"Delores"

More Cows! There can't be enough cows. 

I'be been having such fun with the backgrounds i am thinking the cows 

might be getting in the way! Perhaps put them further back 

into the fields. My whimsical watercolour villages are starting 

to show up in these acrylics. I look forward to seeing where it is all going. 

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 24" X 36". 

"Blu Street"

This is a commission piece for a young lady who wanted one similar

a while back. Sadly, her husband would not let her have it.
 A short while later she got rid of the husband

and now has a painting! :)
Husband was gone probably not because of the painting
but it's fun for me to think so.
It has been a long while
since i painted watercolours and a village.
I was very happy to do this. They are such fun.  

Watercolour on Arches 300 lb. cold pressed paper. 16" X 22" 

"Ivy"

I've painted this same sweet girl several times and love her as a model. 

My favourite thus far though i have many. 

 I've several angles of her and intend on doing them all. 

This is a commission for a lady who saw one of my other ones. 

She wanted a specific size to go on the wall with a painting of a wolf she owns. 

This is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas and the biggest one i've done so far. 

I really enjoy painting the larger canvases. 

30" X 36" 

"Gerta"

Gerta here is the newest member of our family. 

I've been having fun playing around with the backgrounds, 

incorporating some whimsical scenes. 

I see the background as a playground in need of exploration. 

Gerta is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 

24" X 24". 

"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. 

"The Girls"

 I have been working on quite a few of these all 12X12 on Gallery wrapped canvas.

They're such fun to do. I see these smaller ones as work studies for larger paintings. 

My plan for the New Year is to get going on some 4 or 5 foot canvases

using these as my models. 

I am so grateful for several photographers on Flickr who 

graciously let me use their photos. I do have some photos i take on my own 

but find all manner of interesting shots by much better photographers than myself. 

They also get quite a kick out of seeing what i have done with their 

beautiful work. 

Hope all are doing well and these girls made you smile.
Oh their names are, Bossco, Grey Beard, Rosy and "Pick Me!"

Adios! 

"Luna"

A new cow painting. 

This is not the usual composition for me as i most often do the 

portrait with just head and shoulders.. 

I really like the outcome and will do more from further out and perhaps with herds or multiples. 

Just can't stop painting these guys. 

They make me smile. 

This is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. 12' X 12". And she's sold! :)

"Hockey Night in Canada"

I forgot to take a picture of this without frame. It works so much better when i do. 

This is one of my entries in the "Oh Canada" show this weekend at the 

Ruberto Ostberg, Galleries in Calgary. 

It is what i feel represents Canada and that is a good old fashioned street 

hockey game on your typical street anywhere in rural Canada. 

This scene is based on "Victoria Street" in Nelson B.C. 

I love to do the villages and will often rely on my sketchbook 

for inspiration. Sometimes summers are spent wandering and sketching. 

This is watercolour on my Arches paper. 

"Shinny in Trinity Newfoundland"

We are having a Canada show at the gallery to coincide with the Olympics in Sochi.
25 artists are coming up with paintings they feel represents what Canada is to them.
So many things came to mind but i kept coming back to hockey.
This is a scene of kids playing pond hockey which probably happens in most small villages and towns all across this great land
on any given night throughout the winter.
I based this wee village on Trinity Newfoundland. 

Watercolour on CP paper, 15" X 20".

"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.

"Harvest Time"

My cousin suggested to me a wee painting with stooks, wagon, horses, grain elevators, and prairie fields, at harvest time. We are originally from Saskatchewan where all these were a common scene in the early 1900's. This is what i came up with using some old photos, as i had no idea what a stook was until now. Southern Saskatchewan is really quite flat for the most part but i took some creative license just to make it a little interesting. Not that Saskatchewan is not interesting mind you. :) :) There are places where the terrain is varied. Further north you will find lots of lakes, forest and such. It is really a beautiful place and worth exploring if possible. This is watercolor on Arches 300 lb. cold pressed paper. It is 8" X 22".

"Pepsi Blue"

#40 She's done! Watercolor on 300 lb. Arches CP paper. 15" X 43"

I am so pleased with her. There is a photo in my album of this young lady and i had wanted to paint her for a very long time. So glad i saved her for last as it was such a thrill to finish the long list of paintings with her. It is really the first figurative piece i have done and now i am thinking it will not be the last. Capturing people at work or play is quite fascinating to me.

Now i'm off to the framers with the last two. I hope all are well and
happily painting out there in Bloggerland.  It is close to -30 today so me thinks a wee coffee with sketch book and note pad sounds good. I have to do titling and pricing, which i can do at a Starbucks with my lap top. By for now! God bless everyone...

"It's Where We Live"

This is another painting i did as a tribute to a great Alberta Artist; Janet Mitchell. Her work has inspired me most of all i think and greatly influences my own paintings. I love the childlike, whimsical qualities in many of her paintings of local areas and settings. She lived in Sunnyside, an older neighborhood in Calgary which is where i based this piece. There is an old corner store there like the ones you used to see everywhere before the chains took over. I hope to do a series of paintings depicting the "Corner Store" before they are all gone. That could be a good project for when the Opening is over. 15 days till show time! I have four more to complete then my brushes take a rest.  Yahoo!

"Anne Street"

In my sketchbook i find all sorts of little drawings and doodles that long to be made into paintings. This was one such sketch i found from way back. The idea was to try and do a whimsical street scene towards the end of day when the last light is fading. It is about 11 X 14 and done with watercolor on 300 lb. Arches CP paper. My sketch books are running out of fresh ideas though and i think it may be time to get into the habit of using them again. Coffee shops are great places to sit and doodle or draw people. Just have to try and not let them know what you are doing. Smile! Next up; "Painting what's on the inside!'. God bless! ross

"Yupo Paintings"

These are my first attempts at using Yupo paper with watercolor which i tried last year. I had just visited Sandy Maudlin's blog and she has some amazing Yupo paintings there with some very helpful hints on how to use this rather unusual support. When i did the fist one, i almost could not stop smiling and laughing because it was just so much fun! I had forgotten about it till i saw Sandy's paintings and I just have to try some more now incorporating some of her helpful techniques. I was amazed too that the cows sold at my first show! I still have the rooster, and he is adorning my studio space just now.  Give Yupo a try if you have not already.