucie Rose rises again

 
I did a small painting, since sold,  of this little boat that I found in Conception Harbour a couple of years ago. It was tied up at a wharf, the tide was out and it was sitting in the shallow water, waiting.  Handpainted on the side was the boat's name:  Lucie Rose.

Looking for something to paint, I thought I'd repaint Lucie Rose again.  The first painting was 5 x7, now this 12 x 24 and in oils again.  The angles of the boat aren't quite right yet but they'll get there.  For some reason, I have a real challenge getting a boat's shape down pat.  You'd think it was simple, wouldn't you? There's something appealing about the tweaks to nudge something into shape and watch it appear on a blank canvas. 

There are several types of boats commonly seen around Newfoundland.  Skiffs dories and rodneys.  I must research the differences between them and find out just what the Lucie Rose is.

Fisherman's Cut

Fisherman's Cut  - SOLD

19" x 25"

gyotaku/watercolour

I've been pulling out old gyotaku prints and seeing if I can revitalize them using various techniques from simple washes to wax batik and so far its going well.

Tonight I pulled out a cod print.  Cod are - well, were - the staple fish of Newfoundland as well as many countries in the world, all harvested off our shores.  With the moratorium on cod in 1992, catching these fish was relegated to several weeks during the year as recreational.  With this short window of opportunity, people fished limited quantities from shore and boat and finding a whole one to print was difficult.  People did not want to give up a food fish easily.

A friend with a boat and a willing participant to go out on the high seas were found and cod were caught.  I asked that my cod be gutted, forgetting that the skipper was a fisherman.  He did the 'fisherman's cut' which is  rather like a t-cut across the throat and down the belly.  Efficient for gutting a food fish, but not great for gyotaku printing.  I didn't tell him what I wanted the fish for, that becomes just too complex and strange a conversation and I'm thought of as even odder then!

So when I printed the poor old cod, there was a gap between the body and head due to the severe cut and even with stuffing the body cavity, the skin still wrinkled, giving a striped appearance to the fish.  I did some prints but wasn't happy with them and left the prints on the 'never never' shelf.  Til now.

I decided if the sea gives you lemons, you make lemonade.   I added watercolour to the piece, starting first with the eye.  The original print is very fossil-like and does have its own appeal.

I continued on with colour, subtle at first, then decided to just play and see what happened.  With mostly quinacridone deep gold and a variety of turquoises and blues I enhanced the wrinkles in the cod, giving it a zebra-like appearance.

The paper that this print is on is a very pale blue Matsuo Kozo, a thin, crisp 14g weight, Japanese paper that is my favourite for printing and for its strength when wet and in accepting watercolour without it bleeding.  Unfortunately, it's $14 a sheet and while I can get two prints from one sheet, its still fairly pricey in my books.

Sunrise

Sleep was evading me last night so I was up well before dawn and could see it creep in across the sea and land.  I grabbed a couple of quick shots with my iPod camera and once tweaked with Instagram they almost become a pastel painting in the making. 

I thought I'd try my hand at the scene with the light just visible, sillouetting the trees.  Its not what I saw in my head and my skills with pastels are hit and miss, mostly because I use them infrequently.

I'm using a variety of mediums lately to try to get out of this slump, who knows what it will be tomorrow.  Inspiration - the kind that fires me up and has me anxious to get into the studio - is missing right now.  It will return and meanwhile, I'll potter and tinker with things I don't usually do and before you know it, I'll be back in the swing of things again.

Sleeping Beauties

 Sleeping Beauties

5.75" x 22"

gyotaku/watercolour

While looking for something else, I rediscovered this long gyotaku print of some small perch that I had completed last year I believe.  

I had done several gyotaku pieces directly on heavy watercolour paper as I wanted to add a lot of washes of pigment to the paper without it being at risk of buckling.   The process of taking the fish to the paper instead of the paper to the fish makes it a slightly less reliable technique as you have less control with a heavy paper that you can't manipulate, unlike thin Japanese papers.

The prints didn't turn out exactly as I wanted and I see why I put it to one side, perfectionist that I can be at times.  But as I'm doing my best to finish off abandoned pieces I thought I'd add some more pigment to it and see if it could be salvaged.

I stayed with the fairly sombre colouring of these fish then gave them some shots of bright turquoise as highlights.  Sleeping Beauty turquoise from the Daniel Smith range of watercolours is one of my favourites.  Its semi transparent and a beautiful shade that's perfect for my aquatic pictures.  The link image really doesn't do justice to it.

Straight Sailing - complete

 Straight Sailing

15" x 30"

oil on canvas panel

Despite the muse being AWOL, I pushed myself to finish the last strokes on the Straight Sailing piece that I posted on New Year's Day.  If I let myself stay away from it too long, my palette will change and so may my interest in completing it.


Its not the best image, even with good lighting which seems to wash it out a bit.  I can't seem to get far enough away or close enough, if that makes sense.  I'll try for another shot when its dryer at the weekend and some daylight will give a truer reading.

When the muse is away...

Abandoned in the Garden

7" x 9"   oil on canvas panel

SOLD

When the muse becomes less than amusing or takes an unexpected leave of absence, its like hitting a wall.  You have a need to produce, but the connection between brain and hand doesn't exist.  Inspiration is nowhere to be seen, packed up and taken away in the muse's overnight bag.

I'm museless at the moment and its frustrating.  I know it will pass.  And when it does, I'll go to the other extreme of being overwhelmed with ideas to the point of not wanting to sleep so I can get them all down.  So what to do?

When this happens, I look in a couple of directions.  I browse art sites and artists' blogs.  I create other things in the form of knitting, cooking, and heaven forbid, cleaning sometimes.  I also try other subjects or mediums that I'm not as comfortable with to  allow myself to get colour on canvas but not think much about it.

This piece is one of those free thinking, abstract pieces that allows me to thumb my nose at the muse's departing back.  Inspiration came from some photos of the garden one summer.  Hot reds and oranges against dark foliage tipped with sunlight lit up the spot.  A brush was soon abandoned in favour of a palette knife and thick smears of oil paint.  Abstract meets floral.

Take that muse!

Straight sailing - in progress

 2012 is here, and with it, a fresh page on a new year.

New Year's is often seen as the chance to make resolutions to improve some part of your life.  For me, resolutions are meaningless unless they have plans attached to them.  They are simply dreams and I prefer to base my plans on something more concrete.  For the last few years I've been posting the 'business plan' for my art career for the coming year and analyzing progress at the end of the year.  Its beneficial in keeping me on track to have objectives to aim for, otherwise I wander in circles, never accomplishing what I intended.   I can still do that from time to time, but less so knowing that there are measurables involved. 

In looking back over 2011 several things jump out at me which help me plan for the coming year.  Time - or lack of it is one and stretching myself too thin is another.   I want to do everything, but seldom accomplish that, then frustration sets in.   So in 2012, I will set myself very similar goals as to the previous year, but limit myself to areas that I know will be fruitful.

Production

I will still work on the body of work with water as the subject.  It has a lot of potential.

I will continue to hone my painting skills in oils.  Using acrylic works sometimes, but I find myself turning more to oils for application ease and predictability of use and colour.  Also, oils sell.  Its an age old conundrum for artists as to what medium to use, but collectors seem to continually lean towards investments in oil paintings, no matter how beautifully other mediums are used.

I want to try more still life exercises also, more classical pieces.  I enjoy the challenge they bring in creating detail and form.

Our local art group will have a monthly painting/drawing session, nothing formal but a learning exercise for all of us, I'm sure.

Visibility & Marketing

A marketing plan for my reproductions and note cards will be created.  I need to have them travel a little around the province as well as the world.

Another couple of group exhibitions are planned for 2012, but I am looking at a solo exhibition in the summer.  There are local juried exhibitions to enter and this time I will ensure I have prepared for them in time!

With a renovated new in-house studio in the works for 2012, I will have the capability of offering small workshops in-house.  Time has been the challenge to deliver more in 2011, even with demand growing.   I prefer teaching workshops over weekly classes.  I like the concentration of a longer session to really explore technique with students. A gyotaku, a drawing and a painting workshop will be on the cards later in the year.

I'm leaving my goals a little looser this year and allowing for opportunity to present itself, with enough flexibility to act on it.   Many artists are considering a word or phrase to be their guiding force during the year.  Its a good practice to do so, to print it in large letters and put it on the wall of your studio to act as inspiration and a reminder of your direction. 

For me, the phrase would be 'straight sailing' as in this painting in progress.  The painting has one foot in 2011 and one in 2012 when it will be completed.  It will remind me to face forward and move ahead without getting sidelined.

I've created a little slide show of the creation of this piece from sketch to its current stage.

2011 Review

In reviewing what I've done in 2011, there are successes and forward movement and also some stagnation.  2011 has been one of my best years financially for art, despite a recession, with most work coming through online sales and commissions.

Production
The creation of a local art group has been beneficial to have others to bounce ideas off and to produce group exhibitions.  This will continue into 2012 and hopefully expand.

I planned to create a body of work in the subject of water.  I did produce about 18 or 19 water-related pieces, but not enough in my mind to build a body of work, so more to add on that next year.  Time, or lack of, is always a challenge for me when balancing a full time job and pushing an art career hard too.

I wanted to increase the number of drawings produced and those have been minimal unfortunately.  I do sketch every day and always enjoy the process of drawing so much, but painting needs for exhibitions or otherwise seem to take precedence.  

Making time for the business of art as well as the production of art is essential and I've done a decent job on that in 2011.  I've created business cards twice a year, postcards on gyotaku, produced a book, The Gyotaku Project, in print form and as an e-book.  I keep my art resume, biography and artist statement up to date.  

Visibility
Visibility was another area I wanted to concentrate on in 2011.  I made efforts to enter local juried exhibitions and had pieces selected for two.  I took part in two local group exhibitions and had a piece exhibited in Edinburgh at the Trees for Life charity fund raiser.   Other local opportunities slipped through my fingers due to work commitments and just not having enough time to coordinate entries.

I didn't manage to explore other outlets for card and reproduction sales, again a time factor.  There are only so many hours in the day and when I need to be able to meet and greet and show products to the market, my day job takes over.   More plans for that next year.

My aim for an exhibition proposal became just that. I created the proposal and image cd, but have not had time to research where I want to send it.  Aiming too high may be an issue with me.

Web Presence
In May I created a website to provide additional visibility and showcase my art besides my blog.  It continues to evolve and is updated as required.  A media and exhibition page also were created.  I pushed harder for a presence on Facebook and Twitter.   I have produced a year's worth of monthly newsletters featuring regular pieces and interviews with artists from around the world.

I have had successes and feel the year has gone well, despite not being able to fulfill all my goals.  I know the direction I'm heading in and will put that into words in the day or two.  I'll leave the last day of 2011 with a sample of paintings that I have produced over the past year.

Happy New Year and thank you for taking time over the past year to spend with me and my art. 

Iced water

I took to the woods yesterday, wild and windy as it was.  There is a new bypass road opened a month or so ago and as I drive it in the morning, I see all kinds of opportunity for paintings.  By the water supply for Torbay, lines of trees are left standing, a wind and snow break for the bypass road and the little woods road that leads off into the forest, lake and beyond.  These trees are the remains of thinned out woods, stark, ragged and deprived of sun until now when the landscape was opened up.

I took a number of photos and have some concepts for new paintings.  I played around with some of them in Photoshop to see what I could come up with using various filters to produce effects that I may use in future paintings.

There is a thin layer of ice on the water and the sun would peep out from behind scudding clouds now and then allowing some reflections on the frozen lake between the trees.  This image is one that I created digitally from one of the images I took.  I liked the bluish tone, keeping that feeling of cold in the piece and altered it to a more turquoise colour.  I think I still like the first colour the most, which do you prefer?

Pure Gold

  Pure Gold

3" x 5"   acrylic

Available for purchase here

A leftover gold foil wrapped chocolate was sitting in a bowl on the table, catching the light, so it seemed like a good idea for a painting.   These tiny chocolate drops made a fitting subject for a tiny canvas, this measuring just 3" x 5" and using the end of an acrylic palette.

Creating the tiny creases and shine from the foil is a challenge at this scale as detail isn't involved, more optical blending.  But I like the final result and may save a foil wrapped truffle from its fate a little longer to be preserved for posterity.

Ornaments

 

Snippets of time allowed me to finish 'dotting' this piece.  I'll straighten up the edges a bit, then its complete.  The original ornament hangs on the Christmas tree, even if its quite heavy.

 

The piece is about 5 x 7 on a 9 x 12 sheet of Bristol smooth.

Twas the night before Christmas...

And all through the barn...  well, its like this:  Tripod likes very much to be the centre of attention and he goes about it in strange ways sometimes.  Literally 'in your face' he likes to remind you that he's there, usually around 3am as he stands on your chest and head butts you.

He's been poking around the Christmas parcels that have arrived, turning them over and examining them closely then putting them back under the tree.  When I went to the barn the other day to check on eggs, I discovered him sitting discussing gifts with the ducks.  Well Tripod was doing the talking, the ducks were sitting there rather bemused.   Next to him, was a red gift box.

Now I know Tripod's kind of gifts.  Like the one he promised Katherine Tyrrell last year after she gave him The Moose, so I have a little bit of a cause for concern about the contents.  I did tell him that sending Katherine another gift would not improve his chances of being a contender for The Moose again. Especially when the box moved a little as Tripod explained to the ducks that if they were good they could have some too...sort of like passing the chocolates around.  Let's just wait for Christmas morning shall we?  Sigh.

10 x 10 acrylic

Gyotaku highlighted

Today I received a copy of the Winter 2012 Conservation Magazine which purchased one time rights to use one of my gyotaku prints - Camoflaged Rainbow - in a feature article and on the cover.  Its a comprehensive magazine dealing with topical subjects that impact the natural world.  You can read the full article, Chasing Rainbows, that my art illustrated here.

The original gyotaku is in the collection of the Provincial Art Bank, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.  You can see the full piece or purchase fine art prints and note cards of this piece  purchased here.

Silver ornaments - in progress

I'm still undecorated for Christmas for the most part, but I'll get there.  As long as I have the tree up by Christmas Eve, I'll be doing fine.  I have been unearthing decorations and pulled out a couple of special ones.  These are Indian and the one on the left is a cone made of pale blue crazed glass captured in a cage of silver.  I love the intricate nature and detail of it.   The ornament on the right is silver, lined and indented in perfect symmetry.  They are too heavy to place on a tree, so they are reserved for a bowl or nestled in a centrepiece of greenery to give some sparkle from candle light.

I haven't done a pen and ink piece for a long time, and not one using pointillism.  It seemed I was foiled at every attempt by all my technical pens.  They were cleaned, emptied and put away after the last project, but still will not let ink flow to the nibs.  I turned eventually to a little Micron pen to satisfy my 'dotting' need.

Here is the progress of the piece so far.  I do a little dotting during the news or a few minutes in the morning before work then it slowly builds.  Perhaps it will become next year's Christmas card. Its on 9 x 12 Bristol smooth, the drawing itself is about 5 x 8 inches.

Fuzzy

This is a last minute Christmas gift portrait of my mother's cat.   When you're 87, it becomes a challenge to find gifts that are needed or wanted.  Her cats play a role in her life, so I thought a portrait may make a good gift idea.

This cat, like many others she has adopted over the years arrived as one of the kittens from a pregnant cat that seemed to think my mother's house was the maternity ward.  It was hand raised as the owner of the mother cat claimed it back, and left one of the kittens as thanks, but really too soon to be taken from its mother.   The cat is probably 13 or 14 years old now, a huge, long haired beast, with enough fur to withstand a Siberian winter.

This painting was done from a blurry cell phone image of the cat, so there's a bit of guesswork and reference to other similarly coloured cats that had to be done. There is another cat, mostly black, at my mother's house, but it never stays still long enough to get an image of it.  So the companion piece for this may have to wait.

The painting is 8" x 8" in acrylic on a canvas panel.