Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Four

Was able to spend a bit of time outdoors yesterday and did a quick watercolour sketch. Our weather has been very wet this summer and there haven't been many opportunities to paint outdoors. I wish I had taken a 'before' scan of the painting - came home and added a few more things - the lines and making a few of the colours a bit richer using acrylic paint. Again it is all about the practice and experimenting with anything and everything!

Day 4
30 in 30 Challenge
8"X8"
Watercolour &Acrylic on 140lb coldpress
Watercolour Paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Three

Day 3 of the 30 in 30. I have a BSc in Agriculture and one of my degree requirements was to take at least one course in Soil Science. We looked at a lot of soil profiles - both in class and on field trips - lots of vertical and horizontal structures and I seem to be reflecting back on that time with these images I am creating now. I like the play between light and dark and the richness with the layering of paint. I am going back in with just an HB pencil to bring out some of what I imagine to be the 'soil structures' present  and a bit of writing as while - '...what lies beneath, so much more than just a 'simple' profile'.

Day 3
30 in 30 Challenge
8"X8"
Acrylic and pencil on BFK Rives Printmaking paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day Two

Painting #2 in the 30 in 30 Challenge. Painting more from a memory of place rather than a photo reference. I seem to be leaning more and more to this reductionist style. It is surprising though how it does capture the actual image. This is a view from my window. Loosely interpreted of course. Lots and lots of layers of paint. I am getting better at using more paint. Makes the images so much richer. Need to get braver with my mark making though! On to number 3!

Day 2
9"X9'
Acrylic on Arches 140lb hotpress paper

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day One

I have signed up for Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge for September. Yes! 30 Paintings - 1 a day for the month. Not looking for a finished piece of art (but you never know), for me it will be about the practice and making time to paint. I haven't picked a theme (some artists have), but have decided to work small (4"X4" up to 10"X10"), on any support I want and using any medium. We are moving into fall here so am thinking this will be a strong influence. If you are interested there is still lots of time to sign up. So here is my painting for Day 1.

Day 1
30 in 30 Challenge
4"X4" Acrylic on birch panel

Holiday - Horseback Adventure

Block Mountain

We are home from our 5 day backcountry riding adventure. Spent 5 days riding in Banff National Park (Alberta, Canada) with Banff Trail Rides. My husband and I are experienced riders - we have our own horse and 2 saddle mules - but we did not use them on this ride. Our group was 7 in number plus our guide. We rode to three base camps over the 5 days. No electricity (yay! - ie. no phones, computers, etc), sleeping in canvas wall tents, no running water - although we were able to have a brief shower with water pumped from one of the rivers and heated. Our personal gear was transported to the different camps using pack mules. We did not have to cook - thank goodness and the food was excellent. Our weather ranged from pouring rain to sun, but with proper gear we were able to ride comfortably. I would have loved to have had a couple more days, but all good things must come to an end. So much inspiration for painting - where to start! We are already planning our backcountry trip for next year!

On the trail to Flint's Park camp

Mountain stream

Flint's Park

Rainbow Lake Elevation ~7,400'

Flint's Park Campsite Mount Brewster in background

Our guide with mules and spare horse

Dennis
One of our 'baggage handlers'

Rest stop
40 Mile Pass

Mountain meadow view

Dog Journal - Contour Drawings to Paintings

Back to the Dog Journal....finally!! Have missed working in my dog journal. Too many other projects on the go and not all art related. These pictures started off as 'semi' blind contour drawings. I like warming up before painting doing a few of these quick sketches. They free me up when I am feeling 'tight' - and I find working like this very freeing and best of all stress free. I don't draw enough and revisiting these images reminds to get the sketchbook and pencil out and start drawing!

Contour Drawings
with a bit of detail added
(paper size 8 1/2"X 11")

Acrylic Mixed Media
7"X7"

Acrylic Mixed Media
7"X7"

New Art Supplies!

I have some new art supplies! Now, these aren't any you will find at your local art supply. These are from Mother Nature. Many of the plants in our area have flowered and are now producing seed. The leaves have been gathered in the fall, the pansies from my garden all summer and most of the tulips are from fresh bouquets (the deer are much too fond of tulips I have tried to grow and I finally waved the surrender flag!) I have used these beautiful 'art supplies' to make cards and larger artworks. First I dry the plant material using Lee Valley's microwave flower press - worth every penny - is fast and preserves the colours of the petals and leaves. I then use beeswax and encaustic wax medium to embed these natural objects into the substrate. Gathering and drying this material does take a lot of time and effort but when I open the container the sight and smell of of these beautiful petals is a special reward in itself.

Tulips, Pansies & Poplar leaves

Stinkweed seed pods (not the loveliest of names!) Latin Name: Thlaspi arvense I think these will look amazing embedded in wax!

Notecards
Leaves, flower petals, beeswax, on card stock
Watercolour backgrounds that are stamped and
drawn on.

'Flowers for Grace'
(5"X7")
Tulip petals in wax medium on birch plywood
These petals were not pressed,
but dried naturally. They soaked up the
wax and by pressing gently were
easy to embed into the wax.