Healing Hues Art Studio

Love it, Hate it or Somewhere In Between Pantone's Colour For 2012

2011-12-30T20:51:00.000-06:00

You would think that as we, the world and it's inhabitants, sit perched on the what could be a hell of a year, that perhaps the fashion world could have caught that and NOT picked a colour that looks like flames devouring a peach orchard? Honestly, I mean, if the world was in a slumber that needed to be shaken off I could understand it but that is definitely NOT where the world is at these days. Things are boiling over almost everywhere so what we need is a optimistic and/or encouraging colour that could be coupled with some fresh and foundational colours.

Well love it or hate it, it's here for the year. Thank goodness it is coupled with some other colours so one can take it in bits and bites. As an accent colour it's great, as a dominating colour, it's exhausting. And by the way, I hate the colour rust, and this comes close to it, but with more oomph. Reminds me of the time I worked freelance for an advertising agency and the owner was so cheap, rather than laying down self-sealing light green/blue linoleum on our drawing boards (that was what you did back in the days before computers when everything was laid out by hand) he bought some battleship rust-coloured linoleum because it was way cheaper. I sat back in my chair and just said, "No, now way, I can't work all day staring at this!" Finally he relented and went out and got the right stuff. I think the 70's love affair with rust as well as forever set me against anything close to it.

Well no matter where you lie on the love it or leave richter scale on this colour, I wish you a very Happy New Year and may the year coming be peaceful and prosperous for us all, including Ms. Pantone Tangerine!

Merry or Blue Christmas?

2011-12-21T19:02:00.001-06:00

An 8" x 10" water media illustration I did about 16 or so years ago,
using my sweet beagle, Beamer, for reference.

It's that time of the year again where everywhere we see images of smiling Christmas adverts or tv programs, movies, cook books, you name it. Everywhere we look there's tinsel and mall Christmas music or the sweeter nostalgia of hymns that made mainstream. Songs like "Silent Night", or "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", still bring a small smile to my face, but it's a sweet, sad smile. For me, Christmas is a reminder of loss, of things changed forever, of being forced to recall a time before you knew otherwise yet striving to make the present as good as it can be. Christmas has become to me a kind of blue event. It's something like this:

When I was young, Christmas was all about fun and presents and hanging out with friends. In my late twenties and early thirties it was about sharing time with family and friends, playing games, giving gifts to make dreams for our loved ones come true. Now, in my late forties, I have come to realize life sometimes cuts those dreams down, people get sick, life changes everything and Christmas becomes an unwelcome reminder of what one's losses have become. BUT there is a present more precious than anything money could buy and that only experience can precipitate, and that is the Compassion that has grown in my heart as a result.

So, this year, may those of you who are having a less than stellar Christmas because of loss, of pain, of bereavement, of incoming or ongoing poverty, may you be given relief. That is my wish for you, my Christmas wish and if I could materialize that for you in some way, I would. I hope that you know that someone, and there are many more than me, care and are going through a "blue" Christmas too.

Beginning of Something Beautiful Part Two!

2011-12-18T23:38:00.000-06:00

Part two (second painting) in the triptych series "Oak Leaf Glory"
12" x 12" original acrylic on stretched canvas

Here is the second painting in the 3 painting series "Oak Leaf Glory". In this painting I illustrate the changing of the season from the strong life force of green foliage then turning to yellow/gold which shimmers in the fall sunlight. One of the most beautiful images one can behold is to see the sun streaming through a park or forest path and a gentle breeze knocks free some yellow/gold leaves in the prime of their fall colours. You watch them gently flutter through the air to land gently on the ground path before you. Breathtakingly beautiful.

This painting utilizes over 16 different pigments along with iridescents both gold and green. The painting shifts and changes as you walk around it and also as the light changes from day to night. Truly, this is one of the most beautiful images I have ever created.

This painting series will be made available as both canvas and paper edition giclee reproductions as well as fine art greeting cards. I look forward to the New Year to make these available and to have even more original paintings' images available this way.

The final painting in this series will be finished in the next week. It's about two-thirds of the way there. It, and writing out all my Christmas cards, will be done this week!

The Beginning of Something Beautiful

2011-12-16T23:58:00.000-06:00

First painting in the series "Oak Leaf Glory" 12" x 12" original
acrylic painting on stretched canvas.

This series would look absolutely beautiful in a healing setting of some kind be it in an interior decorator's shop, massage therapy/holistic therapies studio or green eco business. Any where that the healing and vital force of Nature is needed.

This is the first painting of the triptych "Oak Leaf Glory". I hope to have all three panels completed before this Christmas as I am almost finished the final painting (shades of gold and brown and bronze leaves). I will post them up on my Etsy shop and here as soon as they are done. I see them framed in black or gold frames. They truly look gorgeous!

Another Painting SOLD!

2011-12-08T23:20:00.000-06:00

While I was away visiting my Mom in another province this original oil painting of mine sold from my Etsy store. It's an ACEO-sized painting with a gorgeous walnut stain over bronze/gold gilding pure wood frame. It was one of my favourite small fine art pieces. The woman who bought it did so as a Christmas gift for her parents. Isn't that just so sweet?

The Making of Beautiful Glowing Luminous Leaf Paintings...

2011-11-21T21:31:00.007-06:00

Here I am in my new studio doing the painstaking method of creating those magical, luminescent leaf paintings that are beginning to have a following. They look fantastic when they're done and here's how I make them.

A nice over-the-shoulder view of me at work. I am about
mid-way at this point.

Wide shot to give you an idea of my set up. There is another
palette behind me, and a hair dryer. Tunes are on my computer
(out of sight) and headphones are to keep the neighbours
happy at night.

First, I should tell you WHY I make these paintings. It's because the longer I am alive the more I realize just how beautiful and wonderful the power, the life of Nature is. I just have to pay homage to that and to trees especially as I feel I have taken them for granted - especially when I was young. Maybe this is something that just comes with age or, perhaps, an ever-deepening awareness of things.

I have 4 palettes on the go (with one behind me out of view in this picture). All the paints you see are just a part of my acrylic supplies, and they are all professional grade (cha-ching). Aside from natural disasters (like a roving pack of wild monkeys ripping them apart) my paintings will far outlive me.

It first starts off as a visual in my mind's eye. I then sketch it out here using water color pencil crayons (Staedtler aquarelle brand which I got 20 years ago and I can't find any longer). The pigment is well saturated and gives me a pretty good idea how the final colors will look via acrylics.

A little thumbnail sketch to materialize my visualization and use
as a guide to execute the final paintings.

Note the first painting at the top of the photo
(all green symbolizing the oak tree in the strength and glory of
it's summer magnificence!) Also note the small sketch
beside it. I will actually refer to both throughout the painting
series to make sure I am followingthe initial vision
that I worked out.

The process for these leaf paintings is to use the leaves as reference, as printing objects and as stencils. Layer after layer of color is put down, using the leaf to apply it and/or the leaf to mask out an area and color is painted around it. I have used dozens of layers of transparent and translucent color along with the initial layer of more opaque paint. This gives a deep luminosity to the finished piece. I also work with shimmering iridescent paints (in this piece both green and gold) and this adds to that luminosity and brilliance. The paintings literally GLOW and shift as you walk around them.

Here I have several oak leaves down (to act as
stencils and masks) and am preparing another
for printing. I am applying a mix of raw sienna
and raw umber with a touch of quinacridone gold
onto the leaf with a very soft brush.

Here I am applying the paint-coated leaf over
the bottom and side oak leaf as to "print" it's
form over the other oak leaves that are laid
down as stencils or masks.

And again, I press the painted leaf down.

And now over here to the right, another leaf print.

And over and over and over again, I "print" the leaves.
This creates the deep luminescence as well as a
lovely illusion of depth in the piece.

Just over half way finished this painting still has a ways
to go but it is taking shape nicely!

I usually use a hair dryer to speed up the process but can work around the piece in a continual loop if you will, being careful not to smudge areas still wet. Sometimes though I have to just let the piece air dry. And the leaves are kept in containers of water to preserve and clean them. This painting (that at this point is about 3/5's done) has taken over 8 hours to get to this point. When finished it will have taken about 12-13 hours.

And here is the finished work, a 12" x 12" original acrylic nature semi-abstract, post-post modern expressionistic gem of a painting. It just GLOWS. I love it, and I know it will sell and I know I will miss it just like I miss the last leaf triptych series I did (the maple leaf triptych).

So stay tuned for the last in the series and then the whole set together. I get the feeling it is going to take our breath away.

The Glory of the Mighty Green Oak

2011-11-09T14:54:00.003-06:00

"Green Oak Glory" 12" x 12" original acrylic on stretched canvas.
Click here to purchase.

Just completed this week, the first in my new series of "leaf" paintings. You might remember last year's paintings, a tryptch (3 canvases; green, gold and red) painting series based on our national flag symbol - the stunning maple leaf. This year, I was inspired by the oak tree and it's leaves. What a magnificent creation the oak tree is! I happened upon this one gorgeous, huge oak tree and chose from it's shed leaves that carpeted the grass. I don't like to pick the leaves off the trees (as they need them for their survival) but once they shed them, than I pick the ones that inspire me to do so. That is why these paintings are a fall occurrence and not a spring or summer one. I don't want to benefit from harming the trees. I want to pay homage to them, celebrate them. Without them (trees) we'd all be done for, wouldn't we?

I use the leaves as both reference material AND as a form to be used to actually "print" on the canvas as well as using them as stencils. For this painting I used about 8 different forms of green and an iridescent green that makes the painting shimmer and shift as you walk around it, as well as cadmium yellow light, zinc white, and titanium white. I layer upon layer the prints, stencils, glazes. It's a time consuming process but the results are way worth it, wouldn't you say?

So here is this year's beginning homage - to the oak tree and it's caribou antler leaves. I always think of Bullwinkle when I see them (yes, I'm an ancient). There is another "green" oak painting just about finished and it will be the first in the series of three paintings (one green, one green to gold and the last will be a glowing ochre) to show the oak in all it's glorious stages of life.

A Piece of the Rockies in Acrylic

2011-10-29T19:26:00.007-05:00

"Mountain Forest Stream" 5" x 6" acrylic original
on canvas board.
Click here to purchase.

I have wanted to do an image like this for a long time. Back to the days (now almost twenty years ago) when I use to spend time in Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise. I just loved these easy hikes into the mountains, seeing the streams fast flowing by. I wanted to create that refreshing energy in just the right composition, colour palette and light determination. Here it is, an original 5" x 6" acrylic on canvas board titled "Mountain Forest Stream". I really like the colour values and notes I struck here as you can see the light is brightest at the mouth of the stream where it is coming from the top and moving to the right out of our line of sight. The stream then comes to us and then veers away left and it is more in the reflected light area of the little canyon, if you will. I love the colour of the water, a deep pristine azure blue that has always captivated me. It's like a flowing gem stone.

Also this piece has blurred the line between an acrylic/oil. I wanted to lose the harsh edginess that acrylics can be accused of and through subtle value changes create a softer, impressionistic/realistic look but keeping it on the dreamy side. That is what I was going for and I think, with this piece, I have accomplished that. So if you are like me, now far away from the Rockies and God knows when you'll be back, you can take a piece of it home with you forever in this little painting. Enjoy!

You Use Everything...

2011-10-24T23:24:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, when you are shifting gears in your life, you wonder if you are doing the right thing. Well, here is one small example to illustrate how in making a change you actually incorporate all your life experience up to that point.

I just moved recently and needed to revise my business card. It's taken a few years of working on and off on the software program I use but now can navigate it not too badly. With that, I designed this card (phone and address not my real ones but I use it here for illustrative purposes). I use to be a graphic designer, illustrator and art director and I feel really fortunate that I can use the skills that I honed over those years working in that capacity to come up with this card that incorporates my fine art painting AND my graphic design skills. Even though I can no longer work in those capacities I can take all I learned and now use them for myself. I know other fine artists struggle with the commercial art, if you will, aspects of self-promotion. I am fortunate in that I understand that area and so, for me, it's not completely foreign territory.

No matter where you are, if you have made a decision (or were forced) to abandon a career or trade, you may not see it now, but all that you have learned will help you in wherever you go and whatever you do now and in the future.

100,000 Years Old Ancient Art Studio Discovered

2011-10-13T16:01:00.001-05:00

The need to use art to express ourselves may be as old as we are!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8825727/Ancient-art-studio-uncovered-in-South-Africa.html

To Cut Through Procrastination

2011-10-01T17:33:00.002-05:00

8 3/4" x 5 3/4" oil on canvas panel titled "Black Knife"

Here is the first painting done out of my new studio. I wanted something simple to do yet something that had some meaning. I can't help it, I just can't create an image or idea that I don't care about or doesn't mean anything to me.

I chose the large black-handled knife that was originally my Mom's. It said to me, "Cut through your procrastination, your inertia and blockages to creativity." So that was the image I needed to paint. I chose the green background as it gives it a slightly unnerving quality. I wanted to explore that.

What images could you use to cut through your own personal blockages, inertia or procrastination?

Cat Approved New Artist's Studio!

2011-09-12T17:14:00.004-05:00

"Oh my godzes, I LUVS this!!!". The cat runs past me into
the studio, jumping up on the window and giving it
lots of love.

Walking into the new and much improved
gallery facing north west with more towers
of boxes.

Walking a little further into the room and look who
already beat me in? See her past the boxes on
the window. Northern windows for my studio.
Can you say YES!

She jumps up on the window and gives it lots of love.

She checks out the north view.

"I be so happy."

"Let's never leave".

And that's about it for now. The beginning of what I hope will be the beginning of a brilliant, new, prosperous adventure. And what did you say Tiffe? Oh, and squirrels, lots of squirrels to inhabit the tree just outside the window.

Stay tuned, as soon as I get my studio all up and at 'em I'll post more photos of it in action. This place truly feels nurturing. Such a huge difference from my former apartment. I won't have to fight my space to create and that feels like a luxury.

Quick, Get It Down!

2011-09-02T15:06:00.005-05:00

"Crescent Moon Sunset" 10" x 10" oil painting on stretched canvas
Purchase Here

So the other night I am busy packing away for my move happening in a few days and I look out my west-facing balcony and see the most beautiful summer crescent moon emerging. I MUST get it down! I quickly realize though that I have packed all my canvas panels. Damn! Okay, stretched canvas it is and the smallest I have is a 10"x 10". I quickly get busy and clear a space amongst boxes, packing tape and growing disorder for my palette and canvas to barely fit in and quickly work the paint as I look up and down from the quickly fading scene before my eyes.

So here is the final product. I don't know if it was the time pressure (to capture this image before it quickly faded) or what but I quickly got it down and it retains all the energy, freshness and vitality of that original image outside my west-facing balcony. I just love the moon in all it's appearances, but especially summer moons with those dark mysterious thread clouds blowing nearby.

There is not much I will miss about my current apartment. I am grateful for it though but one thing I will sorely miss is the gorgeous sunsets and moon appearances that being this high up and in this direction has brought me. Just for that, I have been incredibly blessed.

My Gynaecologist Told Me Dryer Sheets Were Bad - Now MORE Proof!

2011-08-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

credit: Mail Online

An aside to my art, but in order to make art, to be productive and do what your given purpose is here on this earth you have to have your health or your hooped. I found out the hard way about that. One of the health problems (among many) I was having sent me to the gynaecologist (one of the top two in the city) and she told me to STAY AWAY from dryer sheets, and in fact, to not use regular (petroleum) detergent and go to the plant based ones, so I did. Now today I find this in the news, and it's no surprise, at least not to me, but further proof that this crap is toxic. Read the research today that came out in the British press here.

So save money and your health, don't use them, you don't need them. I haven't used them in years and haven't missed them, at all. In fact, stop using the chemical toxic soup that is "regular" petroleum based detergents and use the plant based ones, some of which you can find in some supermarkets but definitely in health stores, vegan stores, etc. Your health, your wealth are worth it, aren't they?

Never Open an Umbrella Indoors and Other Superstitions Defied!

2011-08-22T14:58:00.000-05:00

Cute and curious and not afraid of no umbrella!

This week I put together a "Daily Paintworks Challenge" to the online community of daily working artists that I belong to. The subject? Superstitions. OooooOooo. I did one of my favourites, opening up an umbrella indoors and to boot, had the cat sit under it. Actually being the curious critter she is she came right up to it and sat underneath it giving it a good sniff over. I decided not to make her all black but I was tempted. So I took the shots, selected the one you see above, and then did the painting from it.

"Superstitious Shelter" 6" x 6" oil on canvas panel
Click to Purchase

You can see I changed a few things, like taking out the red table which was too distracting from the red umbrella and modifying the background. I also punched up the value differences to bring attention to the cat underneath and in the middle of the umbrella. I wanted to image to have that drama and pop value but without being garish. I loved the rich flooring and the reflections I was able to pull.

I am quite happy with this little oil indoor still life. One of my favourites!

Nothing Says Summer Like Dutch Dream's Ice cream!

2011-08-19T20:48:00.001-05:00

Some lucky Torontonians cooling off with some Dutch Dreams ice cream.

I decided the other day to finally get out and get some reference shots of my Toronto neighbourhood and lucky me, the Dutch Dreams ice cream shop is down and around the corner. THIS is THE ice cream shop in Toronto. It is city-wide renowned and it's literally in my backyard. I am so lucky I am allergic to dairy (and have steel willpower on this) or I'd be getting my latest apparel at the local tent and awning shop.

Just enjoy this little splash of colour and summer and look forward to some small format paintings based on it. I mean, it's got a four foot sunday and creepy Dutch carhop at the entrance, not to mention the gnomes sprinkled on the side of the walls and other dairy paraphernalia. It really is something to behold and people line up down the block on a hot weekend summer's night. Ahhhhhh, summer.

Magnificent Mushroom!

2011-08-16T15:27:00.001-05:00

"Magnificent Mushroom" 5" x 7" oil painting
on canvas hard panel
Click to Bid

I just had to paint a mushroom. Just had to. It had to be one of those mythical orange tops - the ones that fairies rest and play under. So here it is, my homage to that most glorious fungi! I finally was able to use one of the canvas panel hardboards that I hand made a while back. I love the weight and feel of it.

So enjoy this one. It makes me smile and laugh when I look at it. It just feels good and reminds me of those great hikes I use to take decades ago back in Prince Albert National Park. This painting would look great in a little study, a corner nook somewhere with a desk and lamp or even in the kitchen. Enjoy!

Fantastical Sunflower

2011-08-15T13:38:00.002-05:00

"Leo Sunflower" a lion of a little oil painting - 6" x 6" on canvas panel
Click to Purchase

I went out the other night and took reams of photos in the neighbourhood. I came across some lovely sunflowers and black-eyed susans and they were the inspiration for this painting. I tried to do realism but it was like a horse wanting to gallop that was barred behind the barn door. I finally just had to let it out and just paint this image the way IT wanted to be born, not how I wanted it to be born. It can be a really frustrating process, this tug o' war. Once I relinquished, I just felt it "flow".

So here it is. It's not what I had in mind but it really pleasantly surprised me. Gallop on muse, gallop on!

What is True?

2011-08-12T16:03:00.002-05:00

Sarah Kay on presentation on TED

I found this today at the allthingshealing.com site and Ms. Kay blew me away. I have turned a poetic phrase or two but she took me places my mind truly delighted in. Any artist will be riveted, healed and inspired by her words. Amazing, amazing talent, this young woman. Listen to her here.

NEW! "A Way Out" 8" x 8" Oil on Canvas Panel

2011-08-09T20:11:00.001-05:00

Even in the swirling darkness there are portals to peaceful blue skies.
SOLD

These are the dark clouds of summer, specifically those big, beautiful swirling towers of clouds that develop over the prairies. Awe-inspiring and sometimes, terrifying. I just love them. This painting is taken from some shots I took after a huge prairie summer storm. It really resonated with me. It's like life. Times where are hell has broken lose, it's important to know that just like in a storm, blue sky is still there. Peaceful blue sky and there is always a way to it. That's what that little break in the clouds is, the portal to peace. Sometimes you have to go through one heck of a storm before you find your way out. That is what this painting symbolizes to me.

BAM! Sexy-Cute Red Little Shoes

2011-08-08T14:26:00.000-05:00

"Sexy Little Red Heels" 6" x 6" oil on canvas panel
Click to Purchase

I saw these and thought what cute, sexy little red high-heeled shoes and I'd never wear them. First off, cause I'd twist my ankle and secondly because shoes like this need a whole ensemble ($$$). And red shoes just scream for notice and I am a more laid back kind of gal. So, unless I needed to click my heels to find my home after being relocated by a tornado, I don't think I'd ever don these. However, I think they are so cute and attention getting I gave them front row and centre in this painting. Enjoy!

Painting Favourite Coffee Cups and Raising Funds for Alzheimer's Art Auction

2011-08-07T17:33:00.005-05:00

"My Blue Cup" 5" x 6" Oil on panel - part of the proceeds going to
Alzheimer's research
Click to Purchase

This weeks DPW painting challenge was to paint your favourite cup. Well, mine just happens to be this blue one, partly because it IS my favourite and partly because I have broken all the ones I like. So I did this painting last night. I wanted to add some excitement to it and placed the blue mug on a yellow drying dish cloth. I love the brilliance of the yellow against the cobalt blue of the mug. Makes me think of blue birds of happiness set against sunflower fields happily simmering under the summer sun.

Also, it reminded me of a notice I got from the Alzheimer's society a while back about doing some fundraising by hosting a coffee break (one can do it at their place of work, or in their apartment block, or health club, wherever). Here's the link for more info http://www.alz.org/join_the_cause_coffee_break.asp
So, when I got this challenge it reminded me of that and since I can't host anything I thought at least I can donate something to the cause.

Again, I liked this challenge this week. We'll see what next week brings!

Turning Black and White into Colour Without Photoshop!

2011-08-05T14:05:00.002-05:00

This was the challenge, to turn the black and white photo on the left
back into colour using your artistic skills. Yikes!
As you can see I altered the photo to strengthen the composition,
take out the distractions. The top right is the eye entry point (I got rid of
the dangling blind cords) and decided I really wanted the plant
to be the focus. I added more room to the left side of the
paintings, so we could see the left side of the glass decanter and
to properly frame the subjects within in the frame. Also I changed
the position of the lock from the centre of the window to the side,
that way, the elements balanced themselves better in the frame.

"On My Windowsill" 4" x 6" oil on canvas panel
buy this painting here

As part of the DPW artist community I have been looking into their painting challenges and decided to take up the latest challenge of taking a supplied black and white image and then turning that image into colour. Much to my surprise it was actually fun! I'd always wanted to do this but never seemed to give it the time. Not until the challenge that is : )

So here is my colour solution. You had to ascribe the right colour values to the corresponding grey scale of values in the original photo. The colour I utilized was basically a blue/green and orange - so I believe that is a split complementary coupled with mother colour theory. My palette was ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, cadmium lemon yellow, alizarin crimson, and titanium white.

Oddly the terra cotta planter was what attracted me. Guess I wasn't a crow or raven in another life (glittery, sparkly things attract those feathered critters, as people have found all kinds of bobbles and bright things in their nests). Probably just a mud thrower (pottery gal). Love pottery, and terra cotta has a special place in my heart.

This was a rewarding experience. Glad I took the time to do it.

NEW! Moon Ascending Blue Mountain

2011-08-02T16:21:00.003-05:00

Click to Buy

After the control of execution of yesterday's painting, "Summer Moon Over Venice", I just had to bust out and the result is," Moon Ascending Blue Mountain". It's on a bigger panel (6" x 6") and the subject matter lends itself to a more rugged application. I don't know if you can tell, but I have always admired Inuit art, and also if you have heard of him, Nicholas Roerich (you can learn more about him here http://www.roerich.org/wwp.html). He was part of the Theosophist's movement and spent many years in Tibet doing these amazing paintings. All gouache on cardboard/canvas, if you can believe that!

Himalayas. Morning. 1937
Tempera on canvas - 44 x 78 cm
artist Nicholas Roerich

I so love this painting that I will probably do a larger one on stretched canvas. Maybe a 10" x 10" or 12" x 12". It would look fantastic on a 24" x 24" but that's better done in my new studio in September. I love the yin and yang of my painting, the rugged masculine if you will, mountains with the yin (feminine) moon ascending behind them on a light magenta/lavender night sky. It's a nicely balanced and strong piece. Did I mention I loved it? Lol!

Moon Over Venice - Beauty Meets Discipline

2011-08-01T12:53:00.004-05:00

Click to Bid!

This painting was not finished in an hour. Oh no. More like 5 hours. Yes, this little 5"x 6" oil painting took over 5 hours. Why? Attention to detail my friend, attention to detail. That and finding it face down in the palette - mysteriously it had toppled over, over night, and did a perfect face plant in my wet paint palette that laid right underneath it. I just laughed. I wiped it off and went back to work.

Alla prima painting (wet on wet) oil painting requires cleaning your brushes constantly to keep the colour true. Because this is a small painting and there was so much detail that made for slow going, but the results are are very much worth it. This was also a good exercise in subtle color values. There wasn't a lot of high drama in this painting to get your attention so it really needed to be well designed, and a good understanding of colour values and their placement had to be implemented. My colour palette consisted of ultramarine blue, cad yellow light, raw umber, cassel earth, a smidge of viridian and burnt sienna and of course, titanium white.

So here it is. I just LOVE the peacefulness of it. The barely rippling water, the full moon over the Venetian architecture with blue-tarped gondolas swaying back and forth gently on the surface of the water. THAT is what kept me working on this painting. If I didn't love the subject matter, then when I found it face down in wet paint that would have been a wrap. If you love what you are doing, what you are working on or for, that can carry you through some tough or tedious times my friends.

NEW Art Auction! An Attack of the Cutes!

2011-07-31T16:37:00.003-05:00

Click to Bid!

Okay I've hat an attack of the cutes lately. I admit it. The result? This extremely cute little 5"x7" oil painting titled "I Bring You Daisies Two". Yes, this rabbit is a distant relative of Yoda - see the ear family resemblance? Painted from life, I set up this little still life and I guess there still is a little girl inside of me that can appreciate the cute, the kind, the sweet.

Perfect for a shower or child's first birthday gift or for that little girl (or boy) that still resides within your friends, family, or yourself. I'm lucky - even after I sell this piece, I at least get to have the image to output as cards or a print for myself. That's the side benefits of being an artist and loving what you do, literally.

NEW! APAD challenge "A Bit of Begonia" on Auction Now!

2011-07-28T16:19:00.002-05:00

Click to Bid!

The painting challenge was to do a painting of Nature, working on location, using only the colours ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow light or medium, cadmium red, and use only white in the cools (for shadows or distant foliage, hills, etc.), use only 3 brush sizes, only soft edges, paint from dark to light, saving the small brush to do just highlights, complete the painting in an hour. I think that was it. Well I managed to do all the parameters except not using white in the flower itself. There was just no way I was going to butcher this lovely, delicate, salmon/pink/cream yellow begonia with just cad yellow and red. It would have looked hideous!

I didn't have much to select from as most of my balcony flowers were burned, dried up and dropped off due to that prolonged heat wave we had but surprisingly the begonias kept going strong. I am really happy with how this little dittie turned out. Nothing like a challenge to get the creative juices flowing - either that or the fear of complete failure! Hah!

Art Auction - Prime Time Cherries!

2011-07-27T15:29:00.005-05:00

Click to Purchase!

Okay, after doing the first painting I was hooked and just needed to do a bigger and badder, even more tantalizing trio of cherries. This one reminds of me of them now being ready for the spotlight, for the big stage, they're ready for Prime Time! I love the painterly way they came out with a slight illustrative style to it yet still strong and forthright. These cherries are definitely larger than life!
Titled "Show Time!" this latest oil painting is 5" x 7" and done on gessoed canvas board. I envision framed in deep wood walnut frame that has a bronze or gold-leafed underpainting showing through or very modern with a white matt and either a silver, warm silver or white gold metal frame. Either way it would look dynamite!

Join My Facebook Fan/Collector Page - Win a Painting!

2011-07-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

That's right, join me at my artist's face book fan/collector page and when I finish my 100th APAD (a painting a day) painting I will draw, at random, a name from my 'likers' and that person will receive an contemporary, original oil painting, by myself, valued anywhere from $35 to $100! Yep, that's right. I'm doing it to celebrate my artistic rebirth and also to show how much I appreciate my supporters. So if you haven't joined my facebook page yet, there's no time like the present!

Sumptuous Cherries in Oils

2011-07-26T13:52:00.001-05:00

Click here to Bid!

Okay, who DOESN'T think cherries are beautiful, sensual reflective red/wine/burgundy orbs of pure deliciousness? I just had to do a little oil painting (and I think there might be a few more in the works) to pay them homage. This one is titled "We Cherries Three" a 2 7/8" x 4 7/8" oil painting on canvas board. They were listed just today for auction so don't miss a great price opportunity!

Happy Hillside Daisies!

2011-07-24T19:53:00.002-05:00

Straight from the playful imagination,
my 5" x 7" oil painting on canvas board titled
"Happy Hillside Daisies"!

Okay, I'm having an attack of the cute and happy. I don't know where it comes from. I just have to let it come out or it bugs me forever. So here it is - daisies, living, breathing and joyful to be alive. They dot a very happy green hillside that rolls out to a sweet, warm, dreamy horizon. Where ever this place is, there is only joy and happiness. Nothing else could stand it! Lol!

What's Great About a Heat Wave?

2011-07-22T01:54:00.000-05:00

Well, the heat wave continues and the one thing that makes it great? I can't really do anything but indoor stuff so there's no pull to go out and enjoy the great weather when you would get heat stroke in minutes if you did.

Working on some new paintings and will post them asap which might not be too long considering that this heat isn't going anywhere soon.

Back on Track and Another One Hour Oil Painting!

2011-07-18T01:45:00.000-05:00

"Nobleton Daisies" 5" x 7" oil on canvas panel

The dust is settling and I got back in the saddle to do more APAD (a painting a day) one hour oil paintings. I felt in the mood for daisies so pulled up some reference shots and put down what you see here. I must say, it's not what I thought I'd do, it's not what I wanted to do, but I had to stay true to what the painting wanted to be. So here it is. One of my friends was very taken by it and said "You HAVE to do that as a large painting!" "Funny," I said "Forty minutes into it I hated it and was going to chuck it aside, but, I knew I had to follow through and just be true to what that painting wanted to be, not what I wanted it to be". In the end, I am glad I did.

So here it is, for you daisy lovers out there. Enjoy!

Painter Found a New Apartment!

2011-07-12T15:44:00.001-05:00

It's been confirmed. I have a new apartment. Now I can stop the whirlwind tour of where-the-heck-am-I-going-to-live and put myself and my home back together again and maybe, just maybe, get out a painting today. Hmmm, maybe an illustration of the dark abyss of possible homelessness I was imagining. Just when you think you have some ground under your feet - Whoosh!

Painter Interrupted

2011-07-08T13:33:00.000-05:00

If you have come by to see the latest oil painting and it's not here it's because I am out looking for a new place to live. Yep, just got the notice the other day that the company that owns the building is redoing ALL almost 200 balconies. That means jackhammering every day all day long for over a year. The landlord denies it will be noisy. The landlord is, well, adrift from reality.

So as soon as I can I will be back at it. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for keeping tabs on me. I will be back!!!

The Queen of Serious

2011-07-05T20:28:00.000-05:00

"The Queen of Serious" 5" x 7" oil panel painting

Now THIS was a challenge. I have done a lot of portraiture in my day BUT usually I have several days to a few weeks to complete them in. Today - 60 minutes. My GOD! I have never moved so fast on a portrait before and to be honest, I took one hour and twenty minutes. If I didn't take the extra twenty minutes her title would have been "The Queen of Zombies".

All in all I like her! Man, it was an amazing trip painting so fast! It is not my style but I will say it makes me much better in seeing and I like the work better. The color is fresh and the brush strokes are fast and alive! Even though the person is intense and dramatic looking, the background approach lightens the mood and makes her have a slightly light-hearteded mischievous side.

What to do next? Check back tomorrow to find out.

Juicy Red Strawberries!

2011-07-04T15:50:00.000-05:00

So juicy! Just like oils. Yum!

Here's my latest, straight from my own strawberries back in Saskatoon. They're just SO beautiful, red, ripe, inspiring. Done in an hour, in oils on a 4" x 5" canvas board support. There is just something about the ripe, rich and vibrant reds of strawberries. Nothing says summer has begun, more than that.

Now to post this little dittie for sale on my Etsy storefront. Today is another day and another new painting will arrive. Check back tomorrow to see what it is! See you then : )

Beautiful Summer Oranges, Sky Blues

2011-07-03T16:19:00.002-05:00

My muse, summer oranges.

I tried to want to paint something else, but all I could see, could feel, were summer oranges, sky blues and greens. So the day's Painting of the Day - Summer oranges! I swear when I started to paint this (from photo reference) I could SMELL oranges. It was a strange yet most pleasant experience. The scent gradually faded as I continued to work. But how wonderful!

This is my latest painting for my ongoing painting challenge "A Painting a Day - executed in an hour" series. I believe this is number four. Number five is waiting outside. I saw several paintings on my walk yesterday so out I go to capture them before the sun goes down or it starts to storm. Check back tomorrow to see what it is!

Three Days, Three Only-One-Hour-to-Paint-Them-In Paintings!

2011-07-02T14:00:00.000-05:00

Done in just an hour, this painting was an exhilarating challenge!

I found this image amongst my reference photos and immediately loved the photo's composition, color and subject matter. Here was my inspiration for my daily painting with only one hour to execute it. Let's go!

It was both exhilarating and terrifying as you have to decide on the fly what to keep in and what to lose and what colour values to lay down! I don't usually find automobiles inspiring but loved this little Mini Cooper and it's like drawing/painting anything else - you have to pay attention, find relationships between components and most importantly, putting down the right colour values!

After a frenetic hour it was done! I did have to stop two-thirds of the way through to clean the over 25 brushes that I employed. You have to have clean brushes to put down those values accurately. But then I was back at it for the remaining 20 minutes. That hour just FLIES by.

Mini-Coopers are unbelievably cute. I imagined this one
going feral into the countryside without it's owner, free at last!

Here is the original reference photo cropped to compose a well-balanced and strong composition. Notice the house in the upper left corner acting as a counter-balance to the Mini. With the dynamic lines of the road, roadside grass cute lines and fence poles there is a lot of action in this image with the rolling curve of the green hills and rounded edges of the trees to again, achieve a counter balance. The first step to a successful image is to make sure the composition is strong and the subject matter captivating and I think this little dittie does just that. From a strong composition comes a strong painting.

True Inspiration - You Can't Fake It

2011-07-01T18:28:00.005-05:00

An photo of friendship was the inspiration for
the one hour painting session that produced this painting.

Each person's inspiration is as intimate as relationship as you can get. I struggled to get inspired for my second daily painting sessions. Nothing and I mean NOTHING was doing it for me. I looked through my large log of photos and finally came upon it. It as a photo snapped several years ago as I took a very bored, apartment-bound cat out for a walk. I have since learned that cats don't "walk" well. However my cat was no longer bored and had ample dream material for weeks.

I love that photo. Even though it is from the back it captures each of our spirits so well, independently and how we are with each other, our friendship.

The original photo.

Since I only had an hour it really forces you to get on with it and it's amazing in that I find that is makes me paint in a more direct and painterly, if you will, manner. You get to SEE the action - where the paint was laid down, the moment to moment decisions the painter quickly had to make. It forces you to really pay attention. It also calls upon the skills of the artist, years and years of drawing skills, color theory execution and good design sense. And yet, it still is a gamble cause you never really know if it is going to succeed or not.

The drawing I did earlier was not of the photo, it was a life drawing that was, well, just not inspired but I did it anyway. For the painting though, because it draws so much effort from the painter, it must be a subject that somehow inspires them or they'll probably paint the subject in the same way they feel about it - in a boring and mechanical way.

Today is another day and another painting awaits. What will inspire me today? Check back by later tonight or tomorrow to find out!

Back from the Parched Lands of Uninspired Existence

2011-06-29T23:06:00.005-05:00

My first "One hour A Painting a Day" painting.
It's an oil on a 4" x 6" canvas board.

Click here to Bid!

I'm back. Man what a drought! I have been through the parched lands of Uninspiration. I don't even care if that's a word or not. It exists, a cold, dry, desert land where the winds never stop blowing and the sun barely illuminates the land. Sounds like Saskatchewan in January, but I digress.

I had to leave the apartment for 2 days as they were testing the air raid fire alarm system all day long for 2 days and there is no way I could have stayed sane through that. I got out of the big city and finally found, some land, some wild, quiet country land. As I photographed the scenery, flora, fauna and such, I felt a stirring, in what remained of my soul. I was coming alive again.

Then some friends came over when I got back. Both artists. The apartment was transformed into an creative speakeasy. It was fantastic. Through that exchange a pact was made - we would help keep each other inspired and so was born the one drawing and a painting a day (but you only have an hour to do that painting in) challenge.

So here is the first drawing I have done since God knows when.

Here is a 10 to 15 minute contour drawing. A little hideous but you
just have to get the bugs out. Some nice areas though.

Then the sketch for the painting done in with a raw sienna water color pencil.

Drawing right from the plant I quickly sketch out
and under painting drawing to paint upon

I decided to go with oils. I haven't painted in oils since I think since last February. I have been working predominantly in acrylics for quite some time but I wanted a change. Wow, did I make the right move. Painting in oils is like painting a dream. I forgot how much I loved them. This painting was done with Winsor Newton and Gamblin oils. No mediums were used. Because of health reasons and also to reduce volatiles being released into the atmosphere, I just work strictly with the oil paints and push them around with my brush and let them just be who they are. I must say, they responded brilliantly.

So there you have it. My first APAD (a painting a day) one hour painting. It's good to be back.

Imagining the Hereafter

2011-06-01T01:33:00.005-05:00

Inspired by a friend and professional psychic, Barb Powell, I whipped up this image for her invitation to submit an image depicting psychic abilities in action. I had the whole month of May to submit an image but NOTHING came to mind that I liked, until today, May 31st.

So at 8 pm tonight (with a half hour break) I started and with no time to get reference for the visual in mind's eye I began. I finished at 11 pm and that left an hour to photograph and upload it before midnight. Reminds me of my old days as an in-house designer/illustrator, pulling all nighters and screaming in to submit the final to the ad agency. Does it make me pine for those days gone by? Nope.

This little piece was done in professional grade Golden and Winsor and Newton acrylics on 8" x 6" canvas board. I enjoyed the challenge and my favourite are the spirits in the upper left hand corner.

If you ever need a highly ethical, accurate and compassionate psychic, check Barb out at

http://www.barb-powell.com/

Artheal.org - I am now an official healing artist on their website!

2011-05-28T17:30:00.003-05:00

Very happy to announce my membership in this art and healing organization. You can find me under the "inspiration" tab, scroll down to "healing artists", medium is "painting and drawing" and the category is "healthcare and healing illness" and I am at the bottom of the first page of artists. What a fantastic site - Love it!

Self-Healing with Greens, Whites, Water Lilies and Trees

2011-05-28T16:31:00.006-05:00

print titled "Water Lilies - Heal" 8 1/2" x 11" and ACEO size 3 1/2" x 2 1/2"

Her is the first in the water lily series of Healing Greens paintings. This fine art print is from the first of my Green Healing Series - "Water Lily Healing". I took the idea of how regenerative yet peace-inducing it can be to be near a pond of water (or gently floating on it by boat) with the gorgeous growth of water lilies. The many hues of green, blue, white and a touch of yellow transmits this very calming yet quietly invigorating ability. Just gazing upon it, with the word "heal" that gently comes through, with the touch of the feminine healing energy, encourages us to relax and just let the healing take place. All is well, even if it isn't, it is.

Now available at my Etsy online store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GwensArtDreamscape
Look forward to more in the near future!

A Promise of Things to come

2011-05-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

This is how it started out, my latest healing painting attempt. Greens, whites, lily pads, white lily flowers and blue sky, all these things to go into a 24" x 24" peaceful, healing painting. That is my hope anyway.

I like the beginning of it. I never know what a painting will be. Follow me and see.

A Large Order of ACEOs Finally Shipped!

2011-05-03T20:15:00.000-05:00

I just sent out this order of ACEOs to a lovely woman in the U.S. I was just about to not offer ACEO reproductions in my store any longer as they are time-consuming and kind of picky but she changed my mind. In fact, I have decided to expand my ACEO selection AND establish a line of

fine art cards as well.

And those cards sure do look pretty, all laid out like that, don't they? : )

Hey Balcony Container Gardeners!

2011-04-14T20:14:00.002-05:00

Balcony container gardeners unite! This will be my third year of balcony container gardening and I have decided to start a blog to share what does and doesn't work. If you are like me, living in less than ideal conditions for gardening then you may get some ideas. I include a photo of my first balcony container garden experience. The lettuce was fantastic! I got a few handful of beans from that bean plant but the tomatoes, well, sadly, nothing. I used soil specifically for containers and as organic as I could find.

Here's the link for my new Toronto Balcony Container blog.
http://tobalconygardening.blogspot.com/

I think I am in zone 6b or 6a. My balcony is on the 19th floor and faces west. I am excited to see what this year will bring and what I will learn! Join me, won't you : )

My Spring Dream

2011-04-07T23:39:00.004-05:00

At the end of my last painting I just couldn't throw out all the paint that was left so I decided to just "whip something up" specifically dealing with greens and this is what I got - straight out of me head, no reference material at all. For you gamers out there, this reminds me of a scene out of Heroes of Might and Magic. What can I say? You get influenced by EVERYTHING as an artist. : )

It's a little 4" x 5" original acrylic painting on canvas board that fits in your hand. It's titled "My Spring Dream" and it is cause I'm still waiting for some warm weather and green stuff to show up! Come one already spring - it's been a long, gray cold winter.

Come by my Etsy shop to see it and more!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/GwensArtDreamscape

Your visual antidepressant - Voice your Creativity!

2011-04-06T20:19:00.002-05:00

Here she is, your natural de-stressor and anti-depressant titled "Voice your Creativity to the Heavens!" However it is not coming out of the darkness but literally materializing out of the lightness. It has a very calming yet uplifting affect and it mellows me out and makes me happier just looking at it. It is a 4" x 5" acrylic painting with some gorgeous texture. It feels like it's emerging from summer clouds and I LOVE that!

Fair warning, If you love my work and having always been wanting to purchase one act sooner than later as I am increasing my prices as of April 15th, 2011.

The Birth of Pocket Chakra Eye Candy!

2011-03-31T22:30:00.001-05:00

THIS is the premiere piece of a new line of paintings called "pocket chakras" as they are small enough to be transported to work or home being only 4" x 5" but still big enough to pack a visual punch! Wondering how the hell this came to be? Follow me, let's walk n' talk.

First was was two weeks of incredible stress which left me feeling like this.

I got zero painting done during that time as the will to paint was crushed. Then when I finally righted my ship (got rid of the factors that were causing the stress), almost immediately, it came to me.

I quickly jotted the "vision" down and then expanded it immediately to this.

I won't get into it, but the multi-level stress situation that had been hugely interrupting my life and my sleep (I don't need any help in that area as I already deal with chronic, ongoing, insomnia) I finally figured it all out. I used my creative problem-solving skills and my voice, my voice to communicate what needed to be communicated. And, that ended the situation and all that stress melted away

and the painting "Voice Your Creativity" literally burst forth and onto the scene.

Combining the strengths of blue (communication/voice chakra) and orange (creativity/sexuality/emotionality chakra), and reinforcing them with the power of the corresponding words, well, I just sat back amazed. I literally just let this one come forward and made it pretty. Pretty powerful!

From the darkness bursts forth light and life.

And that's how this little gem, and a whole new line of healing/motivating/manifestational artwork, was born.

How to Frame a Cat

2011-03-31T12:59:00.002-05:00

Cats find the darndest places.

I was working on framing some pieces and had just put one frame on top of my drawer unit with other little frame cut off pieces inside of it, turned around to doing something else for a minute or two, turned back and, wallah, framed cat. Easy as that. Wouldn't you know she'd pick the gold frame. No shrinking violet this one and I wouldn't have her any other way.

Just a smidge of cute for all you cat lovers out there : )

Have ya ever been to sea Billy?

2011-03-23T17:41:00.005-05:00

Well, first off, my name is Gwen and secondly, no, no I haven't and I don't want to be. I am a land lovin' lubber and that's the way I'll stay tell me dyin' day. The view looks best from here anyway : )

My latest, 8" x 4" original acrylic on canvas board. I think the light house is the one from Peggy's Cove. I wanted to use a complementary palette featuring the color opposites (complements) of blue and orange. That's my new favourite colour palette. Watch out for more beautiful reinvigorating bright blues and creativity stimulating oranges!

This Healthy Deodorant causes Cancer?!

2011-03-19T14:58:00.001-05:00

Yep, according to the Environmental Working Group it rated in the red with a 7 out of 10 for containing ingredients that may do harm. The ingredient that caused the real trouble was that it contained "fragrance" and since the company does not define what that fragrance is, they got penalized for it. Also, this product contains lemon peel oil which at low doses can be a skin irritant and at high doses causes tumour formation. Nice. I had noticed that my skin did become somewhat irritated, especially if I had just shaved as there is both the lemon peel and alcohol in it. It works not too bad but Alba had a great natural deodorant that DID work really nicely.

It rated a 2 out of ten, so basically, great by EWG standards. Problem is, Alba no longer ships product to Canada. *sniff, sniff*

Since this blog and the art I do is focused on healing the body, mind and spirit I have decided that I will also post information on products, treatments, etc., that have proven to be helpful to me. This was just one of those discoveries that I had to share.

To learn more from the Environmental Working Group and what sunscreens, personal beauty and bath items and food that are safe and/or safer go to their website

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

With summer coming you'll want to be as safe in the sun as you can be and that includes what you slather on your skin!

So Cute I Can Barely Stand It!

2011-03-12T13:49:00.004-06:00

http://www.flixxy.com/pet-penguin-goes-shopping.htm

I mean he (she) has a penguin knapsack on and everything. I think I am going to explode

from sheer cute overload!

Enjoy this one!

Gold in my Back Yard

2011-02-26T14:42:00.000-06:00

Isn't this amazing!? The artist is Akycha Surette and it is a large Raku mural - raku-fired ceramics, 22" wide by 14.25 high. I am in awe. The artist is represented by Petroff Gallery here in Toronto (you're welcome) and I just had to post this piece. It's fine subtlety, exquisite execution, harmonious colour composition, I mean, this artist is a master in their field, of that there is no doubt.

I never thought of hanging a ceramic painting, if you will, on my wall before. Now I know it's beautifully possible.

Here's the link if you want to see more of this artist's beautiful work.
http://www.petroffgallery.com/artists/show/114

Bigger, Brighter, Better!

2011-02-17T22:30:00.007-06:00

In case you're getting a feeling of deja vu, yes I did do a small 5" x 7" original oil that I titled "Joyburst", see below

But I wanted to do it in a larger format and in acrylics so I set about painting it on an 11" x 14" stretched canvas and was, well, seldom I say this but I was VERY happy with how it turned out.

When you compare the two paintings you'll see they are somewhat different. I kept the composition similar but had to make some additions as the 11" x 14" format meant I had to make adjustments to the design accordingly. When you design a well-working painting, if you change just one element, EVERYTHING changes and it can be a big headache, but I was able to adjust it without too much trouble. Can you pick out the difference? It's kind of like "where's Waldo".

One of the strengths of acrylic is the colors just POP! One of my friends and fans said it looked just like summer sherbet, good enough to lick! Hah! I loved that one. Yes, it's like being a kid again without any knowledge of anything really bad, just swinging on a swing with an ice cream (or sherbet) ice cream cone running down your hand and you don't even care. It's summer and the world is yours to play with!

Sigh, yep, that's how this painting makes me feel and I hope it makes you feel that carefree too!

As Promised, a How-To on painting the "Rabbit Pointing at the Moon"

2011-02-04T22:52:00.002-06:00

Here is where it started, an idea. With the Year of the Rabbit here it was a perfect excuse to paint a wise wabbit. I love rabbits, what can I say. It's Bugs Bunny meets Zen. And then there's the moon, a full moon, water, mountains in the background. Let the magic begin!

So I quickly sketched it out, on notebook paper (okay, it was the closest paper and when an idea strikes you just gotta get it down). It needed to be enlarged, slightly. For this I scanned it then increased the size in photoshop then output it from my printer.

I then conte the back of the image I am going to transfer onto the gessoed hard panel. I want to illustrate this image without a canvas texture behind it.

Here's the panel sans canvas. Quadruple gessoed hard board. Like snow on an open field, just smaller.

I tape the image over the panel, making sure it is centered properly.

Here I have traced over the image with an HB sharp pencil. I realized I had forgotten to place a shadow in front of the wabbit. I just note it so that I will do it on the final.

Here's the image transferred. Hilarious that I missed the hand that has the finger pointing at the moon. Not to worry though, I just wing it from the original when I do the final.

I tape the hardboard to a larger stretched canvas so I can lift it off the easel without fussing with the edges. I keep the original near by for reference.

Time to figure out the colour palette. I decide on a split complementary palette combined with mother color theory again. I use titanium white with cadmium yellow light for the mother color, both Golden brand acrylic paint.

Then I sketch out the little guy. I recognize after doing this rough sketch that the moon looks much better as I do it here rather than being a whole full moon higher in the sky. A friend actually pointed out that they like the sketch better than the original pencil drawing. They were right! I find it is always helpful to stay flexible in the process because you never know when you will find something brilliant along the way.

Here's the palette:

Cadmium Yellow Light - Golden

Permanent Rose - Winsor Newton

Permanent Alizarin Crimson - Winsor Newton

Alizarin Crimson Hue - Golden

Cerulean and Manganese blue (not used)

Ultramarine Blue - Winsor Newton

Ultramarine Blue - Golden

Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Ivory Black (not used)

Titanium White: Golden

I did other colour palette schemes but settled on the violet/yellow split complementary as it suited the mood best of what I wanted the image to convey.

And again, here is the final. I am sorry but I could not stop every so often to take shots in progress as I just had to keep moving. It was like a dance, painting this image. Acrylics dry fast so you have to work fast. I love how the water turned out, and the moon, sky and stars. You'll notice I changed the rabbit to a female as noting that in eastern astrology, the rabbit is a feminine (yin) sign. I reduced the size of her neck and shoulders and that did it. Also her feet aren't showing - that is because I thought a robe would be more appropriate. Her necklace is a glowing moon pendant. I love her ears, her eyes and the peaceful non-judgemental expression as she points the way while sitting contentedly in the middle of a lake. This painting is just, well, magic!

It's the Year of the Metal Rabbit!

2011-02-03T00:25:00.003-06:00

Here's to the Rabbit! My creation "Meditative Rabbit Pointing at the Moon". It's a 5" x 7" acrylic original done quadruple gessoed hard board. Ain't she a beaut! The rabbit is a yin sign, so I made her female, even though in the original it was sketched out as male. I will make a second post to follow to show the process of her creation, for all you art nerds out there : )

The rabbit is part of the Eastern (Chinese) Zodiac and is fourth in line, in between the tiger and dragon. The year we are just leaving was the year of the Tiger, and what a year THAT has been. World turbulence, riots, uprisings, civil unrest, high drama, all the Tiger's style. Not at all mine by the way. That is why I am so glad it is now the Year of the Rabbit. With it should come a calming down and return to sanity. We can now hobble off to our favourite chair and tend to the wounds that were inflicted. We will have time for enjoyment and money should come in a bit more easily. Diplomacy is a rabbit trait so let's hope we'll see some repair in the international world relationships.

That is why I painted this image, I wanted to show how peaceful and wise this year could be. All we have to do is stop. Stop to reflect, meditate and come to the realization that this life is like her finger pointed at the moon. If you want to get REALLY deep, here's a great explanation of what that actually means in spiritual terms go the link at the bottom of this post.

You can find this painting, celebrating this Year of the Metal Rabbit, in my Etsy store but hurry. Something tells me she won't last too long there : )

Happy Chinese New Years to you all!

http://www.awakeblogger.com/2008/11/the-meaning-of-the-finger-pointing-to-the-moon/

Sky Mandala - Ready for your sacred space!

2011-01-28T07:49:00.007-06:00

Finished just this week, "Sky Mandala" is illuminating, peaceful and transcendental-ish. Honestly to look upon it, you just feel so peaceful and content. It's ready to bring it's radiance to any corner or sacred space in your home. It named itself - "Sky Mandala". I was informed that it resembled an Yantra, which, according to wikipedia is "Traditionally such symbols are used in Eastern mysticism to balance the mind or focus it on spiritual concepts". It's done on an 8" x 8" professional oil on canvas board and it's truly a beautiful and uplifting piece. Whomever possesses it will be blessed indeed.

Some like it HOT!

2011-01-27T17:45:00.002-06:00

Almost too hot to handle this little oil gem was the result of sitting down and wanting to paint something hot and joyful. Well it really feels hot, like you just did a hike in the Sierra's and are looking across the mountain range during the sun setting on a hot summer's day. Warming, gorgeous and well, pass me the canteen Samantha. See what happens when the cold snap in January lasts a bit too long? Enjoy the heat!

Constructing a Whirling Dervish

2011-01-25T17:59:00.001-06:00

"Whirling Dervishes" 4" x 5" original acrylic © Gwen Duda

I have always found the Whirling Dervishes amazing and I finally had a reason to put them to paint and canvas.

First we start with some palette work - which colours to use, what colour palette to construct. Also how to illustrate the whirling Dervish. Should he or she be solo or in a group? What colours and values to use? Note I started with a red/green idea but changed it after realizing it was not creating the right mood. Also I could see that we needed to have yellow (raw sienna/cadmium yellows) involved here. But it needed more than that.

Onward with the color workings. You'll see in the lower right hand area of the photo a color chart made of my yellow ochres to raw umber. Yes, I have a LOT of paints. I don't even want to think of the $$$ in paint I have but, this gives you some idea. In the upper left I am working out colour theory - and decide on a combination of a trapezoid for balance worked in with mother colour theory.

Here is the trapezoid. It's a yellow (raw sienna) with orange (burnt sienna) with alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue (combined for the violet). You could call it triangular but really and yes, in theory that would work, but I wanted to figure out how exactly this would work and ultramarine blue needed to be in the mix.

So in the final art work, it appears to be a gold (yellow) violet and burnt orange (burnt sienna) painting but there is blue in there, oh yes there is. Good colour theory, good design and execution is crucial to a good painting and it takes careful planning to have a successful painting. Oh yes it does : )

To purchase a reproduction of "Whirling Dervishes" please go here.

"Flying Without Wings" Creativity in Adversity

2011-01-17T00:09:00.002-06:00

If you deal with a disability of some kind or have experienced losses over which you had no control to stop, then this book is for you.

Imagine just finishing your internship, you're a full-fledged doctor MD and an aspiring tennis champion, about to take Europe by storm and within hours, you go from being in the best shape of your life with all kinds of opportunity open in front of you to the total loss of your body and are completely confined to an iron lung with decades of life still to be lived. How bout them apples - how would you cope?

Everyone has something to deal with in their life and it is exactly that, HOW they deal with it, what opportunities they see even in what might appear to be opportunity denied.

I highly recommend this book. It will change the way you think, and that, can be everything.

I include the link below of a documentary promo of Dr. Bessier's story.
http://livestrup.com/film/FlyingWithoutWings/

Need Some Sunergy!? Here is "Sun Joy Burst" to the Rescue!

2011-01-11T18:34:00.002-06:00

   Just in time for the new year, one of my "Healing Hues Art - positive paintings for healing, energizing and mediation" here she is all finished, my little power-packed oil titled "Sun Joy Burst"!
   Do you need some surging summer energy? Packed with the strength of the pure positive energy of nature - this little oil
painting contains a tremendous creative punch! It is light-hearted, playful, creative, positive, happy and unrelentingly so! Various shades of orange, gold, light greens, yellows, with turquoise sky blue and touches of magenta - these are the positive, strong yet light, energy colors.
   Painted on a 5" x 7" canvas board in professional artist's oils this painting will outlast it's creator and then some with no colour fade. It's energy will continue for many, many years. Happy New Year!

When kid's monster drawings become REAL!

2011-01-03T18:05:00.002-06:00

I came across this today and was just blown away! I love the kid's drawings and just love what this guy, Dave Devries - a comic book illustrator, has done with them! It's a project that started in 2005 and got 17 millions hits in it's first month! Wow - I am humbled dude!

Click on the link below to see more! Man I LOVE these!
http://www.themonsterengine.com/

See my "first day at school" hair cut and my 2010 Art Year in Review!

2011-01-01T00:51:00.003-06:00

Click on the link above to see my art year in review!

And they call it puppy love - Winnipeg Free Press

2010-12-29T14:04:00.002-06:00

I read this story and just needed to give it more exposure, please, read on.

Maybe it was the body of a frozen puppy, with a living, breathing pup standing less than a metre away, oblivious to the carcass. Maybe it was the dogs with wagging tails that bobbed their heads for a friendly pat from the stranger in the RCMP uniform. Or the kids who'd tell the constable where one pup or another was holed up, homeless and hungry.

Before Christmas, RCMP Const. Gennifer Furkalo sent a letter to the editor of her local paper in Neepawa in an effort to save the feral packs of neglected dogs roaming wild in Shamattawa.

She said her letter sparked responses that overwhelmed her as much for the negative stereotypes they reflected as for positive offers of help.

"I'm trying to do a good deed. I didn't know it would be as controversial as it was," Furkalo said from the remote northern outpost. "I've gotten a lot of reactions. There are lots of people willing to help."

Seven people have offered to adopt dogs. "I've had responses from all over Manitoba, from across Canada."

Furkalo said the Winnipeg Humane Society has offered to fly in a spay-and-neuter clinic if she can raise $1,000 to pay for airfare for the vets and $25 per dog to be fixed.

She figures she's spent upwards of $2,000 feeding animals and deworming some of them. She's shipped seven dogs south since October at $80 per dog. "Max, a husky cross, went to Brandon. He was about four months old. Remi went to Portage. She was about three months."

Shamattawa is a fly-in Cree community 750 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. The population of 1,400 people has an average income of $15,000 a year, and less than 200 people have a high school diploma, according to Indian Affairs.

Furkalo said she's doing her best to ignore stereotypes that fill feedback comments on media websites related to her appeal for help.

"There is a lot of negative light shed on northern communities," she said, adding it is true attitudes towards pets are vastly different on First Nations communities compared with southern suburbs. "I can understand the community's point of view. The dogs are seen as a nuisance."

The 23-year-old was transferred to Shamattawa at the end of September, her second posting with the RCMP. Her first was Gillam.

"The first thing I saw was the amount of animals. It was saddening," she said. Dogs occasionally attack kids, but not often, she said. For the most part, the dogs are not vicious.

"These are dogs that are hungry. You see them sitting beside houses. They want to be part of a family and they're all over town. There's no doubt, definitely, there are hundreds," Furkalo said.

The First Nation keeps conducts routine culls every three months. It's not a practice Furkalo supports. "I have a soft side for animals. I hope this is a positive project for them."

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca

How to Help: Anyone wishing to help Cst. Furkalo can reach her at Box 180, Shamattawa, MB, ROB 1KO or 204-565-2524.

And they call it puppy love - Winnipeg Free Press

Doctors who dig art do better?

2010-12-21T15:00:00.001-06:00

Yes, they do! An experimental course out of Harvard and a similar class being taught out of McMaster's is having impressive results in developing future doctor's observational skills, awareness of their own biases and being more emotionally attuned to their patients which, in turn, results in more accurate diagnosis.
The humanities has much to teach science, and science is really just beginning to get that. http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Featured_Videos/1555003082/ID=1703826143

Thanks to the CBC for this report.

For the Love of Good Cousins

2010-12-16T22:42:00.003-06:00

I just got back from my annual pilgrimage to visit my Mom. It includes a stop-over at my cousin's as my flights never link up and it always takes two days to get there. Anyway, these cousin's of mine are absolutely stellar people. They have to drive clear across the whole city to pick me up at the airport and take me back there the next day and they make me feel so absolutely comfortable it's truly like a home away from home.

I found out my cousin LOVES palm trees and I decided to do this original acrylic painting (painted on gessoed illustration board) in a format that would fit the frame she had bought for the photos she had taken while in Hawaii but didn't turn out. Soooo, I decided to surprise her and whip this up and mail it to her before Christmas. I just have to varnish it and it's good to go.

I really wish I could have painted this on location!

2011 Official Color - Honeysuckle? Really - Honeysuckle?

2010-12-09T19:18:00.000-06:00

Yep, here it is, the official color of 2011 - Pantone's 18-2120 TCX Honeysuckle. Now don't get me wrong, I am not against this color, in fact, it is a very vibrant, lively and can be, in small amounts, an uplifting and energizing color but this is not the color I would have chosen for this upcoming predicted year of more challenges. After the turquoise reminiscent of the 50's of last year (which depressed me I gotta say) I find this color choice is too forceful in trying to coerce a happy and vibrant atmosphere in the midst of such stress and strain. It offers no relief, and does not succeed in conveying true optimism.

A better choice, IMHO, would have been something like this healing ethereal spring green.

This beautiful uplifting color would have given relief to an over-stimulated and over-stressed society. We are being pushed to deal with many challenges from a variety of areas in life these days and what we REALLY need is a quiet healing escape that is rejuvenating and uplifting. With this then we could then re-enter the fray with renewed energy and and optimism.

So if you are having to have the first honeysuckle color in your home or accessories, to mitigate its possible over-exciting nature couple it with the above color which is in the complementary color to the vibrating honeysuckle. It's all about maintaining a balance or one is under or overstimulated and both can lead to lethargy, depression and rash irrationality. Happy decorating : )

I defended Jackson Pollock tonight to a ten year old art snob

2010-11-26T21:54:00.077-06:00

Jackson Pollack's expressionistic abstract "Lavender Mist"

My acrylic expressionistic abstract "Gathering Forces"

Yes, I, actually defended Jackson Pollock tonight. I don't know which is more ridiculous: that, or that I was doing so to a ten year old arrogant girl who, with completely brazen confidence, stated that she could "...throw paint at a canvas and do it better than Pollock". Yes, better than Pollock. Ten years old and better than Pollock.

Okay, first off I have never been a Pollock fan. I have a tortured memory of studying for an art history class, where at 3 a.m. I read in my art history text, "Jackson Pollock was an artistic genius who exploited the drip.". After a long week of classes, all nighters and deadlines, I almost hurled bodily fluids when I read that line. I shut the book, threw it across the room and went to bed. It was the last thing I wanted to read or see of Pollock. However, that was over twenty years ago and yes, I have changed. Changed from doing realism to a more abstract expressionism/impressionism, and have realized just how difficult it is to do well. In fact, it is the HARDEST thing I have ever tried to do artistically. Realism is easy in comparison.

So back to tonight, at the store where I have my artwork on display. There is a store wide anniversary event going on and there are all kinds of people and their kids there. Very posh, very upper crust. I am perusing an ecobook, and about two yards away I see two girls, aged somewhere between 9 and 11 looking at my large abstract. The taller girl scoffs at the price and then says impetuously, "Oh I could do THAT!".

I can't help myself, the die has been cast. I call over to her, "Really, you could do that?"
She confidently and without flinching strides over and states matter-of-factly, "Yes, yes I could.".
"Oh really", I reply, unimpressed.
"Oh yes, I could do it easy".
"You sound pretty confident about that", I calmly respond, even though I can hear the blood pounding in my ears. Her sidekick chimes in, "Oh yes, she's very confident".
Little Ms. Confident then blurts out, "It's easy, I could throw a bunch of paint at a canvas and be better than Pollock".

That did it. Better than Pollock?! I may have been no fan of Mr. Pollock back in the 80's, but I was young then. Fourteen some years older than little Miss Confident, but still too young to understand. It was at this exact moment that it crystallized, twenty five years later - I get it. I get what it means to be an artist and to struggle to express the verbally inexpressible, visually. I may not fully appreciate the aesthetics of Mr. Pollock's work, HOWEVER, I get what he was trying to do as an artist. His struggle within and without, decades of dedication to his work while people criticized the vulnerable expression of his artistic truth. Better than Pollock, eh?

"So if you think you can do it then, where is your canvas, your paint? Come on now, show me, show me how you can do better than Pollock and don't copy either, something completely fresh and new from your head, right now".

"I don't have any canvas with me", she refutes the challenge but knows she's losing. Yes, yes I am winning a battle of wits with a ten year old!

"Talk is cheap", I calmly retort. A woman walking by, having overheard this exchange, lets out a laugh.

I continue the challenge, "Show me".

There's an awkward moment. Her sidekick tries to change the subject and "show" me some sort of ball thing that she pretends to conjure from thin air in her hand. I look over at her hand she has thrust out towards me. Little Miss Confident, then mimics her friend, in an almost sociopathic calm, and again, in her confident and arrogant way, thrusts her hand passive-aggressively towards my face, showing me, well, nothing. I look down at her, just because of my size mind you. She's shorter so, hey, I had to look down at her and her hand.

"That," looking at her empty hand, "is NOT impressive. "That", pointing to my painting, "IS!".

She was speechless. I didn't wait for a response, I just walked away.

You know, I have never been one to call my work impressive (there is so much room to grow), but I just had to, to make a point. That being that dedicating one's life to something so chided, so skewered, so publicly open to criticism and bracing against the slings and arrows of that criticism while continuing forward to find one's artistic truth, well, that takes pretty big cajones. Well, either that or a thick skull but I'll go with cajones on this one.

There were more artistic challenges to the evening, but I've highlighted this one in particular. Mr. Pollock, I get it, and I am sorry I ever bad-mouthed your work. Who would have thought I would feel a kinship with him, but I sure as heck do, and I would defend his work as strenuously as any other artists'. And amazingly enough, my own work as well. I have little Ms. Confident to thank for that.

When Smaller is Better!

2010-11-14T23:43:00.002-06:00

I don't usually show a painting in the midst of the pangs of becoming but I wanted to share how a brief moment of insight can set EVERYTHING right.

I was having some trouble. I have been working on a large 36" x 24" painting that I wanted to convey the pure unbridled joy of creation. The sun and rays were great, and the river had some good work but the land masses were too hot.

Behold the small format miracle. As I had sat down, once again, in front of the large painting, wondering on how best to work this, an idea, a visual came to me. I needed to sketch out the painting from scratch, small format. So, I resisted inertia, grabbed a 5" x 7" canvas board, some watercolor pencil crayons and manganese blue watercolor and did it. This above was the result!

So you can see, within one hour, I was able to solve the color and design riddle. I will put aside the larger painting, for now, and will work from the color study to create a new painting.

I love when I actually listen to that artistic guidance that whispers in my mind's eye and ear. Sometimes when something isn't working you have to let it go and try something new. I am glad I heeded the call.

The RIGHT frame

2010-11-11T18:00:00.001-06:00

I just finished framing these last night and I must say, the frames just make this triptych SPECTACULAR! It costs more, to frame them then ship them BUT you have to be true to the piece and this piece, well, floater frames were MADE for contemporary art like this! Just compare them to when I posted them earlier on in the blog without framing. They look good but the frames just finish them perfectly.

They'll soon be on their way to Modern Country Interiors in Saskatoon, Canada, for display and sale. I just know they won't last long and, to be honest, it kind of hurts to let them go. They just GLOW. It's like having a fireplace sans fire. Oh well, they're on their way to their new home. Congrats on whomever gets them!

This won $50,000.00 Should it have?

2010-11-03T21:09:00.003-05:00

This was the winner in the 2010 Grange Photographic Canadian and International Competition. It is titled, "Doorknob" and is a chromogenic print by artist, Mr. Kristan Horton.

What do you think, either way, and why?

As for me, well, I had to really peer into it to see what it was at first. If that was one of the criteria, to engage the viewer, it did that. But I was studying to make sense of it, visually and subjectively. If that was another criteria then, check mark again.

Okay, Mr. Horton, I maybe missing some things here but it reminds me of investigative work, trying to see what the medium can do and that is fine, but not as a final subject. It reminds me of, and forgive me, but, kind of taking an image and going a bit crazy with photoshop.

As an artist myself I do hesitate to negatively criticize any artist's work. So this piece is not bad, I just don't think it is a finished work and still has some design issues to work out. That's my humble opinion. However the longer I look at it the more mesmerizing it becomes and I am not being sarcastic. You see, it's the artist mind, always inquisitive, looking more and more into things.

Well that's my take on it. What's yours?

My Naked Dancing Women Fill Me with Joy (and snooty art critics be damned!) says David Miliband

2010-10-31T14:47:00.013-05:00

The "offending" painting shown above the couple.

Who has the right to judge? News story on a self-proclaimed art critic's vicious attack on the middle class AND on artists themselves. Eloquent response from Mr. David Miliband, who would be labelled the middle class art appreciator. Either way, the artist, Ms. Michele Dovey wins, after she finishes applying bandages to the wounds torn open by the art critic. The exposure she has gotten as a result one just can't buy! Good for her!

This photo gained notoriety because the amateur photographer who took it won a contest as a result, but the art-critical vitriol that was heaped on both the couple and the artist who painted the painting shown was jaw-dropping.

Read further to hear the vicious attack and Mr. Milliband's eloquent response to it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1325193/DAVID-MILIBAND-My-naked-dancing-women-joy-damn-snooty-art-critics.html

Am I the Only One in Love with the Moon?

2010-10-26T00:46:00.001-05:00

Every now and then I just have to paint her. The moon. This year there was what was called a super harvest moon. I gazed up upon her from my 19th floor balcony. She was spectacular! Big, bright, beautiful.

So in honour of her I again, paint her, a 4" x 6" oil on canvas board titled "Moon Mountain Water". She is such a part of a woman's life. Think of it. Our cycles use to be set by her before the days of electricity. She is the Yin to the Sun's Yang. Think of how different our world would be if we no longer were able to gaze upon her at night, to have her light our way, to rise our tides. What a dark world it would truly be without her to warm our nights. The sun may be the super star of the day, but the moon rules with a loving hand, the night.

9 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Cancer Risk

2010-10-22T13:53:00.002-05:00

This is from the Environment Working Group website, an excellent resource!

Four of every 10 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes, and two of every 10 will die from it. Beyond talking to your doctor about lifestyle changes that are known to make a difference -- stopping smoking, reducing drinking, losing weight, exercising and eating right -- there are things you can do to reduce your risk.

Here are some simple ways you can reduce your exposure to potentially cancer-causing chemicals. Follow the link to learn more!
http://ewg.org/healthyhometips/cancer_prevention_tips?utm_source=breastcancermonthfull&utm_medium=email&utm_content=first-link&utm_campaign=toxics

Posted in honour of breast cancer awareness month.

And remember if you are on birth control pills, some can actually cause breast cancer with long term use. Wendy Mesley, on "MarketPlace" on CBC found this out on her investigative report on breast cancer. She had been diagnosed with it and had been on birth control pills and found out that the ones she had been taking had a warning about this in, I believe it's called the Merck Manual, a huge tome that includes all pharmaceuticals and their effects.

Oh and I apologize for the multiple posts of this post, I am still, ahem, a little blog illiterate. : )

REVEALED the "Reason between Passion"!

2010-10-20T01:40:00.008-05:00

Here she is in all her glory, the beautiful original acrylic triptych "Reason between Passion"!

Each panel is 10" x 10" so the paintings are ten inches high and thirty inches across. This triptych can't help but be the center piece of any room but I see it doing especially well above a fireplace (to match it's glow) or mantle, or, God forbid, behind the couch! Yes, I am more than happy to have my art match the sofa if that is what the viewer is looking for. This piece though...my oh my, she will make a star out of any room!

Viewed from right to left, here the sun is behind me as I shoot. You can see the richness of the colours, the variety of shades of each hue. They have depth, luminosity and brilliance!

Here's a closer look at the red "Passion" and yellow "Reason".

Note how brilliant the colors are, how they sing out from their backgrounds, the red has deeper reds, and varying depths of dark crimsons around it to set it off. They yellow has deepening golds, orange ochres and burnt umbers to push forward the yellow. It has a clarifying effect on the mind and a mediating effect between the red and green which are natural complements and might fight for dominance if just the two were left. The yellow is the unifier of the series.

And the now refreshing green, to cool the fire of the red and balance it. The green heart passion panel has both warm and cool greens so it refreshes as well as stabilizes. It's representative of the green heart chakra passion.

Now I shoot if from left to right, with the sun to my right (that is why you can see some glare but I shot it this way on purpose so you can see the iridescence at work). The iridescent parts of the painting are revealed, which is over the large maple leaf of each panel. As you move around the painting it's colours shift from saturated brilliance to iridescent luminescence.

Here is a close up of the red - the primal passion...

Then the middle panel of yellow - the reason between them...

and the last panel of green - the heart love passion.

And there it is my friends! Yes, it was a lot of work but well worth it. No leaves were harmed in the making of these paintings! I used what the trees released and when the leaves are gone then I am done these series of paintings. These pieces would look FANTASTIC in black floater frames so that is what I am going to do with them. However, if someone wants to vie for them without frames that can be done as well at this point. Just let me know.

Okay, have a great day people! I know I'll be dreaming of rich reds, bright yellows and sweet greens tonight.

The Reason Between Passion

2010-10-18T22:37:00.001-05:00

May I introduce the "Reason" between the "Passions" of this triptych. This illuminating yellow/gold panel is the optimistic and effervescent moderator and peacekeeper of the series and sits in between the other two panels. It's yellow/gold focus aids in creating an optimistic view and strengthens the mind's clarity and ability to reason while the gold ochres and deep forest browns support and strengthen this position. Truly, this panel in the triptych keeps diametrically opposed passions from overwhelming the work!

Stay tuned for the complete unveiling of the trilogy. I must say it is one of the most visually impressive and luminescent pieces I have ever done. It truly is a thing of glowing beauty.

Sneak Preview of the NEW Tryptych!

2010-10-17T21:54:00.003-05:00

This is the last panel (10" x 10" canvas) of the trilogy, or rather, tryptych called "Reason between Passion". I just wanted to get it up tonight and see how she looks and oh my, she is a beauty! Another equally fitting name would have been "Autumn Jewels" but there is color method behind the art choices. Green here is the heart passion, that of love, growth and renewal. I also used shimmering green iridescent paint and leaf printed it over the vibrant green. The greens shimmer and GLOW! Who would have thought green could be a positive passion, but it is.

Stay tuned for the rest of the series and I promise, it's worth the wait!

Introducing Healing Hues Art - Positive Paintings for Healing and Meditation

2010-10-12T16:04:00.008-05:00

UPDATE: August 2011 - The Healing Hues Art website will be up in 2012 as I work to create a new art inventory for it as well as now having to move to a bigger and better art studio! This will be happening September 2012. So it looks like I need to change that website forecast (stated below) a wee bit, but, when it arrives, it's going to be beautiful, with a great inventory of healing and gorgeous paintings, helpful information for clients and visitors, some great demo videos, a forum to chat about all things healing and share information on that, a guest book and links to other healing sites, both art and health. Soooo, there's lots to come. Now if only I were at least 3, no, make that 5 people!

This is now the official blog for "Healing Hues Art - positive paintings for healing and meditation". The official launch of the website healinghuesart.com, will be in fall 2011, HOWEVER, this blog will follow it's development and what is truly needed is YOUR input. What colours attract you? What colours create aversion within you? Do you know why?

As you can see, I am currently on a GREEN kick. Summer is over and I feel like I just didn't get enough of the healing from nature this year at all. I think I will be doing many more green inspired paintings. I need the restoration and healing that comes from being in nature, being surrounded by the sounds, sights and smells that come forward from Mother Nature's green abundance! I feel a deep need to see green - to be enveloped in it. Stay tuned for more of these healing, restorative paintings and if you are in need of some yourself, just contact me. Many more to come my friends. It's going to be a looooong winter but these paintings will give me sustenance!

I will be building a whole new website based around this concept of Healing Hues Art. As mentioned the official launch wont' be till the fall of 2011 but you can be a part of it so please send me your color stories, what you love, what you hate and what you would love to see!

Oh NO it SOLD!

2010-10-01T22:28:00.001-05:00

I was just informed that my little original acrylic "Dreaming of New Mexico" sold today and I can't believe it made me cry? Yep, just a little bit. I guess I was expecting to have my dream come home, but, I then thought that it was my dream taking flight - that someone else had seen in it what I poured into that little painting, a dream, a desire, a hope and that realization made me smile.

I'll miss her BUT I am happy she is out there now. Another one of my children took flight away from the studio nest today out into the big, beautiful world. God speed little One and may whomever took you home have much joy from your presence. : )

2010-09-21T20:08:00.000-05:00

And here is where I'll be, the artist in attendance this Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 3:30 pm for this year's St. Clair Art Walk! I am the featured artist at Ecoexistence (located at #103-21 Vaughn Road) so if you're in Toronto drop in and say hi! There's also some great deals on eco-products to tie in with the event. See the posters above for more info!

And the Winner is....me?!

2010-09-05T18:56:00.003-05:00

Yep, me. I just received word that two of my paintings have been accepted into the National Canadian art show, Connections 5, hosted by the Abilities Art Festival and is to be held in Toronto, Canada at VTAPE - 401 Richmond St. W. from September 24th to October 24th. A maximum of three works could be accepted and they accepted two from me ("Wide Open Spring Skies" shown top and "Orange Sunset over Turquoise Waters" bottom). They are going to look stunning the gold guilded wooden frames I have ordered for them. I can hardly wait for opening night : )

Reality vs Fantasy?

2010-07-13T21:59:00.001-05:00

I knew they retouched beauty magazine ads and cover shots but I had NO idea they retouched almost ever damned celebrity related shot that's ever taken?! Thanks to boreme.com for this side by side shot of what the individual looked like in REAL life at the celeb event and what we we see in the magazine/print/ and blog/online presence media. It's a FANTASY and what a fantasy. I didn't know they could do better makeup by machine than I can do in front of my mirror and whoa, where did her chest freckles go? Man I wished someone could have done this for my passport photo *shudder*.

So the next time you feel crappy about yourself for taking a less than stellar photograph just remember, you are really just like everyone else sans the hours of photoshop retouching. God bless ya!

First Earthquakes now RIOTS?!

2010-06-27T15:33:00.002-05:00

Truly the end times are upon Toronto. Last night a friend of mine had to forgo Herbie Hancock at the Toronto Jazz festival because a group of anarchist sociopaths who have a penchant for black apparel decided it would be great fun to set police cars on fire and smash out dozens of shop windows in the downtown Toronto area. All transit was shut down and no one could get to the downtown core. This was the first time in history that the police have EVER had to use tear gas for crowd control in Toronto. Ever.

Toronto is a world-class city. It is the most successful at integrating almost every type of culture into itself. We don't just tolerate, we embrace and celebrate our diversity. We look ahead to the future and are environmentally aware. We believe in democracy, peaceful and creative protests.

Whatever the REAL protesters had to say at this G20 meeting was completely overshadowed by these assarists, oh, I mean self-declared anarchists. What was their message? Who knows? I couldn't hear above the wailing of sirens, the sounds of crashing glass and I couldn't see through the plumes of smoke coming from the police cars set on fire. This is not how things get done in Canada.

THIS is how things get done in Canada.

We take action but discuss things in a relaxed manner. This is a REAL Canadian demonstration - a guy with a knapsack that has hemp snacks and Arizona green tea in it, and he'll share too.

There have been hundreds of arrests today and police located a good group that were hiding out in the University of Toronto residence facilities. They found black bella clavas tossed into the bushes just outside the residence. Pure tactical brilliance. I watched as it was being broadcast on tv, police leading the arrested in handcuffs. It looked more like parents coming to collect their unruly children who had too much to drink the night before as they shuffled out of the building, handcuffed and hung over.

Ah kids, will they ever learn?

EARTHQUAKE?!

2010-06-23T13:32:00.000-05:00

Today I woke up to my bed shifting back and forth. I wondered if my cat had gotten herculean strength to get me out of the bed to feed her. Nope, my first earthquake ever. Wow. Freaky. Luckily it was only a 5.5 but being from prairies where NOTHING happens, this was a waker upper. My cat was fed pronto.

Now I'M in a "Fire" Treasury!

2010-06-20T15:09:00.000-05:00

And now I'M in a treasury and it couldn't have happened to a nicer piece - artwork I mean. I LOVE that painting and currently it is showing in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but maybe not for much longer? Thanks again to Ms. Sofia for generously including me in this collection. Check it out : )

What a Goddess Wants, what a Goddess NEEDS!

2010-06-19T13:00:00.000-05:00

I just HAD to put this treasury together - I want all of it! Thanks to all the Etsy store merchants who stock such high-quality, high-skilled produced pieces of craftsmanship. It makes wading through the not-so-great stuff tolerable. Thanks!!! Mwah!

WWF - Help Save Canada's Arctic from Disaster

2010-06-14T17:41:00.000-05:00

WWF - Help Save Canada's Arctic from Disaster

In Honour of Orange!

2010-06-13T14:44:00.002-05:00

I just listed this image on Etsy - it is a fine art giclee print. The oiginal sits above my alter and I just can't let it go! *laughing* There is something about it that is so healing, so necessary that I have to keep the original, for now. I used professional golden and winsor newton paints and iridescent and bright gold. For the leaf motif I use an actual leaf I found.
This painting was inspired by those, shimmery summer early evenings when the sun is heading towards the horizon and catches the dust particles just so and everything around you becomes ensconced in the most beautiful, most ethereal warm golden-orange light. There is something so nurturing, relaxing, calming and energizing about that.
Maybe one day I will let the original go but not now. I need it.

Orange!

2010-05-30T15:58:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's a visual reaction to the year's color turquoise but I don't think so - my whole being is craving orange!

It doesn't matter where I go. At the greenhouse I was trolling the foliage-lined isles looking for orange in all it's shades. I managed to find a lovely carnation in a knocked back shade of orange, with a most beautiful scent but a true-blue orange I could not find.

Later in the week I was at my grocery store and on my way out - there it was! The ORANGE! I believe it's a hibiscus and the shade of orange with the sunlight illuminating it's fragile petals creates a luminescent orange of heavenly beauty.

Of course now I have to paint orange. But how? Well I am working on what is turning out to be an abstract of sorts, in acrylic, many layers, many values of orange and hues. I will post it as soon as it is done. However, now blues and turquoise must be expressed as they are the natural complement of orange. This whole creation will either be a diptych or triptych, we will see : )

I have decided to stop trying to control the process, to get out of the way and just be the midwife to the creations, to support them as they come into being. Wish me luck!

May 12th National FM/CFS and ME day and Frida Kahlo

2010-05-12T17:15:00.005-05:00

This oil painting of Frida Kahlo by Frida Kahlo titled "Broken Column" visually displays some of what it feels like to have these illnesses. It is postulated that she suffered from both Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia brought on by the horrific vehicle accident she had been involved in her earlier years. She suffered with horrific pain and crushing fatigue for the rest of her life. Here is a thoughtful and interesting write up on Ms. Kahlo her art and FM/CFS http://www.myalgia.com/Frida%20article%20by%20Lavin.html

The definition of ME/CFS from the National ME/FM Action Network website is that it is "an acquired illness that affects all body systems; predominantly the neurological, endocrine and immune systems. It can be severely debilitating." This means that almost all the body's systems and functions are affected in the forms of severe and disabling fatigue/exhaustion, severe disruption of the circadian rhythm causing long-term disabling insomnia, wide-spread body unrelenting body pain, chronic allergies (some times life-threatening) to food, medications, chemicals and environmental agents, irritable bowel, irritable bladder and urethral syndrome, dizziness, tinnitis, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and sound, inexplicable rashes and hives, severe post-exertional malaise which means that for most people when they exercise they recover after a brief rest and feel energized afterwards whereas for those with M.E and CFS they do not and, in fact, it increases their pain and fatigue. This is the shortened list of symptoms and effects of the illness. There is no cure and the cause(s) are unknown but the FM/CFS/ME has been known to develop after a car accident and/or trauma, post viral infection, long unrelenting stress and in the latest research in a controlled study the retrovirus (XMRV) has been found in a high proportion of those with CFS (over two thirds) and under 3% in the healthy subjects. It's interesting to note that as a result of this study the Canadian Blood Services has banned anyone with CFS from giving blood. This illustrates the fear that a viral contagion may be involved. The story can be found here

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/04/07/blood-donations-chronic-fatigue-virus.html

These combined illnesses are still being studied and the evidence is mounting but, unfortunately, a large number or medical professionals are either unaware of or blatantly hostile to the fact that these illnesses are not "all in your head". Since a disproportionate number of women seem to be affected it shows the unenlightened bias that medicine still holds against females with illnesses that they do not understand. God help the men who are afflicted as they are seen as lazy and malingerers. There are some doctors, however, who DO believe that these illnesses exist and, in fact, either do ongoing research into the origins of the illness and/or dedicate themselves to helping alleviate some of the misery that those afflicted with CFS, ME, and FM go through. Suicide is sometimes the only release and has been documented. THAT is how BAD these illnesses can be and are.

So today, I just wanted to share with you the reality of many millions of people in North America. Maybe you or a loved one you know has been diagnosed with these conditions? We are still in the dark ages with these illnesses. In time more and more things will be found to shed light on what the origins of these illnesses are and how they can be corrected. Until then we have to fight just to have them understood, BELIEVED and acted on. Remember, doctors thought it was ridiculous that bed fever was carried from delivering mother to delivering mother via their bacterial-infested hands. The doctor that figured that hand-washing could stop the infecting of and killing of these mothers was met with hostility and mocking ostracization by the medical majority of his times. Turns out, he was right, they were wrong and many died as a result of the this willful ignorance and arrogance.

The same thing shall be found with these illnesses and, unfortunately, it will be too late for those who have suffered the not only the negative repercussions of the disease itself but also the hostility and contempt of the unbelievers, sadly family, friends and the medical profession which has bee sworn to help the ill. It brings immense physical, emotional, financial, spiritual and psychological stress upon the individual who bares this illness.

So today I bring to you this information that you may know that such a thing exists and that, it is real. May we lessen the burden by understanding if we can not yet have a cure.

Thank you for taking some of your precious time and energy to read this. May we all be well.

Air Canada says NO to pets this summer

2010-04-21T21:16:00.002-05:00

I just found out, today, after I had already made all the arrangements to visit my Mom in long term care and bring her cat with me that Air Canada has a flight embargo against travelling with your pets after June 20th. Yep, that's right, if you want to take your pet with you on summer holidays or need to transport any animal for any reason that has to go cargo well you just can't do it after June 20th. They say it's because it is too hot in the cargo area for the pet's comfort. I think what they mean is that they are too cheap to air condition it so tough crap for you Joe or Jane traveller.

This isn't new. Air Canada had decided a short while back that they weren't going to take any animals any more period. Well Canadian citizens said, "Oh yeah?! Well screw you Milty, we're going over to Westjet". And guess what? Ole Milty, the C.E.O and Grand Poobah of Air Canada had a change of heart and animals were once again allowed on board.

Westjet is still the better carrier these days as it costs half of what it costs to take your pet on Air Canada. My problem is that where I am going there are no direct flights with Westjet and what should be a 3 hour trip takes about 9.

So incase any of you thought that you could just take your pet with your this summer and add them onto your ticket with Air Canada you had better check out the dates on that travel ban. After hours of planning I am now back at square one and have to redo all my plans. Grrrrrrrr.

I just LOVE this guy

2010-04-20T00:19:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I1lfe1ngtc

Jonas Gerard is his name and every time I watch this video I feel like swigging some strong coffee and chompin' on a cigar as I paint and I hate cigars, the coffee I gave up begrudgingly.

If you are lacking in inspiration this'll get your creative mojo kick-started. Just click on the link above the picture. Enjoy!

Making the Unseen Seen - Art can do that

2010-04-18T19:16:00.000-05:00

"All is Vanity" by C. Allan Gilbert. Life, death and meaning are intertwined.

I came across this pen and ink illustration a few days ago. Some clever illustrative skills Mr. Gilbert has, he does. I am not sure how old this drawing is but it must have been done somewhere in the late 1800's or early 1900's. What is true then is true now.

This image struck me as I, once again, am relegated to my bed due to ill health. As I lay there, sick, with an exhaustion that is cell deep and then some, I can't help but think of death. I feel it. We who are chronically ill, we get a fair idea of what it must feel like before you die. You are so exhausted, so sick, there is no energy, not even for hope.

I love the way art can convey this feeling, this haunting. As the "normies" go about their tea time (or whatever those women are doing in that illustration), distracting themselves with life's pleasant formalities death waits. Ever patient, ever enduring, death sits with hands folded, as we fritter away our life gift frivolously or utilize it in earnest service.

Finding Lost Pieces...

2010-04-09T17:55:00.001-05:00

I had forgotten about this piece. I did it as part of my entrance portfolio to an advertising art college program about 26 years ago. I was 18 when I did it. My cousin had seen it and asked if she could have it. I gave it to her and she framed it and I was reminded of it's existence on a visit to her and her husband's home last winter.

I only had a pocked camera to take a shot so that I would remember her. Funny, these images we draw, paint, conjure up. They have a life of their own once they leave our hands. Like our children they go out into the world and we have no idea how they are treated, talked about or where they end up. Just like people, in a way. Some attain great heights and are on display in a vaulted room with much attention and fanfare and others maybe remain in a corner, meaning to be put up, but never gotten around to. Who knows?

This one was on display, nicely framed and it was truly a wondrous strange event, being re-introduced to her again. Like an old, lost friend coming to visit for a but a brief time. This life is like that, a brief visit with those we remember from times past - like a memory in a cloud on the wind.

Florals are Easy and other Fallacies...

2010-03-24T01:59:00.001-05:00

Here it is, my first still life floral - ever.

It all started innocently enough. I bought myself a spring floral bouquet and a couple of hyacinths as a reward for enduring, yet another, dental appointment. With half of my face still frozen I could hardly wait to get these beauties home and into some water. Then when I had them all set up I thought "I just HAVE to paint them".

So the next day when the freezing had well worn off and the pain from the needle that did the freezing was really apparent I decided to start the still life to take my mind off of the pain. I thought I'd be done in a few hours.

I had to rearrange my living room/studio, who am I kidding, it's a studio with minimal living room. The photo above was after about 8 hours I think. You can see the floral still life ontop of my much covetted red Dukabhor table that I have moved with me 5 times since I got it. I love that table.

At a certain point I was beginning to stress a bit then I looked behind me and saw this. Yeah, my cat sure wasn't stressing AT ALL. She had complete confidence in my ability. My ability to feed her that is. She's right about that :)

This gives you an idea of the color pallette I was working with. I ended up using another tray for glazes.

All in all the painting took about 15 hours. It was sealed with two glazes of sealer then varnished. The image continues around the edges so one doesn't have to frame it if they don't want to.

I now have even more respect for floral artists. It ain't as easy as it looks after all but it was well worth the lesson.

Got this in my email from Digg today - How to Make a Thrift Store painting More AWESOME!

2010-03-15T14:00:00.007-05:00

Brilliant!