Owen the Owl

OWEN THE OWL

Owen the Owl

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"Owen the Owl " is a 16" x 20" original painting on the very archival surface 1/8" Aquabord panel made in Texas by Ampersand. Owen is in watercolour on a faux gold leaf background that has a reflective surface very similar to the very, very expensive 24 kt gold genuine gold leaf. The painting is varnished and is ready to be inserted in a standard frame. Since it is varnished and on aquabord, it is framed without glass!
I had fun painting Owen as a colourful barn owl. I added textured gold relief in the background and on the tree stump. The gold background is guilded and not painted so there is some slight texture and variation in reflection here and there automatically in the gold leaf as it is applied.
Work is sold unframed and photo with frame is simply to give you an idea how it could look framed.  The gold leaf is very hard to photograph since it reflects all the surrounding colors.
I have been working with this gold leaf and the Ampersand surface for several years and just love them both. My customers have always been very happy with this collection.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  

Let me know what you think.

Other Views

Return to Blogging and Recent Paintings

It's been months since I have posted on my blog. I truly apologize for this absence. I hope my readers are still around:-) I seem to spend a lot more time on Facebook these days. Why is that? Maybe because Facebook is quicker, although it is more appropriate for short posts with less information than the blog...Not sure...But, I intend to post more regularly again on my blog.

Today, I will show some of my most recent paintings: one varnished watercolour, two acrylics of boats  and two acrylic abstracts. The two boat paintings were recently sold at the Kevin Dodds Gallery and Studio at 1101 Bank St, in Ottawa, Ontario. The others have recently been added to Kevin Dodds' Gallery.

Talk to you soon I hope!

"Summer Dreams" - Acrylic -10" X 10" - SOLD

"Waterlilies"-Varnished Watercolour - 18" x 24"

"Gatineau Hills Energy" - Acrylic - 16" x 16"

"Floating Dreams" - Acrylic - SOLD

"Dreamscape" - Textured Acrylic - 16" x 16"

Two miniature paintings

I am currently dividing my attention between two types of painting: a large commission and small miniatures that I want to include in a three-week, three-artists show to be held in March.

Here are two small watercolors I have painted in the past 10 days. Both are on  6" x 6"  X 1.5" paper-covered wood panels and will be displayed without glass. The first one is already varnished, the second one will be as soon as I give a last coat of black on some of the lines.

Pond Queen

For "Pond Queen" , I used a reference by Stephie on WetCanvas. On my monitor, it really looks like the colors could have been turned up a bit more...

It's Lunch Time

The butterfly painting has not been varnished yet. I will go over some of the black lines again, although they are darker than they appear under the lights used for the photo.  I was pleased by smooth  my background. Thanks to Jacqueline Gnott for her great tips on painting smooth watercolor backgrounds.

Working on paper that has been adhered to a wood panel requires getting used to. The paint does not flow as it usually does on watercolor paper; the water dries very quickly and the paints don't mix on the paper very well. Nevertheless, if I want a varnished watercolor painting, I prefer to attach the paper before painting rather than risking ruining the finished painting when it's time to glue it to the board. Believe me, it hurts when you ruin a 16" x 16" painting at that stage.

I hope you are all doing well and are having a creative and healthy January.

Parliamentary Dragon: Carving from Canadian Parliament Building

Here is my third watercolor in the series of carvings from the Gothic facade of the Parliament Building in Ottawa, Canad.

This little 8" X 8" dragon is on paper-covered gallery-wrapped canvas and has been varnished for display without glass. It is square, but on my wide monitor it appears absolutely regular...I certainly hope that it will show properly on most monitors:-(

This is my third experiment with the paper-covered canvas and this one is getting close to the results I want: at this point, I can feel a very slight warping of the paper at one spot.. in the middle of the dragon where there is little paint. Strange, since the paper was totally wet before stapling and the paper was tight as a drum while I painted...Perhaps as the varnish dries more, this minuscule hill will disappear. I hope so! The colors are very vibrant, the texture is nice...I like the option I now have even for varnished watercolors: I can wrap the paper around a canvas or I can continue to glue the paper to a wood panel as I have done several times.

This is on Arches 140 lb CP natural white. I think that I now prefer the whiter Fabriano Artistico ..I hope that I am right since I have just bought an 11 yrd roll of the Fabriano SP in extra white.

I hope that you are all doing well and that your month of September will be great!

WIP - Giant Cherries almost completed

I am still working on my giant cherries: the painting is on watercolor paper adhered to an 18" X 24" wood panel and will be varnished for display without glass.
I still have work to do on the shadows and on the tablecloth and lace...I am getting a bit tired of this one; I have struggled with it since I have realized that this surface is better for small cells than large washes!
Nevertheless, at this size, I like the impact the cherries make.
Next time, on this surface, I am simply going to try acrylics!
In the photo below, the colors are not entirely true: for example, the shadows under the plate are more grey than blue and they are actually much darker. I will try getting a better picture tomorrow in better daylight.

What do you think?

I hope that you are having a great week.

Experimental Painting Finished and Varnished

The Two Sisters

I have varnished my orchid painting and I am showing it here with a thin black frame that I have found for it. I have to admit that I am very pleased with the results. I took this picture inside tonight, so the colors may not be quite accurate, but I find the colors brighter and nicer than before the varnishing.

In case you have not read my previous posts, this was really an experimental piece since I glued the watercolor paper to a .75 inch thick cradled wool panel before painting.  I had some worries about the paper coming unglued at some edges when I used a lot of water, but all seems nice and solid now. The colors remained brighter on this surface than on my regular paper...hard to say why.

I was in a rush to find a frame for this 16" X 16" panel :I have an art show on Saturday and then, if this does not sell, it will be part, as of next Monday, of my first hanging in the Foyer Gallery ( Nepean Sportsplex) where  I have been juried in as a permanent member. For the time being, I have just put the frame over the painting; tomorrow, I will try to convince my framing shop to frame it while I wait ( I usually frame my watercolors myself, but I am not familiar with this type of frame). 

Would I use this technique again? Absolutely!...Unless some major problem develops with this painting in the next few hours ( heaven forbid!). I love the idea of not having to frame under glass!

What about " The Two Sisters" as a title?

Your thoughts?

New Work in Progress and Varnishing

I feel that I have not posted anything new in such a long time: first I had the pinched nerve ( getting much better), then I had to prepare for shows etc. I have started a new piece, about 16" X 16" on Arches 140lb. It is a Venetian mascarone again ( stone sculpture over an archway). I  painted this one in a small format a few months ago, but wanted to try it again. I don't think that it will create the same impact as my recent Gate Keeper, but at least it's getting me back in the painting mode:-)

I have also painted a new strawberry painting, Gossip Time.  It is attached to a gallery wood panel and varnished, this time with varnish applied with a roller, instead of sprayed on. I really liked the colors of this painting, but  the result shows a few imperfections unfortunately where the medium used to glue the paper to the panel oozed out onto the painting...lesson learned! I will therefore keep this painting for myself and will probably redo it.

Varnished Strawberries and Sore Shoulder

 Note:  Some of the comments left for this posting disappeared when Blogger went down this week. I apologize for this inconvenience and thank all those who had left comments.
I mounted my "Fun Strawberries" onto a cradled gallery wood panel ( 8" X 10" X 1.5") then varnished the painting. I am very pleased with the result. I will probably use a wood varnishing gel in natural color to finish the sides. On one of my next varnished paintings, I think I will try staining or painting the sides black before I mount the painting.  I have not screwed in any hooks at the back of the painting...it does not need a hanging wire to hang on the wall; however, for some of my upcoming shows, I probably will not have a choice.

I am quite pleased with the results. I am sure that I would not use this approach will all of my paintings ( one is not sure if is a watercolor), but I think I will enjoy having this finishing /displaying option.

What do you think?

On another note, I am currently slowed down tremendously by pain in my left shoulder and arm; the only time the throbbing pain seems to go away is when I am lying down:-( My doctor gave me some anti-inflammatory meds yesterday and hopefully this will relieve the pain quickly. I am now typing with one hand:-) I want to be painting and gardening!!!!