Anemos

Anemos

12x24"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #114 - I wasn't sure what to call this painting so I asked my husband for help. He told me the white flowers are called Snowdrop Anemone. I took this picture when the flowers were blowing in the wind so I wanted to capture that in the title. After some research I found out that Anemone got their name from the greek work, "anemos" which is the Greek work for wind. Perfect title I thought!

Footloose and Fancy-Free

Footloose and Fancy-Free

12x12"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #113 - Ahh, to be young again and have time to stare at your toes! My niece took this picture. I love it and thought it would be fun to paint.

Predictable Patterns

Predictable Patterns

18x18"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #112 - I completed this painting for the Fine Arts Council's Third Annual Art Exhibition for teachers and students. Our exhibition will be titled, How Do the Arts Strengthen Communities? Each painting submitted will be accompanied by a narrative. Here is mine:

The arts strengthen communities economically and culturally. Twice a year my business holds an art exhibition and sale in the community of Bridgeland-Riverside. Our show brings tourists and visitors to the area who not only spend money at our venue but also at local businesses. Additionally, our art exhibitions build community identity and pride. With two annual shows it’s become a meaningful event for community members. People come out to celebrate and support the arts and to enjoy the wonderful neighborhood. Our biannual art event adds to the vibe of the Bridgeland-Riverside community.

The flowers in my painting are called Checkered Lilies. Their checkered pattern is as predictable as the benefits the arts bring to a community. The arts increase the attractiveness of an area to tourists, businesses and people, and they promote a sense of collective identity and efficacy.

Backyard Bouquet

Backyard Bouquet

8x10"

Mixed Media on Board

Painting #111 - This painting comes with the glory of accomplishing my goal. I wanted to complete eight flower paintings for my spring show and I did it. I also wanted to experiment with a medium called resin, which is a hard, high gloss finish. I used resin on all my flower paintings and I love the richness that it brought out in my colours.

Love Me Love Me Not

Love Me Love Me Not

8x10"

Mixed Media on Board

Painting #110 - This is my favourite painting of my flower series. I especially like the way the light hits the daisies.

Asiatic Lilies

Asiatic Lilies

8x10"

Mixed Media on Board

Painting #109 - I like this painting too. It looks better in real life. My challenges were achieving the correct values while working with my greens.

Alberta Crocus

Alberta Crocus

8x10"

Mixed Media on Board

Painting #108 - I like this painting. I like the way the flowers are nestled in the grass. Thanks to my neighbour Gwyn for the photograph of the flowers.

Backyard Lilacs

Backyard Lilacs

5x7"

Mixed Media on Board

Painting #107 - Who knew lilacs were so hard to paint? I like the light shining on the left side of the flowers. I will get some good pictures of lilacs this spring and attempt to paint them again.

Nasturtium

Nasturtium

5X7"

Mixed Media on Board

Painting # 106 - I didn't use really thick paint on this painting, which I think works better with the resin.

Spring Clematis

Spring Clematis

5x7"

Mixed Media on Board

Painting #105 - A continuation of my flowers series. I've learned that maybe its not such a good idea to paint thickly if I want to use the resin. I love the shiny finish!

Bluebells

Bluebells

5x7"

Mixed Media on Board

Painting #104 - I thought I'd create 8 flower paintings for Beacon Original Art's next show. I wanted my paintings to be loose with thick paint. I used photoshop to manipulate my pictures. I also wanted to try, for the first time, using Resin - the glass-like finish that's so shiny. I'm happy with my results.

Reserved Land

Reserved Land

11x14"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #103 - I continue my exploration of the landscape despite my difficulties. I'm hoping one day those leaves will come to me intuitively.

Soul Access

Soul Access

24x36"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #102 - This painting was so hard - I really need to start getting myself reference photos.

The In Crowd

The In Crowd

40x40"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #101 - This was a fun painting but it would have been a lot easier had I had a photo. I just liked the idea of the birch trees on a big canvas and I wanted to project the feeling of a calm, warm summer day in the woods.

In the Thick of Things

In the Thick of Things

40x40"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #100 - wow, I'm at 100! I've actually done more as I didn't post everything I painted - but just about. Anyway, this painting was a pain in the butt! I'm not sure if I like it, if its finished ... everyday I change something and I'm at the point where I'm tired of changing things. Today I want to add red leaves in the front??? I think I'll just leave it and do a red, black and white birch tree painting - something nice and modern.

Summer Dawn

Summer Dawn

9x12"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #99 - I just wanted to play around with an orange sky in a landscape. I was surprised that this painting looks more like a summer landscape rather than an autumn one. It must be the splashes of pink!

Leaving Our Mark

Leaving Our Mark

20x20"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #98 - I've been playing around with many types of mixed media and applied quite a variety of them to this painting before I began. Several textures are visible and thus, these patterns reminded me of how people should respect the environment. We should leave nature the way we find it. The only thing we should leave behind is our good energy.

Midnight Stirring

Midnight Stirring

11x14"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #97 - This painting was originally inspired by a photo my neighbour gave me, however, the painting ended up taking on a life all of its own. I like the movement and the sense I fun and freedom I felt while painting it.

Spirit Land

Spirit Land

20x30"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #96 - This painting was completed for an exhibition I'm organizing for teachers and students called, How Do the Arts Help Me Grow? Below is my narrative that will accompany my painting in our exhibition catalogue.

             I’m an artist, educator and a small art business owner. I consider these roles to be interrelated and equally dependent aspects of my creativity. I’ve been teaching art to preteen and teenagers for 15 years for the Calgary Board of Education.

            The arts support my cognitive and affective development. Given that my mind and senses are connected by the same bloodline, I know I must nourish both to support my growth. Painting provides a platform for me to reflect on what I know, to research what I need to know, and to create new knowledge. It engages my senses, emotions and imagination, and it refines my perceptions. Through the act of creating, I become more qualitatively intelligent.

            Spirit Land was created from a photograph taken while on a field trip to Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park. The soil is as important to the land, as arts education is to our students. The arts provide learners with the multiple forms of literacy that they require to participate in our culture and that do justice to their broad and exuberant minds. 

African Pulse

African Pulse

36x48"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #95 - This was a commissioned piece, which was to represent strong women, dance and Africa. I'm happy to report my customers loved it. We still haven't "really" decided the name of the piece - so, its African Pulse for now.

Gentle Autumn Breeze

Gentle Autumn Breeze

12x36"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #94 - I really enjoy playing with different media to create different effects in my foregrounds. They always seem to be my favourite part of the painting. I am always surprised by how hard deciduous trees are to paint. I used my new glazing technique, which helped me achieve more realism in the trees.

Blue Spruce

Blue Spruce

12x24"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #93 - I've always thought that blue spruce trees are so pretty. That's my inspiration for this painting. I had a difficult time trying to achieve a variety of blues for the spruce trees. I love the foreground. Its fun and interesting.

Alberta Heat

Alberta Heat

12x36"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting # 92 - This was a fun painting to create. Again, I learned the value of glazing. I used yellows, magentas and purples to glaze my trees so that they won't all be the same colour.

This painting was recently selected for the Alberta Society of Artist's Celebrating Alberta Exhibition.

Still Waters

Still Waters

18x24"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #91 - This painting was created from a photo I took while visiting my home town of Stratford, Ontario. Again, this was an abstract painting before it became a landscape. I applied mixed media and drips and drabs of paint before the landscape began to take form. I'm bewildered by how hard it is to paint trees. I like the little group of plants and reflections in the bottom right-hand corner.

Bucolic Birches

Bucolic Birches

8x8"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #90 - I painted this landscape from my imagination as I was tired of using photo references. I learned the value of glazing during this process. Glazing helped me achieve a variety of colours amongst the birches, which helped to create a more interesting painting.

Reflections on the Avon

Reflections on the Avon

8x8"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #89 - In my course I learned that a strong painting has an interesting focal point. Thus, mine is the reflection on the left-hand side. I dulled the reflection on the right-hand side of the painting so that they wouldn't compete with each other.

Inviting Pathways

Inviting Pathways

8x8"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #88 - I used the same picture for this painting as I did for my previous painting. I painted this one at my workshop. There is an abstract painting behind this landscape. Interesting process... I like it better than starting with a white canvas.

Shadows in the Park

Shadows in the Park

6x8"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #87 - I'm off to Red Deer College today for the week. I'll be taking a course called Seductive Surfaces. RDC provided me with this blank canvas and asked me to submit a painting to help raise scholarship funds for students. I used a picture that I took while on a walk in Stratford, Ontario. I had trouble capturing all the shadows but will try this painting again while at RDC. I'll use more colour and larger forms to capture all the shapes of the trees, grass and pathway.

Beneath the Birches

Beneath the Birches

18x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #86 - I had trouble unifying this painting. I wanted to do something different in the foreground - I'm not sure if this works or not.... however, I'm calling it quits and moving on to my next piece.

Tranquility

Tranquility

18x36"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #85 - I was actually quite tranquil as I painted this landscape. I was very relaxed on my yearly painting trip with my good friend and business partner Kristina Steinbring. Its a simple landscape - I like the feeling of depth in the centre. I feel like I can walk for miles into the background.

Alberta Adventure

Alberta Adventure

22x28"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #84 - This painting was an adventure all right!!! I had great difficulty uniting the foreground with the middle ground. I like the yellow sky with the blue trees and will use this colour combination in more landscapes.

Morning in the Rockies

Morning in the Rockies

24x36"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #83 - Well, I finished this painting quite a while ago but never had time to post it. I remember I had difficulty with the foreground. The yellow path helps to break up the space a bit and leads the eye to the middle ground. I'm happy with my birch trees and the coloured shadows on the trunks.

Spring's Spirit

Spring's Spirit

20x60"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #82 - This was a fun painting to create. I liked the challenge of trying to find the right shapes and colours for the land and the trees. Because the painting is so long, the viewer gets different points of entry depending on where he/she stands.

Spring Sparklers

Spring Sparklers

12x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #81 - I was curious to see how a forest of pine trees would look in a painting. My answer - very green!! I had to break the space up so I used some metallic inks to represent new growth within the forest. I'm surprised by how much layering I had to do to get the trees looking realistic.

Spring's Begun

Spring's Begun

12x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #80 - I really wanted to capture that time of spring when the buds first appear on the trees and then in the blink of an eye the trees are filled with lime green leaves. The yellow/green colour only seems to last about 24 hours but I absolutely love the look of the trees' leaves in this growing period.

Mining Copper, Silver, Gold - Triptic

Mining Copper, Silver, Gold - Triptic

36x48"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #79 - Well, I completely changed these three individual paintings and made one. I liked my idea about a colour scheme - primarily secondary colours for each panel - green, orange and purple. And then I added the complimentary colour to each panel. I finished the panels off by adding the primary colours to all panels.

Precious Metals - Gold

Precious Metals - Gold

12x48"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #78 - This painting may become a part of tryptic. My firsts panel is green, yellow and silver. The second panel is purple, blue and copper. This panel is red, orange and gold. This painting has sand and gold leaf in it. Today I may add black circles over all three panels to unite them. Stay tuned...

Precious Metals - Copper

Precious Metals - Copper

12x48"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #77 - This painting may become a part of tryptic. My firsts panel is green, yellow and silver. This panel is purple, blue and copper. The final panel will be red, orange and gold. This painting has sand and copper leaf in it.

Sunday's Hike

Sunday's Hike

24x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #76 - Well, I'm finding that I want to continue exploring the landscape. I love the way the birch trees pop amongst the blue sky and the coloured trees. Next on my list is to paint a 20x60" fall landscape, which consists of birch trees.

Precious Metals - Silver

Precious Metals - Silver

12x48"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #75 - This painting may become a part of tryptic. This panel is green, yellow and silver. The next will be purple, blue and copper. The final panel will be red, orange and gold. This painting has sand and silver leaf in it.

Moon Violet

Moon Violet

20x20"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #74 - My niece was visiting and wanted to paint an abstract painting after she saw Sun Up Blue. In a few hours we had each completed a painting. My colour palette was inspired by Katie. What a fun experience it was to paint with a young soul!!

Sun Up Blue

Sun Up Blue

40x40"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #73 - Still pushing myself with abstracts. The process for abstract painting is so different from painting realism. When I'm involved in abstract painting I feel like something that's truly me is at work. That piece of me that I'm speaking about has barely touched the surface. I'll let you know when she's arrived!!

The Weird and Wonderful

The Weird and Wonderful

16x20"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #72 - This is my third painting for the, "Love Lies Bleeding" Ballet competition. Apparently the song, Bennie and the Jets is about a popular style of dress in the 70's called, "Glam Rock". This style was defined by outrageous outfits and gaudy sunglasses and in the song, an extension of Elton's personality. I depicted the ballet dancers from the Alberta Ballet dancing to Bennie and the Jets. Since I'm painting an Elton song, I had to throw in a piano.

Wide Open Spaces

Wide Open Spaces

20x60"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting # 71 - I went to a Fall Landscape workshop on Saturday thinking that I'd come home with a fully completed painting - 18 hours later.... here's where I'm at. I'm struggling with the trees. A part of me just wants to say, "accept the painting as is", and another part says, "fix those trees!!!" I like the tiny spot on top of the hill. I hope my viewers wonder about what's on the other side.

Timeless Flight

Timeless Flight

18x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #70 - This painting was also in response to the call out for submissions that depict the Elton John songs performed with the Alberta Ballet piece titled, Love Lies Bleeding. This time I choose to represent the song, Rocket Man. This is the first time I ever painted the cosmos and I have to admit I really liked the painting before I added the glowing piano and ballet dancers. I like my decision to add the music notes from Rocket Man up in the sky.

Free to Fly

Free to Fly

24x48"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #69 - This painting is in response to a call out for submissions reflecting, Elton John's song, Someone Saved My Life Tonight and the Alberta Ballet piece, Love Lies Bleeding. I did not enjoy painting the piano keys at all as it was time consuming and tight! I like the sense of depth in the painting but think that perhaps I need more piano keys in the background. Any suggestions?

Autumn Gold

Autumn Gold

10x10"

Acrylic & Gold Leaf on Canvas

Painting #68 - I barely remember painting this tree and just discovered that I forgot to post it. I painted it in October. My business partner reminded me that it was my turn to submit a door prize for Beacon's Fall Exhibition and Sale. Its a true daily done in just a couple of hours.

Full Circle

Full Circle

20x20"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #67 - I saw this tree while on a run through the park and thought it would be lovely to paint. The original tree was mostly yellow but I found the painting was too dull without the reds and the oranges.

The Last Hurah

The Last Hurah

12x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #66 - Another fun painting that came together quickly. Its amazing what one can do when they have a show around the corner! I like the sense of space in this painting and the colours really represent the changing of the season.

From the Roots

From the Roots

10x20"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #65 - This was a fun painting to complete. Everything just fell into place and I'm happy with the results. The painting reminds me of a friend's cottage on Lake Huron that my family would visit when I was a kid. The trees rested on a high cliff and we had to take a long flight of stairs down to the beach.