Painting in Victoria

All will agree that there is no shortage of beauty in Victoria, especially in the springtime. For a plein air painter it's bursting with locations and subjects. The first place I wanted to return to paint at was Beacon Hill Park. In my mind's eye this tree looked for all the world like those in Autumn Hillside painted by Group of Seven artist, Franklin Carmichael.  Maybe not! 

February 25th, 2016

It proved to be a much larger challenge than I imagined possible. At the end of the two hours (I painted between 10 and noon) the light had changed so significantly that the tree was completely in shadow. I simply had to quit. 

A week or so later, in our vacation rental and armed with a photo of the scene, I took it on again working it further ...

My Carmichael tree 12" x 16" -  remains still mostly unresolved!

It wasn't always nice enough outdoors (yes I can be a fair weather painter) so some days my good buddy Sharlene and I painted in her studio. Bless her for letting me move in and take over half or more of her space.

Here Sharlene is developing a massive background while I start a painting featuring a cherry tree

 Cherry tree with blossoms just beginning to unfold, close up and personal  oil 12" x 16"

There is a group of painters in Victoria called the Al Frescoes. Every Friday morning any number of them trundle off to a prearranged location. On February 26th many folks painted strictly the sea and the sky, but this former mountain gal had to find some rock to anchor my painting ...

I was overwhelmed by the number who came out (around 30 artists) to Saxe Point Park, Esquimalt. At noon they assemble for 'show and tell' ...

 

Ken Faulks and the masses at the Al Frescoes 'show and tell'

I was amazed that I finished this one on site - SAXE POINT  oil 9" x 12"  (and yes I've yet to sign it)

The following Friday, March 4th, the Al Frescoes painted in Chinatown. While others chose street scenes and buildings, I opted to paint the dragon outside of the Mountain Equipment Coop.

In two and a half hours all I was able to finish was this umber drawing, painted on with a brush in oil ...



The non-red dragon oil 12" x 16"

Someday, maybe, I'll finish the painting so that it will have the red I was so keen to paint!

That same afternoon, after freezing my legs and feet to my very bones by standing on cold pavement in Chinatown, we were still on some kind of painting high, so we retreated to Sharlene's studio ...

You can see that we hardly have any fun at all working together

Afternoon results, another half baked painting, a peony in acrylic this time



Sharlene and I had one more studio day at her place on March 11th. This time we painted parrot tulips from life. You ought to have heard the complaining about how the blossoms opened and changed so much while we were painting them! I mean how dare they?



For my tulip painting Sharlene gave me a canvas on which she had already painted the background. It may be signed but I'm not convinced that this one is finished either ...



OPENING  oil on an acrylic background 12" x 12"

On March 15th, Sharlene and I both went Gelli plate printing in Brentwood bay at Arlene's studio. I've worked with Win making Gelli prints, but it's always fascinating to observe how another artist works in the same medium. Sharlene hadn't Gelli printed before and grasped the process like an A-student. I have to confess that I wasn't on my game that day and yet it was still a most pleasurable time.

Arlene and Sharlene. You try keeping their names straight, I often can't!

Yours truly pulling a Gelli plate print

There was one final painting day, March 19th. This one with and in the studio of Sharlene's friend, Marcela. Everyone worked away on their own creation. It pleased me that Marcela allowed me to work from a painting she had done which employed a new-to-me technique.

Happy painters in Marcela's studio

Marcela surrounded by her colourful oil paintings

The wild and wonderful oil painting above, unfinished as it may be, vibrates with exciting energy. It was a fine way for me to wind up the painting part of our six week stay in Victoria. Huge thanks to my painter pals for indulging me and making me feel so welcome.

Playing With Sharlene

Sharlene and I have known each other since 1976. We share a long personal history of synchronised tastes and art styles. Sometimes, with our earlier work, I can't tell who painted what without checking our signatures; they  themselves are similar; Saltiel, Stusnov. When we were young mothers, living closer to one another than we do now, we made art together. In recent times there have been only a couple of opportunities to paint side by side; in Beacon Hill Park (2007) and on Gabriola Island (2010).

 

In Sharlene's studio - happy to be creating together again  

 

Bill and I are spending February in Victoria, British Columbia. He is completely adept at entertaining himself playing tennis (yes, he's found a geezer group here to play with) photographing, scouring antique, book and other shops which gives me ample time to play with Sharlene in and out of her studio. She, and her husband Ray, have been pulling out all the stops extending their remarkable hospitality, entertaining, feeding and watering us!

 

 

Sharlene trying on an abstract style

The efforts of our first day - I'd started three before leaving home

Sharlene takes over on the Door

Sharlenes's delightful background before she handed it off to me

Day two

Sharlene continued in acrylics

I laced into the portrait using oils

 

Unexcited about how work our was progressing (above is how we left those two pieces) we allowed ourselves to be distracted. We went shopping for art supplies and mixed media toys. And now that the weather has turned, from grey and gloomy to glorious, the outdoors beckons ...

 

 



 

Historic Pendray House, home of the Coast Collective on the shore of the Esquimalt Lagoon  

Magnificent arbutus trees on Yellow Point, Vancouver Island

 

Sharlene and I may or may not get back to those collaborative paintings or her studio this month. We're not terribly bothered about it. We're secure in the knowledge that the future holds many more opportunities for us to work together!

   

Blog Hopping Around the World

As I see it, the idea behind world-wide blog hopping is for us to introduce and promote one another. Follow the links to go around the world finding wonderful art and artists. To learn about each other we're requested to answer the same four questions.

My friend, Win, invited me to participate in this round robin. As an mixed media artist and an excellent teacher her blog is all about mixed media experimentation with excellent tutorials. She was invited by Vicki Ross, who was invited by Kelly Dombrowski. On Kelly's blog you can keep linking back.

ROADSIDE CROSSES: SHE INHALED IT MUCH TOO QUICKLY, mixed media collaged head 16 x 16 x 13" © Win Dinn

See Win's art here:
Win's blog 
Win's Facebook page
If it's geographically feasible, you may want to book her to give a workshop in your area!
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I've invited my good friend, Sharlene, to join this hop. You'll find her answers to the questions next Monday, November 24th.

LET THERE BE LIGHT, 40x30 acrylic © Sharlene Stushnov-Lee

See Sharlene's art here:
Sharlene's blog
Sharlene's website

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I'll always be a classical painter at heart, but I must say that mixed media has broken the monotony of decades of traditional painting in watercolour and oil. There is a thrill with mixed media exploration, of not knowing, at the onset, exactly what the outcome of these unique works will be.



AMIRA'S MERMAID 20" x 16"



What am I working on?
Earlier this year, I painted a mixed media mermaid, for one of our granddaughters. For months now, I have been fussing over how to make another mermaid painting, for our other granddaughter, that would be different from the last. A recent trip to Prague, including the Mucha Museum, has inspired me to approach the mermaid in progress in the style of his Art Nouveau poster girls. Please check back later this month, I need to have it finished by the 27th! As it is now, it seems that it will be strictly an acrylic painting. At the same time I am painting smaller oils, acrylics and mixed media pieces.    

How does my work differ from others of this genre?Perhaps the most difficult question to answer since I don’t stick to one genre. I'll go with the mixed media here. The difference may be that my backgrounds are abstract acrylics employing commercial stencils, stamps and anything for mark making onto which I'll paint focal points (of flowers, feathers or birds for example) in a realistic, yet painterly fashion.

Why do I create what I do?
I'm blessed in being a channel for art, one with the ability to draw or paint anything and therefore making art is as natural to me as breathing. As a lover of beauty and design, it is a constant in all areas of my life. When creating any image my goal is to infuse it with a sensation. Powerful use of light and calculated or intrinsic use of colour are ways I achieve this.

How does my creative process work?
Inspiration comes from any combination of these things; in seeing places or things which excite me, different colour combinations, patterns, new found techniques, the work of other artists or newly acquired materials and art supplies. In my current passion for inventing interesting backgrounds, anything goes; metallic paints, textures and embellishments. Over time, I've flirted with acrylic paints, never being completely satisfied with how they handle in traditional painting, but they're perfect for mixed media. Now, experimenting with them is happy exploration. It's incredibly easy to make wild messes. The challenge is to allow a start to evolve, trusting that I'll be guided as to how to refine and finish it.

Examples of my work:

STONEHENGE   1992 watercolour 14" x 21"

VICTORIA FALLS   2002 oil 36" x 54"

MONET'S GARDNER'S BRIDGE   2003 oil 24" x 36"

RED HOT HARMONY   2005 oil 18" x 24"

FRAGILE SHADOW   2007 oil 14" x 11"

SHAR'S AMARYLLIS   2009 acrylic and gold leaf  8" x 10"

UNLOCK GROWTH   2012 acrylic, mixed media, 16" x 12"

FANCIFUL FEATHER   2013, acrylic, mixed media 16" x 12"

BOB   2014 oil on hand made paper mounted on a cradled panel 6" x 6" 

Please feel free to join Blog Hopping Around the World.
If you, or anyone you know, would like to participate I heartily encourage it.
Please share this post.
And, should you choose to participate, please let me know.
Thank you.