A bit of a change...

Recently, a few changes in my life have left me with less time to paint.  I like to paint slow, coming back to the work over and over again, often while it is still wet and workable (something I love about working with oils).  With my slow style and new time constraints I'll be lucky to get anything accomplished!  I decided that I needed to change things up and encourage myself to work faster in the process.  I chose to use a small canvas, a palette knife and acrylic paint.  By using acrylic I don't have the luxury of putting the work aside and coming back hours later to a still wet painting and therefore have to work faster.  Using the palette knife forces me away from getting bogged down in fine detail and the amount of time that can take up.  The small canvas gives me a chance at completing a piece in one go.  My first attempt at this, shown here, seems to have gone alright.

Burnaby Artists Guild Fall Show and Sale

The Burnaby Artists Guild is getting ready for their Fall Show and Sale on October 25 - 27th, 2013.  If you happen to be in the area come by and check out some fantastic art!

Living Cafe

A new cafe has opened up in the busy Steveston Village area of Richmond, the Living Cafe, and I have just delivered a painting to them for exhibit in their new space.  This is a great spot that offers gluten and peanut free options alongside vegan and paleo options.  As they have just opened their doors the full menu is not yet available but it is growing and to have another business that supports local artists is fantastic.

If you are in the Steveston area go by and check them out:

Living Cafe

#240 - 1240 Second Avenue 

Richmond, B.C.     V7E 3L8

604-441-3663

Facebook /mylivingcafe

The piece I have on exhibit at the cafe is "Blossoms on Blue - panel" and is available for purchase for $155.00

Two more new pieces....

Here is another new piece, "Carrion", that was recently completed.  For inspiration I began with a photograph of some trees, one almost completely bare and probably dying, which started me off for the tree in this painting.  I then began to add a couple more trees lower down on the canvas only to realize that they didn't fit and had to remove them.  I still felt that there was something lacking so I added two crows circling the tree.  The title, while a bit morbid, fits with the presence of the crows, the dead tree, and makes further suggestion as to what could be lying at the base of the tree if only we could see it.

This piece, "Path Around the Rock", was actually begun ages ago and got pushed aside for some reason.  I decided that now was the time to finish it and am very happy with the end product.  I am always a bit taken with the patterns that I can find in the sand made by water and bits of debris, this painting is representative of those patterns and the small disruption of them made by the rock.

New Work: "Periwinkles Creeping"

I recently finished up a few new pieces for the Burnaby Artists Guild Spring Show.  This is one of the new ones.  Another little one, 8" x 8" like "Coastal Strawberries".  I find that size a nice one to work with when I want to do a study of a subject.

New work - "Coastal Strawberries"

Back in November I wrote about a technique that I was trying out for keeping me focused while painting.  It is called the "Pomodoro technique" and I read about it on Robert Genn's website.  The painting that I had first tried out with this technique has been complete for a little while now, but I have only just gotten around to taking a photo and getting it up here....

It's a small little painting (only 8" x 8"), I've titled it "Coastal Strawberries" and will be exhibiting it April 12th - 14th at the Burnaby Artists Guild Spring Show.  Hope to see some of you there.

Burnaby Artists Guild Spring Show and Sale