The Process | Maxine Wolodko Artwork

Apr 10

Cattails in Jericho Park

Cattails in Jericho Park 18" x 14"

This is the third painting in a series inspired by Jericho Park. The pond and surrounding cattails are a beautiful part of the park and a lot of fun to paint. I did, however, have some trouble with this painting. The problem I was having was that the cattails are quite complex (there’s a lot going on in those tangled up leaves), and the background is also quite complex (lots of high-contrast reflections on the pond). I wanted the cattails to be the main focus of this painting, but because the reflections on the water are so interesting, I think your eye travels there instead. I added some red to the dark cattails, hoping that they would pop to the front. I’m not sure if I have succeeded here, but it’s definitely given me something to think about.

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Mar 15

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More Inspiration from Jericho Park

Sailboat, Jericho Park 14"x 18"

Jericho Park is about a 5 minute walk from where I live. It is a beautiful place to visit with its forest trails, sandy beach, grassy fields, duck pond and sailing club. It also seems to be generating lots of painting ideas for me (see my previous post about my favourite tree).

I must have passed by this little sail boat 100 times as it sat abandoned on the path behind the sailing club. I always admired the way it seemed to glow even on the grayest of days (lots of those here in Vancouver). I am so glad that I took some photos of it one sunny morning, because one day when I walked past, it was gone.

I think it’s safe to say that there will be more paintings of Jericho Park in my future. It would be fun to do a series of all of my favourite spots. Which one should I do next…

P.S. This painting will be for sale at my April show at the Jericho Arts Centre.

Feb 8

Vegetable Study

Carrots & Zucchini 9" x 12" Acrylic on Canvas

This painting is small, but it seemed to take forever to finish. Lately I’ve had having trouble finding more than one continuous hour of painting time. Today I finally did and finished it fairly quickly. I always find it to be curious that I can’t predict what will be the most difficult part of a painting. I thought I’d breeze through the carrots and struggle with the zucchini, but I found the carrots to be the most challenging.

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Jan 2

A Few More Minis

Black-eyed Susans - 2" x 2"

Here are a few more of these tiny paintings. They are so much fun, but not necessarily easy. I have to constantly remind myself not to get too fussy with the details. I think the most successful of these are the ones where the details are generalized.

Grandma's Barn - 2" x 2"

Jericho Park - 2" x 2"

Red Graineries - 2" x 2"

These little paintings are available from my Etsy Store or you can send me a message directly.

Oct 26

Garlic Study

Garlic - Study 1

It ‘s hard to find painting time these days. Preparations for Thanksgiving, birthday parties and Halloween have all eaten into my painting time. I have finally finished my little garlic study. It has turned out a little moodier than I had planned, but overall, I am happy with it. I did struggle a bit – trying to decide how much of the underlying colour to keep and how white to make the garlic. Surprisingly, the area I had the most fun painting is the small area of plaid cloth in the foreground. I might have to try more of that.

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Oct 11

Summer Produce

Summer Produce 11" x 14"

As I write this post it is chilly and has been drizzling all afternoon. It is getting dark, and it’s only 6:15. This painting takes me back to a hot August day when we drove to the farm. As you can see, we brought home a little bit of everything. The most exciting find on that day was the garlic – both for the taste and the look of it. It is so much fun to paint. At first glance, it is white. But if you look more closely, it has all kinds of beautiful undertones: purple, pink, blue and yellow. I am tempted to try another study of this garlic so I can play with the intensity of these colours. But on this cold, rainy night, I am happy to be having it on my pizza.

Sep 11

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Autumn Poplars and photo reference

This is my second post comparing a painting to the photo I painted it from.

This one was done a few years ago. It is interesting to me to look at older work, because it always seems like it was done by someone else. I do remember working on this painting, but I can’t remember how or why I decided to use that vibrant purple, both in the foreground and background. But I’m glad I did, because I think it works. If I did this same painting today, I would probably make different colour choices. It worries me that I’m not as adventurous with colour as I used to be. I know that my style will evolve and change (hopefully in a good way), but I have to remind myself to be open to the happy accidents that can happen, and not to be afraid to experiment.

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Aug 28

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Stuck on Potatoes

Potato - study 1

It seems like it has taken forever for me to finish this painting. Not that I’ve been working on it much – just looking, trying to decide what to do with it. I’m not quite happy with it, but I don’t know what to change. I’ve tried a few things and now I feel like it’s on the verge of being overworked. I think the best thing to do now is to move on to another painting.

I have a couple of ideas. We stopped at the farm the other day and got some colourful zucchinis and beautiful (and tasty) garlic that will definitely end up in a painting. Just look at it:

I would also like to do a little study of tiger lily leaves that I’ve been noticing around my neighbourhood. I like how some curve around perfectly and how others seem to reach the ground by bending at a series of angles – and the pattern of shadows they all make together. I am really drawn to the patterns of nature and how they can be random and organized at the same time. Time to go sketch out some ideas.

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