Winter
Next Entries »First Snow, final update
Saturday, December 1st, 2007
First Snow, 39H x 30W inches acrylics, crackle glaze on canvas and box-frame. Finishing: added some darker areas, dripped water down the top layer of glaze, and flicked some specks of white with a toothbrush. Sold, but can be replicated as a new, unique piece by special order in the same spirit as the original.
Detail images:
Male Cardinal
Saturday, October 6th, 2007
Male Cardinal at the Dallas Arboretum, Dallas TX, 24H x 24W inches acrylics and masking medium on canvas, trim frame. Sold.
Cardinals are one of my favorite subjects. On walks I see them in the open, but good photos of them are elusive, as they hide just beyond the branches so perfect shots are next to impossible. Branches here are partially in front, placed around the bird in the abstract shape of a nest. The cardinal in the painting really is that chubby. He is well fed at the Dallas Arboretum.
There were two separate applications of masking medium, used traditionally in watercolor paintings. Second phase: trying to highlight the bird’s interaction with its environment and hoping to find a way to do more than provide the expected sort of cardinal portrait. Adding Pthalos Blue wash changes the mood and the season, maybe even the time of day…interesting what one or two brushes of color can do.
One male Cardinal returns regularly to our yard with his mate who chirps quick, sharp notes. I discovered this when thinking that our air conditioner needed servicing, and going out to see what the consistent squeaking was. The pair laid eggs in one of our back yard bushes during May this year. I half-hoped the eggs would be red! The nest was made to perfection with a tightly woven bowl of dry grass, leaves, twigs, and pieces of plastic garbage, so artfully crafted.
First Snow, started
Monday, January 15th, 2007
First Snow, 36H x 24W inches acrylics and crackle medium on canvas, work in progress
First Snow has many layers and blobs of paint. A damp cloth dipped in white was wiped lightly across the textured surface to create the effect of snow powder. Crackle medium also works well to help with the impression of snowfall. The scene is of tall Spruce trees in Calgary, Alberta where, on September 1st, the day I was to return to Dallas I awoke to a gentle snowfall and powder on the trees.
Sunset, 6:30 p.m. along Hwy 121
Friday, November 24th, 2006
We drove to Fort Worth to see the Christmas parade, but the people were packed along the streets when we arrived so we hardly got a glance at any floats or attractions. It was well worth the drive because the sun set along the way, and it was magnificent!
January Thaw
Thursday, June 15th, 2006
January Thaw, 14H x 11W inches oil pastels, white double mat, brass title plate, 22H x 26W inches wide white frame with white crackle finish.
Willow branches, welcome bits of color during the January thaw, a seasonal expectation in eastern Ontario, when temperatures hover around 0*C. After a period of 1-2 weeks temperatures can dip to -40*C, and the most intense, unpredictable part of winter begins.
The Evolution of January Thaw – a painting is more than the sum of its parts. It transformed dramatically while conversing with other Artists and their critiques on a popular online Artists’ website.
“When I am painting I have no knowledge of what I am doing. Only after a moment of ‘returning consciousness’ do I become aware of what I have been doing. Then, however, I have no hesitation about making changes, or destroying images, because the painting has a life of its own. My mission is to bring forth this life”. Jackson Pollock
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