WIP Update: Venetian Door Knocker almost finished

I have not posted in about two weeks! I was busy last weekend with a 3-day show and it's only in the last few days that I had time to work on my latest watercolor painting, the scary Venetian door knocker. It is now almost finished.
Please note that the shadow at the top of the picture below is not in the painting - I took the picture inside.

 It is 13" X 17" on Fabriano SP watercolor paper. I have not decided yet if I will frame it under glass or put it on a cradled wood panel and varnish it.

As for a title, I am currently playing with the following:
-Into the Lion's Den
-Home, Sweet Home

What do I like about it?
- it gave me great practice painting texture of flaking paint over weathered wood
- I am rather happy with the metal, especially on the knocker itself
- The theme will be perfect for a Feb. 2012 show, "Fantasy of Reality", where I have to present 2-3 paintings.
- It is for me a great reminder of the several lion head door knockers I have seen in Venice.

What detract from this painting?
-it's somewhat scary, don't you think?
-it's not what your average art buyer is looking for:-)

What do you think?
I wish all my American friends a great Thanksgiving weekend.

New WIP and update

I have started a new painting. It's 12|" X 16" on CP Fabriano Artistico, my new favorite watercolor paper. The painting represents a metal knocker on an old Venetian door with the paint flaking off...
The knocker has the face of a lion, one of the main symbols of Venice. I was attracted to this picture by Ruth Archer ( used with permission) because of the great textures of the door; I have my own reference of what I think is the same door, but in my photo, the knocker is not shown entirely. My husband thinks that the lion looks rather diabolical:-) It is still too early to tell, but I hope that he is wrong...My artistic objective is not to scare anyone:-) I hope that you like it so far.

I have a busy week coming up: appointments, framing, painting, sitting at the Foyer Gallery on Thursday and getting ready for the Nepean Fine Arts League  3-day winter show starting Friday.

Have a great week!

Award at the Ottawa Art Association Fall Show

Last night, the Ottawa Art Association held its annual Fall Awards Show at the beautiful newly-redecorated Ottawa Little Theatre. Ottawa Art Assoc. member artists get to pick their favorite painting in 4 categories, WC, Oil, Acrylic and Mixed media.  A total of 88 artists, with 1 painting each, were represented.


The first prize for watercolor went to fellow blogger Alain Godbout for his painting Sisters: ( upper painting in the photo below):

I was thrilled that my first Mascarone, The Gate Keeper received a 3rd place ribbon!

 The Gate Keeper will be on display and available for purchase at the Ottawa Little Theatre until January 7th.
If you are in the area, try to drop in at the Little Theatre to see the 88 paintings in the show.
Thank you to the Ottawa Art Association President, Brian Seed, for taking these pictures.