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)

The Majesty of Trees Collection

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Howler Monkey

Friday, March 6th, 2009


 

Howler Monkey, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted

Young Howler Monkey at the Dallas World Aquarium, 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.


 

Young Howler, 11H x11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas - wrapped sides painted


 

Work progress detail images shown, scrubbing and scratching away more paint than adding it.

Howler Monkey, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, phase 01 Howler Monkey, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress

Showcased in the J. Mane Gallery’s Fins, Feathers and Fur 2020 exhibition (post-dated comment).

The Visitor: Raccoon

Thursday, March 5th, 2009


 

Raccoon, Ottawa, ON Canada, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

The Visitor: Raccoon, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.


 

The Visitor, 11H x11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas - wrapped sides painted


 

Progress and process details:

Raccoon, 11 x 11 x 3 inches, acrylics on canvas, work in progress Raccoon, 11 x 11 x 3 inches, acrylics on canvas, work in progress

Sweetgum Seed Pods

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009


 

Sweetgum Seed Capsules - Autumn in Texas - 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

Sweetgum Seed Pods, 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. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface.

 


Sweetgum Pods, 11H x11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas - wrapped sides painted


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

Bird’s Eye

Saturday, February 28th, 2009


 

Bird's Eye, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted

Bird’s Eye, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 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.
 
Progress thumbnail images below:

 Bird's Eye, Phase 1 work in progress Bird's Eye, Phase 2 work in progress

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

Dancing With Trees 03

Thursday, February 19th, 2009


 

Dancing With Trees 03, upper portion of 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas

Dancing With Trees 03, central portion of 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas

Dancing With Trees 03, lower portion of 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas

Dancing With Trees 03, signature piece for the Majesty of Trees solo exhibition, 85 x 45 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas

Dancing With Trees 03, 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, trim frame. Signature piece for the Dancing With Trees exhibition, formerly entitled ‘The Majesty of Trees’.  There is no black in this painting; the darkest areas are dioxazine purple. Aside from a couple of areas that are still questionable this painting is now finished. Specifically: I’m not sure about adding shadows and contrast on the bark of the main trees because it may take away from the cheerful expression of colors.

Progress in previous posts:  January 19th and 30th

The name of the exhibition changed to ‘Dancing With Trees’ to avoid plagiarizing the title of a book, ‘The Majesty of Trees’.

Method reflected by purpose

Friday, January 30th, 2009


 

Hemlocks, Queen Charlotte Island, 1980 - 4 x 4 x 2 inches Acrylics on canvas, plein airLeft: Hemlocks, Queen Charlotte Island, 1980 – 48 x 48 x 2 inches Birch, 1993 - 6 x 4 inches Watercolors (sold)acrylics on canvas, painted plein air. Right: Birch, 1993 – 6 x 4 watercolors. I have been trying to return to the same carefree approach I painted with during the earlier years. While some of my first paintings were a little on the sloppy side, the look and feeling of life in the work comes through the first reactive sloppy-looking brushstrokes. Too much refining tones down that energy.  It has taken about six years to rid myself of  a lot of habits that developed by painting murals, like tidying up too much and mixing colors on the palette as opposed to just throwing the color onto the canvas. Not that mural painting is valued as  less than canvas paintings, but they require entirely different methods, and because their intended purpose is slightly different, so is the approach to painting them. Switching back to canvas now, even if the surface is large it’s taken six years to re-adapt to the process of painting on canvas. All that I think I know can get in the way sometimes. In Dancing With Trees 03 I’m rediscovering some of the joy that pushed everything forward in the first place.  Virginia, you say that this sings and dances…well, that’s exactly how I feel while painting this one.

Dancing With Trees 03 work in progress 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted

Dancing With Trees 03 work in progress, 85H x 45W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, sides painted

 

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