Crisp Morning on Bark Lake

My last workshop for this week was at the Fine Art Society of Milton, painting a landscape in watercolour. For this I chose a favourite photo from my trip to Bark Lake last fall and decided to paint large ... a full sheet. The overnight temperature had dropped below freezing, creating this fabulous coral mist in the morning light. I knew I had to paint it!

Crisp Morning on Bark Lake - 22x30” watercolour

Silver

Wednesday’s workshop was ‘Painting Silver’ in watercolour with the Clarkson Society of Artists. I love this little garage sale find ... a silver plated coffee set with pot, sugar, cream and serving tray. I only chose the sugar bowl for this composition and added a couple of cherry tomatoes for a pop of colour. I really like how this one turned out with the embroidered tablecloth from my late Aunt.

Sweet Tomatoes 11x15” Watercolour 

Little Green Jug

Part 2 of my workshop at Burlington Fine Arts was this colourful window glad featuring a little green jug with crackled glass. The smallest of the bunch but unique.

Little Green Jug - 11x15” watercolour 

Checkmate

My first of 2 watercolour projects that I taught at a workshop for Burlington Fine Arts Association last weekend. I liked the frosted glass vs. shiny in this piece and the dramatic lighting. I chose to inject a bit of reflected colour into an otherwise black and white image.

Checkmate! 11x15” watercolour

Lace and Apple

Last week I was invited to teach my process for painting lace for the Clarkson Society of Artists. Battenberg is my favourite and I thought the apple really added a splash of colour so I set up this still life.

Lace and Apple

11x15” watercolor on Arches 140lb cold press paper and DaVinci paints

Raven Tales

This is a full sheet watercolour painted for a themed show at the Art Gallery Of Burlington. The theme is Myths, Legends and Other Stories. When I was thinking of what to paint for this show I thought of what wonderful story-tellers the indigenous people are and how nature and creatures have  always been an integral part of these tales.
Myths, Legends and Other Stories runs April 20 - May 19th at the Art Gallery of Burlington

Raven Tales - 22x30” 

watercolour on Arches 140lb cold press paper and DaVinci paints

Silly Maggie

This week I’m tackling a portrait of my friend’s little granddaughter Maggie. She’s quite the character as you can tell. I think if I ever paint her again I might put a hat over all that wild hair which is a challenge to paint! 

Silly Maggie 

11x15” watercolour on Arches 140lb cold press paper

Bark Lake

Last weekend I went to Bark Lake Leadership Centre with East Central Ontario Artists Association. Very cold but certainly beautiful. Loads of inspiration to paint and good times with creative friends. I’ve managed a couple of small paintings from the weekend.

Both if these are  done in acrylics on 8x10” Masonite using only a palette knife

Snow Tires

I managed to finish this watercolour today. It started off as a demo for a class I taught last winter. As with most demos it never got all the love it deserved because I had only shown the basics of the snow. It seemed the perfect thing to paint this weekend while stuck inside during a January snow storm.

Snow Tires

10x14” watercolour

Arches 140lb cold press paper

DaVinci watercolours

Reflections Of The Past

Finally finished this one. There were a lot of details to sort out but I enjoyed working on it and am happy with the result. I'm also happy to report that this painting has made it into the Burlington Fine Arts annual juried show and will be on display until January 27th at the Burlington Centre (formerly Burlington Mall). Artists will be at the Hub to answer questions and provide live demonstrations throughout the show. Vote for viewers choice and win a chance at $100 gift card for the mall.

Reflections Of The Past

14x21” watercolour

Arches 140lb cold press paper

DaVinci watercolours

Baby portrait done!

While I’m still working away on other projects, I needed to get this small portrait done for a friend. I love her innocent expression and the strong light. The fuzzy hat with floppy green ears and the chubby cheeks just push the cuteness level over the top. There are a lot of interesting textures here ... smooth skin, fuzzy hat, folds in the shirt and abstract salt-textured background. I enjoyed working on this one. 

8x10” watercolour on Arches 140lb cp paper and DaVinci watercolour paints. 

And now back to my glass painting 😊

Happy New Year 2019! 🎉

Well the holiday excitement is done and it’s finally time to focus on painting again. The winter months are a great time to settle into some quality studio time. First on the agenda is to complete all of the unfinished paintings of 2018. So many were near completion but pushed to the back burner as other priorities took precedence. .
Currently on my palette is a glass and silver project done in watercolour. I’m looking forward to adding the final touches to this one. I love the interesting patterns that the shadows create. 15x22” on Arches 140lb cold press paper with DaVinci watercolours.