"Polly's Dairy"

Watercolour of a make believe farm

somewhere in Alberta. 

Most likely near Water Valley. 

13 x 20. 

Sold. 

"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.

This is a common scene on Granville Island, Vancouver. 

These delightful little boats are water taxis which transport all over the place in downtown Vancouver. 

Delightful! 

Watercolour, on paper,  20 X 22. With frame. 

Available. 

"Kalamata Grocery"

Kalamata Grocery. 12 X 18. Watercolour

This old grocery store specializes in products from Greece! 

A real blessing to have in our neighbourhood. 

It has been here for a long time.
Sold. 

"After Dinner"

A make believe back alley somewhere i might want to live. 

Kids play outside! Imagine that? 

Watercolour, 18 X 22. 

Available.

"Watercolour paper soaking tray"

I finally built a watercolour paper soaking tray after 10 years of using the bathtub. Ugggh! 

All it took was a piece of 1/2" plywood 24" X 36",  6' of 1X6 Spruce board, "Goop" plumbers adhesive, "Dap, Kwik Seal", 1" finishing nails, a few 1X6 wood screws, acrylic primer, 

and a quart of marine paint. 

I first cut the 1X6 spruce into 2" wide strips. The left over pieces were about 1.5" wide 

which i ripped in half and used on the underside of the plywood for a nailing strip. 

These were glued on and nailed. 

The 2" strips were then attached to the sides with adhesive, nails 

and a few wood screws to keep them snug. 

The next step was primer followed by one coat of marine paint. 

When this dried, (24 hours drying time) 

i caulked all the joints in the well with the Dap followed by a final coat of marine paint 

applied quite thick. 

Voila! A soaking tray which will handle a standard size watercolour  sheet

22" X 30". 

Can't wait to try it. 

"Polly's Dairy"

Polly's Dairy is a wee watercolour sketch.

It is approximately 8 X 11. 

The sketches such as this will often end up as larger pieces 

in one form or another. A summer version would be fun as well. 

Sold.

"Porpoise Cove"

A brand new watercolour. 22" X 22".

I have not painted in water-colour for some time now having 

found such freedom with acrylics. 

It was sure great to get back to this medium which i love so much. 

The whimsical villages are moving down to the seaside now. 

I have several completed and though doing them in winter would be a good idea too! 

Skaters, bon fire, hot chocolate and starry, starry night is all good. 

This one is sold but there are others!
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. 

"A Quiet Calling"

It was a quiet calling that lead me to this painting, not the riot of colorful misshapen villages i am getting so used to.  I felt rather at peace painting it as well! The color palette appealed to me too and i took a wee bit of liberty with the blues and used deep purples for all the shadow areas and the darks. I still have some village paintings resting against the wall waiting for some attention and a young lady's portrait which is only half done. I'll have to wait until the direction for her is clearer. She is wanting me to take my time. In the meantime it will be fun to do a few more of the trees. I can see now why people paint them so often. The vertical dominance appeals to me as if reaching for the stars or heaven. A place i might like to visit and stay a while.

Splash 14: Best of Watercolor Winner

"Meana"

I had the most exciting email yesterday informing me my painting, "Meana" had been selected for Northlight books, Splash 14 "Light and Color".  I have long been a fan of the Splash series of watercolor books having a fair number in my collection, frequently admiring the wonderful paintings and absorbing all the different techniques. Seeing all the beautiful paintings is so inspirational to me and very helpful in propelling my own work in new directions. I dreamt that one day i too would have a painting published in this way.  It seemed unlikely, as i had entered a few times before without success. Not this time! 

If you would like to see who will be included in the Splash 14 edition you can go here to the 

Artists Network

"On High Alert"

This beautiful fellow was a commission for a veterinarian. The pet was not well and sadly had to be put down. The vet wanted to do something nice for the owner and had me do this painting for her. I'm hoping it has the essence of the dog. I'll include the photo here for you to see as well.  This is watercolor on Arches 300 lb. CP paper.  

"My Town"

The beginning's of a whimsical take on my town, Calgary. Some of the recognizable places are evident like the "Saddledome", "Bow Tower", and "Calgary Tower". The houses in the middle ground represent inner city communities of Sunnyside and Hillhurst. These i plan on doing brightly colored and fun. The city buildings will mostly be grays, blues, purples outlined in white and a sky filled with dancing images and stars. Not too sure what to do with the foreground yet and have to be careful. A painting like this can become too busy in short order. The rows of houses will be the focal point of it all. These are fun to do and i have hopes of doing a series based on local, familiar areas. We shall see. I get sidetracked so easily. Sigh! Hope all are having a great day with new paintings all around. God bless, and Happy New Year.

"Santa Maria" & "Pittenweem"

"Pittenweem" is a little Scottish coastal village i enjoy visiting on Google.  I love the names they have for their towns. They are so poetic..... 

 

Boats and reflections are a bit of a passion for me and i love doing them even though they take a while to make. This one is on a full sheet of 300 lb. arches CP paper. My initial plan was to make it quite dark but as the painting progressed it was wanting to stay light. Have to listen to the painting and let it guide me. I love when that happens and a new direction is unfolding as paint goes to paper. I thought i might post the photo i worked from here too for you to see. It was one i took a few years ago in Vancouver and always wanted to do something with it. Hope all are well out there in studio land. Blessings. Ross

"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.

"A Crow and a Half"

Not too sure what to think of this one but thought i would post to see what the reaction might be. I used lots of paint straight out of the tube which is ridiculous for watercolor as it is a pretty pricey way to paint. Would try it again using acrylic. But i did experiment and once tons of paint was laid down dropped water on it and watched as the paint swirled and did cool stuff. I will do more crows as i think they make interesting paintings and are interesting creatures to boot! I love watching them as they carry on and make me laugh. Hope all are well and happily painting.
Blessings! ross