TV Interview

This Land is OUR Land

Myself and two other artists, Kim Rempel and Michelle Teitsma, have been working for the past year on a project  researching the impact of the Greenbelt legisltion in Southern Ontario. There is a  link to our venture on the right of this blog (Greenbelt Collective) or click here.

 A local television show recently approached and interviewed us in response  to the plight of area grape farmers  and you can view the Utube interview on that link.

A big THANK YOU to Stephen Parr and TV Cogeco!

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I have been exercising great restraint in NOT going outside to paint this week.

- self discipline goes a long way in art-making (and life in general:D

I have been working on some larger paintings in the studio and really need to stay in the same frame of mind. Sometimes switching off to render small works just takes me away from a place that took me so long to get to...

So I am posting some wee encaustic field boxes that I created last April. The images were drawn or painted on-site and then I employed the encaustic technique to permanently fuse them to wooden boxes. To see more of my encaustic series, please click here.

April, Little Voices in the Air

encaustic on box

6x9in, SOLD

I painted this on a March day very much like yesterday, but four years ago!

I like to  review paintings of seasons past and compare them to current weather patterns here on the Niagara Escarpment..

March, Thaw

oil on canvas

12x36in, 2006

SOLD

Even though I've  been working on a large commission for the last week,  I find getting out and working on these small paintings integral to my practice. They not only give me 'immediate gratification' because it is something I can accomplish in a short time, but  they contribute to my larger studio work. Mainly to hone my observation skills but also allowing  me an objective approach when revisiting larger works in progress.

March, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

12x12in, 2010

available

Having said that, this was my first night painting of the season and a little daunting. I didn't go out until 6PM and for once left the dogs at home. I felt a little guilty but the thought of chasing after them in the dark if they found a deer or who who knows what, did not appeal to me in the least. The mud was like quick sand, and by the time I finished working my feet almost came out of my wellies!:-) Although it was warm during the day it did get fairly chilly but I am glad I ventured out and next time will be easier.

March, Thaw

oil on panel

6x8in, 2010

available

To me, Spring is flown in via Robins and every year I have painted them to honour the new season. Today when I opened the door I first heard- then saw-my friends and was thrilled! Five generations (at least I like to think that they are all related) come to nest at the same selected locations on our property. Two come back to their nests in the grapevine balls hanging on my veranda. Throughout the years students, visitors, and I have enjoyed getting ‘up close and personal’ while they diligently nest and bring up the babies! So, as beautiful as they are, if you see a nest in a tree or fastened to twigs or grasses, please refrain from picking them up as birds often return to them year after year.

 March, Little Voices in the Air
oil on canvas
30x36in, 2008
SOLD

 The painting below is rendered more decorative than I usually like to work. I had specifically painted it for my area at the Jordan Art Gallery to emphasize the thematic change of season. For those that haven’t visited our gallery, each of the owners have a large area and change work on an on-going basis. Right now I am in the process of removing winter paintings and replacing them with more colourful landscapes depicting the new growth on the Niagara Escarpment…which means only one thing…I’ll just have to get out and paint:-D

March, Little Voices in the Air

acrylic on canvas

24x36in, 2009

available

March, Thaw

oil on canvas

6x6in, 2010

will really have to take a better pic tomorrow..

Two abandoned orchards are situated on property behind my Escarpment home and I walk through them almost daily. Every spring I am apprehensive - sure that this will be the year they’ll be pulled out. 

For me, these rows of trees stretched against the sky and the wild overgrown grasses have an other- worldliness,  a place where I can breathe and listen and be.  Amongst these sturdy little trees I have had the pleasure of watching and listening to red-winged blackbirds and robins ring in the fresh new season and later, finches, catbirds, mockingbirds and (my favourite) bobolinks-flitting in the wild branches and singing songs of summer.

March, Greenbelt Disaster

oil on panel

6x8in, 2010

Ten years ago when I moved here the orchards were maintained and every season after a stunning show of white blooms, they bore beautiful bartlett pears. In recent years, however, they’ve been left to go fallow because farmers can’t afford to maintain them. Sadly, it’s cheaper to import from China than to compensate farmers for growing fruit in our own back yard!

PLEASE! Buy local and try to buy food that is in season from Local Growers!!!! For more information please visit: Greenbelt Collective

Today was not as warm as yesterday, but there was a beautiful soft blue haze in the distance. The sky, though subtle, continued to move and shift, casting  nuances of pink, yellow and blue onto the earth and leftover snow.

March, A Changeable Day

oil on canvas

6x6in, 2010

available

This afternoon the air was filled with songs of birds and smelled of sweet things growing. The light was diffused and dreamy in the late day sun, and I was lucky enough to see three young deer floating in the orchard. I couldn’t wait to start painting. 

Unfortunately, when I unpacked my gear, my yellows were nowhere in site!!!!!! But I soldiered on anyway, using red, orange, indigo, violet and ultramarine blue. 

March, Little Voices in the Air

oil on canvas

6x6in, 2010

available

It did change the feel of the painting! I do like the composition and may go out again and paint from the same vantage point--this time with cadmium yellow light and cadmium yellow included with my gear:-)

March, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

12x36in, 2010

I'm having a difficult time documenting this as I can't seem to capture the subtle nuances of value shifts in the background when I edit with my  photo editor. I really should take some time and learn how to do this, and to take photos with proper indoor lighting. I just take work outside on a grey day and lay it flat. Easy for small works but larger I have to stand on a chair or ladder--I'm sure my neighbours must get a chuckle:-) Anyone have advice that's not too left brain?

Thank Goodness February is over!

March, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

6x6in, 2010

available
purchase here