Red Velvet

6" x 6"
oil on canvas
Red Velvet is the name of this begonia plant. One of my favourite spring outings is to the greenhouse in our village. I love the rows of blooms as they are massed by colour. Of course a planned colour scheme is out the window as I just can't think clearly in all that glory. Okay, I did come home with some sun tolerant begonias (above). I picked up a few and as I made my way to the cash I heard the ohhs and awes. Everyone wanted them. I guess we were all in the greenhouse spell!
I picked a bloom off the plant and put it in a little glass jar. I used Windsor Blue in the background. It is such a pervasive colour, I am usually reluctant to use it, but really loved it in this, it was perfect for the red blooms.

Red's a crowd!

I could not resist picking up a bunch of these luscious red tulips at a local veg stand, they are from the Valley in NS so are local too! I usually just try to do one or two, but the bunch all together was fun too.
6" x 6"
Oil on Canvas(SOLD)

Study for painting of Nest Lined with Horsehair
10" x 8" watercolour pencil on Arches 90lb paper

I just finished, I think, the painting resulting from this study. I had a black horse living with us for awhile, quite lovely and truly black. One day I found on the ground this perfect little nest lined with long hairs from Disa's mane and tail. The hairs were perfectly swirled and woven into the grass and twigs to line the inside with the warm soft hairs. I will try to get an image of the larger painting. I am finding photographing oil paintings to be a challenge. Not like drawings or watercolours. It is difficult to get an image without the little highlights of the ridges from brushstrokes.

Chick Days (SOLD)

It's that time. The day old chicks have arrived. Really it is amazing how they are just in their own little world out there in their house, the light is on, food and water nearby. Doesn't matter the wind or cold. It's chick world, where they run around sleep, play and eat. I spent some time crouched in the shelter doing drawings...maybe I will post one later(I continue to have computer problems so this is not easy!). Anyway then photos helped me do the painting. The photo is a little blurry I think, but the painting is loose too. They do grow pretty fast and don't stay yellow and fluffy long!

Yellow Tomato

A brief break in painting, a visit home by family interceded...so I found these translucent tomatoes and just could not help myself, I had to paint one, at least one...

Circles

6" x 6"
oil on canvas
Ok, so I say yellow is hard to do...then I paint another lemon! I also decided to just do the circle in the middle. Interesting composition. I finished this yesterday when I took a break from my larger painting, but it was too dark to take the picture then.

Orange Boats

6" x 6"
oil on canvas
Today's painting. Orange is a tricky colour, though not as weird as yellow. I had fun with this one, especially the curvy pulp! Working on larger paintings too for the upcoming show...so back to the easel for me.

Lego Hello

5" x 4 1/2"
oil on canvas
I'm back. It was so hard to stay in the studio today. When I went out for barn chores, it felt and smelt like a summer day! The above is a fun painting I did yesterday of some of the lego still around the house. It was such a present element when my sons were young. I hadn't painted for a few days and this was my way back.
The demonstration day at the market went well overall I think. I was not able to finish something myself. I have not been using the watercolour all winter and felt out of touch even with a little warm up....I also had forgotten that terrifying time at the beginning when you are not really sure you can do it, how to start, etc. When you have to just start. I forgot it would be worse with people watching! It is what happens when you work in the studio for a few months....summers I do alot of plein aire painting and get used to having people stop by. I find folks are interested and also not wanting to disturb my concentration. It is good to push yourself a little I think.

I'm Back!

Brio Toy Memories
7" x 9" oil on canvas

McGill Farm Late Afternoon
18" x 24" oil on canvas
Computer problems solved...for now. Actually I had mulitple issues including the need for a new keyboard. Oh well. Here I am.
The above are two of my latest. The Brio Toy is left over from when my children were small. I think I always liked it more than they did! It is mostly wood and the red egg turns as you pull the little wagon. It is not evenly round, so does funky turns as it rolls across the floor.
The McGill Farm is a larger oil for an upcoming show. I did a small watercolour of this and it wanted to be a bigger painting. So, here it is. I love the late afternoon sun on the fields.
Tomorrow I am doing demonstrations in painting at our Farmers' Market in Tatamagouche. I always feel a little nervous, especially with watercolour as a partner, it can be so fickle! Performance anxiety?

Pamela's Posting Problems...

Well, techological challenges come in groups I think. I did replace my little camera with a new little one I am learning to use. Then my computer crashed, well maybe it is a fender bender-they are looking at it and it is in the queue for repair.
I hope to have it all together next week!
Mean time I am working on a couple of larger paintings and some small ones I will post once I am able.
We still have snow on the ground, but mostly bare ground now!

Welcome back Tulip

This was part of a bouquet welcoming me home as I returned from a trip a week ago. We still have three feet of icy snow in the yard, but the rain and warm rains should help melt it...surely.
I started this small painting and forgot (again) how intense red can be. It took a while before I felt like it was a tulip!
On a different note, while I was away I dropped my little digital camera. It is definitely broken. I can take pictures but the screen is broken. It is about four years old and was 4.2 megpixels. It doesn't owe me anything I suppose, but it was like an extension of me, I carried it everywhere. It creates a problem for this blog too! I can still take some pictures, but may have to save up some and post a bunch! In the meantime, most of this week I was working on a larger painting, and will post it when it is light enough for me to try to get a photo.