Still Life

All Aboard, 8"x10", acrylic on canvas

A small painting a day seems to have become quite a trend among artists. I like the idea of honing your skills by working on something small and immediate. It requires you to think about, composition, form, lighting, shapes and colour. Being a landscape artist I felt a little out of my comfort zone. I went to the fridge and found a few colourful items and just put them together on a white plate. I had a number of light sources and found that a bit challenging. When I used to teach beginner watercolour I would always recommend just starting with some fruit and vegetables as subject matter. Easy to find, very colourful and the shapes are interesting,

Olympic Experience

Good Morning. My husband was a little miffed that I introduced the dogs before I made mention of him, so here goes. My wonderful husband, Allen, has recently been working as a volunteer with the Olympics. His job was as a driver of a member of the IOC family. His client for the last two weeks has been from Syria. He was a world champion weight lifter and also sports minister for his country. Allen has worked long hours, but has also seen alot. It has been a wonderful experience for him. We were both invited as guests for dinner at the Olympic club on two occasions. It was a very interesting experience, I shook hands with Jacques Rogge and learned alot about the perspective of someone who lives in the Middle East. He has experienced many Olympics and commented that this is the most beautiful city in the world, and that we are very lucky to live here. I felt extremely proud of Vancouver at that point. We really should count our blessings. Back to Allen, I could not ask for a more supportive partner, he is my best friend and advocate of my art career. He has picked up bits of information about art and is proud to make seemingly informed comments at various art shows. Somewhat like the comments I make regarding hockey games.

Teddy and Jessie

I wanted to introduce you to my two constant companions. They follow me everywhere and never criticize my paintings. They get to know all of the signs as it relates to them. For example when I spray my palette before I put the lid on they get excited because they know that we will be going downstairs and that may lead to something good. Teddy is the little white male dog. we found him sitting by our car in a Tofino beach parking lot. We made every effort to locate his owners but he had no tags, was covered in fleas and would have been a bear's lunch at some point. We took him home and within a week we had him neutered, tatooed and vaccinated. He is only about 1yr. Jessie was a rescue dog from Furever After Small dog Rescue, a wonderful organization. She had been abandoned needing an operation which she was given. She is a little angel. They get along very well even though Jessie is much older at 11, she tolerates Ted's irritating little ways.

Freezing Over, 14"x18", acrylic

A new day. Many things to do today - paint, clean, dogs for walk etc, but first I want to play on my blog ( a new toy) As I said this is a little bit of trial and error. I think I have posted an image of my latest painting. The Birthplace of BC gallery is having a show called Art On Ice, so this will be one of my contributions. I decided to start the painting on a black background as I would be using a number of light shapes. It has very different challenges than starting on a white canvas. I enjoyed the process. I started to think that it was getting too cold with all of the blue, but then I thought well it is ICY. Orange and blue are my favorite complementary colours. Each painting is a challenge, I think of the old saying "when it is good it is very very good, but when it is bad it is horrid."

Hello all, I have just discovered this blog site and I am quite excited to explore all of the options. It may take a while with lots of trial and error. "Just do it" are good words to live by. I often say that to myself when I am faced with a blank canvas, just make a mark and get things going, you may be surprised where you end up! I have had two paintings on exhibit at YVR for about 3 months, I have had a good response, one even led to showing in a gallery in Cochrane, Alberta. I picked them both up yesterday and sold one today to someone who saw it in the departure lounge. I would say to other artists, take advantage of opportunities to show your work you don't know when a piece may speak to someone.