Sunset 360º

Sunsets have become a greater interest for me since leaving the acreage of our friends one winter evening.  As we left the yard turning towards the east the entire sky was pink!  It seemed like the sun was setting in the east!  I quickly looked towards the west to check out the sky there and it was pink as well and indeed the sun was setting there.  Amazing and beautiful.

Sunsets and sunrises have been remarkably 'pink' recently and the reflections from both seem to fill, to varying degrees, the entire sky.  I have mulled over trying to paint a few sunsets for some time and since recently beginning to use oils I decided it was time to give them a go - so here are a few.

The first two paintings are of the sunset as we left our friends driveway.

Quiet

Quiet           

[Frederick Buechner, from Whistling in the Dark: A Doubter’s Dictionary]

An empty room is silent.  A room where people are not speaking or moving is quiet.  Silence is a given, quiet a gift.  Silence is the absence of sound and quiet the stilling of sound.  Silence can’t be anything but silent.  Quiet chooses to be silent.  It holds its breath to listen.  It waits and is still.

“In returning and rest you shall be saved,” says God through the prophet Isaiah, “in quietness and confidence shall be your strength” [Isaiah 30:15].  They are all parts of each other.  We return to our deep strength and to the confidence that lies beneath all our misgiving.  The quiet there, the rest, is beyond the reach of the world to disturb.  It is how being saved sounds.

A few recent oil paintings from my remarkably "quiet" studio.

"artist of our days..."

“Each of us is an artist of our days; the greater our integrity & awareness, the more original and creative our time will become.”  John O'donohue

In the busyness of our days it is usually difficult to see any connection between the awareness of who I am and the creative use of my time... I seem to float blithely through the days oblivious to my deep feelings and with little awareness of how I might better use my time and energy.  

It would be nice to be more attentive, to have developed this attitude of attentiveness towards myself, others and the world in which I live.  Being an artist, being creative, takes a good deal of time and attention to the subject, the medium, the colour palate, the size and manner one will paint with, etc.  In other words there is a lot involved!  I wish my "days" would reflect more of the careful awareness and creativity painting demands. On the other hand, my days are good and when a bit of creativity shines through it is a delight. 

A few small paintings I completed this month...... Naming paintings is one of the most difficult things for me in the entire process!! So...no names on these..... yet!

One more lily...

My 'studio' is once again set up and I am enjoying the space and light!  We brought in an old drafting table we have had for years, set it by the window, and bought a high 'bistro' stool. Now I sit by the window and paint in the natural light during the day - love it!

I also have a few plants, storage closet and cupboards, a relaxing chair and even a TV to use if I need the break.  One of my easels is up - and the room doesn't even feel crowded!  All in all it is a nicely repurposed bedroom. Now to keep it tidy!  

Because this room is on the second story I look out at the sky and trees - and the birds flitting around in the Mountain Ash today as they peck away at the berries.  And who could count the berries on such a tree!  Or even want to!  Amazing world of nature God has created.

Speaking of amazing, flowers are incredible.  There are such a variety and they bring so much beauty and peace to a garden. In ours - which is always in need of further work but now resting under the snow for the next four months - we have a lot of lilies, because that is my husbands favourite flower and he buys one or two each spring!  It is hard to really portray their beauty but every so often I try.

This is a larger watercolour [14 x 22 inches] of a peachy-orange lily which has taken a while to do since there are a lot of washes on its various parts.  But as is usual, there comes a time when I am finished with a painting - when I can't or don't want to do any more - and the time has come for this one.  So as we say good by to the bright colours of the fall here is a final offering in shades of orange, pink, and yellow.

Sketches

I think that life just might settle down a bit by Christmas! Well maybe mid-January!!

It seems with renovations, work, family and other considerations painting has been relegated to the 'odd moments here and there' and although I am working on a larger watercolour at the moment most of my watercolours have turned into sketches for what might become paintings.... I've learnt something from each one although there were times when I threw up my hands in despair and wanted to pitch each of them into the garbage.  However, I didn't and have added them to my pile of miscellaneous paintings.  Here they are:)

The first is the Delta Bessborough Hotel, a Saskatoon landmark, and the second the "Ice Cream Bus Stop" which is across the street from the hotel.  It is always busy in the summer.  There are two paintings which are landscapes from our trips west. The final one is of a lily from our garden.

A new medium

What a long and pleasant autumn we have had!  I am sorry that I had to spend much of it indoors as I was working for Elections Canada from mid-August to October 23rd.  Just as I finished that though I had a treat - a two day workshop in painting with oils.  It has been many years since I used oils... like about 45! The class was a good introduction to the medium and I look forward to learning more and producing a few worthwhile paintings in the near future.

In the meantime this is my "First Oil Painting" :-) after the tweaking finally stopped.  I have put it away to dry now and will try not to look at it for a week at least.  Need to get on with setting up a small studio in our newly renovated second story.

Prairie Summer

This summer has been long, warm, and beautiful... the vegetation lush in spite of fewer rainy days,  the clouds spectacular.  Clouds always fascinate me and I could watch them for ages.  This evening every cloud in the sky was lit up in pink.  Set in the intense blue of the sky it was one more amazingly beautiful summer evening panorama!

Recently I have attempted to paint more skies and this one, just finished, is set on the typical prairie landscape of yellow canola with distant trees and hills.

"Prairie Clouds" acrylic on canvas, 24 x30"

a Prairie Summer

A few things really strike me about this summer - the weather has been beautifully warm, which was good for me as, due to renovations, I have had to move my painting out of doors. I am very thankful for our large gazebo which has been well used this summer as both eating area and studio.  It has been a good experience to work outside with the changing light, the bugs, the bird song and just the all-round awareness of nature.

Secondly, the clouds have consumed my curiosity to the extent that I think I must have taken upwards of 500 photos!  I have begun to paint more clouds and am looking forward to making this more of an emphasis in my acrylic and soon, I hope, oil painting.

These two small paintings [10x10" on wood panel] were done in July. They are quite different in colour and time of day - but both speak to me of our prairie summer.

I also finished one more water painting.  This was done primarily using a pouring method with liquid acrylics. 

Reflections.4,  24x30" acrylic on canvas

Summer Images

In spite of the heat and extreme dryness this has been a lovely summer so far.  However, it has been difficult for many - difficult to imagine those who've had to leave their homes in the north due to the forest fires and hard to imagine the uncertainty and loss they must feel.  In spite of all that happens I hope that families and friends can find time to celebrate and experience together the joys and difficulties this summer brings.  

The following photos are a record of a part of our summer.

Country Road....

My father loved to drive!  He would purposely find reasons, I'm sure, to get out on the back roads and meander along trails which were travelled only by farmers and hunters.  We children would watch for prairie chicken sitting on fallen logs if he had his 22 along.  Once we ended up at a lake where hunters were aiming their shotguns at geese and ducks.  I took one shot with the shotgun and never again!  It almost knocked me over.  Sunday drives were common in my younger years and weekends camping at the lake were frequent in the summer.  The year I graduated high school my parents decided we would go on a road trip through southern Saskatchewan.  I am certain we stopped at every small, medium and large museum - resulting in my lack of enthusiasm for these places to this day... More exciting was the wind and rain storm which almost pushed our huge International Travel-all off the road til we found shelter by an old garage in a roadside town.

Accompanying these travels was my father's ever present whistle.  The tune never changed.  I asked him what the tune was but he just shrugged.  Many years later I asked my mom the name of the tune. Her answer, "Over the Hills and Far Away" - I'm not even sure such a song exists but it certainly fit the situation.

Yesterday I painted this picture, and while I have simplified the name of it, the idea is there.  It is of a hill on the road I now travel to visit my mom, but it could be any one of such similar hills in the parklands of Saskatchewan.  This is a small painting 10 x 10 " but I hope that some day I can paint a road with many hills and a road reaching into the distance and name it after my father's song.

A few prairie landscapes... and the "Drift"

Just finished a few smaller acrylics.  My 'studio' is dismantled as we are in renovation mode again. This time it is the upstairs rooms. I've had to clear out my stuff in the room I use as studio, sewing room, and office, while the floors are refinished and walls painted... so, I've set up my easel and paints in the gazebo.  While a few days were chilly it has generally been warm - and certainly a different experience to be outside painting.  I look forward to turning my attention to the flowers which are already beginning to bloom beautifully.





One thing we like to do in the summer is check out the new coffee shops and restaurants.  So this week it was the Drift restaurant.... we enjoyed a delicious chocolate snack and coffee the other day and then today I had lunch here with several good friends.  It's a homey, pleasant place to be with some unique decor.  Good food as well.  You might like to check it out.

Alcohol Ink Art

Yesterday a friend and I took an alcohol ink painting class from Jewel Buhay - the first artist to do type of painting in our area and a wonderful teacher. https://www.facebook.com/JEWELBUHAYART  This painting technique is primarily done on white tile.  

We enjoyed the class.  I am not sure though that I will pursue it as I have oil paints waiting to be used - it has been close to 45 years since I last used oils!! - and I am itching to get to them.