29 June 2012

night radio

CBC radio 2 all day.  The Signal is my favourite program.  Now we're on to Nightstream.
Between working in the garden and making cornbread and and fielding a few phone calls, this is what I've accomplished today:



Stitched & pinned to the wall for further consideration before I stretch it.  One of my galleries has offered me a solo show for December 2012, so it's time to get cracking in the studio!  Now sleep, and tomorrow a new day.




26 June 2012

where to from here?

Not entirely sure whether either of these is finished yet, but at the moment I'm liking how they look.

from here:
to here:
Break
acrylic on stitched canvas
44w x 49h inches


and from here:
 to here:
Surface Measures
mixed media on stitched canvas
32w x 21h inches


25 June 2012

mind's eye

Well, I've been painting little plein air landscapes for awhile now, and today I thought I'd try doing a larger landscape over an old unfinished city painting.  Relying on memory and imagination only, this is what I came up with:

Pattern
oil on stitched canvas
52w x 32h inches 

As with all my work, there are things I like and things I don't like about this one.  Mostly, though, I'm quite pleased with it, and thinking I'd like to try more, hoping my execution will improve with practice.

21 June 2012

reminder

Last 2 days' work.  Stitched yesterday, drawn & painted over a little today.

idea as usual drawn on the studio wall.

using printed image + pieces of painted canvas

not sure how well they integrate...

... hoping I'll be able to work it out.


When I first stitched this one I felt very excited to be combining printed imagery with pieces of old painted canvases.

Then after I stretched the thing I had some doubts.
Slept on it.  

Woke up this morning, walked for an hour by the river, which is currently running very high.
Rushing water, wet grass and birdsong make a good brain break.  Brain brake, haha.  Then had breakfast in the studio while letting my eyes relax over yesterday's work.  Mmmmm, cold cereal with toasted almonds and hot tea.  

Decided it may work out in the end, although the aesthetic will not be what I had originally envisioned.  

It's ok.  Everything has a life of its own.

19 June 2012

things I see

Recently we did a 3-day drive into southern Alberta with camping gear and painting kit.  Drove through one of the more dramatic thunderstorms I've seen in my life - lovely lightening show which went on for hours!

On the way out we stopped at the river near Hays.  There's an old bridge a little way off the road, a perfect place to set up for painting:

Evening sky changing quickly, had to paint fast!  Nice to get a little more practice painting water, which I still cannot get quite right although it seems there is some gradual improvement...

Just south of Cyprus Hills provincial park there is an old schoolhouse decaying back into the landscape.  It's a favourite place for walks, situated above a broad valley that slopes off into the distance.  This painting was made in one of the crevasses leading down:


I really like the distant flats peeking through the trees.  Camera couldn't catch the windy cloud-and-sun skies, but paint could!

Later I photographed both paintings in the studio:



Alberta Landscape #29
oil on canvas
9x9"



Alberta Landscape #30
oil on canvas
10x10"

09 June 2012

balcony view - day 4

Here I sit on this rainy afternoon cleaning up my blog, which mostly means going through some old drafts that were never published and deciding if I want to keep them or what.  

The following five posts were made for my second run with 30dayartist several years ago.  Decided they're keepers.



Drawing made while sitting on our balcony - felt-tip pen on sketchbook paper.  Played around with the colour in photoshop:



building blocks



Today I sewed six more squares for the city quilt.
You can see where my inspiration comes from:



V

the end...

... the end of 30dayartist for me.
Whew!

So, to bring it full circle, the idea posted for day 1 has come to fruition in fabric form on day 30:





Just the squares are finished, not all put together yet, but here you can see the thing more-or-less as I have envisioned it.

a crop to show my very simple sewing techniques:


Mostly I just kind of wing it - start with imperfect sizes & shapes, stitch things together & then later crop the squares to uniform size before assembling the quilt.
It's a bit like painting - no straight lines or perfect edges inside the frame.


Thanks Chinyew for accepting my application & giving me this space!

Also thanks to all who've had a look at my work here & especially those who've left comments, your feedback is always appreciated.

& now on to the next 30day artist...

V

friends





studio working table









everything is getting in

Ok, that's it for old 30dayartist posts, now back to our regular programming.


Everything Is Getting In
mixed media on canvas
33w x 18h inches


Break
work in progress



Population Density
work in progress


studio shots






02 June 2012

goings on and more goings on

Went out for open air painting with my friend and when we were almost at our destination I realized I forgot my brushes!  My friend works with water media and doesn't carry oil brushes... so I borrowed a pencil, a piece of conte and a water brush:

Alberta landscape #28
graphite and conte on canvas
10 x 10"



Thinking this next one is finished.  It has been hanging around my peripheral vision in the studio and doesn't seem to want any more work:


Night Light
acrylic on stitched canvas
62w x 32h



A new triptych stitched and stretched.  I really like the texture made with bits of burlap.  They measure 31 x 32" each:


And here, gesso'd.  The plan is to paint them in a similar style as the Drift And Settle:





An old diptych which I am reworking.  Not sure how to resolve these, but I'll just keep plugging away at them and eventually something will emerge:




Idea sketch very quickly drawn on the studio wall:


Canvas interpretation:


I used a piece of canvas that had been stapled onto my work table.  While it was on my table I painted on it, gesso'd other canvases on it, drew lines on it to mark sizes for canvases I was stitching, et cetera.  I really like the spattered and random look of this.

Now there is another piece of canvas stapled to my work table, destined for the same use sometime in the future.