Monday, December 22, 2014

Hawaii Wave Study













I'm starting to get excited about my Hawaii trip and had to try and paint a little guy. Acrylic 10x 20 inches. My first tropical wave in acrylics...ever! I'm looking forward to doing more studies. Although I liked the original photo, I cropped it so I could get up-close and personal in order to observe.



Sunday, December 21, 2014

Merry Christmas

























acrylic ' Mountain Omen', 24 x 24 and 'Athabasca Flow', 20 x 28

 Here are a couple painting I have been working on in between traveling and company. Time to shift my focus now. I will be making another trip to Hawaii in a few weeks and I can't stop thinking about warm weather, plein air and ocean paintings. Winter mountain scenes will be on a short hiatus, as I wrap my head around a new color palette.

Merry Christmas to you and your families and a happy New Year too!




Monday, December 15, 2014

Stampede Art Auction


Acrylic 24 x 30.
  Now that I'm feeling better and my Christmas shopping/painting done, I will spend these next two weeks thinking about Stampede. Yep, it's not until July, but entries have to in early. I enjoy participating in the Art Auction but have a hard time deciding what to paint. I will most likely paint 3or 4 , choose one and send the others to the gallery. Last year a close up mountain scene was chosen. Previous years have seen, Elbow Falls, Lake Louise, Tangle Falls and Sunwapta Falls. But there is no guarantee whatever I submit will be accepted. I have been very lucky and feel privileged to have had one or two chosen each year I have applied, considering they receive hundreds of entrants. And last year I was very grateful and honored to have received the 'Artist Choice' award for my entry.

My waterfalls seem quite popular , so the last couple of days I've been working on a couple Athabasca Falls. But I won't decide what to submit until the last minute.
I have painted many versions of this, some very colorful and others more muted, some cool, others warm. This one, although still using vibrant color, I also incorporated variations of greys.  Also below is a small study loosely based on Elbow Falls 16 x 16.


Wednesday, December 10, 2014

In The Foothills












acrylic 8 x 16 inches
Traveling from Leighton Art Center, I get to see some amazing views, and every time is different. I never tire of that road trip. So if you ever get the chance and have a free day, I encourage you to visit Leighton Center in the Calgary foothills, or just go for a drive through the hills.You can see the city center in the distance and the play of light and shadows in the fields and rolling hills. I love visiting all the cows, horses, sheep, and bison also...but that is for another day. These are two tiny studies of my views returning from the Center. I have also include one of my reference photos and how I enhanced it.



Monday, December 8, 2014

More Little Ones




















 I was hoping to have a lot more of these little ones completed, but with company, traveling and now the flu bug, I'm a little under the weather and very behind. Trying very hard not to get too caught up in detail because when I do, these little guys can take as much time as the larger versions. 2 12 x 12's and 16 x8.