When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

abstract

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Myrtle At The Zoo

Monday, March 9th, 2009


 

Myrtle At The Zoo, Crepe Myrtle Seed Pods and Zebra in January, Fort Worth Zoo, TX - 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted

 

 Myrtle at the Zoo, 11 x 11 x 3 acrylics on canvas, phase 4 bottom side detail

Myrtle At The Zoo – Crepe Myrtle branches and seedpods before pruning, February at the Fort Worth Zoo, Texas. 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Signature is on the side, so one is superimposed here on the front. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.

 

Myrtle at the Zoo, 11 x 11 x 3acrylics on canvas, phase 1 Myrtle at the Zoo, 11 x 11 x 3acrylics on canvas, phase 2 Myrtle at the Zoo, 11 x 11 x 3acrylics on canvas, phase 3

Decaying Ceiba Leaves

Sunday, March 8th, 2009


 

Decaying Ceiba Leaves from the Mayan Tree of Life, Costa Rica - 11H x 11W x 3D acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted
Decaying Ceiba Leaves, Lake Cote Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Sold.


 

Ceiba Leaves, Lake Cote Cloud Forest floor, Costa Rica, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress Ceiba Leaves, Phase 2, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress

Jone’s Falls

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009


 

Jone's Falls, Ontario, Canada - 11H x 11W x 3D acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

Jone’s Falls,  near Thousand Islands, Southern Ontario, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.

Sold.

 
Some barely noticeable lines were scratched on wet paint here and there, and they break up the space  into sections now, if you compare the 3rd thumbnail and the finished piece.

 Jone's Falls, mapping out composition, removing paint with cloth Jone's Falls, phase 2 work in progress, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas Jone's Falls, phase 3 work in progress, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas

St. Catharine’s Sunset

Friday, February 27th, 2009


 

St. Catharine's Sunset, Ontario, Canada - 11H x 11W x 3D acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted
St. Catharine’s Sunset Ontario, Canada just north of Niagara Falls, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface. Signed on the side so as not to impose on the composition.

St. Catharine's Sunset, phase 01 dripping water down wet surface St. Catharine's Sunset, phase 02 dripping pthalos green and cadmium red light hue from the bottom, drawing with brush St. Catharine's Sunset, right detail, all sides painted

There is no one method for starting a painting.  When faced with a blank white surface, sometimes our mind can go blank too. When that happens I use a base color that inspires energy. Here, water and paint were dripped down a wet surface of Hansa Yellow Deep. Painting intuitively with a wide raggedy old brush, the fraying bristles are used to advantage, and those marks direct how the painting proceeds.

This painting is dedicated to my Mom, born in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada whose birthday was two days ago.


 

St. Catharines Sunset, 11H x11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas - wrapped sides painted


Winter Reflections

Thursday, February 26th, 2009


 

Winter Reflections, Coppell, TX, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

Winter Reflections, winter in Coppell, TX, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface. Signed on the side so as not to impose on the composition.
 

Winter Reflections, 11 x 11 x 3inches, acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted Winter Reflections, top detail, wrapped sides painted

Jack Pine

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009


 

Jack Pine, Banff, Alberta, Canada - 11H x 11W x 3D acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

Jack Pine, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas and detail of right side; wrapped sides painted. Signature is on the side, so one is superimposed here on the front. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.

Jack Pine, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted Jack Pine, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, detail of sides

End of Tulip Season

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009


 

End of Tulip Season, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 14 x 11 inches oil pastels on paper
Finished today: added some life to End of Tulip Season, 14H x 11W oil pastels on paper.

Images of progress

End of Tulip Season, 14H x 11W oil pastels on paper, 2006 End of Tulip Season, 14H x 11W oil pastels on paper, rework in progress 2009

Except for the fact that paper has a limit to how much it can be reworked before it starts stretching, I could keep revising these drawings in the Paper Places series continually!  Some of them are finished in a day, and truly finished. Some drawings seem OK when they are finished, but have areas that are not quite there yet, so they are left for a month or a year or two then taken out and reworked. It’s great exercise playing with color and composition. Some are taken too far, but with regard to learning, effort is never wasted. Change characterizes this series too; change of place, change of time, change of styles, changing what’s already been changed.

Approaching Winter

Sunday, December 7th, 2008


 

Approaching Winter, top half detail, 60 x 40 x 3 inches Acrylics on wrapped canvas $1,100

Approaching Winter, bottom half detail, 60 x 40 x 3 inches Acrylics on wrapped canvas $1,100

 

 Approaching Winter finished today,  60H x 40W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas. More contemporary than my usual work, thought I’d try a new approach to painting…with more attention to editing rather than overworking. Shown in two detail images above, and full view shown in right thumbnail. Large paintings don’t show as well on computer screen, so there are two detail images that were sharpened 2X to reveal the actual texture as it is close up. Post-dated note: on exhibit at Oxide Gallery in Denton TX until February 28th, 2009.Approaching Winter, 60 x 40 x 3 inches Acrylics on wrapped canvas $1,100Cold Lake, Alberta. Canada - photo courtesy of Ray Muskego

Dec. 6th: Colors mixed with matte medium: Ultramarine, Pthalos Blue, Prussian Blue, Cobalt Blue, Pthalos Green, Sap Green, Unbleached Titatium, Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Red Deep, Mars Black (rarely use black). This morning I scrubbed and washed away a lot of paint in areas then reapplied more. Trying to stay with the less is more principle. Hope to wrap this one up by the end of the weekend if not before.

Dec. 5th: Stage 1, first coat of Ultramarine Blue and matte medium, very watered down, then applied thick in places. Inspired by photos taken by my good friend Ray Muskego in my home town, Cold Lake, Alberta during sunrise December 4th as misty fog drifted off the lake.

Seeing spots

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008


 
Seeing spots after being outdoors. 12 x 12 inches Oil pastels and digital pen.

Seeing Spots, 12 x 12 inches oil pastels on paper, scanned and reworked with a digital pen. The sun is so strong today, I was outside for only about ten minutes then came indoors and this is all I could see in front of me.

Zen, Day and Night

Thursday, May 15th, 2008


Zen Garden 08 at night, 24 x 24 x 1 inches acrylics on woven canvas strips over a layer of wrapped canvas, about 1 inch beyond the wall surface.

Zen Garden 08 Day interest and night drama! 24H x 24W x 1D inches acrylics on woven canvas strips over a layer of wrapped canvas. Sold.

Hangs diagonally about one inch from the wall surface. The wrapped sides are painted, frame unnecessary. View the piece from start to finish April 27th, May 12th and May 13th. The tiny openings between woven strips are brightly colored orange and reds, and to ensure they’d be noticeable. A string of small clear lights is woven into more canvas strips behind the frame. It’s quite attractive in the dark and also hung diagonally, optionally hung as a square.

Zen Garden 08 detail Zen Garden 08 during daylight, 24 x 24 x 1 inches acrylics on woven canvas strips over a layer of wrapped canvas Zen Garden 08 detail

 

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