Plein Air Partners

Frenchman River

I had company whilst painting this oil. My daughter Sacha and good friends Dean Bauche and Jan Layh all sat out in the glorious morning sun down by the Frenchman River and painted in our own manner.  This was the first time that Sacha painted out of doors with me and I think she did great.  The hills around Eastend, SK are so green due to large amount of rain they have been getting.  I am told by people who travel that this place reminds them of Ireland and Wales.

Art Forgery and Superstores

No, you won't find this painting at the worlds largest chain of superstores(no need to name names) unless of course this image is stolen by the notorious Chinese art fakers who have been known to supply said superstore and other home furnishing stores with many of their so called paintings, wittingly or not.  Literally thousands of Chinese are employed at Art Factories copying Old and New Masters from all over the world.  Southern China is the world's leading center for mass-produced works of art. One village of artists exports about five million paintings every year -- most of them copies of famous masterpieces. The fastest workers can paint up to 30 paintings a day, for pennies a day. Yes, you will find this original oil painting at my studio, keeping company with many others in the same vein. 

Eastend 2012

Well, we've been back from the annual Eastend Retreat hosted by the Bauche's for over a week now. The painting above is a plein air painted at Brady's Ranch looking up at the hills surrounding the place.  It was a great day and a pleasure to be outside doing what I love best.  We all had a great time again, there was fantastic food, music performed by participating artists and collaborations on many paintings.  Can't say enough about the value of this Retreat, going to Eastend is like going home.

Going to Abstraction

A favourite theme, the former Blue Hotel in bygone days and later a brine shrimp processing plant.  Remember those Sea Monkey ads in comic books many years ago?  They came from good old Manitou Beach back in the day.  This is a pastel and charcoal piece over a heavy undercoat of marble dust and other stuff.

A semi abstract oil painting on masonite, undercoated with orange shellac.  A playful rendition of random thoughts bouncing around my skull.  It works for me. 
We are only 2 weeks away from our annual Spirit of Manitou Studio Trails tour.  Please drop by if you  are in the area, it promises to be a great event!

Somehow this painting explains where my head is at when I am in the "zone". It is a self portrait of me, don't ask me why or how, it just is. Does anyone see the family resemblance?

Untitled

This is an encaustic painting, 12 inches square, painted on a cradled wood panel.  Loosely based on a freight train speeding past my field of vision on an amazing prairie summer afternoon somewhere near Melfort Saskatchewan in the year 2010.

The Painter

I rather enjoy exploring the scarier side of my psych on occasion, and usually what happens are paintings such as the one above.  The title is "The Painter" because that is the first thought that came to me when I considered giving it a title.  I am considering refraining from titling my paintings in the future, especially if I continue in this vein.

Hyacinths

The Deer missed these flowers, some Hyacinths I planted last fall.  I so enjoy watching nature unfold, the simplest things seem to sublimely beautiful and profound.

Deer Food

These are what is left of all the tulip bulbs I planted last fall, pretty much all the rest of them were chomped off at ground level by opportunistic deer that wander around the neighborhood looking for free handouts! I will persevere with planting flowers and vegetables, just because. I am learning a bit about the workings of nature living where I am, it just takes a keen eye and a handful of patience.  As my wife often reminds me, deer have to eat as well.

The Layh Homestead

A few weeks back Crystal and I attended the Langenburg Adjudicated Art Show, their 18th, and had the pleasure again of staying at their lovely home near the edge of the Assinaboine valley.  Jan and Don have an amazing yard, I don't know how they find the time to keep it so perfect with their busy lives.  I found a bit of time to paint while I was there so I set myself up in one of the gardens and painted this view towards their house.

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.