Bridge to Apache Lake (14”x10”)

The hills around Apache Lake were lit up by the profusion of yellow from the Palo Verde blooms this April.  This painting doesn’t do the scene justice and I’m way too tired to analyze the problem tonight.  I may be seriously overdue for a good critique – any takers out there?  Feel free to provide it by commenting or emailing me…   Ciao!

Early Morning Calgary [14x11 watercolor]

This Calgary sunrise is another of my photo references from our deck [different house than the Bearspaw Dam shot earlier this week]. What a city view we had from this deck! This was a particularly memorable sunrise… I have several photos of this bright, bright color. Just a bit of “low-lying fog” hanging over the Bow River and downtown with the lights still twinkling across the city. Enjoy!

Poppy Pod

Here’s a little flower sketch – just a poppy jumble.  I started this way back in May and it’s been sitting around in my pile.  Today I decided to putter a bit more to see if I could make something out of it.  I like the seed head and the top left background and I think I’ll chalk the rest up to experience.  Tomorrow is another painting day.  Cheers!

Rock Isle Lake (20x14, watercolor)

A year ago I attended the Sunshine Meadows Plein Air PaintOut near Banff, Alberta.  The area is spectacular – what a gift our beautiful mountain parks are!  I nearly froze solid up there on a day that couldn’t make up it’s mind whether to snow, sleet, rain, or shine.  The overcast conditions made for the most spectacular photography though.  The purpley mountains set off the new, yellowish green growth perfectly.  My favorite spot is the basis for this watercolor painting – Rock Isle Lake.  Spectacular views and the cleanest, purest air I’ve ever breathed.  This year the PaintOut is August 5th so hopefully the weather will be more cooperative.  Regardless, it will be a day of fun and fellowship with other artists and enough photo reference material to last a lifetime! 

Saguaro Sunset

I’ve had an amazing day in sunny and HOT Arizona (sorry all you Alberta people).  Temperature reached high nineties today but there was a slight breeze to take the edge off.  Quite tolerable rolling into and out of the pool. 

I sketched up the saguaro cactus behind the house here and put him front and centre with a little pal in a quick desert sunset watercolor.  It was fun. 

I’m really enjoying blogging since I discovered Windows Live Writer.  I do the entire blog posting on my laptop and when I click on post it logs on and makes it all happen.  Lots of options for formatting and jazzing things up – looking forward to trying some of those too!  Check it out here.

Elitist Still Life

It just occurred to me that all of these objects seem to be turning up their noses at the world - thus the title. I'm not quite done this but it's come along way since last night. I still owe the middle shoe a shadow and I'm debating on whether or not the background needs something. I'm a bit confused about the teapot. The foreshortening is definitely hard to portray accurately and I'm still missing something. I'm loving the colors though... enjoy!

Watercolor again

My friend Sally and I met Monday for some art time. We had a great visit, tea, and set up a still life that I really like. Everything - tea, carving, and the very intriguing khussa shoes are all from India. We took our time drawing the set-up in our sketchbooks and transferring it onto watercolor paper. I have lots of painting left to do (haven't even started the tea pot) but I sure have enjoyed painting in watercolor again. There's just something so pure about it.
Enjoy!

Fruit Trio (10"x7")

I think this may take a better photo tomorrow in the daylight but I wanted to post this tonight. I miss the long daylight hours we have had over the summer. I hadn't realized how much I was depending on it to get decent lighting for these photos.

I've been feeling a bit stuck with painting for the last few days. I have lots of ideas but I'm having a hard time deciding what to paint NOW... Lots of the ideas seem like I'm not quite ready for them. Fruit on the other hand... well, I just love painting it. The red pear turned out to be quite a challenge today.

I started this painting off by doing a gamboge wash from left to right over all three pieces of fruit but covering only part of the centre of the red pear. Then, while that was still wet I rounded out the rest of the left pear with reds, quin magenta and ultramarine blue. Then I dropped ultramarine blue and some azo yellow into to the green pear... as that dried a bit I darkened the top of the banana with a wash varying colors from blue to red in the centre and then green gold toward the right side. As the paint mingled on the paper I lifted out highlights on the pears... softening the edges of the white highlight on the green pear. then a few spots on the banana and the green pear needed a few burnt sienna speckles. After I was satisfied with the fruit, I washed in the shadows with ultramarine blue, violet, and some cobalt... with just a touch of quin gold... it was fun watching things flow as it dried. At the end I added some darks on the stems of the fruit and the side and tip of the banana.

I definitely didn't stick with my original color scheme but I kind of like the result... Enjoy!

Mount Burgess (10"x14")

Mount Burgess rises up 8527 feet behind Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park. My dad snapped some photos of Emerald Lake this summer while there visiting with some of his state-side cousins. What amazing sights we have so close to our home - this national wonder is about 2 hours west of my home in Calgary. Ron and I visited there on our honeymoon and took a toodle around in one of their shiny red canoes. What a beautiful place... I must point out that the color of the lake needs to be pushed over more towards the green side to make this accurate. Nevertheless, I was pretty happy with the results of this painting given the fact that I spent only 1 hour on painting it (and not much more on drawing). I do believe I am getting a bit more speedy in both the drawing and painting categories... that's really quite encouraging for me - it means my plucking away at it over the summer has made me more comfortable and more confident. Since it's a skill and not a talent anybody willing to practice can do it.... join an art class at a community hall near you.

There was a very important event that went of like clockwork today in downtown Calgary. The Easter seals Drop Zone had 85 folks raised over 175,000 for Easters Seals and the Camp Horizon people by repelling down 30 floors. My daughter Kim participated in honor of her cousin Heather who enjoyed many years of camping at Camp Horizon. Here are a couple of pictures of her drop and her smiles.
This is the "I made it" smile. Here you are just ecstatic that you are still alive, you've gone through with your commitment and in so doing raise money for something near and dear to our hearts.

Here she is partway down but has the time to stop and chat with some people that were needing some directions...???

Anyway Kim, we're proud of your achievment. I'd be challenging your Uncle's Dwight and Chuck next year. Now THAT would be entertaining!!!!

Red & Black Rooster (10"x10")

I've just looked through dozens of photos on the internet trying to find out what type of rooster I was painting last night. To that I say "Uncle". I had no idea how many types of roosters there are... nor how popular it is to grow fancy poultry!!! Maybe by the time I repaint this guy I will have figured out what type of rooster he is. [My drawing exceeded my paper supply... so, I am missing a very long piece of black tail sticking straight up 4-5 inches beyond the edge of paper- nevermind, it was fun to paint!!!]

Despite the long black tail, this guy wasn't the biggest rooster. That honor went to a HUGE reddish blonde guy that was really strutting his stuff at the Saskatoon Berry Farm yesterday. I visited there with my folks and had a very yummy lunch complete with Saskatoon berry pie. It's a really cute little place. One of those gems you live right next door to but have never heard of. What a fun place to visit!

Last Wave (6"x10")

In Canmore, just 45 minutes west of our house it is SNOWING. Now, don't panic... it's just a little bit of snow. But it does tell you something about our weather right now. We are experiencing cooler weather. I like it. I think I'm going to enjoy fall and winter this year! It's not that I'm crazy about cold weather... lets just say I'm not as crazy about heat as I used to be. My little wave petunias have had a great year - loaded with blooms since I planted them in May. They just seemed to be saying their final goodbye to summer today - their "last wave". I plucked a stem and stuck it in this vase that I've been wanting to paint and I kind of like how it turned out. The stem on the bottom is a "popcorn orchid" given to me by a neighbourhood gardener named Michelle. This spring she was pulling the little plants out as quickly as they could grow... apparently they are a very aggressive reseeding plant. She offered me some of her little plants and they are now about 5 feet tall and covered with these little orchid like blooms. That reminds me... I really need to take the seed pods off as they mature or I'll have a time of it next spring!

I can't decide if I like this painting without the bottom 1.5 inches or with it... thoughts?

Floral Reflections (8"x11")

Again, I am not satisfied that I captured the reflections accurately in this lovely piece of pottery. However, as Jane Fonda says "good enough is good enough". I don't often quote her but... I'll make an exception today. "Perfection is overrated" she says - and I believe her. I like to think of myself as a recovering perfectionist... you could even say I have an entry level position as a recovering perfectionist some days, lol. I like the yellow flowers on the right hand side... they're pretty loose... just as I tried to be throughout this painting. I'm still tighter than I'd like. I'm giving myself as much time as I want to preparation but maximum 1 hour on painting. I hope this will loosen me up.

What I want you to see in this painting are the reflections of the purple and yellow flowers on the surface of the dish AND the lovely, sparkly lights that the bottom of the dish is throwing onto the table cloth. This candy dish is turning into a real fun toy... enjoy!

St Albert Elevators (21"x11")

Growing up as a Saskatchewan girl the sight of elevator rows was not only common, it seemed permanent. Sadly for elevator lovers, they are disappearing from the landscape like dinosaurs did ages ago. Anybody reading this that has photos of elevators - especially those around Eston, Saskatchewan - please email them to me??? I'm gathering loads of material for the future and I've learned a whole lot about what I like to paint this summer... buildings are one of those loves.
I'm getting all nostalgic typing this... better get back to what I've been doing. I'm spending some time to sort out my art room in preparation for my fall classes. It's not like I'm actually going to school but I love my art supplies... never mind commenting Ron. I need to make sure I've counted all my stuff so I don't over-shop. The gadgets are building up to having a life of their own and I'm working on organization and finding everything a home. Unfortunately, I'll have to use last year's pencil crayons, sigh. [for 12 years running I hassled my mother for new pencil crayons whether I needed them or not. I NEEDED them because I could face anything if I had new pencil crayons. What a funny duck I was... ]
Now I have 6 grandkids getting ready for school - things change so quickly and it's only Kalista now that will be home with mommy. Two more tikes are off to school... Kiera is going to have an intereting year in Japanese pre-school. Ethan is joining his brothers and sisters for a home-schooling experience. It's going to be a lot of fun!!!

Head Shot (10"x10")

Flower portraits intrigue me... The tulip lends itself well to a close-up with a huge variety of looks from delicate and unusual to the more common, garden varieties. This particular flower head shot is loosely based on a photo I took just down the street last year.
I enjoy drawing and painting things that have defined shapes like this. It's easy to concentrate on the shapes rather than on "painting a tulip". Thinking about the latter can sometimes impact my ability to paint what's in front of me.
Here's and example: can you draw a tree? Of course you can! You've been able to do that since you turned three. Make a circle and then make two parallel lines down from the centre. See? You can draw a tree. The symbol for a tree anyhow. The problem with that is now you have an idea in your head and it's hard to knock it loose. Your brain keeps on telling you that a tree is that even when your eyes are giving you better information. Learning to "see" the real shapes in a subject takes time and practice. In this little painting there are many ovals, a parallelogram, a (near) triangle, and a couple of circles. When you take "tulip" out of your thinking and deal with the shapes in relationship to each other... voila! a tulip centre emerges. Fun stuff... sign up for an art class at a community college near your home, lol...
Have a great night!

Flowers With a View (15"x15")

Flowers With a View - A catchy name for a painting that would have benefited from a few more minutes of planning...

What do I like? The colors are working for me - especially on the right hand side of the painting. I like that this was done from life, not a photo. I think that makes it fresher and more artsy... working from photo reference just isn't as much fun. The flowers are bright and cheery... and very informally arranged... I was still cutting flowers when Lindsey arrived to paint. An afternoon of color and light... it doesn't get much better than that (unless the grandkids are in town!).

What would I change? I would mess around a bit longer with the setup to make the overlapping sections interesting. I would use my viewfinder when I sketch so that the entire bottle has room on the page (!?!). I would make the flowers facing the viewer instead of having them facing toward their own personal window (which was added last to give the flowers "a view").

Overall, it was a fun painting experience - Lindsey was over to paint for the first time since our painting challenge August 12th. Where has the summer gone? Wasn't that a fast one? Here's a photo of what Lindsey did today.... lovely and loose!

Over the course of this summer I've come realize that I really love to paint still life arrangements. I'm not sure if this is because I get to the painting experience without a drive... or that some of the shapes are hard edged and I love that! More stairs are on the agenda folks.


Anybody else on Olympic withdrawal?

Salsa Thoughts (10"x14")

I just needed to set up a still life and paint from it. I have this neat pewter cup - a remnant of my days at Arthur Anderson. I set this arrangement up, rearranged a few times and then sketched from life. Now, two days later I pulled out the tomatoes and set it up for painting. The challenges with this painting were the colors of the pewter cup... reflections in the cup seemed to be quite green. I like how this one turned out. It's very kitcheny and I'm excited to get it framed and hung.

This painting has a split complementary color scheme. The green bottle and leaves on the tomato are compliments to the red tomatoes. The oranges in the blinds and the drapery are complimented by the blue's in the cup and in the folds of the drapery. This was fun to do - still life is beginning to be a favourite subject of mine. I enjoy relating the items together, looking for good negative shapes, and watching the paint do it's thing.

Blessings to all... And welcome to Maverick John Coppola, born yesterday in Gilbert, AZ. Proud parents are Christa (my neice) and John Coppola, Proud big sister is Tula Belle 14 months old! All are well and looking very happy!

Burnt Orange Iris (6"x6")

I spotted these gorgeous orange irises in Colorado Springs at the horticultural art club's demonstration garden. I think they're just lovely colors and looked just beautiful with the bluish foliage. You can check out the demonstration gardens here... be sure to visit them the next time you're in Colorado Springs! Enjoy...

So Glad We Came (6"x6")

... and I'd be glad to go back anytime! The sketch for this little painting is based on a couple of photos I took when I was in Nuevo Vallarta. This couple was standing just in front of us as we watched this astonishing sunset. They seemed to be reveling in each other and the memories of the week - a great week. It was such an awesome sight over the ocean and it lasted a long time. The reflections on the sand were more colorful than I've been able to capture here. Perhaps on a larger surface I'll have enough space to explore that more fully. It's on my list.

Folks talk about Hawaiian sunsets but Nuevo Vallarta served up gorgeous sunsets almost every night - any of which were more beautiful than what I saw during 14 days on the big island, 8 nights on Maui and 3 nights on Oahu. Don't get me wrong - I'd be quite happy to return to the Islands at any time... August is a particularly beautiful time there with the ocean SO warm for snorkeling.

Now, back to beach volleyball... until tomorrow!

Little Red Tulips (6"x6")

I'm so happy to see that uploading photos works now on BLOGGER. That's' great.
These are little red tulips I mentioned last night. At first I lay down some nice yellow and scarlet lake to blend and mingle together. Then I worked on leaf colors and shapes in behind the flowers - these need to be interesting as well. I chose to use quite a bit of the complementary blue. That Makes the flowers pop. A fun little piece to paint. Enjoy!

Cosmos (6"x9")

I came across a feathery, fluffy cloud of green, white and pink cosmos yesterday. They inspired this little painting. The cosmos flower represents beauty, order, and peace depending on which website you visit. Other than the doodling to sketch these up and half and hour to paint them, I've been puttering on cutting mats today. I've done enough to be pretty comfortable on my Fletcher 2000 - a true blessing! Despite the practice I've had I still made a goof today and had to toss out a piece of mat board.

Now... more Olympic coverage - are the Canucks ever going to get a medal? I suppose we shouldn't be surprised on our return on athletic investment - when it comes to tax time nobody wants to pay people to train. It makes it all the sweeter when they do well... cheers!