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.