Rocky Mountain High

Acrylic 36 x36 inches
I enjoyed working on this one and it came together rather quickly...I had worked on one similar to this  link  and had all sorts of problems. I still have a few details to workout but I'm quite pleased.

The Woods Behind

acrylic, 24 x24 inches,
'The Woods Behind' because they really could be found behind anywhere. In this case I went to Elbow Falls to take pictures but there was still too much snow for my liking, but as I was walking back to my car , on the other side of the road I took a couple of photos...people were looking at me kinda funny as the falls were in the other direction.

The Back Woods

Acrylic 24 x24

I have many pictures of  woods with snow, shadows, the reds peeking through....and I'm sure many of you have similar woods in your neighbourhoods. More to come I think

Canmore's Creek

Acrylic, 24 x36
This is Policeman's Creek in Canmore . Had a lot of challenges with this one and I'm not sure I've resolved all the issues( the mountain top is too close to the canvas edge, for one). The photo I used was lovely but I had some composition problems. I didn't want to deal with the pointed mountain or the reflections...so I moved the trees closer and lowered the horizon line away from the centre. The photo was very dark and the trees were the same value as the lower part of the mountain. I loved the colors in the mountain. Photo credit goes to Davin Martinson  his work   ...thanks for the permission Davin!

Misty Cascade

acrylic, 24 x 36
 Tried to get a little softer feel...lots of 'scunbling'...Please click the image for a full view.

Jewel In The Woods

Almost finished this one. Large 4 x 4 ft based on a smaller study. Loads of texture in this one!

Along The Highway

Acrylic 4 ft x 5 ft
I'm thinking I could get used to painting this large...wasn't as daunting as the first time around. Doing a smaller study helped  also. I'm pretty much finished ...just a few touch-ups and details but I'll wait until the paint has dried and I can assess the colors more accurately. I think I've captured the feeling of the scene as I see it every time I go to Banff.

Jewel In The Woods, Study

acrylic 20x20,
This is a study for a large 4 ft x 4 ft painting. I'm thinking I need to lessen the intensity of the two tall trees in front to push them back and move them out of the focal area. But I am liking the way this is shaping up and think it would look good in a large format.* ok, made a few adjustments...I like it better now *

Chill In The Air

'Chill In The Air'
acrylic, 20 in x 30 in

Along The Highway, study

Acrylic, 16 x20

This is a study I did in preparation for a large 4x5 ft painting for Mountain Galleries  I wanted to see how the composition worked and if I though it would work in a larger format...I think it will. This is a scene I pass every time I head to Banff. I've always wanted to paint it, especially when the snow is melting and creating all these great abstract shapes with the reds peeking through. My husband doesn't like to stop when we are travelling so I finally went myself to take pictures. I will be working on many smaller studies as I will be painting some really large canvases  for the gallery in the next few months...so excited!

A Season's Change

acrylic  24 x30

A Ray Of Sun

acrylic, 24 x 30 inches

Here is the reference photo again from Keith Levit ( with permission , thank you very much Keith!) and the same stream near Whistler. I really wanted to add the snow but it just wasn't working

Forest Stream in Whistler

acrylic  3 feet x 4 feet
I was excited to start this painting as soon as I saw it. As it wasn't my photo I had to wait to get permission form the photographer, Keith Levit. In the meantime I did some preliminary thumbnails as I new I would crop the photo....I don't like to 'copy' photos. I also gave it more of a background and added fall colors and lightened all the darks. I'm quite pleased at how it turned out. I want to thank Keith for letting  me use his photo as inspiration.See his work here

here is the original photo

Busy On The Bow

acrylic 24 x 36
I won't even begin to tell you the problems I had with this one...turned out totally different than I had planned! Those bushes in the foreground were not supposed to be there. There was a log coming across the river and I added more...didn't work... and I couldn't do anything else other than make them bushes.
 
I referenced a photo from a local photographer ( with permission!) and he was excited to see the painting...I may have to try another one as this one is soooo different.

Inside Glow

Acrylic 30 x30

I'm thinking about shortening the tallest tree and bringing it back into the picture frame. My titles are becoming so lame :(

*update* I did shorten the tree and added more trees in front...I'm kinda missing that trunk though

Hidden Deep Within

acrylic 40 x30
I painted over an older painting intending only to fix it...but ended up with a brand new painting. The only part of the original painting is the center of the waterfall. I had such huge composition issues  that I eventually painted over the whole canvas ( still not sure if it works...notice how everything is pointing to the center of the canvas?). I hope no one asks me where this is located...originally it was Athabasca Falls...not anymore.

From The Top

'From The Top' acrylic 30 x30
I revamped another painting I wasn't too pleased with. I think I definitely made an improvement on it. You can see the old one  by clicking here

Lake Agnes

acrylic 36 x36

Opabin Basin

Acrylic 36 inches x 36 inches
I'm really liking the way this is turning out...but as it's still wet, I'll live with in for a bit and do some subtle tweaking. I changed it drastically from the photo but I think you can still recognize it as Opabin Basin in Yoho National Park.

FCA, Ingrid Christensen Demo

We had our FCA Calgary Chapter( Federation Of Canadian Artists) meeting tonight and had a wonderful demo by the extremely talented Ingrid Christensen. Love her work!Tami Horts daughter was a super and patient model

My plate is full at the moment of Western Landscape but somewhere down the line I'd love to get back and do some figurative work!

Mountain Runoff

Acrylic 24 x36
I haven't decided yet if the background is too bright and saturated...I may soften and subdue the color

Rush Behind

acrylic 20 x40 inches. Again, I really didn't like the original 'Rush' (right) so I decided to play. I like it much better now, although I still need to do some touch-ups. Hard to believe it was the same painting. I have one more bad painting I need to work on. I like to rework old or bad paintings because I have nothing to lose...I don't have to be timid, I can experiment and push myself.

Summer In Lake Louise

acrylic 24 x36

Another take on Lake Louise. I love Lake Louise but I wish it wasn't so darn busy...too commercial...but still beautiful!

Golden Larches

Acrylic 36 x 24 inches.

I started this painting months ago and put it aside 'cause it wasn't working...and again, I didn't know what was wrong or how to fix it...I just didn't like it. I brought it back out today and decided just to play. I had no reference because I strayed so far from the original photo by adding, moving and taking away rocks trees etc, that it was a totally different painting. I sure had a lot of great texture though! Because I was under no pressure and had no expectations...it came together quite well and I kinda like how it turned out. I'm sure there is someplace in the Rockies that could look like this.

From Sentinel Pass

Acrylic, 30 x40 inches

I'd like to say I've been there, but painting this is  about as close as I'm going to get to this magnificent place! When I get 'lost' in my painting it's almost as if I'm there. I painted this from a photo and although I tried to stay true to the scene...I took some liberties with my color palette.