Red Deer River Paintings / May 2010

In may I did this series of paintings for an exhibit (in June) which was all about the river. These fish are all natives of my own Red Deer River.

'Upstream' - Whitefish - 12 x 36 inches.
'To a Trout with Love' - Brown Trout - 16 x 20 inches.
'Pink Pike' - Northern Pike - 12 x 16 inches.
'Goldeye Fly' - Goldeye - 16 x 20 inches.
'Blue Spectrum Trout' - Rainbow Trout - 12 x 16 inches.

I am still really enjoying the POP in my paintings.
*Click on an image to magnify.*

Aceo / June 2010

These Artist Trading Cards were created for a Swap on IllustratedATCs.com.

I just joined the site, which is specifically ment to bring together high quality artists with the purpose of trading art. It is so much fun, and highly addictive.

'Fossil and Sea Foam' series.
2.5 x 3.5 inches each.
Watercolor, guache, and ink.
*Click on an image to enlarge.*

# 6

Yellow Flicker Capriccio

40 x 40 inches.
Acrylic on canvas.

The last touch on this piece were the pink and red "jewels" in the background. This is something I have added in each piece, but in this one it really finished off the whole painting. Sometimes its amazing how a small detail can make a huge difference.


















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Up next ... a Peregrin Falcon.

# 5

The third painting in the POP series. I really struggled with this pink colour. Pink is a very pop colour, but it is the hardest colour to mix, at least if you want it to be interesting and not just pastel.

Pop Geraniums
36 x 60 inches.
Acrylic on canvas.

Pop Art

My friend and business partner Jeri-Lynn has said that this year our Word of Power is 'Fearless'. That word has transitioned into 'Pop' for me.

I am now learning about all things Pop. I have studied Pop Art before, but never to this extent and it has never had any real bearing on my personal style. This year however I am looking at my art in a whole new way.

When I experimented last year by creating the 5x7 inch 'Pop Plants', it was just a lark, a cheap thrill, with adventures in colour. Now, its way more serious.

I have to admit that I like it. I really, really like it.

How do I combine colour in different ways?
How do I create a painting that is both simple and detailed at the same time?
How do I make it Pop?
How, oh how, do I make electric pink!?
What makes Pop Art, Pop Art? and how does my art fit into that label?

Let The Auctions Begin!

I am auctioning off some older work through the Gallery IS Facebook group.

Starting with this collaged piece from 2005. The bidding starts at $10! Just comment on the picture to bid. More details at the Auction.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4450412&l=bf00a28f55&id=684496819

# 4

This is the second piece in the 'Bird' series. This painting went through a slow build up. After I had "finished" it, and then stared at it for a few weeks, I decided that it wasn't quite finished. The background got a tonal change, and I added the black arrowheads. I'm pretty sure its finished now.

"Magpie Passionatta"
40x40 inches.
Acrylic on canvas.
*Sold*

# 3

"Pop Fallen Leaves"
36x60 inches.
Sold.

The second in the Pop series and the third of the 14 large paintings I am doing this year.

I am quite happy with this painting. I dont have the same uncertainties with this one as I did with the Dandelions. I might just be getting into a groove.

# 2

This is the first piece in the Bird Series. There will eventually be 6 of them.

"Bluejay Aria"
40 x 40 inches.
*Sold*

This series was inspired by the 'Face Off' series I did as part of the one-a-days. For these birds I wanted to stick to a couple of 'rules'. In keeping with the previous series, they will all have metallic background colours. They will also be compositionally unbalanced. Floating, falling off the edge, that sort of thing.

#1

This is the first painting of the year in the new BIG sizes.

'Pop Dandelions'
36x60 inches.

As you might notice, this is a continuation of the 'Pop' series I started last year with my one-a-day's. Since this is the first painting, I have mixed feelings about it. Growing pains, thats my excuse.

Big things are happening.

Its been a while since I have blogged, but for good reason. I am once again at the begining of a big project. Why I create these never ending challenges for myself I will never know, but there are benefits.

So here is what 2010 is shaping into. I am now on the opposite end of the spectrum. Last year I created hundreds of small works of art, this year I am focusing on a few really large pieces. I am going to paint 14 canvas's over the next months. 8 @ 36x60 inches, and 6 @ 40x40 inches. These are the biggest pieces I have ever tackled and so far I think I like it.

At the moment I am enamoured with the notion that this is completely different from what I am used too. I also like the dramatic impact I am able to achieve with the big sizes. Last but not least I am working out ideas that I started with the one-a-days, and this is rewarding ... so far.

I will be posting these paintings here first so stay tuned.

New Auction on Facebook

Just like the title states ... a new auction on Facebook!

Another one of my one-a-day works is up for sale. Starting at $5.00! Its practically free!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4115580&l=7796e3dccc&id=684496819

2009 Reflections - Part Two

Its now February. Where does the time go! Today I was setting up a retrospective exhibit with some of the artworks I did in 2009, and it was a really weird feeling. I dated all of the artworks I created with the Month/Day/Year, and I pulled out the piece I did on Feb 1st of last year. It was surreal. I feel like I painted it a hundred years ago. SO much has happened in the last year. SO many pieces of art.

Stone Icon:Archers Window
Feb 1, 2009

What I remember about those first few months are a roller coaster of emotions. Literally. January was the hardest month. It was really difficult developing the patterns and habits which would pull me through the next 8 months. It was a grind and drained me in so many ways, but after I was past that initial hump I began to feel a growing elation. By the end of February I was riding the crest of the biggest 'art high' I have ever experienced. Every piece I did took no effort, came so easily and was filled with joy. I slept 3 hours a night for a solid week, and didn't get tired. It was wonderful. *sigh*. I don't even remember crashing. I think it just ended and I went back to 'normal'. After that I plateaued and pretty much stayed there. No more roller coaster.

Part of my plan for the year included the making of lists. I tried to write down the kinds of subjects I would like to tackle and even went so far as to plan what piece I would do on which day. Well, that plan lasted for about 3 days and then got thrown out the window. The one-a-day challenge is a very organic process, and because one is working on so many things day after day you become very much directed by the process. At least this was my experience. One day leads into a week, leads into a month, and pretty soon you find your choices dictated by what you have done before, or how you feel on that day.

An offshoot to the lists was the idea to work in series and this I very much stuck to. Each week I did 7 pieces that related to each other. Many of these series were an addition to series I have already created (IE: A Space Oddity, The Red Lantern, Stone Icons), but there were many new ideas and I tried to add a bit more challenge to the challenge by tackling my process in a different way, or being minimal, or realistic, or compositional and colourfully uncomfortable. When you work small it seems to allow for more experimentation. If it doesn't work, that's ok, because you haven't invested A. a lot of time, or B. a lot of money in supplies.

My experimentation's lead me in directions that were quite pleasing and inspiring. Now, in 2010, I am using many of the pieces I created in 2009 as a jumping off point, and further exploring the ideas I began.

More thoughts to be continued in part three ... forthcoming.

A Fab Deal

Every once in a while I auction off my artwork on Facebook, through one of my groups The Arts Collective.

Link

Right now I have two of my one-a-days being sold as a pair.

Bidding starts at $15.00. Its an awesome deal. Check it out.

2009 Reflections - Part One

So, while I am still getting my house in order, and tying up loose ends, I thought I would take a moment to reflect back on my Artwork-A-Day project in 2009.

I am now 2 weeks into January 2010 and I feel like I have had enough time to formulate some thoughts on what was hardest, easiest, and what I learned during this challenge. I'm sure there will be more thoughts to come in future.

One thing I have to do first is to make a confession. While this is very hard for me to admit (and only because I am my own worst critic), my 365 day project ended after 273 days. I'm sure no one will really care that I didn't actually do 365 pieces of artwork, but it still took me a long time to come to terms with this. I was really hung up on that number. The number was what was driving me forward, and it was important. Its interesting how an idea that was of my own creation could hold such power over me.

After the month of September I had to take a step back from the project and give myself permission to take a break. I had fallen behind over the course of the year (you know, life and all that) and during this autumn month I played a gruesome game of catch up. I was honestly creating three pieces of work a day at one point, and when September was done, I was done. It was a grueling task and I was creatively exhausted. I was all caught up, but I now felt like I had "been there and done that". I was ready for something new and different.

This is the difficult part. In order to create a vast amount of work you need to set yourself some limits, and some guidelines that work within your abilities. I knew that for me to create a work of art a day the size needed to be small. That is what I had time to create within, so all my drawings were ATC size (2.5x3.5inches) and all my canvas's were either 4x6 or 5x7 inches. This was also dictated by what I could afford to spend on materials. Let me tell you, it becomes a little tedious painting within a 5x7 space day, after day, after day.

What I really craved was a larger format! Gasp ... the variety of different sized canvas's! What a dream.

I also craved the ability to spend more than one day on a piece. Maybe a whole week! What a thought!

I did still make art for the last three months of 2009, but these pieces were farther apart, more labour intensive (in fact I'm still putting finishing touches on them ;] ), and challenged me in a different way. The "Lucky" Series for instance was what I worked on in November and December. Christmas was coming so I switched gears and made felt ornaments, and folded cranes for decorations. I think I made 42 paper cranes, and 24 felt ornaments. They were completely different and a bit of a novelty at that point. Okay, if I wasn't such a task master I would say "Hey, those could be one-a-day's! They were a creation.", but even though I admit that I could have included them in the project, I'm not going to. I guess I don't feel they were artistic enough. It was after all an "art-a-day", not a "craft-a-day".

At the end of the year I also did something kind of strange. I ended up back where I had started. In January of 2009 I worked on my Stone Icon series for an exhibit in February. At the end of the year, in December, I began to once again create pieces for this series. More Icons, big and small. I didn't really think about it, I just painted what I enjoyed. It was a true Full Circle kind of thing.

I'm not sure how many pieces of art I did in 2009, I haven't tallied them all up yet. I do know that I did more than 273, and less that 365.

More thoughts to be continued in Part Two .... forthcoming.

Paintings / Oct - Dec

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- Stone Icon: Bird Mask

5 x 5 inches.

$50.00

- Stone Icon: Fish Face I

5 x 5 inches.

$50.00

- Stone Icon: Fish Face II

5 x 5 inches.

$50.00

- Underwater Gargoyle

15 x 15 inches.

$400.00

- Stone Icon: Sea Witch

15 x 15 inches.

$400.00

- Stone Icon: Fish Face III

15 x 15 inches.

$400.00

*Click on the image to magnify.*

Paintings / Oct - Dec

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This is a series I began with the idea of a collaged background beneath my "spilled ink" technique. The subjects are all symbols used in Asian (specifically Chinese) culture. I titled them all Lucky, but only the Bat is actually the symbol for luck.

These paintings are also the first larger works I have done since January (those were my Stone Icons, remember those ... I barely do.)!

- Lucky Crane
16x20 inches.
*Sold*
- Lucky Lotus
12x16 inches.
*Sold*
- Lucky Chrysanthemum
13x20 inches.
*Sold*
- Lucky Bat
8x12 inches.
*Sold*
- Lucky Bamboo
13.25 x 22 inches.
$500.00
- Lucky Panda
18 x 24 inches.
$700.00
*Click on an image to magnify.*

Paintings / Sept 24 - 30

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A few mini mini's. These little guys were in idea I just couldnt get out of my head. I found documentation on these ancient amulets with scary faces, and I knew they just had to be icons. Each one is a 2.75 x 2.75 inch stretched canvas. Pretty neat.

- Heir Apparent

- Chamberlain

- Queen

- Fool

- King

- Cat *Sold*

- Fu Dog

$25.00 each. A tiny display easle comes with each one.

*Click on the image to magnify.*

You see, the King and Queen are having a fight. The Chamberlain is very afraid he might be fired if he cant make the baby stop crying. The Royal Fool just laughs at everyone's foolishness, and the Royal pets couldnt care less.

Paintings / Sept 9-12

I found an old science book with details about 'Western Trees', and it was beautifully illustrated with the most glorious engravings. I was so inspired I interpreted some of them into paintings.

- Pop Pine: Douglas Fir

- Pop Pine: Giant Sequoia

- Pop Pine: Eastern Larch

- Pop Pine: Silver Fir *Sold*

- Pop Pine: Torrey Pine

5x7 inches. $45.00 each.

*Click on the image to magnify.*