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Posts tagged ‘landscape’

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.

Mar 3

Maple Trees, Jericho Park

Maple Trees, Jericho Park 8″ x 10″

I love painting trees. That is not to say that it’s easy. I chose to paint this complicated tangle of branches for practice.

I would like to do another painting of these trees in the fall, when the leaves are bright red.

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Jan 17

Low Tide

Low Tide - acrylic painting

Low Tide 8" x 8"

I recently did a painting similar to this one at a smaller size (see it here).  That painting was posted on Etsy, which gave rise to a message from a new client with a request to do a customized painting, as a gift for her mother.

The image reminded my client, Carrie, of the landscape where she grew up. She asked me if I would consider adding a hawk to the image, and explained the meaning behind it:

my grandma died when my mom was 5 or so. Whenever she sees a hawk, she feels like it is her mom keeping an eye on her and letting her know everything is o.k. Consequently, I now think of my mom when I see a hawk.

Knowing that this painting had a personal meaning to someone else made it extra special to work on. I hope Carrie and her mom enjoy this painting as much I enjoyed working on it.

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.

 

Jun 21

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Bridge in Jericho Park

Bridge in Jericho Park 14" x 18"

I am starting to lose track of the number of paintings I’ve done of Jericho Park. You must be getting an idea of just how much time I spend there. I love this  little bridge  and I’ve painted it before. It is surrounded by huge trees, making it great practice for painting dappled light and shadows.

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May 30

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Down by the Tracks

Down by the Tracks

This is another little picture from my hometown. It provided me with a great opportunity to practice painting snow.  If you think that snow is white, you should try painting it sometime.  I  saw endless colours there, but chose several shades of blue and beige to render it. I don’t feel 100% happy with the result, but I do love the contrast between the cool blues and the bright red rail car.

I also had lots of fun painting the Canada logo – can you tell that my other job is Graphic Design…

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Apr 10

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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 27

My Favourite Tree

Catalpa Tree, Jericho Park 14" x 18"

This is a painting of my favourite tree. It is on my jogging route in Jericho Park and I run by it three times a week. (Okay, sometimes only twice a week). It is lumpy, twisted, lop-sided and beautiful. I’ve loved this tree for a long time, but have to admit that I didn’t know what kind it was. As I was painting this tree, I knew that I really must find out what it was, so enlisted the expertise of Dawn at the Jericho Stewardship Group. After some investigating, she informed me that it is called a Catalpa Tree.

This painting shows the landscape and tree in the winter. I realize how lucky I am to live in a climate with such a bright green winter. Even so, I think I would like to try this again in the summer, when the Catalpa has its leaves and the park looks a bit warmer. In summer, as you might imagine, the long, lower branch is often full of children who find it easy to climb. Another reason this tree is so well-loved.

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