Wet brushes again!

both Watercolour 5" x 7"
After some serious angst, I just started splashing some paint around. Watercolour is an easier place for me to start and I am comfortable with it. I tried a small oil, but after two hours and a knot in my stomach, I wiped it. The little canvas no longer mocks me as I wiped it and took charge! Ha!
It feels good though. I am working on some more abstract-ish seascapes.

Circling the Studio....

No pictures, except a new photo for my dashboard!
I just realized it has not been a full year since my last post...this is reassuring! I have been blocked--okay I know I am the only person to ever experience this, that is why it is so uniquely painful! It is a longer story than I want to go into, but it has been a complicated year with some major losses and family transitions. My call away from art making to taking care of family is something I just had to do. Now I am circling the studio. Have been for some time. I cleaned it out (after some renos in other parts of the house). Then re-arranged it and built new shelving. Abandoned it. Yesterday I went down to just be there. Ended up vacuuming the stairs--dust on them don't you know!
I did find a new easel that will not have my paintings popping off and landing face down on the floor-we are talking oils here.
Still a lonely room.
So I circle. I think about painting all the time. Imagine paintings, compositions.
How to return? It feels like I (I, Me) have such heavy expectations! Okay, so maybe we just go down and play. Yes. That is a start.

Winter Light

12" x 18" Watercolour 140lb Arches
I have been working out some larger paintings in watercolour. I have a few winter scenes in mind. Easy to keep thinking about it as we are getting a light snowfall today!
I have wanted to do this view for awhile. It is a cluster of trees out behind my horses' run.

A Pair

5" x 7" oil on canvas
A pair of pears, with energy! I put the two on a shiney plate with the light behind them for a little drama. The colour took me a little time to work out how I wanted to do it. I was looking for a way for the pears to 'hold' the light.

A bite size pear

3" x 4" oil on canvas
This is a teeny painting I just completed for the upcoming "Little Picture Show" at the Raven Gallery in Tatamagouche, NS. It opens April 2, 2010. I was in pear mode and want to do a few pieces for this show. I like the simplicity of it. I think it would be interesting as a larger painting. Maybe I should try it--and use really big brushes to keep myself from getting too detailed!

One Pear

Oil on Canvas 6" x 6"
One pear, only one, not a pair. Standing alone! Okay it is too early to be witty. I had an earlier version of this composition, and really like it. However the earlier painting got damaged, so I decided to redo it. It is different, new pear and less red on it. But still an unusal composition I like. I also quite restricted the number of colours I put on my palette.

Turnip!

Oil 6" x 6"
Another for my boiled dinner series...I decided to play with complementary opposites and just make the chunks of turnip into an abstract kind of painting. I mean what can you do with turnip pieces? It was fun painting and figuring out the light effects and colour changes. By the way, I arranged the pieces on a piece of reflective silver board with a purple matboard behind it so it is all purple around it.

Onion Line Dancing

Oil on canvas 6" x 6"
I am working at keeping loose with this series, well, loose for me. It adds a lively motion...suggesting dancing maybe!

Dancing Onions

Dancing Onions 6" x 6" oil on canvas
Sometimes I wonder if I should title them, it takes away from the viewer coming to their own conclusions. But, well in this case, they looked like they were dancing! I love the stems on the home grown onions especially when I pull them off the braid. I take my basket into the basement through the winter and 'pick' onions.

Winter Cabbage

Oil 6" x 6"
Ah, winter cabbage. How else would we localvores (those who eat locally) survive? I was thinking of a boiled dinner series-at least the veggies. A way to celebrate those humble vegetables. We had one the other night with friends after a sauna. Yum. A funny thing to paint actually, but I loved the lines of the curly leaves.