Evening Duet

~Evening Duet~

But now they drift on the still water,

Mysterious, beautiful;

Among what rushes will they build,

By what lake's edge or pool

Delight men's eyes when I awake some day

To find they have flown away?

'The Wild Swans at Coole' by William B. Yeats

30"x36" acrylic on canvas

The Daily Grind

8 X 10 Acrylic on Canvas

Continuing my exploration of all things to do with cups.

This is an old coffee grinder, again borrowed for this set up, with a play on words.

I wonder how far I can go with this cup thing? We shall see...

Tea at 3!

"If your sitting down at home and relaxing,

or your working in a noisy factory,

Just set yourself free when the clock strikes 3,

everything stops for tea!"

Radio Jingle

8" X 10" acrylic on canvas

Mellow Yellow

8" X 10" acrylic on Canvas

I did this one a while back but I thought it was pity I did not post it.

Here it is in all its glory. Lillys just happen to be in the garden at the moment too!

Coffee Break

8X10 Acrylic on canvas

I am back to my old friends..cups. They are a common familiar item to paint. It is when you crank up the highlights that they become eye catching.

Womens Works Auction

Just got back from a very successful auction/fundraiser for the women and children shelter in Charlottetown. The top photo is a view of the auction floor, and the bottom is a shot of my work hanging in the Confederation of the Arts Centre. They raised over $20,000. from the event.

It was a pleasure to be part of it.

Orange Pekoe

~Orange Pekoe~

8X10 acrylic on canvas

This is one of the works I did at the Symposium in Chicoutimi. I was surprised how much I could concentrate on painting when so many people where walking by or stopping to watch me work for a while. This took about 3 hours, with a lot of stopping and starting to answer questions, about medium, technique, or just comments.

Women's Work Art Auction

“My Chambers College Dictionary has the definition of a purse as ‘a small bag for carrying money’. But as the modern, working mom knows, the purse could easily be defined as the ‘big bag for carrying a small amount of change, usually at the bottom, for drive-thru coffee, on the way to driving the kids to hockey practice’.”

I am thrilled to be involved in the Womens Work Art Auction, a fundraiser for the women's shelter, Anderson House, in Charlottetown. The building is in much need of maintenance and repair. The organizers came up with the idea of an art auction with 40 female island artists producing the work and splitting the proceeds of the event. It not only raises funds but promotes the artists as well. If you are in Charlottetown on Sunday July 12 at 3.00 p.m. drop in to the Confederation Centre of the Arts, Memorial Hall.

Purchase some great art and help the womens and childrens' shelter too.

"Her Tool Bag" is my submission for the auction.

Edit Monday 7th.

Here is the Guardian news article on the auction.

Symposium International Jean-Paul Lapointe

Sorry for the lag time between posts. Normally I do not like to have so much time between posts but I was finishing work, framing and getting ready for galleries for the summer here and then there was the "Big" event, The Symposium JP Lapointe, in Chicoutimi, Quebec.

This was an amazing event with 45 artists from across Canada and The US and Europe painting and answering questions about how they work. There was an estimated 20,000 people went through the 3 day event at the waterfront in Chicoutimi.

This is the work of Jean-Paul Lapointe, the founder of the Symposium,

who has since passed away some years ago.

Here is a shot of me in my working area where my paintings were also on displayed.

Each artist also had to demonstrate their working technique,

either painting or sculpting, during the 3 days of the event. I am very honoured to be selected for this years event.

Gold Tea

11 x 14 Acrylic on Canvas SOLD

Here is another done from the gold tea set photo session. This is a little tighter and more realistic.

A Little Perc!

11 x 14 Acrylic on Canvas This item is also belongs to the same friend who owns the gold tea set. While I was doing the shoot for the tea set this vintage coffee percolator was sitting on a book shelf crying for attention. Lucky for me I gave it some.

Gold Cup & Saucer

12X36 Acrylic on Canvas

Well it was time to get back to some serious stuff. It is funny but while I enjoyed the small quick little squares. It is this realism painting that really gets me going.

I have a friend who has a wonderful tea set that her parents got for their 50th. wedding anniversary back in the 50's. When I saw it I knew I had to paint it. I set up a photo session at her home, because frankly I was afraid to damage it if took it out of there. I found this great fabric and got some great shots.

Between the challenge of the fabric and the gold of the cup and saucer this one really tested me. But I love the result.

Sea Foam

10 X 12 Acrylic on canvas

The soil and rocks are a red color here on Prince Edward Island, it is because of the high iron ore content in the soil. It also makes the rock pretty soft and porous which as been quite the headache for the islands governments these last few years. A lot of money has been spent to help fight soil erosion, but the red rock does make for some of the prettiest coastlines anywhere. When the rock is wet it is almost purple and in the full summer sun dry, it is nearly pink. This painting, is of one of my favourite spots. I can sit and watch the water hit the rocks 'til at my bum gets numb!

Fogged In

14X14 Acrylic on canvas

When the lobster boats have to go out in a fog they make sure that they stay together in groups. It can be very dangerous. While they have the systems and technology to know their location, when they have engine trouble or any other numerous problems that can occur, if the other boats can find you fast to assist, it really helps keeps everyone safer.

On a Clear Day

18 X 22 Acrylic on canvas E is for edges, the edge of the sea the edge of the sand, rocks, land. Anyway you get the idea. I know it is not E as in a place, but right now I am so sick and tired of winter I just could not stand to paint it. So to continue my land/sea scapes I am going to rely on my photo stock. This is from a photo taken on a beautiful early June morning. It was perfect. The tide was low, water was calm. Not a puff of wind. The sun came up through the morning clouds and made the green algae growing on the exposed rocks, glisten in light. And while I was painting it, I was back there, not a snowflake in sight.