A Still Life

This painting is somewhat of a surreal depiction of a still life I set up at a retreat down in Eastend, SK. It is a large painting, 48 x 36 inches, so it kind of jumps out at you! I painted it at our 2010 retreat in Shellmouth and rather enjoy it, particularly the enameled bowl. One of these days I am going to upload my new images to my website, which is currently down for some reason.

On Being There

The image on my blog's home page and the one for this post were done while I was at our annual Shellmouth retreat, which I have talked about at length in previous post's. I guess I can't say enough about the event. What I do know is that I have made some life long friends there and to me that has been the most valuable gift of the place. It seems that I have only touched the surface of the land down there with respect to my plein air work as there is much to paint in that lovely little valley. This year marked my tenth time down there!

A Pastel

One of my resolves for the Shellmouth retreat was to do a painting of a Honduran child, which is what I managed to do with this pastel. I came across this little girl on my way to work down in Honduras one morning and was quite taken with her demeanor, she looked so forlorn. I fell in love in with the children down there, they made a huge impact on me.

Paintings from Shellmouth Retreat

I mentioned in a previous post titled "Observation" my interest in Goldfinches that were visiting the weedpatch next to my home. I was enamored by the contrast of their feathers against the purple flowers of the thistles that they enjoy eating so I decided to do an oil painting based on that vision. I found a canvas that I had started a number of years ago that fit the theme and finished it off with the painting knife. The painting sold instantly! I did another in watercolor and it also sold. I will have to do another for myself.

In Between

I am just recently back from my annual Art Retreat to Shellmouth, Mb. As usual I had an amazing time. We had quite a crowd this year and many more young people, including my daughter Sacha, which added a nice flavour to the whole event. I am quite excited about the painting to the left, it has a strange appeal to me and I plan on exploring this idea further. I tend to suffer Retreat withdrawal for a number of days after getting home as it is quite an intense affair. Long hours painting and visiting with old friends and not a lot of sleep can catch up to you. Even so I wouldn't give it up for anything!

Summer Art Retreats

Another few days and I'm off to the annual Shellmouth Art Retreat. Time to get my canvas's stretched and gear organized as I never know exactly where the muse will take me. This usually means taking everything except the kitchen sink down there! One whole week of painting and hanging out with dear old friends. My daughter Sacha will be making her first appearance there and I am quite pumped about that as I know she will have a great time. I get lots of work done at the retreat, usually a painting a day. This painting is yet another view from my studio window portraying the afternoon sun playing on the trees and lake. Enjoy.