The Conversation

I wish I had a really good excuse for not painting these last few weeks, there are a couple I could use, work stress and winter blahs, probably a little of both.

It took a walk downtown on an “almost spring” day to get me out of my doldrums. The warmth of the sun, the cherry blossoms, and this couple enjoying a good conversation were the inspiration for this painting.

6" x 6" acrylic painted on cradled panel 

Indulgence - Repainted

I first painted this last November and was never happy with it. I took some time this weekend to make some changes, using my new favourite colours, green gold and cobalt teal.
8" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Orange Vase with Tulips

It's always nice to receive a bouquet of flowers just because....

5" x 7" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas -

A Walk in Winter

Sadly, I had to be away this past week for my father-in-law’s funeral. It was a time to celebrate his life, be with family and also celebrate my mother-in-law's eightieth birthday!

It also meant flying from the rainy wet coast to Saskatchewan, where the temperature was at certain times -30 degrees. In the midst of one of the gatherings my daughter and I escaped all the food and visiting to go for a walk, it was a very short walk, but long enough to appreciate the beauty of small town, Saskatchewan.

6" x 6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas- NFS

Salsa Bowl with Lemons

I thought I would re-visit lemons today. As with all fruits and vegetables, it was a great colour study and I managed to use all the yellows and blues on my palette

5" x 7" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas -SOLD

Tomatoes

During one of the brief sunny moments that we had today, I managed to capture the tomatoes in the sun and then it was back to the stormy rainy day and back to bed for me with my cold.
I love the colour combination of green, red and orange.
5" x 7" acrylic on gallery, wrapped canvas

Avocados

Avocados make a great painting study, the colours and shapes are seemingly simple but the challenge to arrange them into a pleasing composition took me longer than I would like to admit.

What I also learned, other than how to paint them, was that there would have been about 50 million pounds of them consumed today, Super Bowl Sunday.

Another interesting fact is that they are in the top ten of sexy foods, enjoy!!!

5" x 7" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Blue Sunglasses

In St Mark's Square, there are vendors ( woman with hat) who will sell you corn for the pigeons.
The square is quite the visual sight, packed with equal amounts of tourists and pigeons surrounded by the incredible architecture of Venice.
6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Salsa Bowl with Salad

This was my Saturday lunch. Just before I threw the tuna on, I realized what a good study it would be with all the shapes and colours. I decided to create a warm backgound, with some of the colours I used in the tomatoes. Since blue and orange are complementry colours it made the painting a little more vibrant.

4" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Salsa Bowl with Melon

I received this lovely bowl for Christmas from a friend who made it in pottery class. She called it a salsa bowl, but I must confess I use it for more than just salsa.



4" x 6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD

Broken Pot

Re-awakening my dormant artistic self these last few months has been a challenge. The more I study, the more I realize I have to learn.

When I was having breakfast this morning I noticed my broken pot lying on the wet deck. I thought it would be a good study, playing with warm and cool colours.

4" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - $45. incl shipping

Venice Window

One of my resolutions this year is to learn how to make use of those snatches of time I have in a busy day , so I squeezed in a little painting time between work, supper and playing "Settlers"with my family.

I decided on another Venice painting. I love windows and wanted to try a more traditional painting of Venice.

It's a beautiful city!!

5" x 7" acrylic painting on canvas panel - $40. incl shipping

Venice Bass

Another good memory from Venice. I built up the background with a lot of paint and texture that was such a part of Venice.

Last night we watched "A Few Days in September". It was a good movie and had lovely views of Venice and Paris. When seeing the places I've travelled in movies, it always brings back that wonderful nostalgic feeling.

(Be warned there were a few scenes that weren't for the squeamish.)

8" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD

Venice Packpackers

This painting is a good example of what happens when one is too eager to paint rather than taking the time to plan the composition and the values. There is no real focal point. I then spent a lot of time trying to create one. 

Lesson learned, hopefully!!

I guess I could blame it on my daughter. For Christmas she gave me a gift certificate to the local art store, so I went today and bought new paints and brushes. I couldn't wait to try them out.

8" x 10" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Fisherman

A loose study of a weathered face.

4" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - $40. incl shipping

Boxing Day Shoppers!

I never thought I'd see the day when I would go shopping with all the men in my life. We actually didn't do a whole lot of shopping we exchanged a game, went for coffee, enjoying the walk downtown.

We topped the day off by having a supper of nachos with my husbands homemade salsa and we ate all of 8 cups of it. I think it was a reaction to the turkey.

It was a good time.

Happy New Year!

6" x 6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas NFS

Paperwhites

It was great to be able to have some time to paint after the last few busy weeks.
These paperwhites almost literally grew in front of my eyes. I started to paint them against a white background, but it wasn't working quite the way I had planned. I ended up painting Quinacridone Gold and Quinacridone Red in layers, adding Cerulean Blue at the end. I quite liked the contrast of the white petals against the rich colours.
6" x 6" acrylic painting on gallery wrapped canvas

Poinsetta with Candles

I have been getting into the Christmas Spirit. The painting seems to have an old-fashioned feel about it.

5" x 7" acrylic painting on Gessobord Private Collection

Opatija Sun

I saw this woman in Opatija, Croatia which we visited in May of this year. It was a beautiful spot, not a lot of tourists yet and this woman who was a local seemed to be enjoying the warmth of the sun.

There was also something familiar about her, she resembled my mom and my aunts, it made me miss my mom very much.

I actually painted this picture earlier this summer but I'm still undecided about the backround.

6" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas NFS

Japanese Mandarin

When I was growing up, one of the first signs of Christmas was getting a box of Japanese oranges.

Yesterday when I bought this box and peeled my first orange of the season, the smell brought back all those childhood memories.

4" x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - SOLD