Last weekend I thought this painting was finished. But now I look at it and realize that it isn't. I'd really like to be able to say that it is finished, because its new owner is waiting for it and I'd love to make some room in my studio (this painting is BIG - 6 x 4 feet).
Looking at it now I see some problems.
One thing that jumps out at me are the lavender flowers in the top left. Although they are attractive, the scumbled paint application is just too different from the flat paint application in the other flowers. I thought I had addressed this by using the same blue outlining, but it just isn't working.
A bigger problem with this painting is the top third. It's just too blank. The green shape above the poppy seed heads is too straight and regular.It's like "poppies end here", "grass ends here" and "sky starts here". The composition needs more movement in that area. I think I need to bring some flowers right up to break through that area.
I'm going to work on it today and will post my results for you to look at.
The World Outside
Mixed media collage on paper
9" x 12"
$50
Mixed media collage on paper
9" x 12"
$50
Spring Bird on Arbutus Stump
Mixed media collage on paper
8" x 10" (matted)
$50
This small mixed media collage started out as a larger painting titled Arbutus Trees in Spring (see photo below).
Although I liked the painting well enough, I thought I could strengthen it by taking it further. So I cut it up and rearranged it. I'm glad I did because I think the new collage is more interesting than the original one.
Spring Bird on Arbutus Stump is collage with acrylic paint and oil pastel. The actual artwork is 5" x 7", but with the mat the size is 8" x 10". Slip it into a standard 8 x 10 frame and you'll have yourself a nice little original artwork for a great price.
Mixed media collage on paper
8" x 10" (matted)
$50
This small mixed media collage started out as a larger painting titled Arbutus Trees in Spring (see photo below).
Although I liked the painting well enough, I thought I could strengthen it by taking it further. So I cut it up and rearranged it. I'm glad I did because I think the new collage is more interesting than the original one.
Spring Bird on Arbutus Stump is collage with acrylic paint and oil pastel. The actual artwork is 5" x 7", but with the mat the size is 8" x 10". Slip it into a standard 8 x 10 frame and you'll have yourself a nice little original artwork for a great price.
Arbutus Trees in SpringMixed media collage on paper
18" x 24"
NFS
This collage drawing/painting is based on the view outside my studio window. I love the shape and colour of arbutus (madrona) trees, which are native to this area. In fact, the east coast of Vancouver Island is as far north as they grow.
Black Vase on Windowsill
Encaustic, collage and oil pastel on canvas
12" x 12"
$250 SOLD
It's been so long since I posted any new paintings! But I'm pleased with this one. It is highly textured with many layers of collage (mostly hidden now) and encaustic, followed by oil pastel.
Encaustic is a painting technique that combines color pigment with hot wax. The semi-liquid mixture of materials painted on to a wooden panel or other support and then fused to the surface with heat.
I use an old household iron to melt and fuse my pigment and wax. I also have a small "quilter's iron" for finer details. The red flowers were made by simply holding a red wax crayon against the iron and letting it drip onto the painting. The white details are oil pastel applied after the encaustic had cooled and hardened.
Encaustic, collage and oil pastel on canvas
12" x 12"
It's been so long since I posted any new paintings! But I'm pleased with this one. It is highly textured with many layers of collage (mostly hidden now) and encaustic, followed by oil pastel.
Encaustic is a painting technique that combines color pigment with hot wax. The semi-liquid mixture of materials painted on to a wooden panel or other support and then fused to the surface with heat.
I use an old household iron to melt and fuse my pigment and wax. I also have a small "quilter's iron" for finer details. The red flowers were made by simply holding a red wax crayon against the iron and letting it drip onto the painting. The white details are oil pastel applied after the encaustic had cooled and hardened.
Watching Her Heart
mixed media on canvas
6" x 8" x 1.5"
$50 sold
I'm very pleased with this piece. Look closely behind the heart and you can see the eyes of a woman "watching her heart".
I started out with a deep stretched canvas, building up the green and blue surface with beeswax, crayon and flecks of gold leaf. Once that was dry, I made the cut-out in the centre so I could recess the 3-D heart. The final step was to affix the woman's face from the back. The woman's face is actually cut out from a famous poster by Rossetti. I had the poster in my living room for years - it was dry mounted on foamcore board, so it worked perfectly in this project (gave a nice clean finish for the back of the painting).
This painting is flexible in that it can stand up on its own (on a mantel or bookcase, for example) or be hung on the wall.
mixed media on canvas
6" x 8" x 1.5"
I'm very pleased with this piece. Look closely behind the heart and you can see the eyes of a woman "watching her heart".
I started out with a deep stretched canvas, building up the green and blue surface with beeswax, crayon and flecks of gold leaf. Once that was dry, I made the cut-out in the centre so I could recess the 3-D heart. The final step was to affix the woman's face from the back. The woman's face is actually cut out from a famous poster by Rossetti. I had the poster in my living room for years - it was dry mounted on foamcore board, so it worked perfectly in this project (gave a nice clean finish for the back of the painting).
This painting is flexible in that it can stand up on its own (on a mantel or bookcase, for example) or be hung on the wall.
This was a fun little painting to do on a rainy Sunday. I started out with a loose watercolour painting. Before long I realized that it was getting too dark in value so I added the gestural marks with white pastel. My biggest challenge in painting is going too dark. But the silver lining is that I am forced to think of ways to lighten the painting, which usually ends up making it more interesting in the end.
This sketch is not for sale, because I think there are problems with the composition. But it will serve as a useful study for a new painting.
3 Reasons
collage
9" x 15"
$50
9" x 15"
$50
I started this collage in a workshop several years ago. Today I pulled it out and completed it.
To me this collage conveys a long, full and useful life.
The patchwork quilt is a metaphor for making the most of what life presents. The title comes from the small collage element in the lower right corner, which says "3 Reasons to Use It". The large black area is acrylic paint and the handwriting is in silver ink.
To me this collage conveys a long, full and useful life.
The patchwork quilt is a metaphor for making the most of what life presents. The title comes from the small collage element in the lower right corner, which says "3 Reasons to Use It". The large black area is acrylic paint and the handwriting is in silver ink.
Nanoose Bay Sunset
oil pastel on paper
8" x 10"
NFS
This drawing in oil pastel is the view I see everytime I drive home from town. From the highway you look out over Nanoose Bay to Canadian Forces Base on the peninsula beyond.
In the 1970s I would sometimes see ominous looking USA nuclear submarines emerge in this bucolic bay. The Canadian government had given the USA military permission to test their nuclear submarines in our waters. During the 1970s and 80s there was a year-round protest (peace camp) set up at the rest stop across from here.
I was thinking about the peace camp and about soldiers as I worked on this drawing. On the radio they were talking about the ceremonies planned for Remembrance Day tomorrow.
My use of intense colour in this drawing is influenced by my favourite contemporary artist - Wolf Kahn.
oil pastel on paper
8" x 10"
NFS
This drawing in oil pastel is the view I see everytime I drive home from town. From the highway you look out over Nanoose Bay to Canadian Forces Base on the peninsula beyond.
In the 1970s I would sometimes see ominous looking USA nuclear submarines emerge in this bucolic bay. The Canadian government had given the USA military permission to test their nuclear submarines in our waters. During the 1970s and 80s there was a year-round protest (peace camp) set up at the rest stop across from here.
I was thinking about the peace camp and about soldiers as I worked on this drawing. On the radio they were talking about the ceremonies planned for Remembrance Day tomorrow.
My use of intense colour in this drawing is influenced by my favourite contemporary artist - Wolf Kahn.
Goddess of Abundancemixed media on board
11" x 7"
This is the first of my daily paintings. I used collage, acrylics, and oil pastel. It was fun to make and I'm delighted with it!
The central image of the mature woman in all her glory comes from an IKEA print ad. She looks so happy and comfortable with herself. There is something subversive about a naked older woman, and that appealed to me a great deal :)
I perched her on a throne of weathered stone to reflect her experience and "solidness".
The other main element is the gigantic corn stalk. I must admit that I wasn't thinking about the symbolic meaning of corn when I choose it. I just liked the masculine, shall we say..."upthrusting" of it.
Seriously now, the juxtaposition of the feminine and masculine in that weathered setting worked for me.
Later, it occured to me that corn is probably symbolic of something. I looked it up and found out that corn symbolizes plenty. According to PhoenixMasonry:
An ear of grain has been an emblem of plenty since the mists of antiquity which shroud the beginnings of mythology. Ceres, goddess of abundance, survives today in our cereals. The Greeks called her Demeter, a corruption of Gemeter, our mother earth. She wore a garland of grain and carried ears of grain in her hand...The Hebrew Shibboleth means both an ear of corn and a flood of water. Both are symbols of abundance, plenty, wealth.