What's on the easel and more Red Bubble fun

My sister spent most of last week with us. I enjoyed her visit tremendously...but did not paint nor post on blogger.

I have started a painting on a 18"X24" wood panel that I had prepared some time ago for a varnished watercolor. However, as soon as I had sketched my painting on it, I remembered my findings the last time I worked on such a surface: this is great for small cells, but horrible for large washes - the surface dries too quickly and unevenly. As you will see below, my painting is of huge cherries on a black plate and there is a hint of lace: the lace was great fun, but the cherries were a nightmare to paint!

The stems are still covered with masking and I have not yet started the plate. The highlights on the cherries were done in three ways: masking, lifting and ( the purists will cringe) with Chinese white watercolor.

The next couple of weeks should be quite busy. I have two shows in March, one at the Foyer Gallery called "Inside Outside" and I thought that, by stretching it a bit,  I could use the cherries for that theme ( inside a container, out of a container:-); the other show is a 3-day sale with a local art association where I will have a booth. I also have two large commissions...and commissions make me nervous and I tend to procrastinate.

On another note, Red Bubble continues to be a fun site that provides me with good feedback. My "Lake Fantasia" has just won 3rd place in a Challenge in the Canadian Artists group and my Garden Ballerinas, a painting I did last year, was featured today in the Decorative and Traditional Art Group.

And winter is back with us in Ottawa: we have had more snow in the last three days than all winter, I think...and more on the way:-(

Fantasy of Reality: a group show starting on Wednesday Feb. 15th

Here is the invitation poster for the upcoming show at the Foyer Gallery. You can see a picture of my latest watercolor, "Angus, the Green Man" in the middle of the top row.

The show runs from Feb. 14th until 4 March 2012 and is called " The Fantasy of Reality". It should be fantastic:-)

Meanwhile, I was thrilled to find out that my mixed media " Lake Fantasia" has received two features on the Red Bubble site: 

Have a great weekend!

Fascinating info on Angus, the Green Man and some creative play

I was thrilled to receive some fascinating background information on the carving that inspired my "Whimsical Man" painting below ( which I will now call "Angus, the Green Man").

I received these details from Bobby Watt of RJW-Gem Campbell Stonemasons Inc. who commissioned three similar carvings for their Ottawa headquarters. These carvings, each by a different master carver, depict the Mr. Watt's journey from Scotland to Canada.  The carving I chose to paint  - the first in the series- was done by Danny Barber over the winter of 2008-2009. It is a "jack o' green, or green man, which is a long tradition with carvers in Europe. Foliage of thistles, Scotland's national flower, springs from his mouth.  

I can't wait to start painting the other two beautiful carvings and you will see how the foliage on each of these "Jack o' green" changes to symbolize  a different stage of Mr. Watt's journey! I only hope that I can do justice in my own way to the artistic talent of these great carvers and to the passion for stone that made these gems possible!

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These last two or three days, I have done lots of playing with acrylic gels, tissue collage and metallic paints. Here is a finished painting resulting from all that play.This is a mixed media painting full of fantasy and textures.

The original is on a 16" X 16" X1.5 gallery wrapped canvas. The paints are acrylics and metalics; the numerous textures were created with acrylic mediums and gels, stencils and stamps. This was such a fun painting and quite a departure from my usual realistic works!

Take care.

Whimsical carving WIP- Completed for now

I am calling this painting finished for now. I really agonized over the eye on the left...as you will see in the second image below:-) I wanted some shadow, but not too much.

I have not chosen a title yet; I intend to write to the stone masonry company that created this carving to see if they have a name for it.

As mentioned above, the eye on the left really caused me a lot of grief. I was not sure of the shadows to put it, even the color to use. As you can see below, I made several sketches of that eye to try out various color combinations.

The finished painting is about 17" X 17". I will bring it to my framer's tomorrow or Friday to see if he has time to frame it within a week; if not, I will probably crop it to 16" X 16" and put it on a gallery wood panel and varnish it. I want to put it in an upcoming show at the Foyer Gallery called " The Fantasy of Reality".
Let me know what you think.
I hope that the first month of 2012 has been a kind one for you.