Cat and Horse at Rest

Oil on Canvas 10' x 10"
Finished this one today for the upcoming show. My old horse Ljomi in this painting still has most of his thick winter coat so he looks very shaggy. He sheds till end of July then starts on his next winter coat. Okay maybe he has a week of summer coat!
It was really fun doing the curvy shapes in Layla the cat. She loves the horses and curls up on their backs when I am grooming them. And purrs.
Thank you to my friend Susan for permission to use her photo as reference!

The Egg

Watercolour 18" x 12" on 140lb Arches
I love chickens. Maybe I watch them too much. I did several versions of this painting before I got what I wanted. I don't want to say how many, my partner thought I was becoming obsessed, me who usually does not usually agonize over a painting. This one just haunted me till I got it right. This is going to be in my upcoming two person show in Tatamagouche, NS, Rural Routes. I am doing this show with another artist, Susan Sweet, who is well known for her luscious painting of cattle and horses. Her blog is www.susansweetartist.blogspot.com. The show is in the Fraser Cultural Centre Gallery and runs July 31-opening night- to September 1, 2009.

Park Bench

Park Bench in Victoria Park, Truro, NS
3 1/2" x 5" watercolour
The last weekend of June the Truro Art Society did their first 'Paint the Park'. It was really fun and a chance to get to know some of the TAS members, plus some folks who came in from other places. It was grand to paint together in such a beautiful setting. Only thing is-so much green! It is so intense. But lovely. I did this one after I came home.

Slow Moving Vehicle
3 1/2" x 5" watercolour
We have all been behind one of these in July when they are bringing the hay home. I know we are always relieved once we know the hay is in and we are set for the winter. I don't want to have to search out hay in the winter and don't know where it came from. So, this could be us...well, actually we can't get quite so much on our little truck. My partner was not so sure about this painting--I did it for fun.

Stitching the Night & Bayhead Farm

Stitching the Night
24 x 36" oil on canvas

Bayhead Farm
24 x 36" oil on Canvas
Today we hung the paintings in the Gallery. A tremendous thank you to Deanna and Susan. They are amazing! Words fail me.
It is profound to see the work properly hung in a public space.
I am thoroughly and pleasantly exhausted!

McGill Farm

18" x 24" oil on canvas
Another damp, rainy morning in the hills. Everything is growing madly, it looks like a jungle. This morning I was awakened at 4:30am by coyotes playing close to the house. We think there is a litter being raised up behind our place. We can hear them at times, especially night. In the winter we hear them howling and yipping. The sounds this am were yipping and snuffling. As soon as I got up to the window, they stopped. I did see one once a few years ago. Mostly we just hear them.
Good thing the chickens are all securely locked up and safe.

This painting is for my July Show. It is the farm up the road. I love the view to it from both sides. Here is early morning late summer.

The Figure Made the Landscape

My new show in the McCarthy Gallery in Truro, Nova Scotia! I am very excited, nervous and finishing stuff up like a fiend. Since I have begun to do oils again, I have quite a few in this show, along with some watercolours. The opening is July2 at 7:00 pm and all are welcome!

Oh the piece on the invitation is oil on canvas and is 24" x 36".

Farmy watercolours..

Red Barn in Spring
31/2 x 5" watercolour on paper

Cow Drinking (SOLD)
31/2 x 5" watercolour on paper

I am doing some larger watercolours for my upcoming show. For some sizes, I stretch the paper, but then have a strip on the side. So I had a little fun with these for my Farmers' Market paintings. They are quite small after the other work I have been doing, but fun to do. The paint is so much easier to control. For these, I did base them on photos I took last spring on a visit to Ontario.

Clouds and Watercolour!

Spring Clouds Racing
Watercolour 4 1/2 " x 3"
The above marks my return to plein aire painting! The clouds were irresistible. I almost had stage fright-what if I forgot everything I had learned? The small painting was not intimidating, and well, I did three at the same time so no one of them got too precious. The above sketch is the one I liked.

From the Clearcut.
12 1/2 " x 18 1/2"
Watercolour on 140 lb Arches CP
This is one of my favourite views. (Of course this morning, I found out the blackflies love it too!) It is a view out over the Northumberland Strait to PEI. I love it because you feel like you are on a level with the clouds sometimes when they are racing over your head as they were on this day. The sky was clearing above but still cloudy over the water. This one is for my July show.

Knitting

9" x 7" oil on canvas
I am working to my show for July. This small painting is a study for a larger work called 'The Figure made the Landscape' as adapted from a Milton Acorn Poem. This small painting was fun to do, I like doing hands I am finding. They can be so expressive. My grandmother taught me to knit the 'continental' style, so the position may look funny to some. I just finished the larger work last night. Whew. Once I get a good photo, I will post it.

Single Begonia

6X6 oil on canvas
A variation on the last painting. I should have posted it yesterday, but I was off to Guysborough for the day to take photographs. A day with magnificent clouds and amazing scenery. The coast is so uncluttered. So back to the painting... I used the phaylo blue again, but more muted. I like it. I saw the red reflections of the flower in the shadow and with some misgivings, put them in. Perfect, it balanced out the composition I think!