Sundown near Manitou

Sundown near Manitou
 

The weather continues to be unbelievably warm for this time of the year, its almost the end of December and the temperature has been hovering around 0 degrees Celcius forever.  I manage to get out and do plein air work almost every day and it has been very instructional for me.  Working in the studio seems to be a stale experience after the excitement of working outdoors on "real" subjects. 

Feliz Navidad

Honduran Child

Christmas is once again upon us my friends and neighbours.  I wish for you all a happy time spent in meaningful and loving moments with loved ones now and in the New Year!  I share with you this watercolour of a little Honduran girl I met a few years back when I did some humanitarian work for the people of Honduras.  Feliz Navidad !!

Plein Air Pastel

Yesterday was a lovely day for December 19th, the temperature was hovering around 0 C while I was doing this pastel down in Wellington Park.  What a bonus to experience winter this way, I absolutely love sitting out of doors and painting, especially by Wellington Creek because of the mesmerizing sounds of the water as it makes its way down to the lake. Pastels can be kind of addictive but I promise not to buy any more!

The extraordinary thing about the ordinary thing

I watched a video made by a staff photographer from National Geographic magazine who stressed the concept of paying attention to the ordinary things in our life.  (kind of goes against the current trend in marketing methinks) I like this concept alot, in fact I love it and have lived most of my life following it.  There is much beauty in our backyards and beneath our feet.  The late Canadian photographer, Courtney Milne, made amazingly beautiful photographs in his backyard pool.  My brother, Richard Baschak, is a master photographer who elevates frozen water droplets into wondrous images that evoke celestial objects of far away galaxies. I am a humble painter who attempts to follow in the footsteps of past and current artists that celebrate the ordinary.

Shimmering Water

My latest plein air of the lovely Wellington Creek.  An overcast day, temperature hovering around 0 C, with bits of sunlight once in awhile.  Quite contemplative place to sit and paint, the water gurgling and chickadees fluttering about, I even saw a couple of robins. What a life.

First Snow

I painted this a little while back when we experienced one of our first snows out at the Beach.  It was painted from my studio window and is a tiny little thing, 6 x 8 inches.  I enjoyed flicking the specks of snow on at the end, rather fun to try and achieve a realistic effect in a painterly way.

Hue and Saturation

This watercolour is pushing hue and saturation somewhat, but I swear it is not terribly different than what I have seen on some summer evenings out here.  I don't know, maybe I will wash it out a bit.
CC's are welcome.

The Joy of Collaboration

Extraordinary in the Ordinary

Every once in awhile I have the joy (I could use many words to express this) of collaborating with good friends at our various Retreats.  The painting above was painted by Dean Bauche, Jan Layh and myself at our Retreat in Denare Beach, SK this past summer.  Rocks were the theme of many participating artists as this location is well known for the Precambrian outcroppings abounding about there (some are loaded with precious minerals like zinc, copper and gold).  I was entrusted to take this painting home and finish it, the only demand was that I didn't break the first rule.  People in the know will understand what that means!  I only had to sharpen up some lines and do a bit of glazing.  Seems like its done.

The Magpie

I have a love/hate relationship with magpies.  On the one hand I find them annoying when it comes to attempting to attract songbirds to the yard because they tend to scare them all off.  A case in point is my determination to build a purple martin palace for my yard this past summer.  Well the magpie was not pleased and he pretty much told me so one summer morning when I came across him sitting on my wood pile.  We had a staring match for a good minute, which I found amazing because they are usually very shy of humans.  Looking at him I had a sense that he was telling me that he didn't appreciate being dive bombed by the purple martins who had taken over the yard.  Magpies are a very striking bird and I particularly enjoy seeing them in the winter, when their plumage really stands out. Had a hard time photographing this oil painting, I think the pearlescent paint was messing with my camera lense.

To A Certain Cantatrice

 Found myself thinking about the countless people of the occupy Wall Street movement when I came across this Walt Whitman poem. Do you see the relevance?


Here, take this gift,
I was reserving it for some hero, speaker, or general,
One who should serve the good old cause,
the great idea, the progress and freedom of the race,
Some brave confronter of despots, some daring rebel;
But I see that what I was reserving belongs
to you just as much as to any.

- Walt Whitman

Schist Lake, Manitoba

Bright Morning on Schist Lake

It's snowing out like crazy and I am in my studio working away like a beaver on numerous pieces.  This oil was painted last weekend at a get together we hosted here at Manitou Beach and depicts an island on Schist Lake, where Karen Clark (one of the painters who attended) lives. 

Warm October Afternoon

I painted this pastel on one of the last days of Autumn.  The dogs and I came across the deer on the hiking trail south west of Wellington Park, what a great day it was.

Fading Glory

In the spirit of my photographer friend from Manitou Beach, Al Bowman, I submit this watercolour/pastel of the sun going down over the hills of Manitou Beach, SK.  Al is a spirited photographer who insists that he just likes "snapping pictures" but I feel he is much more talented than he gives himself credit for.  Check out his work on Facebook. I call this painting "Join the Union" simply because I was listening to a song by that name performed by Strawbs. Go figure.