TTFN

TTFN

20x20"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #58 - Still sticking with the Information Age theme, this painting represents the acronym TTFN - TaTa for Now. I used more subdued colours in this painting thus, its quieter, not harsh or bright. I'm enjoying learning about colour relationships while working on my abstract series.

BRB

BRB

20x20"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #57 - Sticking with my theme, The Information Age, this painting symbolizes the acronym, BRB - be right back.

Spring's Finally Arrived

Spring's Finally Arrived

20x20"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #56 - This was simply a fun and relaxing painting to complete. The rhythm of the painting symbolizes the fast pace at which new growth appears all around us in Spring.

Tree of Hope in Rikuzentakata

Tree of Hope in Rikuzentakata

20x30"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #55 - On March 11, 2011 a tsunami devastated the coastal city of Rikuzentakata, Japan. Its beach once drew thousands of visitors a year and was listed in guidebooks as one of the 100 most scenic places in Japan. The coast was lined with 70,000 black and red pine trees that protected residents from ocean winds for more than 300 years. Now all that stands is one 10-metre tree, which locals are calling, The Tree of Hope. Over half of Rikuzentakata's population is still missing, 75 percent of its homes are gone and yet, residents are able to find hope in a single standing tree. My painting depicts the Tree of Hope in Rikuzentakata, and serves as a reminder of the capacity we all have to see the light in times of deep darkness.

WildLife Landscapes

Untitled

12x16"

Acrylic on Canvas Board

Painting #54 - My second exercise from the book called, Wildlife Landscapes by Wilson Bickford. I spent two hours on it. I like the dark values in the foreground and the mid tones at the horizon. These values create a real sense of depth in the painting. My goal in this exercise was to achieve a more realistic version of deciduous trees - clearly, I'm not there yet! More practice will help.

WildLife Landscapes

Untitled

12x16"

Acrylic on Canvas Board

Painting #53 - This painting and several others that will follow are exercises that I am doing from a book called, Wildlife Landscapes by Wilson Bickford. I'm only spending two hours on each painting. My goal is to attain something new - a skill or a method - from each exercise. From this exercise I learned to apply gesso just before applying paint to my sky. The gesso helps keep the paint wet so that my paint moves freely thus, its easier for me to achieve the effects I want. Thank you Wilson!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

20x20"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #52 - Another mixed media painting inspired by a pattern on some paper. I'm not "real" happy with this one. I was in a rush to finish it for my show this Saturday and thus, the colours are not quite working the way I would like them to.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary

20x20"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #51 - Another fun painting. Again, I was inspired by the patterns on a piece of paper and collaged it to my canvas. I used coloured gesso to express the lines of an anniversary celebration and used colour to unify the piece.

Marry Me?

Marry Me?

20x20"

Mixed Media on Canvas

Painting #50 - This was a fun painting. I used a small piece of paper as my inspiration and collaged it onto the canvas. With coloured gesso I created a line design to depict the happy emotions that come with the union of two people. I was quite pleased to see two abstract forms which could be people appear within the design. Do you see them?

A New Journey

A New Journey

5x7"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting # 49 - I enjoyed painting this bridge, which can be found on Prince's Island in Calgary. The base of the arch bridge gave me some difficulty and I'm not happy with my tree in the foreground. I look forward to more practice!

Incoming Messages

Incoming Messages

24x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #48 - Well, I've completed my third painting using size as a focal point. I enjoyed thinking about what colours and what size of shapes to place where. I find it difficult to paint straight lines and to keep all the shapes from looking like they are slanting upward or downward. I'm going to continue with my abstract series based on messages we receive through technology.

International Women Celebrate Exhibition

Opening night for International Women Celebrate was a huge success. Pictured at AyrSpace Gallery in Ontario are (from left to right) Donna Kaminski, The Honourable Sheila Copps, me and in the back row Jeanette Obbink - coordinator of our book, International Women Celebrate - 100 Women Artists Reflect. The Mayor, Council and over 88 guests were awed by the work of 106 artists.

To date over $3500.00 has been raised for Haitian relief from partial proceeds of the sale of the work and 100% of the contributions at the door. Please consider buying a painting to help us raise more money. All paintings can be viewed online. I purchased a painting called, Motherhood by Padmaja Madhu. To purchase a book please email Jeanette at jeanette@obbink.ca or Jill at art@ayrspace.ca

AyrSpace

44 Stanley Street

Ayr, Ontario

519-632-9030

Inner City Power

Inner City Power

5x7"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #47 - This was a fun painting! Who knew there were so many details up there on those posts - how exciting. I look forward to painting more power lines with a variety of birds relaxing up there.

Skating at Prince's Island

Skating at Prince's Island

5x7"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #46 - Besides the stairs, this was a fun painting to complete. I had fun painting the people and organizing them on the ice to make a balanced composition.

Driving Past Canmore

Driving Past Canmore

5x7"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #45 - Not the best composition to paint. The painting needs something interesting in the foreground. Too bad a couple big eagles weren't flying around!

Tranquility off Banff Avenue

Tranquility off Banff Avenue

5x7"

Acrylic on Board

Painting #44 - My second daily painting while on my annual painting trip. I did this one quite quickly, which I think was beneficial because I didn't get caught up in all the details.

Bow Valley

Bow Valley

5x7"

Acrylic on Board

Painting #43 - I decided to paint a few small landscapes while on my annual painting trip with Kristina. I need to work on my trees and achieving more values in my mountains.

Outgoing Messages

Outgoing Messages

24x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #42 - This painting was a little easier than the last one - as it should be when we do something the second time around. I enjoy the process of being in the moment when making decisions about the colour and size of the shapes. Additionally, I take pleasure in focusing on design fundamentals - in this case, using size to create a focal point.

Information Processing

Information Processing

24x24"

Acrylic on Canvas

Painting #41 - My daily paintings have become a little bigger that usual and they are taking more than a day to complete. I've decided to produce a body of abstract paintings for the following reasons:

- to motivate and stimulate my creativity

- to further develop my artistic skills

- to develop my own style, originality, individuality

- to invoke my feelings, intuition, spontaneity, inventiveness and feeling for colour, shape, composition, etc.

- the process will help me learn how to interpret reality better

Dress Shoes

Dress Shoes

9X12"

Acrylic on Board

Painting #40 - I'm happy with this painting - lots of different textures in these shoes - leather, metal and stitching. I like the little green leather straps and the brown leather heel pads. Improvements could be made on the beige cloth of the shoes - I wasn't sure how to solve that problem but I'll get lots of practice as I work my way through my closet.