"Eau Claire Bay"

Watercolour on Arches 300 lb. Cold Pressed. 14" X 18"

A few of Calgary landmark buildings are present in the background. 

Whimsy for the foreground and my idea of a wonderful harbour for 

land locked Calgary. :)

Sold.

"Sundown"

Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20.

A scene from along the Kootenay River 

near Nelson, BC.

Sold! 

"Cottage Country"

"Cottage Country". A wee watercolour 14 X 21. 

This is based on what i think an ideal place would be to enjoy winter and summer. 

Our house is the tall thin yellow one way off yonder. 

There's a pond out back with ducks. Must paint that some day. 

I'm sending this off to Ravensburger and see what they say.

 Got my fingers crossed. :)
Sold.

"Duffy's Pond" Merry Christmas!

One more before Christmas. 

This is a commission for a young lady who wanted to 

have her son and two dogs in a painting. 

Her son is #19. 

I had fun with this one. 

It had been a long time since doing a watercolour 

and very much enjoyed working with this medium again. 

This painting is off to Kamloops B.C 

to be placed under someone's tree. 

12X20 on Arches CP paper. 

"Victoria Street:

I spent part of October last year in Nelson B.C. taking care of someone's home and had some pleasant moments sketching in and around town. This painting is from a sketch i did of Victoria Street in Nelson. Nelson is a picturesque little town in the Kootenays. A beautiful spot to visit if in the area. Some great local restaurants too! I was house sitting for a lady who had a cattery. 

There were 19 of the little critters. 

An uncommon breed called "Siberians' because they originate from Siberia and resemble small lions. Some good sketching was had with them as well! 

This is watercolour on Arches C/P paper.   

20 X 27" .

"Pequito 2"

This is a new version of Pequito. I did not think the bedroom was quite in line with the pup on the first version. Sorry Vincent but i had to take some liberties with your beautiful work and jam up the colours a wee bit. I'm feeling much better about it now as there is a unity that was lacking in version 1.
Oh, but acrylic is just so much fun.

"Barnumtown"

This was another re-do of an older painting i had laying around. I'm finding that by re-doing these pieces it is showing me that often there is so much more that can be done and perhaps i am hanging incomplete paintings. I was at a workshop on the weekend with Brent Laycock and a fellow student asked him, "when do you know that a piece is finished?". He said, "when i cannot do anymore to it.". Also by doing this i realized a lot of the paintings i had done did not have enough dark value in them and tended to be in a safe zone of mostly middles. There needs to be contrast and the tension created between the darks and the lights can be dramatic. As in life, we do need those shadows don't we?
I'm excited to put to use these new understandings and look forward to the next discovery.
This is watercolor on Arches 300 lb. cold pressed paper approximately 8" X 22".

WIP 4

I'm still plugging away at this which is good considering there was a point i thought it may not work. The colors were not working together. There was something not quite right and i had been unable to figure out what it was. So i washed off the sky, re-applied the masking, and went to work intensifying and adjusting the color relationships. The foreground i left alone as i was quite happy with that, the sidewalk was too gray and unappealing so i added color and swatches of blue for sparkle, the buildings needed depth so i washed over them with blues, yellows and greens. Then i darkened the buildings near the end of the street so they would recede more. The focal point of this piece is the Pointe building on the corner which will receive different treatment than the others. I still have much to do. The little people, the starry sky, some highlights on the clouds, the windows and such. I'm pleased with where it is going and can "see" the result i want which was not the case two days ago.

This is number 39 and i have 40 on the go. Four more painting days left! There is no pressure now and i'm having fun once again. There may even be time to try an acrylic or two. I'd love to have a canvas in the show but i am not an acrylic painter and have that on my list of things to do when done with the Opening.

"South Middleton"

Just finished this one about an hour ago. I am trying to take photos of them right away, title them and file them away as soon as they are done so i do not lose track. The other day i took a bunch to the framers and realized i had not done the filing and titling etc. Got too hasty i did. 

I tried different color combinations with this one and found it to be quite lively when done. I enjoy experimenting with different colors and mixes. That is my main focus when i paint. Layering in bright vibrant color. I enjoy seeing how they react next to one another. This painting is 7" X 29". 

It is late and i am fading as the gallery has been my home for many days now. Might have to call it a day. Good night all and God bless.  

"Paisley"

This is a little make believe Sea side village. I think i may move into the little pink house in the middle.
It has a great view of the harbor and all the comings and goings. This is a watercolor on Cold Pressed paper and is about 8" X 24". Instead of using mostly warm colors i concentrated on cooler ones this time and it turned out to be refreshing change from my ever glowing color selections. There are a few more with similar color schemes in the works! Hope all are well on this beautiful 6th of Dec. Only 18 more days till Christmas! God bless each and every one.

"Bowness Lagoon"

This was a commission given me by a neighbor. The lady wanted a whimsical painting of a popular skating lagoon here in Calgary. I took photos of the main points of interest and combined them into a fun, wintery scene complete with fire pit and pooches. "There are no puppies allowed on the ice in winter" i was told by a person who saw the painting. Smile! There are in my painting! Artistic license.....

"The Underlings II"

It has been a while since i have posted anything and thought it about time. This one was from some doodles i did of birds flying around and had fun with the scene they were flying around in. It is done with watercolor, acrylic, gouache, and ink on paper. I find it so freeing to just paint and not worry about realistic renditions and such. Hope all are well. Blessings always.

"The Choir"

I got the idea for this one from a wee doodle my step-daughter did in my sketch book of a persons head! The head she drew is the little green one second down on the left. It was great fun to carry that through to the finished piece. It has been a long while since last i posted here. Not that i have been far away or anything, just painting is all, getting ready for two upcoming shows. Hope to have more to share in the near future. Hope all are doing well and enjoying the beauty of Fall days. Blessings to each and everyone.

"Tribute to Janet Mitchell"

This is my tribute to a great Alberta Artist, Janet Mitchell who lived from 1912 - 1998. Her work was both beautifully light hearted and filled with childlike whimsy. She is a great inspiration to me. 

I was also lucky enough to purchase a painting by her which i have posted here for you to see. 

It is called "Head of Classics".  I had such fun doing a Janet Mitchell style painting and hope to do a few more in a series which of course will be called "A Tribute To Janet Mitchell". 

This one i did is 4" X 22" on 300lb. Arches CP paper.

Isn't this just a delightful painting? It is quite large and fits nicely over our fireplace. 

She did it on a full sheet of watercolor paper and the framing and matting make it a nice size. 

I enjoy looking at it each day. It is also one of very few original paintings that i own but hope 

to continue collecting as the opportunities present themselves.