"September fattens on vines.
Roses flake from the wall.
The smoke of harmless fires drifts to my eyes.
This is plenty. This is more than enough."
-  Geoffrey Hill

September

oil on canvas

30x40in, 2009

available

UPCOMING

FALL CLASSES / WORKSHOPS

My Daughter turned 23 today—Happy Birthday Liah! Unfortunately (for me) she is living ‘across the pond’ In her younger years, to earn her keep, she had to model for me….A few excerpts from my ‘Big Girls/Little Girls’ series (excuse the poor photos) 

Mother's Intuition

acrylic on canvas

48x60in, 1999

Man in the Mirror

oil on canvas

36x48in,  1999

The Day Molly got loose and chased Everyone out of the Pool

charcoal/conte

7x12in, 1999

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“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun.  Kent Nerburn.

August Remains of the Day

oil on canvas
10x30in, available

Sometimes I wish that I were happy just to work in the studio as it sure would make things less cumbersome re hiking and lugging my gear. Alas, I find if I don’t get outside among the bugs, itchy grasses and sudden rain it just doesn’t complete me. I guess I like the challenge of making quick decisions from direct observation and I find I get to that ‘ high’ mentioned in the previous post in no time—mind you I lose it just as quickly, usually because of impatience. Art~making teaches us so much wherever we are.

There is a hill behind my property that I have painted just recently but I have not worked from it in years. Well I climbed it yesterday with my French easel, found a lovely shady location under the old apple tree (image a few posts ago), and I think I will work from there for a few paintings. I like looking downward and beyond and it is very close to my home so I can access it quickly~and vacate it quickly if need be…which is what I did in the image below to escape the storm. It is rendered on top of a few unsuccessful paintings~ I was waiting for an almost rainy day, as I wanted the texture from the old underpaintings to emulate rain.

August

oil on canvas

10x30in, 2010

available

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A few months ago I was commissioned to paint a ‘wild’ garden. The client has a number of my paintings and loves my style, which always makes it easier—actually I refuse commissions if the interested party is not familiar with my work. I think most of us agree that we put added pressure on ourselves when it comes to a commission. Personally speaking I want to envision and embody what the client ‘sees’ and for them to embrace my response.

As research for this commission I visited a number of gardens for possible paint sites and forwarded these images to the client. In his reply it was clear that he was worried re a disconnect in our ‘vision’. Here I was concerned about representing specific gardens, and did he want a road, or building, in the background etc. In turn, he envisioned a visual smorgasboard of colour, movement, and life through shapes, line, colour and texture and for the culmination to take him to other places-I was so relieved!

Even with carte blanche to ‘go for it’ I still require a starting off point, and I work out what to incorporate and where..So over the last few weeks I have been painting small studies of colour and movement from my own garden, which was liberating because I know it so well. Below is an example. I’ve also been plucking up these sacrificial flowers as reference and my studio is filled with honey jars of individual blossoms. Some wilt faster than others so I really have to coordinate my timing re flower picking and painting!

When I immerse myself into the physicality of painting it is in anticipation of the ‘endorphin’ high-where the painting takes over and transcends. For me the only way to achieve this as well as a meditative state in the studio is through guaranteed big- fat- chunks- of time—time with absolutely no interruptions other than bathroom breaks, food and water. ( I'd be fine in jail if I could bring my paints!) I always begin my workday with a long dog run in the field to inspire me -and to wear them out so I can work work work. I am hoping to have that, and the painting, finished (and approved) soon! Then maybe the air will cool and my schedule will clear and I can get back out for some fresh plein air.

August, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

8x10in, SOLD

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"Summer's lease hath all too short a date."
- William Shakespeare

August, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

16x20in, SOLD

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HAPPY AUGUST

The last few days have seen me holed up inside doing ‘art business’ i.e. the dreaded artist statement/submissions etc—a nightmare- for me at least.  Part of it though was researching other artists and I came across some really inspiring quotes from one of my my  ‘art heroes’  Emily Carr.  So I thought I’d share and have listed them  below.
 Also, an ‘August’ painting rendered a few years ago –the one that ‘got away’ so to speak.. I don’t know about other artists, but there are some paintings I wish I had of hung on to- this is one of them…

August, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas, triptych
36x36in, 2007

SOLD

EMILY CARR QUOTATIONS

How badly I want that nameless thing! First there must be an idea, a feeling... Maybe it was an abstract idea that you've got to find a symbol for, or maybe it was a concrete form that you have to simplify or distort to meet your ends, but that starting point must pervade the whole.”

“The spirit must be felt so intensely that it has power to call others in passing, for it must pass, not stop in the pictures.”

“There are no words, no paints to express all this, only a beautiful dumbness in the soul, life speaking to life.” “

I think that one's art is a growth inside one. I do not think one can explain growth. It is silent and subtle. One does not keep digging up a plant to see how it grows.” “

I was not ready for abstraction. I clung to earth and her dear shapes, her density, her herbage, her juice. I wanted her volume, and I wanted to hear her throb.”

Be careful that you do not write or paint anything that is not your own, that you don't know in your own soul.”

“There is a need to go deeper, to let myself go completely, to enter into the surroundings in the real fellowship of oneness, to lift above the outer shell, out into the depth and wideness where God is the recognized centre and everything is in time with everything, and the key-note is God.”

“Look at the earth crowded with growth, new and old bursting from their strong roots hidden in the silent, live ground, each seed according to its own kind... each one knowing what to do, each one demanding its own rights on the earth... So, artist, you too from the deeps of your soul... let your roots creep forth, gaining strength.”

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I might have mentioned this once or twice but what I find enlightening in painting on open land is that I am in the midst of so very many creatures ‘unseen’ -their continued presence entirely dependent on our land’s eco system.

This is a very old apple tree and has been the focus of many of my works throughout the years. It is host to numerous birds who nest in it and use it for cover in increment weather. The apples are also fodder for deer and yes, sometimes dogs :O. Needless to say, this little hill that it is perched on has been climbed many times by both four and two -legged critters.

July

oil on canvas

36x36in, 2010

available

I worked on this painting last July and put it away with the intention of resuming later in the month. Something about it was really bothering me but I was too close. Today after returning from a walk in the field and seeing all of the thistles in bloom (with yellow finches feeding on them) I thought of the painting. I took it out and after applying and wiping out several times, I just signed it.

July

oil on canvas
20x30in, 2009/10

SOLD

This painting is representative of a body of work that is ongoing- exploring our connection with the seasons of the land and the seasons of our lives. Listed below is a simple but to me so deeply true poem - no matter the denomination or what beliefs one has I think it says it all

July, A Time to Every Purpose Under the Sun

oil on canvas

24x48in, 2009

SOLD

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the sun:

Today on my walk I had to catch my breath at the site of Queen Anne's lace embellishing the fields. They usually arrive in August and I suppose I didn't think that they, too, would be early.
When I lived in California I was taken aback to learn it was common for florists to have this 'weed' imported- these wild flowers that grow here in abundant splendor and remind us that summer is in full swing.

August, Morning With Queen Anne

acrylic on canvas
12x24in, 2009
SOLD

One thing about living up here on the escarpment--the temperature is always a few degrees lower, which is great in the summer-not so in winter! So even on these sweltering days, the evenings cool down and tonight was accompanied by a refreshing breeze--thankfully no gusts to knock my easel over :X

After a week of no rain and steaming hot weather, relief came yesterday in a day-long downpour. As a result, today's sunshine brought new wild grasses and flowers, my favourite being clover, thistle and chicory. Their vivid and varied patterns and colours, as well as light movement in the breeze, tantalized yellow finches and butterflies. It was a pleasure watching them feed as I painted—nature’s so ALL WAYS in sync!

July

oil on canvas
12x24in, 2010

These warm July evenings bring a special yearning for my Daughter, who moved to Ireland a few years ago. Although I usually work from life, the image below was painted from a photograph taken by her just before she flew across the pond. LUMU Liah

July, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

30x36in, SOLD

What a beautiful afternoon—ideal for a plein air painter I think! The acre of property I live on backs into an open field and my neighbour has let us use it for many years. Beside me is a vineyard, and I had very kind neighbours who let me paint in them undisturbed. Now I have new neighbours who are always out working the property with their assortment of machines –as I write this (at night) they are spraying yet again with pesticide(?). Anyway, they were gone for the day so I set up my easel and painted undisturbed for hours and hours—was wonderful! The field where I painted from had been freshly cut so it smelled DIVINE! The only snag was the wind- whoever invented bungie cords deserves a medal.

July, Greenbelt Disaster

oil on canvas
18x24in, 2010
available

Today was another stifling, sweltering humid day and tonight my student and I really had to push ourselves to get out and paint. As often happens, once we found our way to open sky and started working we felt much better. The air cleared and cooled and it turned into a beautiful evening.

June, Remains of the Day

oil on canvas

6x6in, 2010

available

Yesterday I posted an image that I wasn't sure I was happy with. When I post images it really gets me away from the work, allowing much needed objectivity. Well, I removed the post shortly after as I saw almost immediately what the painting lacked. I worked on it today and am much happier with the outcome.

Time to leave work for a week or so is ideal. Right now I have four paintings on the go and this usually helps me to stand back with a fresh eye if I work on them alternately. Easier said than done--some get in your blood and you just have to stay with them--sometimes regrettably- but worth the sacrifice as they always teach me something.

June

oil on canvas
18x24in, 2010
available

Today I saw a large transport hauling bales of hay. Usually in June the field behind where I live is turned, but so far no hay. I wonder if it is because we have had so much rain. Every year I paint hay bales from this field I know so well. The birds have finished nesting and now the carpet of clover is rolled up to be recycled for livestock bedding and food. The vast size of the round bales provide a perfect place to hide and paint, and I relish in the fresh-cut scent as I am working. Here is a wee oil sketch from last June.

June

oil on canvas
9x12in, 2009

This one's for you Robyn, as per your comment on the earlier post. ( and yes, there is a story..)

Finally, My Hollyhocks!

oil on canvas

24x40in, 2008

private collection