Painters at Painters

We had a great time in Campbell River, BC, for Painters At Painters this past weekend! My husband and I love making the trip to the Lodge and this year planned it to coincide with this popular event. Many of BC top artists were present and there was an array of talks, demos, discussions and plein air painting, along with great food and awesome views!I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Kathryn Amisson and her husband Greame Roberts,Alan Wylie,Janice Robertson, Mike Svob, Brent Heighton, Nickolas Pearce,Chief Tony Hunt and his wife Gwendoline, Robert Genn and many more! I have more photos on my  facebook page . I came away fully rejuvenated, refreshed, relaxed and ready to paint!

Robert Genn and his delightful grand daughter
Below is Nickolas Pearce

Mike Svob with Gail Johnson looking on.
Below is Brent Heighton painting and Keith Hiscock observing.

Vermilion Lakes Study

acrylic 24 x24
A study for a possible large painting. Vermilion Lakes with a view of Rundle...Banff National Park.

I Can See Pyramid Study

acrylic, 18 x24
This is a study for a much larger painting. You can see Pyramid mountain in Jasper from this hiking trail. I know snow/winter scenes are not that popular but I love painting snow with all the abstract shapes and colors!

From Edith Lake

Large 3 ft x 6 ft acrylic Edith lake in Jasper.


Not quite finished this one...I see a few things that need touched up now that I see it on line...I often do that when I'm unsure of a piece...download it and see it in a different light and something usually pops out at you.

Canter

acrylic small 10x10
One more small equine, and that's it for now. I'm dying to paint some larger canvases of scenes from my trip to Jasper.

Small Equines

A couple of small equines I'm putting into the Leighton Centre fundraiser 'The Clothesline sale'.

Rocky creek Study 1 and 2

Small 12 x12 acrylic studies

Roosters

   





















Working on a couple of roosters that I'm putting in Leighton Centres' largest fundraiser, the annual spring 'Clothesline sale' to be held on Sunday May 29th.Last year we had over 70 artists participating with unframed art hung on clotheslines throughout the property. Hay rides , BBQ, artists demo and children's craft centre make for a great way to support the centre and enjoy a day out in the country with the whole family

The Raven

Acrylic 12 x12 . More playing around before I settle in and do more large scale landscapes ( from my recent trip to Jasper). I have a few more roosters to finish up as well. This guy was lots of fun playing with the texture in his feathers...felt like I was sculpting in clay.

Spring Fling at Mountain Gallery in Jasper

Great weather, awesome art and meeting new friends! We had a wonderful weekend in Jasper! It took my girlfriend and I about 10 hours to finally reach our destination. It was total eye candy in every direction and we had to stop constantly to take photos!

Mountain Galleries at Fairmount Jasper Park Lodge was having the first annual 'Spring Fling' in conjunction with the 'offical' opening of the new'green' gallery.

Many of the Gallery artists were in attendance and had travelled from all over Alberta as well as Vancouver and Saskatoon.. It was great to put faces to the artwork!

Randy and Heather Hayashi along with the electrician Terry standing in front of my painting 'jewel In The Woods'

My friend Rosemary checking photos with artist Nicholas Bott and his wife Sharon. Abstract artist Libby Weir, myself and BC artist Joan Baron!

Gallery owner Wendy Wacko with artists Mel Heath, Jerry Heine and their lovely wives.

Calgary artist Bill Duma sharing a laugh with BC artist Gail Johnson

Glass artist Lee Brady and his wife Muriel

New Paint and a bit of a change

I've bought some interactive acrylics, thinking they will be better for plein-air painting. ( to go along with my brand new soltek easel!)  This is not a plein air painting, however but I wanted to get a feel for these paints which stay wet longer and can revitalize with a bit of spray when they start to dry. I'm not sure I need them for this type of painting with the texture underneath. A couple of Red Robins for a change of pace and to welcome ( finally) Spring!

acrylic 9x12
Again using the interactives and no palette knife. Hmmmmm.... struggled a lot with this painting...maybe too may new variables...small canvas, new paint, new subject and no trusty palette knife. Fun to play and experiment though.

Tangle Falls

Large 6 ft x4 ft acrylic
Just a few details to workout such as softening some edges, lightening some areas and adding a few details. I'm still working out how to make my images look like the painting with this new computer system...this photo seems way to dark for my liking...but I'm getting there.

Top Of Tangle

acrylic 20 x28 inches
This is another version of Tangle Falls, in preparation for my large canvas.I am using photos as reference to try and get a feel for these falls, I haven't seen in years. I will be making a trip from Banff to Jasper in a few weeks( for the offical opening of the new Mountain Galleries at Fairmount Jasper Park Lodge) and am soooo excited! It'll be great to replenish my lost references and become totally absorbed and inspired.

Tangle Falls Study

acrylic 12 x12 inches
This is a small study I did of Tangle Falls. I've started a large 4ft x6 ft version of this...not sure when I'll get it done though. I didn't realize how dependant I am on my computer...which crashed 5 days ago. I have a brand new one with a different operating  and email system. I have to learn all over again. I'm trying to edit, send, crop, resize, etc, the photo's of my paintings. It is sooo different and at the moment, is very frustrating as I try to adjust the images to look like the painting.

Hiking Near Morraine

Acrylic, 36 x 48 inches
I went to see Dominik Modlinski's show at Canda House in Banff this weekend.  His work is much more impressive in person. It was an accumulation of two years hard work, and it paid off...the show is stunning and bold...with a rich dramatic palette. Dominik's work

Majestic Athabasca

Acrylic
Large 4 ft x 5 ft. Kinda rushed this one trying to get it finished and maybe that was a good thing...didn't fuss too much with it. I know it looks like it has tons of detail but up close it's a different story. I use a lot of palette knife work in my paintings ( as wells as fingers, rags brushes etc) which tends to give the illusion of detail. At the moment, I'm quite happy with this one.

Valley Of The Ten Peaks

Almost finished my 4 ft x 6 ft painting...just a few details to workout.  So many challenges to working this large...trying not to get to tight and trying to photograph it...just to name a few.I would like to thank Norbert Woehnl for giving me permission to use his photo as reference. You can see his awesome photos hereNorbert Woehnl

Valley Of The Ten Peaks Study

Acrylic, 16 x20 inches
This is a study I've done for a huge 4 ft x6 ft painting I've started...my largest to date. Can't wait to see it done!

Kananaskis Creek

Acrylic 36 x 36 inches

I don't know why but this one took a longer to complete than normal. I like the composition but struggled with the rocks and grasses.I also had more dead trees and rocks jutting out of the water in the foreground but needed to simplify as I didn't want it to get too busy.

Rocky Mountain Waterfall

Acrylic 36 inches x 36 inches
For the life of me I can't remember the name of these falls...when I find them I will re-name the painting. About 3years ago I painted these same falls...interesting to note how my style has progressed...I think I'm better now, more confident and I credit it to constant practice and painting as often as I can.

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.