Windy day

What a windy day we are experiencing.  I loved the way the trees were bending over and wished to try my hand at expressing that movement.  Also, the colour of the water and the scudding clouds mesmerized me. Hope you like it! A glorious day.

Its Raining, its Pouring

Its terribly wet out and has been for a few days now. I have lots of work to do but its all outside so I'm in my studio trying to be productive and maybe learning something to boot.  This is an oil painting about water, one of my favourite subjects, and a leaf beginning its journey to who knows where.  After I was almost finished it for the day I realized it bore some resemblance to the American painter Larry Poons, whom I admire.  Funny what comes up through the sub-conscious at times.

Mother Natures Son

Yesterday I intervened with Mother Nature with disastrous results. Sparrows had taken over our Purple Martin palace and weren't allowing the Martins to land and, since I'd built the house for the Martins, I decided to remove the nest and put it in a new birdhouse I'd built specifically for the sparrows.  Well, once the sparrows discovered the change they evicted their little chicks and threw them to the ground to die and made efforts to re take the palace.  I've been discouraging them by throwing rocks at them whenever I see them, I'm a little miffed at them for treating their young that way but  I suppose its my fault.  The Purple Martins have shown up again and are showing interest, we'll see how it all works out. 

Water World

I haven't had much time to paint lately, life as a carpenter has to take precedence at this time of the year! Looking through some of my works on paper and I came across this watercolour painted a few years back, I rather like it as it expresses exactly my sentiments when I came across the scene.  And, since it is raining so heavily outside, the water theme is appropriate.

It might Rain

I sat in my back yard lounge chair and painted this watercolour a few days ago, actually before it really started greening up here at the beach. Shortly after I finished this one it started to rain.  How wonderful it is to sit and paint outdoors on a spring day.  Robins and sparrows, purple martins and goldfinches singing to their hearts content with the odd raven flying by with a sticky bun in its beak! I've lost count on how many paintings I've done from my yard.  I'm a lucky duck for sure to be living in such a sublime place.

April Showers

Rain has been the order of the day lately.  Going for walks is a joy, the greening of the landscape is well on its way and the aroma of the poplars in bud can be intoxicating in a very good way.  Kinda hard painting pastels outside in the rain so I painted this from my window in the studio, something I've done quite a bit of.  I witnessed a funny event while painting, a Raven and a Magpie were getting into it over something and the next thing I see is the Raven flying off with a large cinnamon bun in its beak! He handled it quite easily and after stashing it somewhere was back in five minutes to scrounge for another one.  Love those birds and their choice of snacks.

Something out my window Version 2

Every one in awhile I get an urge to paint out of the comfort zone and more likely than not paintings such as the one above appear.  I actually really enjoy painting these as they allow me to use what ever technical abilities I have garnered over the years combined with a rampant imagination and playfulness.  The paintings give me the same wonder I feel when gazing at summer clouds, always changing and open to interpretation.  This piece is painted on a 12 inch square piece of masonite prepped with acrylic modelling paste and shellac.

April showers bring May flowers

Who doesn't love Petunias?  Their cheerful and floppy blossoms remind me of a bunch of Ukrainian Babas all dressed up in traditional clothing sitting around a kitchen table laughing and singing as they make perogies for a big family wedding.  (How is that for imagination?) I came across this watercolour painting yesterday as I was rummaging through my stock of papers for something to paint on.  It had a bright yellowish/green background that I found unsettling so I decided that I had nothing to lose by painting over it with black.  As some of you may know, yellow and black mixed together makes an interesting green by varying the intensity of either. Tom Thompson painted some lovely wild flower paintings using a blackish background to good effect. I am really looking forward to planting pots of Peturnias this spring so I have something to look at and paint.  I'll just have to have them somewhere where the deer can't get at them!

Feeling Blue

Those that know me comment on my use of the colour Purple.  I don't deny that I love the nuances of purple but I do use other colours on occasion, one of them being Blue.  Of course when you mix blue with red, guess what, you get Purple. This painting is predominantly blue and explores a building here at the beach that I am fascinated with called the Blue Hotel.  It is commonly known locally as the shrimp plant but is now abandoned and falling into disrepair.  This painting also explores my fascination with geometric shapes, which shouldn't surprise to many people who know me as a Carpenter who strives to build things square.  How does this painting make you feel?

Hair of the Earth

When one looks closely at an African Violet you will see a multitude of fine hairs on the surface of the leaves and it is these that give the leaf that distinctive shimmering effect when the light strikes (as well as benefits to the plant that we have no idea of as of yet).  The surface of the earth displays similar effects, although because of the complexity of the surfaces one is confronted with untold light effects under varying light conditions of course. I believe that is my muse, all the texture of the earth and sky, these tendrils poking up out of the ground receiving that which they require. In return they give it back to me and I give it to you. Its a Mystical experience that has many layers. I don't think these thoughts when I'm painting, I'm just in receiving mode quietly pushing the paint around.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

 

Oftentimes in the spring when I am out and about painting or just hiking in the hills I hear the geese much sooner than I see them.  When I finally locate them I often think of diamond or pearl necklaces as I watch the flocks twisting and turning in the sky above me, particularly when the sun catches the bottom of their wings every once and awhile. There have been probably millions of Snow and Canada geese flying around here lately, likely getting fed and watered up for the long trip further north.  It is a sight to behold as squadron after squadron make their way overhead! I am a fortunate son.

Haiku Morning

We woke up this April morning to a gentle snow fall. The lake was perfectly calm and I was inspired to firstly write a Haiku poem to commemorate the moment and then to paint the scene.  What peace I felt as I painted while being serenaded by the calls of playful ravens frolicking in the sky above me, specks of snow sticking to my painting panel and numerous other birds looking for their breakfast.  I remember a similar sentiment when I was sitting near the house a number of years ago in the early evening while a gentle misty rain fell down. It literally transported me back to the West Coast where we lived for awhile, I caught whiffs of cedar trees in the air. Times like this must be what Mystics experience in states of enlightenment.  Its an extremely hard thought to articulate. Life is music.

The Tangle in the Middle

Try as I might I cannot seem to escape the complexity of Mother Nature, so I just have to give in to it and embrace and paint the chaos in front of me.  Wolf Kahn is very accomplished at it and devotes a few pages to the topic in his book on Pastels.  I love texture, in nature and on the support I choose to use for the work.  This paper is coated quite heavily with marble dust and manipulated with a painting knife, go figure. Painted the other morning in front of a favourite poplar tree.