a promise is a promise - trees

Greenspace and blue spruce as viewed from my deck. This little study helped me "see" into the trees, shadows, etc but I struggled with the changing light. Every time I lifted my head from the study everything had changed. Great life lesson - don't get too focused on what's going on in your life this minute because it is sure to change in some way.

Puerto Vallarta Out of the Sun

Puerto Vallarta Out of the Sun 9"x14"

This painting was completed about an hour ago. I did all the painting today but the more difficult part was the planning and drawing which I had done about a week ago. I based this piece on a reference photo taken in March 2007 in Puerto Vallarta when I visited Mexico with Maureen and Stu McLellan.

We needed a rest break after riding the blue bus into downtown Puerto Vallarta, walking a few blocks to the beach area and visiting some shops. It was quite hot for Canucks like us... around 90 F I believe. We descended to the River Cafe on a wide, curving staircase which opened out in front of the restaurant. The relief of the shade was immediate and the fans felt wonderful as we were seated. We were in luck - Arthuro (an old friend of Stumo's) was there and he served us like royalty. After eating (delicious) we took our time looking around... what a great location beside the river. Just then one table of diners spotted iguanas lounging lazily in the huge trees above. As I looked toward the commotion I was drawn to this sunlit staircase in the corner. The light was streaming down through the shade of the trees and dappling the stairs and floor below.

For comparison I am posting the photo reference for you below. You'll see that I've used my artistic license to move the niche as well as adding the plant to the corner. I like how the greenery on the overhanging branches turned out - very soft. The left hand wall and the overhanging leaves were painted at the same time. After I laid a wash down for the wall I bled it out to white at the top with clear water. Then I shielded the wash and sprayed the leaf area and waited for the wetness to be "just right" before dropping in new gamboge/pthalo green (some mixed, some pure) with a little bit of ultramarine blue for shadows at the end. Then I sat back and watched to see whether the watercolor would do what I expected and, low and behold, it did.

Alrighty... this has been extremely long-winded. I promise I won't inflict this every day... Hasta Luego!

Stretching Watercolors - Finally!

Alright, so I'm not painting trees yet as promised. I overdid things physically in the energy department early this week so I've been laying pretty low for a couple of days. However, I did manage to accomplish something I've put off far too long. I bought a 3'x4' sheet of plywood (good one side if you care) and some 1/4" staples. Last night I stretched both Sorrento II and Sorrento III (see July 7 & 8 posts for images). Today I stretched 5 more paintings... and I have a bunch more to do. I'm afraid that I've just kept painting and those that I've given away were stretched, or not, by their new owners. It's remarkably easy to stretch these paintings, which were all painted on either Arches or Winsor-Newton 140 lb paper. I must say that stretching the first two was quite a nerve wracking experience for me last night. I was concerned that I'd destroy what I'd worked so hard to paint AND it was quite noisy. The dogs ALL ran for cover - I had to go hunt Kassie out from the back of our big walk-in-closet upstairs when I was done! So, for those of you that have an interest the process is spelled out below. For the rest, see you here tomorrow! I will have a tree study done which, regardless of the outcome, I will share here (how's that for motivation?).

I'm sharing this information because I found it helpful AND because I didn’t see anything like this described when I googled. All I found were instructions on how to stretch watercolor paper BEFORE you paint. That's not what I'm talking about here... This method is for stretching completed paintings that have a ¼ to ½ inch border reserved for stretching (see photo above) . Sharon Williams http://sharonlynnwilliams.blogspot.com/ shared it with our class so credit goes to her. When you stretch only successful paintings like this you save time AND when you paint you are much less worried about making a mistake. The paper is less precious and therefore you can unlease your creativity more freely.

One disclaimer – you do this at your own risk and I recommend you practice with a painting you are not terribly attached to until you get the hang of it. And now, the steps:

1. Place painting face down on an absorbant towel. This is critical as the towel will catch any excess water that may otherwise run on to the front of your painting and ruin it.
2. Wet a sponge (my hake brush worked well too) and apply clean water to the BACK of the painting. The watercolor paper will absorb that water easily and you will need to reapply water several more times to ensure a good wetting to the BACK side only. The painting will not dissolve and run off the paper as you fear [I did]. The towel will keep that from happening.
3. When the paper is thoroughly dampened from the back, turn it over on to a horizontal, flat, clean piece of plywood [I used good-one-side fir]. Your painting is now right side up and unscathed.
   


4. Place a staple approximately ¼” in on the centre of one of the long sides (position 1 on photo) of your painting. Now, carefully lift the opposite side (position 2) of the painting and stretch gently. Place a staple to hold that position.
5. Next, staple the centre of the short side (position 3) of the painting... and stretch that length before fixing the staple on the other side (position 4).
6. You will need to staple approximately every 2 inches all around the painting. So, follow the process described above first stapling on one side of the painting and then gently stretching the opposite side of the painting before placing a staple to hold it.
7. Ensure that all corners have been stapled so that the corners of the painting don't curl up as it dries.
8. Leave the board FLAT overnight and let the paintings thoroughly dry. Then, remove the staples CAREFULLY to ensure you don’t tear the painting. I used a thin, flat screwdriver to tickle under the paper and lift gently to loosen the staple. Another thing that worked for me is a very delicate plier to pull the staples up.
9. You’re done! The painting is now ready to frame. Good luck!

Chippy Waiting 6"x8"

Today I'm posting a page from a sketch journal that I've been puttering in this summer. In June we sat out on my veranda with the dogs - our two are Kassie 14 yoa and Farley 3 yoa, plus Kim's dog Chippit 4 yoa. On this particular day, Chippy was watching and waiting for Kim to return. He was patiently waiting on the love seat and I quickly drew this up with my trusty sharpie and added some watercolor later. I think I captured his "slumped" mood.

I have some very exciting news to share. I had a call from Artpoint Gallery this afternoon and they have accepted three of my paintings for the "Unseen Art Exhibition" which runs this August!!! I submitted 10 images and they want me to decide between my 3 landscapes or 3 of my still life paintings. A conundrum for me - decisions, decisions. I'll keep you posted as I go through the process - this is ALL new to me. I've never exhibited anything and I have no idea what to expect. Fortunately, this show is all new artists so we're in the same boat - all newbies! Wish me luck!

Enjoy!

Plein Aire at Lloyd Park

The birds were very busy yesterday. Whole families of ducks were making grand forays into open water (training little ones?). The reeds were quite colorful from bleached out to intense burgundy and greens. I needed to do a warm up sketch and this is it. Notice there really are no trees here. I've been working for a little while today on trees... I hope to have a little painting done that would prove that I'm breaking out of my "tree funk". My goal this week is to paint trees, paint trees, paint trees, etc you get the picture. I'll be hard pressed to put a landscape out there that doesn't require trees. Quite difficult....

To close, another quote from Winston Churchill's "Painting as a Pastime" "Painting is complete as a disctraction. I know of nothing which, without exhausting the body, more entirely absorbes the mind. Whatever the worries of the hour or the threats of the future once the picture has begun to flow along, there is no room for them in the mental screen. They pass out into shadow and darkness. All one's mental light, such s it is, becomes concentrated on the task. Time stands respectfully aside, and it is only after many hesitations that luncheon knocks gruffly at the door."

Plein Aire painting & Sorrento III (12"x12")

This afternoon I met Sharon Williams (see http://sharonlynnwilliams.blogspot.com/) at Lloyd Park just south of Calgary and we painted. I learned something very important... there is no substitute for painting outside or, as painters say, en plein aire! No books, photos, magnifying glass, etc. Just your own eyes to take in all the shapes and colors of the great outdoors. What to paint? Good question - at Lloyd park you could go every day and paint something new. Trees, water, reeds, birds, farm yard and/or fields in bright greens and yellows, rolling foothill slopes... and more.

It was a gorgeous day with enough breeze and repellant to keep the bugs at bay. The birds number in the thousands there and they made a lovely, relaxing din for background music. This was all good... and then I realized that I can't paint trees! Furthermore, when I look back on my paintings I think I have actually been avoiding trees as subjects. So you can guess what I'm going to be working on - trees, trees, trees. And from life too... not photos.

If you are interested in learning more about plein aire painting click on the link below and/or check back here over the summer and follow my progress up close and personal. I plan to paint lots of real life trees and landscape in general this summer and fall.
http://painting.about.com/od/landscapes/a/plein_air_paint.htm


Now for today's painting - as promised yesterday I finished Sorrento III (aka "The Last"). This has been a tough painting to work on because it has been 15 months since I took the reference photo and, as discussed above, painting en plein aire provides more energy and more information. I know I'll have another chance to paint this view and I'm excited to do that - some day. For now, this is it... movin' on, etc.

I like this painting better than the one I posted yesterday because it reminds me strongly of the 3 days I spent there with Elaine in April 2007. The values (dark to light) are close to what we saw that day. It was a day from heaven (if you don't count the contractor woes). The sky swirled above and reflected deeper color on the water-mirror of Shuswap Lake. It was a GORGEOUS April day!!! I'm willing to bet there would be at least 20 boats in the photo if you snapped it today - maybe more. It's a busy place in the summer but April was very, very quiet. I felt like painting it on the spot but unfortunately we were heading home to Calgary and the photo had to suffice. Paintings are successes if they bring you back immediately to that day in your life, to the light on the lake and the company of friends. This one does that for me... I hope it does it for Elaine too.

I leave you with a favourite quote: "Happy are the painters, for they shall not be lonely. Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep them company to the end, or almost to the end, of the day." Sir Winston Churchill, from his essay "Painting as a Pastime" which he published in his book Amid These Storms in 1932.

Sorrento II (12"x12")

I snapped the reference photo for this painting in April 2007. What a gorgeous view over the lake that day!!! Absolutely no waves, nothing breaking up the huge heavenly mirror that morning. I was surprised at the brilliance of the color reflected in the water. That said, I don't think it was quite this bright. So, I'm half done Sorrento III and I should have that for your comparison tomorrow. I do believe I will like it better as it is just a bit calmer and less hectic than this one.

Speaking of less hectic, my daughter Candice and her girls Kiera (4) and Kalista (2) are off on their Japanese adventure tomorrow. I wish them well and we will miss being in the same time zone and within 4 hours travel time - sigh. They visited last week and things around this house have definitely been less hectic since then. I've had time to paint and read and think about the fact that the girls and I got in only one painting session.

Until next time...

Grandma J's Egg Cups (14"x10")

Grandma J's Egg Cups (14"x10")

Hi all! Here I am again with a painting new to this blog but not really new. This one is based on a still life that I set up this spring for my art class. The orange pillow that you see in behind was made by my Grandma Matson. She's 102 years old...

By the way... I painted today and would have posted that landscape but there was no decent lighting for taking a photo tonight. So, you'll see that one tomorrow.

I hope you had a great Sunday and are all ready for a new work week. I plan to do lots of painting this week so keep your eyes peeled for updates...

Cheryl

resting and reflecting

Rest and Reflection (2007, 8"x11")

I'm posting a small painting completed in 2007 for 2 reasons:

1) My daughter left yesterday and I'm in "rest and reflect" mode which is the title I gave to this painting. I'm thankful that we had a great visit and excited that Candice & Doug and their girls have such an exciting adventure before them. It's a great time to exit the North American commercial flying scene (oil price fallout) and Doug has a wonderful career opportunity in Japan. BUT... they'll be SO far away ;(

2) I've had no time/energy to paint something new...

This is a nostalgic painting for me because it features my wedding china and the "brown betty" teapot that my mom gave me a few years ago. These two items put me in a restful mood and looking back on one of my earliest paintings encourages me to get with it and get those brushes wet.

Speaking of wet brushes... I'm excited that my sister-in-law Karen is going to be taking a watercolor class this fall. She'll be in the Wednesday morning class at Rosscarrock school and my class is in the afternoon at the same place. We'll be able to meet at the mall for coffee or lunch those days. I hope she'll enjoy this as much as I do. Go Karen!

Okay... no more excuses for me. I'm off to paint! Have a great day...

Manitou Day Lilies

Manitou Day Lilies (9 1/4x9 1/2 inches)

These lilies were EVERYWHERE in downtown Manitou Springs, Colorado when I visited there last month. What a cheerful, sunny greeting they waved to tourists and townsfolk alike. I hope I've captured it in this little painting. I need lots of practice working with yellow... it's easy to muddy and dull it. I can relate to Lawrence Calcagno who said "As an artist, it is central to be unsatisfied! This isn't greed, though it might be appetite." I never quite get it as I imagined it in my head. I feel somewhat like I used to when I golfed... I hit a good one once in a while and that keeps me painting. The enjoyment of the act of painting is something that cannot be explained... it must be experienced.

In an hour I'm back on Grandma duty for the next 5 days. I intend to enjoy them as much as possible. So, I will be back here at the end of the week..

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks... and happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans (yes, I'm a dual citizen).

Cheryl