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Posts tagged ‘farm’

Apr 28

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Winter Bales

Winter Bales 18" x 14"

After finishing my Fine Arts degree, I stopped painting for several years. The job I took to pay the bills had nothing to do with art. I kept on drawing in my spare time, but without the direction and studio space provided by art class, I did not paint. I can’t remember what inspired me to pick up a brush again, but I do remember what I painted. It was an awful picture of hay bales that I did on cardstock. It was my first attempt at working with acrylics, and it did not turn out well. As bad as the painting was, it obviously sparked my interest in painting again. After practicing for a few years, I now love acrylics and I am much happier with my latest attempt at hay bales.

Apr 3

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The Vineyard (again)

Vineyard at Mont Redon 11"x14" - painted in 2012

I painted this from an old photo that I took while traveling in France. It is the second time I’ve painted it. I wanted to try it again because my first attempt was many years ago (10 to be exact), and I think that my style has evolved since then. I deliberately did not look at the first painting before doing this one. However, I couldn’t help but compare them after I’d finished.

I can see that I have become less adventurous with my colour – or to put a positive spin on it, more accurate with my colour.  I also see that I am more precise with shapes and forms. What I used to imply loosely, I now work to make more solid. I am not sure that this is a good thing. My older painting is shown below. (I apologize for the glare in this photo. It seems I have become more careful about photographing my work as well).

Vineyard at Mont Redon 16"x20" - painted in 2002

 

Buy Vineyard at Mont Redon (2012 version)

Mar 18

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The Gift of Art

Old Grainery 8" x 10"

I recently met a new client who lives just a few blocks from me. She was interested in buying 2 paintings to give as 18th birthday gifts. For the first one, she chose Maple Trees, Jericho Park. For the second one, she expressed interest in my tiny painting of a grainery (shown here), but requested it at a larger size. Using the tiny one as a study, I created the new painting as an 8”x10”. These paintings will be traveling to the recipients in England. I know that some artists have trouble letting their work go, but I am very happy to pass my work along to others who appreciate it and find meaning in it. And I am very excited that it will be used to celebrate such a special occasion.

Feb 18

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Our Old Barn

Old Barn 18" x 14"

This barn stood on the acreage where I grew up. This was the run-down, worn-out condition of the barn when I was a kid, so I am sure that it no longer stands. I used two faded, old photos as source material.

Although some parts of the painting were challenging, I had fun remembering the many hours I spent playing and exploring in this yard and surrounding forest. And remembering the various animals – horses, pigs and barn cats – that lived inside.

Jan 14

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Grainery and a Chicken

Here are a couple more small paintings – 3” x 3”.

I gave away lots of little paintings for Christmas and I can’t seem to stop doing them. They do make perfect gifts!

Find them here.

Oct 6

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Icy Alberta Spring

The Icy Spring 11"x14"

I photographed this Alberta landscape a couple of years ago on a cold, sunny spring day. The colour of these red graineries seems to hold the promise of warmer days. I love the way the red siding contrasts with the crisp, dry field and the icy pond.

It seems that I have mainly used the three primary colours here. I could pretend that it was deliberate, but I only realized it as I was finishing up.

 

Sep 27

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Both sides of the Road

East Side of the Road & West Side of the Road, 4" x 6"

These are two paintings of the same road on Westham Island, near Delta, BC. One is a view of east side and the other is the west. They are little (4″ x 6″) and I finished both in one day. My goal was that each one would work on it’s own, or they could be displayed together –  as sort of a diptych. I love to paint old buildings, power poles and power lines, so I had a lot of fun with these paintings.

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Jul 20

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Pick a pumpkin

Pumpkin Patch 14″ x 18″

For sale at the farm that day were: apples, artichokes, gourds, squash, potatoes, honey, homemade cookies and pumpkins. Lots of pumpkins. We bought three – two for carving and one for pie. It was the first time that I made pumpkin pie from a whole pumpkin (not a can), and now I can never go back.

P.S. After my last snowy painting, I had promised to paint something more summery. But it seems as though I’ve gone straight from winter to autumn, skipping summer altogether—just like the weather in Vancouver! (Sorry, complaining about the weather has become a regular pastime around here).

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Jan 25

Two more little pictures

Dirt Road 2" x 2"

Cow 2" x 2"

Both of these are inspired by the Alberta landscape.

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Buy Cow

Nov 22

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Mud and Sunshine

Mud and Sunshine 18" x 14"

I live in a city where it rains a lot. In spite of the amount of rain, we don’t have any mud. I’m not talking about the puddles or wet bits of dirt at the side of the street. Or even the squishy paths in the park. I mean real mud. Where I grew up, several miles from the nearest paved road, we had mud. Deep enough to for a car to get stuck in or for a child (me) to get their boots stuck in while walking to the school bus. (So stuck that their mom had to walk out into the muddy lane to rescue them).

Maybe it’s these (fond?) memories that attracted me to this muddy field, south of the city. The beautiful sun surprised me on a day that was supposed to be socked-in with rain. The sunshine only lasted an hour or so before the dark clouds rolled in again. It was long enough for me and the kids to have some fun, trudging around in the mud.

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