abstract landscape?

48x52 acrylic on canvas

So this was my first stab at a large scale abstract landscape painting. I started off with a general design idea, from some photos I had near the Milk River in Alberta.  Abstract is much harder to do well than you might think it is.  Colour and design become super important, and currently I haven't got the colours right, with green always being a hard colour to get a handle on.  I think I will try a new layer of paint and see what happens! 

Variety - spicing up life

 I have had a fair bit of variety in the art life lately.  I am enjoying my pottery class and am working on a large platter / tapas dishes at home.  I had a number of paintings framed and have hung them around the house.   I am so glad I found a local frame shop that I really like - Kamena Gallery - highly recommend them.  Prior to this I was ordering ready made frames from a place in Kelowna, but that was a bit tricky as I had to do the finishing myself which didn't always look totally professional. The two pieces below are paintings I completed and had framed.

Hot Spring Island
Framed - Oil on Canvas 12x24

Prairie Sky
24x40 Oil on Canvas

I have a smaller oil painting on the go and am about to attack a large scale abstract landscape painting.  The planning phase has been fairly long - choosing a design, colours and knowing that it is supposed to end up being 3 long narrow paintings (triptych), ensuring I lay it out just right.  I am anxious to see what happens but it should be fun!

Planning a large abstract 48x56

Eggstremly Slow Painting

The start

My set up still life

half-way done

So I am not posting this one on the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, simply because it is not finished.  I was painting painfully slow today, interruptions occurring.  

I am trying to paint this on a piece of what I thought was gessoed paper with oil paints.  The way the paper is sucking up the paint I think it may not be fully gessoed.  I have fallen in love with the toast and the egg yolk, but the plate is my enemy right now.  I will try to finish this tomorrow.

Sunset

Quick oil painting on wood panel.  Not thrilled with this one, as I was focusing on the sky and didn't think enough about design.  Also, using my iPhone to photograph all my work is not the best method - I used a red / green for the trees and the little cabins in this painting were shades of brown / red - it all looks black in the photo.  One for the fire pit, ah well.

It is day 23 and I am about 13 paintings behind on the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge!  Not sure if I will be able to catch up unless I go all crazy next week and ignore children and home and FOCUS!!!!

Switching gears

So, I have to say I really love painting.  I have been working on a couple of paintings in the evenings,  and I may end up posting them here if they turn out decently.  However... I had a hankering to try something new and am taking another pottery class and about once a week I try to mess around on the wheel I bought off Kijiji.  The photo is a sample of some pieces I did.  

Pottery is great - it's tactile and functional and I still get to paint the pieces I finish.  However, it's costly and creates a big mess, and when it gets below -20 around here, my garage is not the most inviting place to be as it sits just above 0 degrees on those cold days.  I don't think I will give up painting, but I may just want to incorporate the two and work on some more decorative, painted pottery bits once I get the hang of it. 

greenware

Day 19 - Painting 9

Oil on 9x12 Wood panel

Quick and dirty still life oil painting for Day 19 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days .

Second try in oils

Painted over yesterday's acrylic with oils and lightened up the sky and foreground.

Alberta Skies

Acrylic on 20 x 24 canvas

This summer while on holidays we stopped in a gallery that had a beautiful painting done by Steve Coffey an Alberta artist.  I had seen his work before in another gallery and in a magazine and loved it.  I wanted that painting very badly, but it was sold rather quickly so I missed out.  Most of Steve Coffey's paintings have huge skies, which to me is what Alberta is all about. I want to create my own version of a Steve Coffey.  I want to create some beautiful Alberta skies but I am learning it aint easy - I need to use A LOT more paint!

Mmmmussels - Acrylic on 12x 12 panel

Acrylic on 12x12 wood panel

I am falling further behind with my 30 paintings in 30 days and hope to spend some of the weekend painting a few extra pictures (I am only on #7). I enjoyed painting this one, mostly because it reminded me of a great trip and memorable meal we had with friends overseas.

#6 - Day 12

I think one of the most important parts of creating a good painting, is carefully choosing and planning your painting subject before you start.  Today I hastily chose a couple objects from my kitchen, determined to crank out something before bed. The result looks hastily painted, poorly designed and makes me cranky.  Oh well.  I am still glad I picked up a brush today, I seem to learn something from each one. This one screams 'PLAN FIRST'.

Berry Picking with Grandma - Day 8

Acrylic / Black Gesso on 12x 16? Panel

The sketch and start

Soooo... today I challenged myself to paint one from memory, with the aid of a photo I had of my grandma standing in the bush. When I was a kid we used to go blueberry picking in the sandhills and my Grandma loved to pick berries.  I hated picking berries, especially since there were huge sandhills all over to play in.  The rule was we had to pick one full ice cream bucket full before we could run off to play.  My younger brother was cunning and layered some leaves throughout his bucket to get finished faster! Ah the good ol days!

I don't feel done with this piece quite yet.  There are some glaring issues with light and form, but I need to post for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge so it goes on now.  I will try to post the final version when I it is finished.

Day 7 - Tekerra

Today was a struggle.  I am determined to use all of my black gessoed panels up ( I have about 4 left) and stick to this bright acrylic style I have going on right now.  This little painting (9x12) took waaaaay to long (over 2 hrs) because of the picky little windows and my attempt to make it look like the little log cabin that was in my reference photo.  I think when these panels are used up I will try something looser!

Day 6 - Acrylic on Board

Finished 1 1/2 hr
Today I decided to try a landscape.  We have taken some great hikes and I have a whole lot of pictures to paint from them.  I painted this on black gessoed board in about 1 1/2 hrs. I think it might make a good study for a bigger, oil piece one day.  We shall see.

Drawing on Black Gesso'd Board 9x12

Photo in Grayscale

Painting #2

Second Painting today, completed in 1 hour.  I can already see what needs work, but overall I am enjoying trying some really bright colours. I am trying to loosen up my style.  Also I am inspired by Angus Wilson's bright still life painting, so I had a good photo from my garden this past summer and ad libbed a little

30 Paintings in 30 Days

Mixed media on canvas 8x8

So I joined in on the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge by Leslie Saeta  I am already 4 days behind.  In order to catch up, I pulled out a partially finished painting I started from a series I was trying out of our pond this fall and attempted to complete it, so I can get another 2 painted today.  I am afraid I am feeling the time crunch, so it is not quite what I envisioned, oh well.