Flowers

22" x 15", watercolour 2002

AW-026

 

36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2002

Rather than using the background in the sketch below, I decided to just paint Ashley with the actual background of my studio. I did, however, play around with that background: on the left, Tides is actually a 22" x 22" watercolour; I adjusted the dimensions of the painting on the right to better frame Ashley; and the bookshelf on the bottom left was scaled down and slightly repositioned for balance.

After painting in oils for about a year, this picture was the one in which things seem to come together for me and I was (and still am) very pleased with the results. I think this painting has great overall composition and there's nothing that I would adjust, and, for me, this one's all about her right arm.

I painted a companion piece using a photo of Ashley in the same outfit but in a slightly different pose, but it was a disappointment and it'll never be seen again as I've reused that canvas for another painting.

Initial sketch with alternate background.

The arrow indicates that I should move Ashley higher up in the composition. I feel the the final painting is made stronger by focusing on the figure, rather than just having her as one element of a larger scene.

Two Year Anniversary Give-Away!

This week marks the two year anniversary of moving to our home at Small Pond Arts. 

It really seems like I’ve done more things and accomplished more goals in the past two years than in the five years previous...

• Moved from downtown Toronto to a farm in Prince Edward County

• Bought our first home

• Renovated and furnished this old house

• Started a small business 

• Learned to grow abundant glorious food in our garden

• Buried a time capsule
• Designed posters for all of our events • I'm learning how to ride a unicycle  • Learned some basic construction skills • Had a few art shows (in no particular order): Field to Canvas, Sommerfest, Art in the County 2010 and 2011, Something About the Garden, Blizzmax 2011 Season Opener, Cousins, Terroir, Artevino, Arts on Main 2012

• Worked at a couple of PEC vineyards • Helped bring Stickfest to life
• Actually got some people with this April Fool's joke  • Became a projectionist at the local theatre
• Opened my own gallery
• Met a couple hundred new people, made a lot of new friends

• Learned how to make pickles
• Built a website for and started a blog about Small Pond Arts
• Walked up and down Main St. Picton dozens of times...on stilts
• Was in local newspapers and magazines a bunch of times
• Learned how to use a scythe

On top of that, I painted some pictures. Assembling the (non-chronological) list of paintings I made in the past two years was interesting:

• Full-bodied a, b, and c • the Carmen mural in Chesterfields  • Paint the County 2010 and 2011 • The 12 Field to Canvas portraits • Leaning Poles (small version) • Near Lake Saguaro • 14 Barnscapes (so far only blogged this and this and this)

• Lipstick Levins
• Nest
• Tractor and Barn • BB Mono 1 and 3
• Brollies
• Life Jackets
• six wine paintings (plus a test) using Baco Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec
• and my own big head 

This is more of an itemization rather than simply bragging, but there are many new skills in there that I never dreamed I’d have or ever need to have. And, as hard as I’ve worked on all this, I feel I should have done more.

Krista and I did a lot of that stuff together, but for a list of her own impressive accomplishments, click here.

A lot of people ask how we did all this. How did we make a life for ourselves that seems to most people like a crazy dream?

Well if you have a crazy dream, guess what? You can actually do it. Well, probably. But it’s not for the faint of heart. It takes fearlessness. Courage. Support of your friends and family. A little bit of foolishness. And lots, and lots, and LOTS of hard work.

anyway...
***CONTEST DETAILS***

Now it’s your turn.

We want to know what you’ve done in the last two years.  What are your accomplishments?  What are you most proud of?

Tell us in the comments section below by 7 PM on 15 March 2012 and you could WIN one of these great prizes:

I could be yours.

First Prize: A custom oil portrait of you, or someone of your choosing, painted by me.

Second Prize: A Yeti puppet (pictured above) by Krista.
Third Prize: Two CD's from our friend, Arlene Bishop: Snarky Girlpop and Begin Again.

One entry per person, please.
We’ll post the winners here on 15 March 2012 by 8 PM as selected by random.org

Now toot your own horn, and good luck!

Passage to Silo

24" x 36", oil on canvas

Although all of my Barnscapes are based on photos I took while driving around Prince Edward County (this one is actually a combination of two completely different locations), the use of so much yellow ochre and all the lush vegetation kind of makes me feel like this is a painting of somewhere in Italy; there's so much warmth to it.

We have our own silo here at Small Pond Arts, so it was natural that I'd be drawn to paint so many other silos within this series, my favourites being the ones with the red and white caps.

This is the other painting (along with Blue, White, & Red) I have in Arts on Main Gallery in Picton.

The show opening is
Saturday 25 February 2012
2PM to 4PM

AoM Gallery hours (beginning in March):
11AM to 4PM
Thursdays to Tuesdays
(closed Wednesdays)

Blue, White, & Red

24" x 30", oil on canvas

I'll have some artwork in Picton's Arts on Main Gallery this year, and the first group show features two of my recent Barnscapes (the other one is Passage to Silo); I helped hang the show yesterday and it looks great. I'm happy to be part of the gallery and have a few artist friends who are also members, so that'll make it fun, plus, the gallery is only about a five minute drive from Small Pond, so it's just moments away for anyone interested in seeing more of my work (and my other Barnscapes).

My Barnscapes series came about as a response to my now living in the rural setting of Prince Edward County, and having already painted Tractor and Barn as well as the twelve portraits of local farmers for my Field to Canvas series, these paintings were a natural and satisfying progression for me. So far, 14 oil paintings comprise this series, with a very large (36" x 48") painting (and a handful of much smaller ones) to be started very soon. All of the Barnscapes are based on my own photos of local PEC farms I shot while driving around the county the past couple of summers.

The show opening is
Saturday 25 February 2012
2PM to 4PM

AoM Gallery hours (beginning in March):
11AM to 4PM
Thursdays to Tuesdays
(closed Wednesdays)

Manhattan 006

15" x 22", watercolour, 2000, sold

My hometown of Toronto has some art deco architecture*, but nowhere near as much (or as gloriously) as New York City and I was suitably impressed when I saw some (but not enough!) of it in person during my first visit there in 1999. Prometheus and Atlas naturally turned up in my paintings for their obvious appeal, but this subway entrance really attracted me; simple, elegant, gorgeous, but still functional. If you were able to pan right in this image you'd see the entrance to Radio City Music Hall and it's equally glorious marquee.





*That's just a small sample, and not offered here as a comprehensive showcase of art deco in Toronto.

Manhattan 007

22" x 15", watercolour, 2000

Here is what h2g2 has to say about Fifth Avenue:
"New York City intersections with names get all the attention. Herald Square, Times Square, Columbus Circle, even Union Square – everyone knows to visit them for shopping and noisy excitement. But there’s another intersection without a name that has just as much happening, and can easily keep an entire family entertained all day. That intersection is Central Park South and Fifth Avenue."

This is not that intersection, but it's interesting all the same.