Monday, April 13, 2015

Helping a Budding Artist

A few weeks ago, Judy invited me over to play mixed media along with her granddaughter visiting from Toronto. I think the intention was that we'd all create a piece of our own but, as sometimes happens, the afternoon took on a life of its own and instead we focused on helping Jackie create this mermaid painting.

Yes, the reward was a fine glass (or two) of Amarone

Mermaids hold a fascination for most young girls - well aren't we all somewhat intrigued with these mythical creatures? Since I've had some experience portraying them (see here and here) I was in demand. 


Jackie requested that I draw the mermaid while I insisted she transfer the drawing onto the panel. What I don't have are images of the stimulating, fearless flurry of energy we all spent employing the cobwebbing technique. for the background. This is when you stretch artificial, store-bought, Hallowe'en cobwebbing over your support, saturate it with water and go into a crazed frenzy of spritzing and splashing colours into/onto it. To hasten the drying process we used a hair dryer. Peeling off the cobwebbing leaves you with gorgeous, random marks all over the place.
  

Using white gesso, the silhouette of the mermaid had to be painted back on so that we'd have a clean slate on which to paint her fresh skin tones and hair. 


Here, using heavy gloss gel medium, Jackie is applying the miniature starfish, that I gleaned from a shop in Hawaii 

As it was a collaborative effort Judy insisted that we both sign it ...



We applied a textured paper for the tail and bra. Commercially produced rubber stamps were used for the seahorse, shells and underwater vegetation. Tissue paper was used because stamping on the rough surface (residual cobwebbing) would not have yielded the crisp images we desired. 

In the time we had, we would not have finished the painting had I granted Jackie the rest break she requested. Kudos to the 12-year old for not buckling under my pressure - I can be a tough task master - just ask her grandmother!

The finished collaboration showing the black sand across the bottom

In retrospect I see that I shouldn't have instructed Jackie to paint that dark area of the hair - a classic example of why one shouldn't follow any photographic reference exactlyI've suggested that Judy (who has framed it exquisitely) put this error right before Jackie returns in July. 


Friday, April 3, 2015

Seeking Homes for Paintings

MOUNT ASSINIBOINE and SUNBURST PEAK, B.C.  36" x 48" gallery wrap canvas (painted edges, no frame)
Retail price $6300, I'm offering it at $3500
  

Bill and I spent February in beautiful Victoria, B.C. which served to reignite our 1980s dream to live there. We'll move once we have sold our charming, character home, in Claresholm, Alberta.



While it will be sad to leave the fine friends we have made here, and oh how we wish we could take the house with us, it is time for these gypsies to move on. If you are interested, or perhaps you know someone who may be interested, in purchasing our home please view and/or share this listing.

The move will be epic in that we are downsizing from a large house to a condo (yet to be discovered). A mighty purge is underway. Among the many treasures we can't take with us is a large inventory of my paintings. I have created an album of these here. Please click on the individual images to see the titles, details and prices. Depending on the size of your screen you may have to scroll down to see these texts.

Check back from time to time, there will be more added. Below are a few examples of what you'll find ...

  
LAKE AGNES LARCHES   18" x 24" framed oil on canvas   Retail price $2750, I'm offering it at $1500. 


The "cherub painting" below has been considered a significant departure from my usual subject matter. In 1985, I created it for The Myth of Exceptional PassWhyte Museum juried, invitational exhibition about a magical, fictional place in the Canadian Rockies. 


AN ASCENT OF EXCEPTIONAL DEGREES   40" x 30" framed oil
Retail price $4900, I'm offering it at $2500.
This painting was featured on the show's invitation


The collection has a wide array of subjects to chose from, you may see a piece you always wished I would release, or you may just want to take advantage of the attractive, reduced prices.


EXOTIC TULIPS, Golden Girls Series #6   15.5" x 10" unframed acrylic on paper
Retail price $950, I'm offering it at $500
(comes with conservation mat and glass to first a standard 18" x 24" frame)

There is the odd surprise ...


RENOIR'S VENUS VICTORIOUS, sculpture from his garden in the south of France 18" x 24" framed oil on canvas
Retail price $2750, I'm offering it at $1500.


Renior, suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, moved from Paris to his home, Les Collettes, at Cagnes-sur-Mer (near Nice) where he lived the last eleven years of his life from 1908 to 1919. To see the sculpture and the place that inspired me to paint the above please click here.