Sunday, May 9, 2010

Passion for Poppies

This painting was an experiment of sorts. I have been carrying a few yards of canvas around for many years - moving it from Toronto, then Sask. and ultimately out to Vancouver Island. It was time to do something with it!

My handyman Jeff was given the task of stretching it onto stretcher boards. Once that was done I began putting many, many, many layers of thick paint and gesso on the canvas. I used raw umber, thalo red, thalo violet, thalo this and thalo that ... tubes of paint that I have also been carrying around for many years and wanted to use up. A spring cleaning, one might say.

My main objective was just to get a nice thick coat of paint on the canvas. Suddenly out of nowhere these poppies began to appear. With a few brush strokes more I added the blue background and a few seed pods, turning an abstract into something recognizable.

The finished piece is 20 x 24". It's a bit abstract and different from my usual paintings.
Rather designer looking and fun to make.

Hmmm, I still have another piece of canvas to stretch! Oh Jeff.

Till Next Time ...

Love what you Do ... and Do what you Love.

Susan

Saturday, May 8, 2010

The View from My RV

I am thrilled to report that this painting has been selected to show in the Arrowsmith Federation of Canadian Artists Summer Exhibition.

"The View from my RV", acrylic 24 x 30"

Last fall Jeff, Cheyenne and I decided to explore more of Vancouver Island with our RV. Never having driven further north then Campbell River, we headed "Up Island" (as they say on the west coast) to Port Hardy and Port McNeil. We were enchanted with the area and also impressed with the wealth of great artists in the area.

This particular view was from our overnight stay at Telegraph Cove.

Our plan is to some day soon do a cross Canada tour, painting and RVing along the way.

The FCA show runs from June 1st - 26, at the Oceanside Arts Council in Parksville.

Till Next Time ...

Love what you Do ... and Do what you Love.

Susan