Nollaig shona duit! & residency

'Nollaig shona duit!' 

Happy Christmas!

'Nollaig faoi shéan is faoi shonas duit.'
A prosperous and happy Christmas to you.

I thought these Irish sayings appropriate, having joyfully received an early Christmas gift in the mail: I have been accepted into a residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland!

Still reeling--more later but now time to celebrate with a pint of Guinness!

May peace and plenty be the first to lift the latch on your door, and happiness be guided to your home by the candle of Christmas.

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Winter Solstice

Well, it’s 2AM on Tuesday the 21st of December--and the earth will align for two special events - - a total eclipse of the moon, and the winter solstice when winter officially begins.

The night sky has been so beautiful..I painted this from my window around 7:30PM until 11:30 and will definitely go back into it as it's still very rough around the edges, so to speak.

As well I need to adjust the palette. It was so dark while I was working that I was scooping up what I thought was one colour only to find..NOT.
This needs to be more cohesive/refined and perhaps I will glaze when completely dry. As well, I  am having  problems with the M Graham whites. They are not opaque- they are  too transparent and fluid aka walnut oil-I like fluidity and transparency in some of their coloured pigments, but not  white! I had run out of KAMA (beautiful Canadian handmade paint) --what a difference and I will be ordering some today. Considering the time of year I had better stock up.

I try to keep this blog ‘clean’ i.e. strictly art, but considering my art is inspired by my environment I thought I would share my outdoor studio and 3 reasons that have fostered my appreciation for the great outdoors.

I’m still working on the commission mentioned earlier and with family illness I haven’t had much time to paint, but am optimistic things will turn. In the meantime, I am sharing another ‘December’ painting.

This little painting has been good for me and it was hard to let it go when sold. It not only represented a significant time in my personal life but jurors loved it –even won first place in a regional public gallery exhibition.

December, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

11x14in, 2010

SOLD

I had been working all day on a larger studio painting and just killing it –getting very frustrated—so I opened the door to get some air and again, on the fly, looked out and there it was. I never moved so quickly as to when I wheeled my painting table over and strapped that canvas onto the easel..am wondering if I could generate the same energy (of the painting, not me!) on a much larger scale…

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This week I’m in the studio working on a commission- from one of my ‘October’ paintings as reference. On this December day, however, the temperature is _9C .

Snow-worthy for sure although it hasn’t arrived in this part of Southern Ontario- yet- except for a light dusting. I hope it holds off until next week when I have some time to paint it. In the meantime I thought I’d share another of my December vineyards from seasons past.

December, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

11x14in, 2008

I remember sitting right in the snow to paint it. I have a ‘sleeping-bag’ type coat that goes down to my ankles and I can tuck it under to stay warm. (I think it is my favourite piece of clothing. Huge pockets to put things in from daily field walks—milkweed pods, stones, the occasional animal part that my dogs have discovered).

I was attracted to the remains of one of those shimmering blue-bright December days and accompanied the incoming shifting hues of light.

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a wee show..

A few of my paintings are up at the Grimsby Public Library as well as the Art Gallery lobby so if you're in the area they would love to see you... 

 January Ice Vines

oil on canvas

24x40in, 2008

 

January Ice Vines

oil on canvas

20x36in, 2008

February

oil on canvas

36x48in, 2007

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 I really have a problem with the loss of daylight so when I lose the light in the early evening I usually work from a still life or a plein air sketch-referenced larger work. Controlled light is great but I still crave the challenge of changing light.

I was in the studio about to close the blinds --on the fly glanced out the window and low and behold, Christmas lights! This was an excuse to use pure pigment and it was interesting to build up the saturated darks and value shifts. I have a very large knife with different angle edges and used it a lot—on a larger canvas I could probably get away with a brush. I do like working with the knife-really really thin and wet paint though—not fond of the consistent strokes and ‘icing’ look that can sometimes happen when using a knife with thicker paint. I’m liking the Canadian Balsam/linseed oil as the paint really glides and it dries to a luminous gloss.

December, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

9x12in, 2010

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