Little Stand

Clearing

A view of a clearing from the highest place in the area. I was very happy to retrieve 3 small paintings from a now defunct bed and breakfast in the area. I'd forgotten all about them....one of the reasons I don't like consigning things to galleries. Keeping track of consignment lists is just plain annoying. I tended not to do it, so I've lost many paintings this way over the years. Anyway, it was very nice to retrieve those 3. The colour system and paint application method of those earlier works influenced this piece which I did yesterday.

County Road North

....an older image, from years ago now, closer to the start of this whole series. There were many done in this small format. I recall the exact size was taken directly from some plein air sketches by James McNeill Whistler.

Evening Sky

Sheds in the Rain

Prairie Boy Walking

Cottage Light

Memories from ages ago....walking towards a cottage in pitch-dark....the way light penetrates a bit, making everything safe, pleasantly mysterious, and warm in the coolness of summer nights.

Lake Swimmer

Another little collage completed yesterday afternoon.....a swimmer....memory of a time at a northern lake.


I'd like to thank JORDAN DELOACH for doing a very nice feature about me on her design blog THE WEEKEND DESIGN....An exploration of design and the world of curiosities.


..... a good place to go for all things related to design and home decor.....Jordan puts interesting and unexpected things together.

Madge Lake Blue

Following on the heels of the other 2 abstractions. Distant summer memories served as the source.

August Haze

...very hot days at the start of August. The colours melt together in these conditions. I tried to do a bit of that here even though some contrast of light and dark was kept to keep excitement. It's always interesting to see how these effects can be pushed...perhaps the thing to do would have been to make another one right after, where dark/light contrast was much less.

August 3

Underlying all my representational work is an impulse to also not be entirely bound by what is seen. The historical roots go back to Matisse and there is also an influence from Abstract Expressionism and related work. Visual reality is very important, but there is also a subjective world, an undercurrent of moods, feelings, chatter... that is always buzzing in the background while the senses deal with anything in the world. I make various things that allow for more of a focus on the subjective and it always seems to be firmly anchored in strong design elements as well.

...made from my ever increasing collection of painted papers covered with my leftover paints. For every little landscape painting I make, perhaps four 8.5 x 11 sheets are covered with colour....

Sky August 1

Last Sky July

The motif of this last sky of July was noticed last night but painted today....just now. I was painting skies last summer around this time too. These sky paintings from this summer seem to be mostly memory work....the diagram for this has 2 or 3 lines in it....a super brief little thing.

Night Maple

A row of 3 Maples along the driveway, lit by the house lights.

July 24 Sky

....just settling in to make today's painting...which will be a simplified night view of a Maple...made from a quick diagram while walking last night.

Here's a small impression of a particular character of sky. There are many of these that I've been meaning to make....so many ways the sky takes on its particular appearance. This may be a start of a sub series.

July 26th

The road that's walked almost every day.

Sky Painting

As usual, the paintings have continued at about the rate of 1 per day this summer. Here, a little sky painting done from a very brief line sketch and memory....experimenting with some shadowbox framing.

June Valley

The view west from the hill I painted the other day.....I was drawn to the long, low horizon with the little white house peeking out...the certain, healthy greens of June....so optimistic. The sky gave me trouble at different stages. I can't tell now, but I may have stayed too long at the party on this one. The grey in the sky was kept, then totally removed...but it was necessary so I put it back. I use Payne's grey a lot but Payne's did not work in this situation....it needed to be blued in a certain way. By the time I figured out the colour so much time had passed.

Garden Hill

This is a special hill that has been painted many times, in all seasons and all weather conditions. On the day this was made, I made a trip just to this site with the intent of painting this subject. That's not usual for me....usually I have no idea what will happen or what I'm looking for.

My preference is that the process maintain a very easy flow and a good sense of mystery. I don't really want to know too much about what will happen....when I DO end up knowing too much, making the painting can turn out oddly oppressive and less alive. I like pleasing surprises at every stage. Here, the last stroke to the painting was the horizontal bit of white on the top of a cloud mid right sky....it lent solidity to the whole painting.

At a certain point, the painting is about mechanics....how much of this to how much of that? It turns out I am really a painter of blobs....I like making a paint blob and moving it around....whatever else the painting is, it's a pleasing arrangement of blobs.

June 26th

I was walking by the field adjacent to me....a place I don't often walk. It was evening and there was much mist in the air, and the foreground field was a yellow that didn't seem appropriate for this time of year....I don't know what the crop is. Just the relationship of the yellow, grey of the sky and dark of the trees (I wrote black on the diagram) created a sensation. I diagrammed it quickly. It was all blended more than this...intermingling with lots of thick air.

It helps to make these little diagrams. I never know how I will work....perhaps from a photo, perhaps from a more complete and complex sketch, or maybe from a chicken scratch like this....but only if the memory is strong enough to hold the image over a few hours or a night.