Journaling With Paint

Stick Handler Becomes... Mack the Knife!- Part 2

2012-02-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

Turpentine washes provide a basic colour key to guide painting process

Raw pigment knifed in... providing texture and colour

"Hangin' On... at Bush Island, Nova Scotia" - oil on canvas 20x24 inches

Detailed closeup... note deep pigment and sharp edges

Another Day of Play!

After a day or so of deliberation... and uncertainty as to how to proceed, I made a decision to continue the path I had followed thus far... to "just let it all hang out." Rather than revert back to my usual path using my brushes, I decided to first lay in colour blocks using turpentine washes from remaining pigment on my palette... just to give me a colour key to work from... as is shown in the top jpeg.

Given the highly positive response from my readership regarding my use of the palette knife in the recent Algonquin sketches, I decided to forge ahead using only the knife to paint the subject... making the most of the textural strength that the knife offers to develop a weathered and worn look to this fish shed grouping on Bush Island, Nova Scotia.

The knife also offers so much leeway in mixing colours directly on the canvas... keeping them bright and fresh... and yet at the same time creating "happy accidents"... or "colour surprises," as I like to refer to these happenings. I worked from roughing in basic background shapes and colours to the grassy areas in the middle ground... before pouncing (with glee) on the weathered sheds and the maze of dark shadows in the piers and pilings.

This preliminary state of applying colour has firmly established the direction which I will build upon and follow all the way to completion. I will leave the paint to set a bit overnight... and then work back into the new textures and colour blocks... trying hard not to disturb strong areas which already exist at this early point. A couple of cups o' java and a quiet hour... just "Me" and the canvas tomorrow morning... and I'll be up and runnin' again !

I have included one closeup of one area to show the quality of the paint application... and the "freshness" of the bravura which the knife creates. Looking at the overall picture using a digital image... clearly revealed that I had made an error on how the two sheds linked right from the beginning. I corrected... using only a few slashes of my knife. It took very little time for the palette knife to feel comfortable in my hand... and for "The Flow" to get underway! A very freeing feeling!

Stay tuned... for Part 3

Good Painting to All !!!

More Stick Handlin'....Part One

2012-02-03T03:30:00.000-08:00

Noted the shifted locations and structure in the composition of the middle ground and background houses. More change to follow!

Towels take away distracting edges... and provide lighter values!

Random brush stroke application... looking for general shapes ...

Note that the hand is at the end of the twig! It's not a pencil ! Accidental dripping counts as a bonus!

Note the fanciful and lilting quality of the lines produced by the twig styluses.

Centering the central image against the sienna edges. Note the almost haphazard application of the sienna strokes... and the roughness of the drawing... very uncommitted and loosely structured!

All methods of applying medium to the canvas can be seen here in their raw states. The first inkling of the finger painting adventure is here as well !

Yes... your eyes read correctly! My pointer is my blunt "nib" for dexterously blending in larger dark areas. Quick... effective tool for roughing in without reserve. Washes off fairly easily with soap... water and a tooth brush for nails! Latex glove works for the "faint of heart!"

This is the final foundation from which I will begin adding paint. Though it is a cacophanous collection of drips and splotches... knitted together by strangely drawn lines... there exists a central image .... of a huddled, broken down fish house structures and modest homes... centre stage... emerging from the inky darkness... ready to "speak." Details such as windows... doors, etc. are just markers to give positioning and reference points.

At this juncture... if one was too befuddled or unhappy with what was there in front of you... areas and flaws could be easily corrected with a brush of choice and white gesso... returning the area back to the original canvas state. However... I choose to proceed as it stands. Oil paint covers a host of mistakes! That is why I choose to use it as my primary medium... it's forgiving!

GETTING STARTED:

Well... my cold was not quite finished with me! I guess my Algonquin "fix"... didn't fix my cold! Had a pretty miserable week... but I guess this bout has everyone on the ropes for at least two rounds! In any event... head's completely empty, I'm sure... two boxes of Kleenex later!

I stepped up Wednesday morning to the blank 20x24 inch canvas that I had placed there two weeks ago now... to begin my two piece project for my Nova Scotian Gallery rep.... and decided to follow along using my "stick-to -play" technique to encourage creative thought and energy. I am pulling out all of the stoppers on this one... not to make it a presentation piece... but rather to act as a demonstration and invitation to follow along and discover how structure and direction can emerge... without being forced... from what in the beginning seems like pure chaos.

I first chose to reinterpret photo of a smaller sketch that I had completed en plein air almost a decade ago when I lived in Nova Scotia. That bothers me some... because I favour first hand contact with my subjects. This particular place, Bush Island... joined by a small causeway to the South Shore was a place I loved to paint because it was remote from mainland traffic. Much of this isolated village has changed... the "turquoisy" Cape house now a ghost... vanished forever. Heavens knows about the rest! When new money moves in... the Past moves out... no hint of remorse or conscience! That's today's world!

You will note that I get around merely copying... by rethinking and developing a thumbnail to rebuild and experiment with new structure for the piece. This adds a degree of newness and energy for me. You will note other changes perhaps ... as the process continues. My sticks... and my manner of applying both burnt sienna acrylic and ink to the surface... deter me from becoming "cute" and falling into my normal method of painting.

This Part One stage will carry us through the lay in and structural focus part of planning and execution. I have no set plan in mind... but will just let let the process and "Flow" take me where it wants. This segment then... is what I refer to as "Imagineering." Painting begins with an "Idea"... and this expands and develops independently... and on its own. I will really try to operate completely outside of usual safe zone of preparation and development. This really is stick handlin'... a rush... end-to-end.... Let's see what happens! Where to go from here???? More looking and thinking... and hopefully... "Seeing" a new path!

Stay tuned!....

Good Painting to All !

Back from Algonquin Park... with a new sense of renewal... a changed state of mind

2012-01-27T04:05:00.000-08:00

Final sketch # 4 "Madawaska Water Music" oil on canvas 8x10 inches

Note: the "porridgy" areas. Use of strong impasto hides a lot... and adds real strength and movement in the foreground water.

#3 "Through the Cedars"- oil on panel 10x12 inches

Tuesday #2 "January Thaw" oil on canvas 12x16 inches

Monday # 1 "Winter...on the Rocks"- oil on canvas 10x12 inches

I have been trying to find some "get-up-and-go" after my one-sided week long battle with a bad cold/virus. You know that feeling ... I'm sure. Still achy... and living between snoozes... hardly a time to either be... or feel remotely in the mood for creating.

I had mentioned that I often found purely "fun" explorations such as the stick trick to coax "Me" back up into the saddle... without a need for getting into things seriously. Sketching is one of those activities that never fails to enliven interest... no matter what tools one employs. It is portable and freeing... an activity... short in duration like a crossword puzzle that can be put down and come back to without loss of direction. Often this coming and going sparks entirely new direction in thought and a final solution.

The phone rang on Thursday... a call from my painting buddy in Algonquin Park, David Kay wondering... if I felt like a paint up there. My body kept trying to say no... given what you've read above... but my creative half answered yes.... certainly! So we weather-watched over the weekend... freezing rain was in the forecast along with snow. I packed up my gear and clothing on Sunday night and called David early on Monday morning.

No freezing rain up there at that time... so I agreed to head off at 8:00 am towards the Park but with the reservation that if I encountered the FR... that I'd turn around and head back home. The "nasty" never did appear over the entire three days... but I did have to fight my way through some tricky slushy road conditions for half of the journey from the Park's West Gate at Dwight to within a few kilometers of The East Gate at Whitney where David and Diane reside.

I arrived and we had a nice warm lunch... then immediately headed along the Madawaska River Road and quickly found a suitable subject. We had decided to take along my trusty Dodge Caravan instead of David's four wheel drive truck... because the rear hatch door can serve as a shelter from the elements. By placing one leg into the trunk area... two artists can work comfortably under this lid... out of the wind, rain or snow... without fear of the dreaded snow -in-your-palette nightmare that often kills a winter plein air experience.

We did, in fact have snow from time to time... with temperatures hovering around -3 C. But both of us came away with reasonably good sketches... given the less than perfect light and veil of flurries that came and went during our outing. That all aside... I was painting! Back in the saddle again.... Yahoo! Where did those cold symptoms disappear to? Yes... it was indeed a "head" cold... but it went deeper than that in my "head"! HA HA!

We awoke Tuesday to find fiercely gusting northwesterly winds and driving snow - definitely not what one steps out into to paint en plein air! We settled into a great breakfast combination of oat meal and Red River Cereal and chatting that led almost to 11:00 am. We decided that the weather had let up enough to give things a go... again with my Caravan. The Park was really under snow siege... so we opted to return to yesterday's site because there was shelter from the gusting winds... and more importantly... we had scouted out at least three "possibles" for a return visit.

I must admit that the entire day was a constant challenge in dealing with the wind and snow. I was glad of my prior decision to think and paint on the small side! On a few occasions we had to dump off accumulated amounts of snow that had managed to swirl its way around the edges of the vehicle and into our work area.

"Palette porridge"... for us both by the end of the day! We did manage to get in three more smallish sketches... two of which required nothing really when I got them home. The third one certainly displayed the results of snow in the paint! I decided twice during the actual plein air experience that I couldn't brush my way through to a conclusion... so I hauled out my small paint knife and put it to work. Despite this prevailing nastiness... the sun did manage to poke it head through for a half hour... and I seized upon this good stroke of luck to "upgrade my colour and the lighting conditions in Through the Cedars! The gambit worked out nicely I think!

Surprisingly... the knife really did work better... and with the paint conditions of the surface. I managed to save the day with those two... and have since applied the very same strategy to the final 8x10 canvas that I had believed was a "scrapper." I'll let you be the judge of my success... or lack of it! One must be constantly ready to shift gears in the field... adjusting to light ... weather and even new methods/tools for working. This readiness and willingness to act... is often the difference between success and failure in the day.

I returned to Hillsdale with a fresh sense of renewal... eager and ready to jump into the Nova Scotian canvases... which are overdue! Sometimes... pushing oneself beyond what seems to be in the way can rejuvenate one's creative spirit. Nothing does that better for "Me"... than getting "out there"... where every sense is stimulated and fused seamlessly into the actual act of painting. Whether or not we achieve the added good fortune of actually making a "gem"... pales in the face of the spiritual gains that only come from plein air painting... being "One" with Creation and The Universe! Add to that... the opportunity for good and encouraging friendship to share one's passion with!

Good Painting to All !

Stickhandling your way.... When Life seems to take over....

2012-01-18T07:02:00.000-08:00

Tools needed: white canvas or panel, acrylic burnt sienna, black india ink, Twigs, a brush perhaps

Quill ends, snub-nosed, chisel-like flats... whatever!

Note the curve of the shaft... again creates opportunity for unpredictable outcomes. Try rolling the shaft slightly as you draw it along... a nice technique!

Note random application of burnt sienna. Note the broken calligraphy of the line with lost and found edges and the unintentional drip of ink in the lower left snowbank. Lots of "mistakes" becoming assets!

Note that despite the application of paint to the sketch... that the original form and integrity of the sketch is adhered to and maintained.

Sorry for the space and silence over the past week... but both Deb and I found ourselves under the weather with very nasty colds... or flu symptoms which required that we simply approach each day.... horizontally! Not fun for certain... but hey!... it's winter and with the ever-changing weather conditions come these challenges to our schedules and intentions!

As well... I have had to put aside my earlier plans and interests to begin the year with a subject that I am very enthused to get on with. Then came a request from the gallery rep at Sales and Rentals at The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax... that they wanted to return three pieces and needed replacements as soon as possible in the New Year. So my project dropped down a couple of notches until this request is fulfilled. Not my choice really... but I do feel a sense of responsibility to meet their request first. Then I can play again as usual!

I spent the last couple of days looking over old sketches and photo references and feel that I have zeroed in on three subjects that will fill the bill. Now... all that I lack is the full measure enthusiasm to launch into the work... and to do a good job. Not being able to go outdoors in search of motivation and fresh subjects is a huge disadvantage for me in my process. Going out here in the -26C frigid conditions will not result in my getting a handle on Nova Scotian themes and moods.

So I am going to create a challenge that I have employed before to heighten enthusiasm and to overcome such barriers. I firmly believe challenge stimulates a fresh... loose and painterly approach and final product. This particular approach might seem flaky at first glance... but if you are looking for a novel way to get over a dry spell... then this one is a fun exercise... and will teach you a great deal about "happy accidents"... and going with the Flow!

STEP#1

The process begins with creating new tools for your initial drawing efforts. No costs involved... just some time to go outside and choose some smallish twigs as seen in jpeg one. Then... using a sharp utility knife or Exacto type knife cut quill type shapes that will serve as nibs for your new wooden styluses. Create your very own nibs ... not merelly copying what is conventional and familiar to you. Experiment on paper beforehand to find suitable shapes that work for you. Even this is fun... and surprisingly... you will discover that these tools are in fact... effective drawing implements. Just give yourself some time to gain a feel for their fluidity or individual marking possibilities.

STEP#2

Once you have a specific subject selected you can choose two possible approaches that I have found work for me. I choose a suitable white canvas format... let's say... 20x24 inches for your intended surface.

In method one, you apply acrylic burnt sienna with a large brush or even your fingers or a rag to represent darker appearing areas in your chosen subject... allowing lighter areas to remain the original white. Don't fret over exactness... just treat everything as temporary... and subject to ongoing changes. Once dry..then apply a loose pen and ink sketch/rendering into this new environment... allowing it to have its own life and energy. The use of ink guarantees... that there is no need for an eraser. HA HA!! Simply think first... then have fun discovering new things about your tools and materials. Grasp the twig pen at the end. This allows the new tool to act on its own... and not as a conventional pen or pencil... promoting chance breaks and deviations that encourage a fresh and painterly look.

In method two place your canvas on the easel in the ready to paint position and simply create a loosely constructed line drawing... sketch with your new tools and india ink directly onto the white canvas... again with no attempt to make it fussy. Allow for accidents to happen naturally... ink will drip and run... GREAT! The burnt sienna can be added after the sketch is in place... or the sketch can remain on the white ground "as is."

In either approach changes can be made after the fact to enhance your initial drawing. In method one... if too much burnt sienna is a problem... that can be corrected with the application of pure gesso to "correct" that problem... or even an ink error... just like in typing. It is fun to play... and believe me... it makes one think outside of the normal box for certain. And... on those days when one feels boxed in... and unmotivated... an afternoon or evening of simply playing is rewarding... and enriching!

The final step is to proceed further adding paint in the same fashion... or as is usually your practice. Again... there is much room to carry the experiment further and to explore deeper. It's all up to you! Just have fun... and relax!

This challenge activity is sent out directly to my good friend Joan Sicignano. She thrives on challenges and has "caught the fire" this year which has resulted in outstanding artistic growth and development for her. Hope you enjoy this one Joan! Visit her by Googling Joan Sicignano's Fine Art and see her marvellous sketches and paintings!

I will post some other examples in the next few days... along with my start on the new Nova Scotian drawing-to-painting processes to help you get your head around this novel idea further. I do hope that you enjoy this offering and hope that some of you might take the challenge and go "a-twigging!"

In my own work and process my approach is always open ended. It invites further contemplation and often these can occur long after the initial undertaking. Today's sketch was first presented ... framed and for sale in its original sienna appearance. However.. I was constantly feeling the compulsion to "Shermanize" it with pigment... but hesitated because I so loves its spontaneous and lively qualities. I finally easeled it... and was completely happy with that glow and mood that evolved. The couple who purchased it are Quebecois... and were so very pleased to add it to their sizeable collection of my works in their home.

The lesson to be learned here is again to risk... both accept challenge and create challenge for your Self. Take control of your process and make it what you want it to become. Then have the courage to step out again... and find new challenge. Emerson said it so well:

"Once you make a decision... The Universe conspires with you to make it happen."

Good Painting!... and Decision-making to ALL!

The Wisdom of Giving... and Receiving

2012-01-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

"Sunset on Bateaux Channel, Howe Island" acrylic on canvas 12x16 inches
A sideline stab at working in acrylics

"Sugar Moon" - oil on canvas 24 x 18 inches

A demo done in one hour on local Public Television -Gifted at Christmas to a special friend

"Jazzin' Up Summer" - oil on canvas 24x20 inches

A couple of musical interludes... from normal landscape interests

"Morning is Broken" Stonehurst South, NS - oil on canvas 24x30 inches

A painting done for The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Sales and Rentals -SOLD

"Tribute to Hope" - oil on canvas 30x24 inches - Gifted to daughter Lisa for her new home at Bethsheba, Barbados

Perhaps there exists no better time in the year to consider the value of wisdom in one's own journey. New Year is a time of reflection back over the events and happenings of the previous year to (hopefully) create a better outcome in one's life in the New Year that lies ahead. This moment is very much akin to a situation that is familiar to all of us who share a passion for painting in our lives.

The New Year... can be easily compared top a blank white canvas... primed and ready for an image that either lies before us in the physical landscape... or perhaps in the creative labyrinth of our mind. Our palette? Well... each of has his or her own personal choice of preferred "colours" that we have in our "tool box..." a set of unique experiences(both positive and negative) to draw upon... and a modicum of personal time and energy which again is unique to our personal lives and situation.

Painting is, by its very nature... usually an act arising out of contemplation... individual thought and actions. Our processes for the most part are deeply personal responses calibrated by varying levels of skill... initiative and goal seeking. For this reason... we spend much of our time cloistered away in studios or in the outdoors working on our own. For the most part, this is an enriching and satisfying experience... something we all look forward to and enjoy... a form of personal meditation... a pleasant separation from the routines of daily and family responsibilities.

But there does arise a time... when one feels stale... when the "old formula" no longer excites and canvas stares back and does not speak to... or even interest you. Every art form has these barriers, or periods of block. This is the time when each of us looks to others who journey commonly... for encouragement and perhaps a thread of Hope to kick start our feelings of paralysis and artistic impotency. It is truly a time ... when we reach out in search of... Wisdom!

Past societies... even "primitive" or indigenous ones depended almost solely upon their elders to provide wisdom... not only to the adult segment but as well significant teaching and rearing roles in the rearing of children. In that hands on fashion... wisdom was literally handed to the next generations in an active and oral tradition. This method of the passing on of wisdom and leadership guaranteed a predictable and stable transmission and reception of knowledge.

Our too rapidly changing and technologically based cultures of today rely almost totally upon the passage and reception of knowledge being carried out by outside the family sources. Our elders are "used" when convenient... devalued... cut adrift and left to their own devices for support... or warehoused in homes and sites where the responsibilities for care are carried out by corporate or privately owned care facilities. Most often these places are either self-funded or underwritten by government assistance.

In these situations all family members lose really. Adults relinquish daily contact and opportunities to gain life knowledge and children are robbed of their familial connection to the process of aging and the value of sharing time with someone who is with you out of choice... and real love... rather than paid tuition as the factor and incentive to give care.

I am not inferring that this is entirely bad... given economic choices in today's costly rat race. Often it is the only choice possible... given the circumstances. However... given the two paths, can there be any doubt that we have indeed lost something important? The oft said phrase:

"Wisdom and stability come with age."... is undeniable. Simply look across the breadth of your own journey... and tell me if you are not more wise now... as an adult or parent... compared to a time when you lived with your parents?

Wisdom is a gift to be given... but for the transmission to take place... it must also be openly received and embraced.... " a give and take", as they say.

This blog and the blogs of others form a conduit for exchanging wisdom. Wisdom is not necessarily "the stuff "that one expects from intellectual sources. I have found that "Wisdom" has its origin from many sources in my own life. I learn from elders... but I also learn wisdom from children... from friends... from radio interviews... from newspapers... from simply observing Nature... people interacting... visiting the blogs of others... and yes, even from my own failures.

In short... "Wisdom" can be gained from a myriad of sources, but in order to receive it... one must be open to and receptive to it. One must be open to change... to shuffling the deck... working outside the normal box we build around us.

Wisdom takes time to assimilate and digest as well. Too often we jump rashly into action... merely preordaining failure... or a return to old devices... which are... "ordinary." Try some new strategies... but allow yourself time to bathe in new prospects... form themes rather than single pictures. Read about other artists and their lives. Visit exhibitions and galleries. Write journals... keep sketchbooks handy. Form a buffet of ideas and activities to taste and experiment with.

I will leave you with my last five favourite images that I promised from 2011. They are already "old"... and have had their day.I have indeed moved on. But in the process of looking over them... I have refreshed my views about what gave me most pleasure in my painting process during the past year. I purchased a large canvas this morning. It's on the easel... looking back at me. But as blank and white as it truly is... I can already "see" the image that will fill it. I am "imagineering!

But I have much more thinking and preparation work to do... and my next post will outline that searching for the wisdom to proceed. I will conclude this post with a piece of wonderful gem of Barbadian wisdom . It reads simply, but eloquently:

"Don't rush de brush and trow 'way de paint! In our culture... this equates roughly with:"Patience is a virtue." And so it is!.... This post began about a week ago... which partly explains the time lapse! HA HA!!

Good Painting to ALL in 2012!

New Year Blessings to All!

2011-12-31T15:32:00.005-08:00

Lost in the 60's - oil on canvas 20 x 16 inches SOLD

Thank You ... For the Music! - oil on canvas 14x11 inches GIFTED TO SON ANDREW

Cherry Pink... and Apple Blossum Time - oil on canvas 16x12 inches

Minuet d'Hiver - oil on canvas 36 x 30 inches SOLD

The Magnificence of Algonquin Park Through the Seasons - oil 4 panels (Quadriptych)
6 feet x 12 feet

"A painting can help us to think of something that goes beyond this senseless existence."

-Gerhard Richter (realist painter)

Just a quick post to offer my deepest thanks to each of you who have made this blogging venture so rewarding and fruitful during 2011! I have learned much about the world that each of you lives and creates in! Thank you all for sharing so generously!

The purpose for my blog is to provide an open and non threatening forum where people can exchange their ideas... processes and even elements from their private lives. That seems to really have taken root successfully... judging by the fact that my 198 posts to date since 2009 have generated just over 20,000 page views(Not including my own visits). That fact speaks for itself.

While many folks simple read and move on without needing to comment... the fact remains that they plugged in... if only briefly and were given the opportunity to glean what they might have. Others have taken the time to comment and to add their own compliments... impressions and to offer personal extensions of what is in the post.

I find this interface highly motivating and inspirational to have company on an adventure where I usually find myself alone... either in the field or at my easel. Sometimes that "third eye" observation or bit of encouragement is sufficient to help one overcome discouragement and to pass those times when creation is blocked entirely.

New Year is traditionally a time to look back over the year and to examine and to reflect upon what has been accomplished, as an aid to guiding one into the next year. I went back over this year's output... which I feel has been generous and exciting for me personally. I have selected my favourite 10 paintings completed in 2011 and will offer them to you in two batches of five... the first five tonight. Some are major works if you use size as the measure... but truthfully... I feel that several of the smaller pieces offer as meaningful and powerful an impact as do their larger kin!

I hope that you enjoy seeing some of them again and to see that paintings should be undertaken to express the feelings you have experienced. By sharing these with others... you offer the gift of insight into your own world of thought and experience. They transport others across vast distances which they perhaps might otherwise... never have the opportunity to visit.

As I mentioned in a comment just this past week to one of my regular visitors... Beauty exists everywhere around you and in every part of the world. You simply have to seek it out and if you paint honestly... combining that beauty from without... with a genuine feeling of beauty you feel from within... the result will always be a beautiful canvas to record that relationship!

I recently heard an interview on CBC radio featuring Gloria Steinheim. These words from the interview are worth remembering:

"Everyone needs to tell their story."

If painting is your "Voice"... be proud to speak using it... no matter how good or bad you might feel it is. At least... you can be proud... that "You"... were heard! You might be pleasantly surprised to know that others value it!

Good Painting!.... Everywhere!... and in Every Season... in 2012... to ALL!

Warmest regards,

Bruce

Yesterday... and Today...What a difference a day can make!

2011-12-28T15:57:00.000-08:00

Just the day prior at Rumble's Mill... just a dusting!

Winter Traceries

The Old Manse

Snow festooned Birch

Looking westward up Mill Street West

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church

The Old Hillsdale Lockup....Jail

St Andrew' Steeple

Late Afternoon Light on Mill Street Residence

Yesterday morning it was dreary and rainy... with most of the dusting of snow that had made Christmas 2011 in Hillsdale almost entirely gone. It was these conditions that seemed to quickly dampen the festive spirit which had prevailed for that special day.

I had to take Liam and Bryn into Aurora... an hour's drive distant to do his evening shift at The Cineplex-Odeon Theatre... and Bryn to search out Boxing Day bargains. We left around 1:00 pm to insure his being there on time and with some "wiggle room" to spare. The rain quickly changed to snowy slush as we pushed southward on 93 Highway and by the time we were half way there it was beginning to snow quite heavily.

I quickly dropped them off and headed back towards Hillsdale... stopping only top pick up a few necessary groceries. By the time that I reached the Barrie area... still about a half hour south of Hillsdale... the roads had become treacherously slick and slush covered. It was not a pleasant trip the rest of the way home. I arrived back home around 5:45 pm... the trip requiring almost triple the usual time required to make the two way journey.

At bedtime... it was quite evident that the 2 cm estimated snowfall target predicted by Environment Canada had long been surpassed. Upon waking this morning there was almost 10 inches of powder snow on the ground... on top of the 2 cm of slush predicted. Nasty! Numerous collisions were reported all along the route I had taken... clear down into Toronto and westward to Southwestern Ontario.

This powdered snowfall adhered to the already wet branches of the trees... the grasses and fences everywhere in the village... transforming the landscape and residences into a lacy...winter faeryland. Between the frigid cold... the strong gusting wind and the marshmallow dominated features of the landscape... it was too much to paint up... but not too much to record and enjoy on a walk!

I ventured out around the village this afternoon to take some photos to share with all of you... who don't have this in your climate. I will say nothing further... except to underscore a few words from a Christmas favourite... that I'm sure you will all know. Walking in Hillsdale in the northwesterly wind this afternoon was very cold.... -15C with a windchill 0f -25C. But it truly was in every way like..."walking in a winter wonderland!" I think these jpegs say so too!

I am sending these snowy pix to my SoCal friend Marian Fortunati to enjoy.... and borrow for Canadian winter subject matter... should she wish to do so! Anyone else motivated ... get a shovel and dig in!.... Be my guest!

Good Painting in 2012 to ALL!!!

Peace on Earth! ... Add Your Voice!

2011-12-20T04:55:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings to ALL!!!

Christmas is closing in on all of us quickly... and most obviously, our attentions have to be switched away from the easel and even the blog and focused as they should be... on the matters of Family and celebration preparations!

Our celebration jumped off to a peaceful and very full start... in every sense of the word with our weekend rendezvous with Andrew, Melissa and Allison in the smallish, quaint town of Rockwood. It left all of us warmed by each other's company and the shared love... and primed for the other Christmas rituals and visits that lie ahead... but that are celebrated in other places... with other families.

Tonight... Deb and I will decorate our smaller-than-usual fir... and for the first time in our Christmas part of our life together, the two youngest (due to illness last weekend) will not be here to join in. I am... as you can probably tell from other posts an incurable romantic... steeped (too much at times) to past rituals... that I most definitely find hard to relinquish.

But Time has its own way... of herding one along and I have long since learned (from well remembered pain) that one must embrace change and move along with the flow... that is the flow of Life itself. This one necessary change is going to be enjoined with several others during the course of 2012. While change is both challenging and even threatening to each of us... again... I have learned from resisting... and the past unpleasant experiences that delaying necessary change results in greater pain to one's Self... and all around one. So Deb and "I"both have chosen to live by the credo that: Change begins with "Me"!

My "Road Taken"... or rather chosen, using my Art as a vehicle of travel has led me on an enriching and fulfilling personal adventure across Canada and to many places in the world where I have visited... lived... painted and found lasting friendship and wonderfully enriching kindred spirits. Many of these remain up to today... because we choose to remain connected in heart and purpose... despite great geographical distances between us. This blog is a similar instrument or "Voice" for "Me"..."You" and "Others"... who like us travel with Optimism... much like minstrels with a song to share with any who care to listen.

One set of friends, Norm and June Dubois "happened into" our studio several years ago to look around our gallery... to fill in their travel itinerary while visiting from Edmonton, Alberta at Carriage Hills Resort in Horseshoe Valley. They purchased a large piece of art... and remained for supper. Since then... they have returned when they were able... to our area on two occasions.

On both occasions... we have shared meals and time together here at the Gallery and on their last visit we took them out in search of cemeteries with ancient stones. They dabble in genealogy. On this occasion I took them out with the necessary equipment... and introduced them to the art of creating permanent rubbings. They took home some marvellously ornate rubbing memories of stones dating to the mid 1700's. What fun we had!

This morning I received an email from June... that is much more than an email. It is a gift from the heart that simply required punching a few keys to deliver its joy. I have chosen to include it along with our annual Christmas card as a gift... which I have no doubt will leave you full of deep Love....Hope and Joy... as receiving it did Deb and I this morning! Simply go to the upper right hand Video Bar..... Bocelli and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir... "Put your ears on".... Click... and Soar!!!!!

In a time when human actions and voices around the world seem only to echo in a tumult of angry... chaotic voices and hopelessness... may our Christmas wishes and this ethereal music from the heavens themselves enjoin... to encourage each of "You"... to continue to add your "Voice" to our choir and family in art... to embrace and work towards making our world a better place in 2012!

Merry Christmas from The Paint Box Gallery Gang and Family... to ALL!!!

Many Blessings and Much Peace!... and Good Painting!!!

The Gift of Getting A Grip... While Loosening Up! - Part II

2011-12-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

Our "Charlie Brown Tree" - Christmas of 2006 held at Lazee Dayz B&B - Horseshoe Valley, Oro-Medonte

My brother Don and his wife Claudia , her brother Blake and his wife Sherry... all from British Columbia and Deb and I rented the B&B for Christmas Week to share Christmas. Being so far apart, having separate family responsibilities and working hard to keep our heads above water, greatly diminished the possibility for us to be to be together and enjoy Christmas.

This tree was the focal point of our Christmas Eve activity together. I had brought in this tiny fir and we all made decorations from simple materials at hand... all the time listening to Christmas music and sharing laughs and food. Just as in Charlie Brown's case... the resulting tree became special... and under it were the "gift"stockings we each filled for another!

We have not been together since... and this Christmas Don and Claudia are spending Christmas in their retirement home in Yuma, Arizona. Despite this fact... I can retrieve... and replay "the moment"... passed... but not forgotten... each and every Christmas. It is a gift that we gave to each other... that simply... keeps on giving!

My title for this post may seem a bit confusing and obtuse... but it is far from either of those states. Each of us is bombarded by so many outside influences to conform to what is dictated by the society at large that we are forced to live in. Christmas is perhaps the most obvious example of this imposed servitude... as we hustle out to the frenzied malls in search of the "perfect" gifts for our loved ones... at the best dollar value!

Most of us spend more money than we can, or should afford to spend... just to keep in step with the crowd... of family members... friends... neighbours, or worse, the endless suggestive television ads offering (back end cost loaded)... "deals that can't be passed up"... like no interest for one year... no down payment necessary! Electronics... cars... trips... all large ticket items that press the plastic currency to their fullest limits.

My simple laundry dampener gift to my Mom and the joy that I vividly remember from when I was only four years of age... made with the help of my Dad lingers still in my own memory. My Mom treasured and used it throughout much of her laundry-laden years. What surfaces clearly is a definition of what "gifting" really entails. Firstly, there is the giving... and with it, coming the receiving. There should be a measure of pleasure received from both acts.

Sadly... our present society has drifted away from those warm and memorable days when one could expect a hand knit pair of mittens... socks... a sweater...a toque... scarf... an afghan... homemade candy... preserves.. hand carved toys... drawings and paintings. Even the usual Christmas request for skates... hockey pads... bikes and wagons... dolls and teddies might have been filled by "gently" used and lovingly repainted or repaired substitutes. As a child, I can't recall ever questioning the appearance of those gifts... or wondering where they came from.... beyond the Christmas magic of Santa and loving thoughtfulness of my family. They were quite simply... Heart Gifts... sent especially to "Me"!

We will be sharing this next weekend with my eldest son Andrew and his partner Melissa in their new Rockwood home along with his sister Allison. The whole emphasis will focus upon sharing each other's company... good food and drink... an ongoing ritual and love of all board games and ensuing laughter... with only a small emphasis on token gifts. The real gift to each member will be Time... spent ungrudgingly... together as a family for a few days. That's enough!

Lisa and my Grand Kids will be spending their Christmas together at Lisa's new home at Bethsheba in the Barbados. We will share Christmas with them in her Rockport area home upon their return in early January. Christmas can be celebrated on a day other than December 25th! Again... we will be spending time doing many of the same family things... and gifts will be shared by matched pairs of us. In November, we each drew names for one personal stocking to be filled... with a value less than $100 and some one thing at least... that will be handmade. I drew the stocking for my 17 year old Grand daughter Mica... and have made her a personalized Blurb Daily Planner... featuring her alone and with family members as she has emerged into the beautiful butterfly that "She" has become!

Liam and Bryn will be "At Home" with Deb and I here in Hillsdale commencing on the Dec 23rd through to Dec 30th. Christmas will take the form of good food and a trimmed tree... but again, less cluttered underneath than in the past. The lads both sent Santa and Mrs Santa a "short list"... from which we chose gift ideas to go along with a couple of surprises. We too, enjoy game evenings... movie nights and of course, food and special eat treats... including the turkey thingy!

We limited our spending a lot this year... but what we haven't limited... is the sharing of the season as a family and that is something that many folks lose a grip on during most of the year. It is indeed a busier world, dominated by work and commuting schedules... activities that keep us far flung from each other.

Blackberries... lap tops and iPhones that accompany parents to choir practices... game sites and the cottage... occupy interests even at meals... sports events... car trips and vacations. The message we send is that we...."Don't have time!" That is not exactly true. It might rather read... "That I choose to use my time for myself... and that I don't have time... for YOU!"

What if I was simply to say: "This Christmas, all that I have to give you... is my time." Is that a gift? Time at any age... is the highest coin in the human realm. It is short... and its spending should be precious to us all.

Why not... get a grip around your loved ones... and loosen up on schedules and electronic subservience... just for a few days? Time moves along... things change and people do as well. A favourite line in a favourite song of mine, "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul and Mary... includes these poignant lines midway through it:

"A dragon lives on forever, but not so little boys,
Painted wings and giants rings, give way to other toys."

What is Christmas... without the presence of Children... be they aged two... or thirty-two? Children grow up and with them...Life with them passes quickly beyond us. Why not get a grip on them... spend quality time with them. Offer your time... and place something you own that is special... something that is handmade by you, or some thing that is treasured by you... into their hands. In the giving... "You" will be receiving... within that same moment!

Many Blessings!... Glad tidings!...and Good Painting to ALL!!!

Good Painting!... and Happy (Family) Holidays to ALL!!!

The True Spirit of Christmas... Past and Present - Part I

2011-12-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

This is a favourite picture of Deb that I treasure for a variety of reasons. She made this Sno Folk quartet for her beloved Regina, Saskatchewan Grand Girls Ava and Ella for their front lawn. At the end of Christmas, Ava... the eldest asked her Dad to allow her to keep it their play room... where she uses it as a backdrop for her doll play! Put BIG smiles on Gramma's face !!!

" Now it's Christmas!... I've got my sock!"

Deb's much anticipated annual sock exchange with son Spencer.

Some of Deb's Funky Girly-Girl Teen Line of jewellery

Deb with some of her new all occasion Krazee Kardz

Toled Wooden Top for wrought iron custom table

"The butterfly upon the road preaches contentment to the toad." - Kipling

Oops!.... A funky tongue -in-cheek window Hanging in a recycled window frame

A Stained Glass enclosed planter

Free standing Stained Glass Goldfinch

Deb and I have been out wandering the malls and shops... as most of you are as well... hoping to find a special gift for those we love. I will declare straight out... that I do so grudgingly... not because I wish not to gift those whom I love... but rather, I despise being drawn in by the pitch that compels one to comply... and that even sets the bar for spending.

I have come from a very simple family background... one in which the tradition of celebrating Christmas was the "high mass" in our family ethos. I vividly remember the very first gift that I gave my mother. It was a clothes sprinkler... an absolute necessity for an ironing mother... in a time when irons were preheated on the top plate of the wood stove... and later on with a regular electric iron (without steam).

My Dad and I gave the empty quart wine bottle a coat of aqua green house paint and allowed it to dry overnight. I then added a wine coloured zig-zig top and bottom around the bottle. Dad took me down to the local hardware store and we purchased an aluminum sprinkler nozzle and a pair of decals bearing an image of a Mexican having his siesta... yellow sombrero down to his bent knees... against a saguaro cactus. These were applied using a transfer method using water on opposing faces of the bottle.

All of this secretive sactivity was carried out away from my Mom's eyes, in the bowels of our home... a dank cellar which served as my Dad's "Inner Sanctum." This space was usually out of bounds to the family. It was here in this "man cave"...where he read... listened to music... transcribed music for his band. Just being allowed down into his private refuge from an active, noisy growing family was in itself, a gift of sorts to "Me"... and I realized it and appreciated it as such!

I could hardly keep the secret until Christmas Day.... and seeing my Mom cry when she opened it, forever etched into my own ethos... the reality that "We" can all be the bearer of gifts... simple gifts that we create... gifts that we can share with the whole world. That simple act of giving a "heart gift" means the world to anyone who receives it.... because it is personal and unique and can never be purchased! She used that gift for a lot of years... even well after she had her GE steam iron!!

One of my own favourite annual gifts at Christmas was one that we were permitted to open before Christmas... a day at a time! In our family... and in my own since... Advent Calendars herald the coming of that special day... one sweet taste at a time. In the spirit of that Christmas ritual... I am going to offer a daily gift to each of you out there... my own version of an Advent Calendar... in my deepest appreciation to each of you for your support and your encouragement over the past year.

I have chosen to offer my first Advent gift to my dear wife Deb... who I know... always has my back and my interests covered. And because of that... "She" has my promise of Unconditional Love... for as long as we both are here! This gift of recognizing "Her" on this blog is to laud her immensely beautiful spirit and creative gifts which she continually offers to the world. I have selected but a few samples of the body of quality work that she produces in many mediums. I think you will readily see... and agree... that "She" is a multi-faceted and gifted Artist... Extraordinaire.... a Child at heart and a Good Soul!!!

"I" am deeply blessed to share my journey... and studio with "Her"....

"I" Love "You" Deb!!!... "A bushel n' a peck... and a hug around the neck!"

Stay tuned for Part II!

Good Painting to ALL!!!

Apres Plein Air...

2011-12-09T11:00:00.001-08:00

"Winter Sunbathers" oil on panel 10x12 inches (original version)

"Winter Sunbathers" - (reworked)

Note highlights on snow touched areas such as window ledges , manure spreader and more clearly defined tree crowns

"Huddled in the Afterglow" - oil on panel 10x12 inches (original version)

Note the addition of light to the foreground branches and the tips and trunk of the middleground white pine to add additional lighting effects.

"Huddled in the Afterglow" -( Reworked version)

" Down the Lane" - oil on panel 10x12 inches (original version)

"Down the Lane" - (reworked version)

Note that the diffuse light in the original is replaced by a heavy and direct lighting from the left which elevates contrast and colour.

As with apres-ski... when one requires a bit of down, or away time and relaxation after the rigours of the slopes... to allow the body to warm and the muscles to relax. In outdoor painting, it is always good to allow a period of time to reflect upon the sketches/paintings which one has brought in from outdoor sources... to weigh the need for possible changes.

It seems senseless to lose all of the freshness created from firsthand observation... but it can also be argued that often one has time constraints imposed by rapidly changing light conditions and the effect of cold upon the paint application which limits the potential for a better painting. Being away from the actual subject offers the opportunity to include personal flourishes in colour and brushwork which closer relate to creating than merely trying to copy what is in front of you.

When I first posted my last sketches untouched as they were fully completed en plein air... I received many comments that remarked about their fresh and spontaneous quality. A few urged that I not change them at all... fearing that something might be lost from their first appearance.

It is at this point that the artist must decide for him or herself to add or hold. Ownership is the purest part of creating. Advice should always be listened to and carefully weighed and considered. However... final chlices hoices surrounding the making of art should not be given over to others... no matter how close they may be to you.

I have posted the three previous works in pairs. The top in each case is the original form... the one below the reworked version. I felt that each piece needed a bit of additional attention... and the very last one... a major shift to regain a sense of light and colour that simply wasn't there on that particular day. I am pleased with all three. I hope that I haven't disappointed any one with my changes... but I truly am satisfied with the results because I followed my own intuition. They're signed!

Good Painting to ALL !

Titanium... White Christmas!

2011-12-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

Holm's Homestead, Gervais Road - oil on b. sienna toned panel
(Note the grainy texture detail )

Barn Complex on 7th Line Oro -oil on burnt sienna toned panel - 16x20 inches

John and Mary Silk's Century Homestead, Matchadash

Oil on toned b.sienna panel 10x12 inches

Winter rolled into our Oro-Medonte region off Georgian Bay like a freight train on late Tuesday evening! I arose early on Wednesday morning to find about 6 inches of snow already on the ground and with gusting winds and zero visibility making travel of any kind treacherous and foolhardy.

None the less... I had an appointment to meet with a prospective new gallery owner in nearby Penetanguishene... so I headed out cautiously at 60 kph or less and managed to arrive on time for the 10:00 am appointment. On the way back to Hillsdale, a sunny and blue sky scenario followed on my heels and remained for the remainder of the day.

What a stroke of luck that was! My painting buddy, David Kay and his lovely wife Diane had arrived to spend a few days with us so that David and I could do some plein air work in the area.

We had a quick hot chicken stew lunch and David an I headed out eagerly to the site on Gervais Road that I had chosen to begin our painting time together. The site there had a unique and colourful subject that David had never seen, or painted... though I had on two previous occasions last winter. I knew that it would work for us and that it would alleviate any need for a "drive around"... which usually eats up valuable painting time.

David approved heartily with my choice... and we immediately launched into action. David selected a 16x20 panel to work on.... while I chose a smaller 10x12 inch sienna toned masonite panel that I was eager to try out. I had used a different method of applying the gesso undercoating... which left a fine abrasive tooth all over the panel surface... not unlike a coarse pastel paper texture.

We had arrived at the site by 2:15 pm... and both of us had what we wanted by 4:00 pm, so we decided to pack it in and spend what was left of daylight looking at possible locations for the next day. The temperature late in the day had plummeted quickly to -8C... so knowing our limit and choosing a less punishing strategy... we made the right choice not to push for another start.

Thursday morning was beautiful... with the sunlight coming in and out while we painted , but we were both able to produce good paintings from the site we scouted out the previous day. Again... by 1:00pm, the temperature, as expected dropped very quickly. We passed up the planned hot lunch break in Craighurst and pushed on up to Big Chute on the Severn River to a nice farmhouse subject. David has his fill of Algonquin wilderness settings... and so enjoys the opportunity to sink his teeth into rural farms and barns for a change.

By this time, there were no lighting effects at all... very BLAH conditions... offering little chance for contrast and dramatic lighting. However... the composition was very interesting to us both, so we soldiered through the greyness... and the rapidly increasing cold to get down something that we each could carry home to our individual warm studios... to play with.

Both of us love the outdoors... and the solitude of painting alone. We share the same respect and need for wilderness conditions in our lives. We always are able to find commonality in our interests... pleasures and our personal code of values. On top of that... we both have supportive spouses who accept us for who we are... support our work and enjoy company together as couples.

We are deeply blessed... and know it!

None of these images have been changed in any way. They are... as they were created and returned from the field... untouched. They'll sit a day or two... and I'll enjoy the time... with coffee in hand... deciding to add... or not... and remembering a couple of fine days... "out there" with a good friend... doing what we both love!

Does life get any better?... I think not!

Good Painting to all!

An Autumn Day... WIth Ice Around the Edges!

2011-11-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

An Autumn Day... With Ice Around the Edges - oil on canvas 20x16 inches

Friday brought along another unusually beautiful day to get "out there"... and I did! With midday temperature hovering at a warm +12 C... I headed out in search of a "little smackeral" of something... other than the constant diet of houses and buildings of the past several weeks. I was determined to look for a woodland theme... something that perhaps twinned that favourite theme of mine with another... moving dark water.

Since it was going to be a short outing, I quickly decided not to spend precious daylight minutes touring about looking for the perfect scene. I headed due south three minutes on 93 Highway and hooked eastward on Ingram Road... intending to make my way past the Copeland Forest... and working my way towards "The ol' Honey Hole"... 6th Line Oro... where I knew good solid painting material existed all along the meandering oxbow Moonstone Creek.

I glanced southward for just a instant as I was cruising along... and my eye caught sight of the subject for today's 20x16 inch canvas. Emerging through the mass of trees from the Copeland Forest... was the diminished version of a much larger flowing Willow Creek further upstream.Not much more than six or seven feet across at this point... it passes under Highway 400 to merge in confluence with Moonstone Creek and the Sturgeon River... finally ending up in Georgian Bay.

There was just enough dark water and movement... in concert with the yellowing and rusty weeds and marsh growth and a maze of vertical and horizontal trees to create what I felt might make an interesting quick sketch. I even managed to find a flat concrete culvert... a perfect platform to work from... just off the road and with a high vantage point. Perfect!

I took a couple of quick reference shots to record the light and shadow... then dove headlong into setup and the painting process. I decided to use a vertical format to capitalize on the vertical strength of the composition, as well as the lovely network of lacy sky holes at the top... that broke up the horizontal massing of the mixed trees. Since I was painting on an acrylic burnt sienna toned canvas... I added darkest darks first... followed by a washed in version of the lightest lights.

I quickly chose and added in with a mixture of Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin (blackish purple) the particular trees that interested me the most... and which had the greatest compositional value for me. That done... I established the dark water element... again by staining it in. I then stepped back to analyze my plan of attack through the mid tone range.

I painted very rapidly... totally avoiding any fussiness or detail... to fill in all of the existing toned area. I accomplished that within the first hour of painting. I then took a break... did a "walk about" to get away from the painting... had a drink and looked at other things nearby. I then returned to the easel and worked my way through the "dots n' dashes".... or "push n' pull" as many refer to this process of making balances in tone and hue strength. In the last 15 minutes... I used my rigger to add a few details like twigs... rushes... reflections in the water until I felt that I has said enough.

I am pleased with the loose...painterly and not "mannered"quality of the brushwork... as well as the fall light and mood that is present in this sketch. I don't think that I'll add anything. It simply is... what was there... "A Warm Autumn Day... But With Ice Around the Edges!"

Good Painting!...to ALL!!!

Happy Thanksgiving America!!!

2011-11-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

" Quietly Rusting Away" The Gibson Homestead, 6th Line Oro - oil on canvas 20x24 inches

Yesterday, we enjoyed another gift of sunshine and a continued impunity from the clutches of impending... but indecisive final winter cold. While the actual afternoon temperatures hovered around the freezing mark, it was the absence of wind combining with the warmth of afternoon sun which made the entire afternoon of painting pleasurable and productive.

I had earlier spent the morning combing through this year's images to select the one that we will use as the theme for our annual Christmas card to friends. I always enjoy this task because it gives me the opportunity to look back over the breadth of my painting adventures during the past year to identify those works that seem to be unique in technique or perhaps subject matter.

I try not to lock into only a winter mode or even a large painting format, despite the fact that it is Christmas... and that traditionally, Christmas cards by and large follow a winter format. On occasion, I have selected a "daisy"... in lieu of a "rose."That is to say... a very simple and painterly sketch... as opposed to the larger and more manicured style of the studio works. Daisies are my favourite flowers! Many of my longtime friends have walls in their home dedicated to my annuals... and I try to send them along something new and exciting for their Christmas surprise.

I had no problem selecting my favourite this year. It is one of my "intuitive" works... that is... paintings that predictably embrace my impressionistic preference in style... bright colour and attention to light. However... I purposely take a sketch and reconfigure its reality... adding a playful and expressionistic interpretation... creating exaggerated rhythm and movement in parts of the work. "Minuet d'Hiver"... or Winter Dance/ Minuet captures the Algonquin Landscape in a stately.... yet at the same time whimsical fashion.

I feel this was one of my better canvases this year. Surprisingly... despite grabbing a whole lot of attention from visitors to the Gallery... the painting remains unsold. And that doesn't bother me in the least... for I enjoy it every time that it catches my attention. I know that it too... will have its day to leave... but for now... it's mine to enjoy!!! ... "I" dance with the trees! HA HA!!!

I wanted to get my teeth into a larger canvas after all the small Hillsdale sketches. So I headed out... with no particular agenda... other than to achieve this end. It didn't take long to decide. Today's subject is a tin clad homestead belonging to an octogenarian... and somewhat stern Hobart farmer, Howard Gibson. It was his family homestead... and now sits empty... mouldering into eternity. He lives alone... farming the very same acreage as his predecessors... in a nearby white clapboard frame home... next door to Hobart United Church and Cemetery where his parents lie interred. This place is a favourite haunt of mine... you might call it "The Honey Hole"... for this ol' Bear!

I have made countless paintings up and down this 6th Line Oro... I feel most at home when I am painting along it! When I first came to the Oro-Medonte to paint, the 6th Line, like most of the Line Roads was unpaved... and virtually untraveled. Often my easel was set up in the middle of the road. Now paved and heavily used at peak times by homeward bound commuters to cut cross-country... doing thus would certainly mean moving the easel frequently... and in some settings it would be down right foolhardy to do so!

This derelict tin clad relic is unique really in this region. It has such an appealing patina for the painter's eye... with its mixtures of weather-produced rusts and aluminum paint. Surprisingly... that despite the absence of habitation for such a lengthy period... it still stands proud and tall... the ridge line of the roof remains plumb... meaning that the field stone foundation and footings are remarkable intact and stable. I omitted the large barn located directly behind the house behind the tree... because I enjoyed the relationship that seemed to exist between the tree and the house. The sun-raked and sloping middle ground of a variety of matted browning grasses and weeds made an excellent foil to the strong vertical form of the house and tree.

The blue sky... scumbled with very light cloud cover gave a wonderful cool complement to the warm grass and house beneath it. It was a very easy picture to step into... and fairly "painted itself"... from start to finish and despite the very heavy car and truck traffic on the four-laned Highway 400 running alongside me. "The Flow" draws attention away from such usually distracting annoyances.

In these late November days of tawny transition and cold... usually unattractive to many artists, one can find pleasing subjects if one makes the effort to get "out there." Look for some major subject of interest to be cradled by the myriad of rusts and browns. Good painting material can be found. This is an example of the kind of reward that awaits a painter... willing to get off the couch... dress warmly... and pack in his or her imagination along with the painting gear. It's worth the effort!

All in all... it was another magical ... another day in Paradise... Another blessing enjoyed... to be shared!

Happy Thanksgiving America!!

Many blessings... and Good Painting to ALL!!!

O Canada!.... Oh... Canada?????

2011-11-21T03:29:00.000-08:00

A symbol of Distress....

"A picture is worth athousand words!"...Thank you Tim!

Cpl Philip Hunter Canadian medic with interpreter/ friend Sayed Shah Sharifi in Afghanistan

I believe that all artists share a common need to "make sense" of the world they live in... and in so doing they see it in an entirely different manner than those around them. Artists usually are are unlike those around them in our two and fro world... who only seem to look, but seem never able to truly "see"... that is to say... understand what is all around them. They are content to live in a "taken-for-granted" existence... blinders on... plodding grudgingly through their uninspired lives.

I find it very strange that very elite (no reference to the artists) in this "blind battalion" are our people in high positions of power... and highest amongst these... our political leaders. On the very day after Remembrance Day... after all of the wreath laying and droning political rhetoric... befitting a funereal setting... Veteran's Affairs here in Canada unveil a plan to reduce the pension benefits by the amount of disability pension a returning (physically or mentally wounded) veteran receives... in some cases leaving soldiers and their families with no income.

In Saturday's edition o\of the The Toronto Star it was reported that Sayed Shah Sharifi, a former Afghan interpreter used the Canadian Forces (then cut loose when we withdrew from the heart of Taliban heartland) has been denied a visa to immigrate to Canada who he served during the conflict. I am... admittedly "a bear of little brain" and of VERY little interest... when it comes to either military or political topics... however, it makes sense perfect sense to me... that this adopted soldier (along with all his family members)... one in our rank and file by choice... will most certainly suffer a deadly, if not horrific end at the hands of the remaining insurgent faction still operating in Afghanistan. He has already been "marked".

You can pack away your poppy Mr Harper... along with your sanctimonious public false face. You can indeed hide behind your desk on Capitol Hill in Ottawa. But how can you sleep at night? How can you ever face another Silver Star Mother with her war-orphaned children and a crowd filled with veterans at a future Remembrance Day Ceremony?... Or attend the funeral of a veteran who has committed suicide... after returning to the "safety" of the homeland that he or she fought for?

How can the government justify the claim ever again... that the reason for Canadian involvement in a conflict abroad... is to guarantee a (Afghan) people freedom and the hope of a better life.... when we can't afford our own returning veterans their due respect... thanks and support from an involvement dictated by politicians and military heads ? It reeks of the worst kind of hypocrisy and is a disgrace to our nation! You offend all veterans deceased or alive... and all Canadians through your callous actions!!!!

I apologize for using the space in this bog, usually devoted to art... to embed this rant. But veterans were just ordinary folk... who gave their all... so that ordinary folk like us could express and share our opinions... so that "We" could have a voice! I join these Canadians to speak on behalf of all veterans... anywhere.

My thanks to Cpl Philip Hunter, an Afghan veteran/ medic himself, for his courage to speak out via The Toronto Star against the government's rejection of his interpreter and friend Sayed Shah Sharifi's (promised) application for immigration and asylum in Canada. My thanks to political cartoonist Tim Dolhigan for granting me permission to use his cartoon in this post. It eloquently supports veteran feelings and certainly my own. It underscores the power of a picture..."to be worth a thousand words!" Thank you Tim! You can visit Tim's web page at dohlighan.com .... Great stuff!

If you return to an earlier post this month...November is the Cruelest Month... you will understand my anger... disgust with our government and the reason for my rant. As Canadians... we ALL lost a part of our Selves... each and every time a Hercules aircraft touched down at Trenton Airbase... repatriating the body of one of our fallen 158 young men and women... and their surviving comrades-in-arms. I simply can't... and won't remain silent because.... only the living can speak and act!!

"The torch be yours to hold it high....

If ye break faith with us who died,

We shall not sleep though poppies grow...

On Afghan hills!...

Lest we forget!

Just one Grateful Canadian's's opinion.... and I'll let you, the readers be the judge and jury on whether these opinions are valid... and worth responding to. Do those actions make sense to "You"? I wonder????? If they matter to "You"... take the time to respond... and better still send off your thoughts to the Canadian Veteran's Affairs Minister... and the Minister of Immigration. I intend to do so.

The Honourable (optional) Steven Blaney

Veteran Affairs Canada

14th Floor

66 Slater Street

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0P4

Again... to my followers....sorry for the rant! But as I said earlier... November is always the cruelest month for "Me' personally. Remembrance Day will forever have a "face" for "Me". I shall not forget or be quiet - ever! I do, however... promise a snappy... upbeat painting to salute my American Thanksgiving celebrants' upcoming Turkey n' Football Fest!..."I" promise!

Good Painting... and Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!!!

What A Difference A Day Makes!... or Carpe Diem!

2011-11-19T03:50:00.000-08:00

Thursday - "The McFadden Homestead, Hillsdale in Fall"- oil on panel 8x10 inches

Friday... it's Winter!

As well as making a great title for a song, the title for today's post... and especially the tail end of it really drive home the truth in the old adage: "Never put off until tomorrow... what should/could be done today!" Sometimes a single day can make huge difference... especially for the plein air enthusiast and that fact is clearly defined in the the two jpegs offered at the top of the post.

After lunch on Thursday... the sun suddenly appeared and seemed to want to remain... signalling an (unplanned) afternoon painting opportunity! I decided to go directly to a scene that I pass on nearly every walking trip that I undertake in the village. It is a pleasant view of the old McFadden Homestead perched commandingly... high on a wooded hill... looking down on passersby and the United Church Cemetery. It lies due east from the now deceased owner John McFadden's sugar bush and shanty which I painted two weeks ago.

Despite seeming forlorn and certainly less cared for... I still much enjoy seeing it in the changing light and cover of the various seasons. John's wife Lorna was a "regular" at the St Andrew's Presbyterian Church and shared her energy there for many years, in concert with people like my now passed dear friend and neighbour Marian Drennan and solid... hard working local farm folk Stewart and Myrtle Jamieson. They are the old stalwarts and remaining loyal stewards of this village institution.

Deb and I attended (and thoroughly enjoyed) the church for three years... simply because it was going to close and be lost to the community without financial support and local interest. However... facing Marion's sad passing and her hugely empty pew across from us... along with the political bickering... and insatiable need of "a few" to control the rest... these changes signalled a good point to exit... and we did. The struggle continues for the church and its faithful... and I fear the end for that lovely brick monument to better days is as predictable as the closing of Dalston Public School. Time and society's needs change everything!

I've learned to accept that inevitability... and no longer rail or lament as I use to. I choose to record those changes in paint... as they were... or at least as I romanticize... they might have been according to my travels and memory of my own lifetime. Not surprisingly... my sketch books are filled with "ghosts"... gone from sight and in a lot of cases... even the memory or experience of neighbours. That fact gives "Me" a modicum of satisfaction. My paintings of schoolhouses... churches... mills...... sugar shanties... barns and homesteads.... all things old and rural..are indeed records... pages from my journal... that will perhaps be enjoyed... and remembered... after my own inevitable passing. That validates a huge part of my journey... and is enough "purpose" for "Me" !

While November remains my toughest month to weather emotionally... and the reasons for that have been clearly revealed in a previous post... it is paradoxically one of my most fertile periods to write along with my customary painting. I have always enjoyed prose and poetry as a format for expression and enjoy formulating verbal imagery which correlates with what I am painting. Sometimes they operate in tandem... and lines appear between brushstrokes... and find their way quickly to my mileage log in the van. Later... I rework the meter and thoughts more fully... not much different than what I do with my field sketches at times. My self-published Blurb book "Two Voices- The Paintings and Poetry of A .W. Bruce Sherman" is a compendium of those outcomes and this inter-relationship process. A short preview can be viewed just to the right of this line in this blog.

At other times... the poem.... no let's more properly call it a "word thought" arrives first... and I scrawl it on the back side of the panel or canvas. It is this interchange of verbal and visual that I am focusing upon. One enriches the other... One "enables" the other... One excites the other. That is the underlying importance of plein air/ outdoor painting. ALL of one's sense are firing... which in my mind guarantees a richer... fresher... more honest result. A plein air painting can be said... to "speak in many tongues." It can also be embellished or made larger in the studio after the fact and outdoor experience.

Here's a "word thought" that came out of the "Fall"...and the "Snow Day at McFadden's

Homestead, Hillsdale."

Winter... Overnight

Voracious hungry harvesters are hastily shearing fields of browned corn,

Leaving paths of ermine and stubbled rows of stalks... well shorn.

Vast open leas and meadows now dressed in winter white,

Are playgrounds for the snowbird flocks... just arrived overnight.

Leafless hedges and woodlands grey, etched dark against this whiteness so bold,

Just here and there, tho' wind-stripped bare, wild apples... dangle gold.
The fading greens of pasture lands, tinged in dying yellows,

Lay white and still, save for the play... of two frisky equine fellows.

The world is changed... the wheel has turned and autumn's given way,

Now gone is the blaze, the fanfare gold and red... winter's here to stay!

Good (Winter) Painting to ALL!!

There's a bit of Tigger... in Autumn!... or The Power of Pooh!!!

2011-11-16T01:49:00.000-08:00

"Lest we forget"... Another kind of Remembrance Day! Dalston PS - Oil on panel 10x12 inches

BOUNCE!..... BOUNCE!... BOUNCE! Not a bad thing either... the weather and Tigger... "bouncy"... every which way! One day almost winter... the very next Indian Summer as we Canadians refer to that last shine of autumn. Allison... Andrew and "I" revelled nightly in our erratic DVD romps through The Hundred Acre Wood. The pure joy of childhood propelled our every step... and I am not at all ashamed to reveal... that I was as giddy and joyful as they in those early adventures together! I miss those days, especially when the darkness and reduced daylight reduced playtime outside and we would curl up all three...for a "Snuggle" (as Allison referred to the activity) to share"The Blustery Day"... every day throughout that dreary part of autumn.

But Time pushes we humans along... and children find new friends and adventures... as they should and those of us who are "growed up" must either face the Darkness alone... or dig deeply into our pockets... find that Inner Child... and skip out into the world to find our own play. My way to... "slip the surly bonds of earth" (and it works every time for me)... is to grab my paint box... easel and a panel and simply get... "out there"!!! There is not an excuse I can make that is valid... it's a must situation!

I worked hard yesterday morning preparing a rather lengthy and tedious proposal to a gallery for an opportunity to create a solo exhibition based around my 6x12 foot quadriptych. The sunny and unusually warm weather outside caused my attention to "BOUNCE" out the window... so much so that I hurried up the photo part of the submission... and gleefully mailed off the package by two thirty in the afternoon... just when the shadows and light would be perfect for the site I had chosen a day earlier! (I watch the weather!)

Within a five minute hop in the van, I was set up and ready to paint alongside the highway... but down in some scrub grass which afforded an interesting new view of a subject I have passed by a gazillion times and said, "That would make a nice painting!" The light and shadows were perfect... not advanced enough as to let me play catch up... so that when the ideal time was reached... I would be in step with those speedsters.

How strange... when locked into that Flow... that nothing around seems to have influence. All that "Is"... is the painting! How strange as well... that when the light begins to fail... quickly as it does at 4:00 pm these days... that the light on the panel seemingly... remains on! I managed to work out the paint into a reasonable facsimile of the final lighting and was content to call it a day... mainly because I had skipped lunch to get out painting! This ol' Bear needed a "little something"... and to get home to his "Honey"! HA HA!!

Well... all of this silly banter is simply my way of offering.... when November, or "the blues" come your way... dig deeply into your pocket... and let your "Child" out to play. I've yet to meet a child on my journey... who doesn't enjoy a "BOUNCE"... in the woods. Take along your paint box... and see what happens. Always... for "Me"... "it leadeth me beside still waters... and restores my soul." The jpeg is the resulting effort... with only a few quick licks added after supper. My new upbeat feeling... is medication enough to lift "Me" out of the grasp of my earlier greyness. That honey of a sunny day was not wasted!

Good Painting ... to ALL!!!

PS While painting this picture, so many thoughts kept running through my mind about the people and events that took place within the walls of Dalston Public School... and were now either hidden or lost. When I got home... and after supper... the thoughts continued to take up my thoughts... and so before retiring,I penned this wee "word thought" to record some of those feelings. I thought that you might enjoy them as well.

How...Where... When... and Why?

How many feet rushed to answer its bell?

How many stories could this empty classroom tell?

Where went those small voices filled with optimism and cheer?

Where did their knowledge and Life take them from here?

When did the village children cease to pass through its door?

And when... will they recall those cherished hours from Before?

Why ponder the Past and its long bygone ways?

Why?... because they form the basis... for all our Todays!

November is the Crulest Month...

2011-11-10T06:47:00.000-08:00

"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"- oil on panel 12x10 inches

Captain Matthew Jonathan Dawe
Company C, 3rd Batallion

Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry

Lucas and Peter Dawe Senior, Lieut-Col ,Rtd.... presenting the Captain Matthew Dawe Ceremonial Sword to OCdt Jean Christophe Jacques' Ouellet at The Arch Memorial Ceremony at Royal Military College in Kingston on October 2nd, 2011

This building at The Royal Military College in Kingston is the first building to be named in honour of a Canadian soldier killed in action Afghanistan

An Athletic Trophy... The Matthew Dawe Trophy for Excellence in All Four Sports at RMC

I think... if you follow my blog regularly that you would agree that I present a pretty upbeat and optimistic outlook on the whole. But I must readily admit that that optimism and "joie de vivre" is greatly challenged during this usually gloomy month... save for celebrating the births of two of my children.... November 24th for Liam James... now to be 18 years young... and on November 30th my eldest child Lisa will turn... better ask "Her"! HA HA!!

I was born... raised and spent most of my life on the shores of The St Lawrence River... so "I" am proudly.. a "River Boy"! The is the core of my very being... spiritually and artistically. I feel much at peace when "I" am "home"... standing on its shores... anywhere between Gananoque and Brockville... where I was born. When we visit the area... I stop and simply gulp in that rarefied River air... and my body and mind know that we are at home!

At this time of the year however... the River takes on an almost malevolent... steely... gun grey persona that I can't say I totally enjoy... except on rare days when buttermilk skies add a warmth to compliment that pervasive and dominant greyness. And yes... I am one of those unfortunate individuals who suffers when light or time is changed or is available for shortened periods of time.

On this very date... November 10th, 1975 a huge Great Lakes ore carrier, The Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared with all hands during a vicious November gale on Lake Superior.It was discovered by a deep diving expedition to have succumbed to damage caused by being broken in half between two mammoth waves... then plunging at break neck speed... burying its forward bow area deep into the lake bottom. Death would have been instantaneous due to the frigid water conditions and the pressure which easily buckled the superstructure and hull of this mammoth laker.

This horrific November Canadian Great Lakes disaster brought great sadness to all Canadians... especially those who live along the waterways on which the Edmund Fitzgerald sailed. As a boy playing baseball at the coal docks on the Brockville waterfront ( I lived a block away and within sight of the River)... we would pause our games and run to the docks to wave at the passing carriers. We got to know the ships on sight... the Scott Misener and the Edmund Fitzgerald being my favourites because of their length... sleek beauty and swiftness. On more than one occasion this ship passed coming and going on its journey up and down the River.

My favourite balladeer and troubadour, Gordon Lightfoot... who coincidentally was born and began his brilliant musical career in Orillia, twenty minutes from Hillsdale wrote The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald which is easily a Canadian anthem... and an all time favourite of mine. I am listening to it ... as I write this post... and I resurrect and play it often...each and every November. Strangely... despite the magnitude of sadness that this ballad carries with it... paradoxically for "Me"... I find peace and inner quiet as a result of listening to it.

According to old Chipewyan native legend... Gitchee Gumee as they refer to our label Lake Superior... never gives up her dead. Lightfoot added these thoughts to a pair of lines that resonate my feelings about November perfectly.

"The Lake it is said, never gives up her dead

When the skies of November turn gloomy."

Those gloomy November skies are a perfect backdrop for our Canadian Day of Remembrance... held across the Dominion on November 11th... the day that gunfire ceased in World War I. IT has always been a part of my November ritual to visit the cenotaph and to take part in the Service of Remembrance in each of the communities where I have lived. I even took my full classes on the day to encourage their participation and understanding of the sacrifice... and the needless and devastating loss that war causes.

I had two uncles who served overseas during World War II... both were severely wounded in action in Normandy and Italy... so that our family well knows the cost of war and has reason to be respectful and observant of this day. However... on July 5th, 2007 Remembrance Day would forever carry a face... a young 27 year old Captain... a hockey pal and schoolmate of my son Andrew... a child that I had enjoyed on a hockey team that I helped coach with his dad.

Captain Matthew Jonathan Dawe and five of his men were killed instantly by a roadside device in southern Afghanistan... only a week after he had lost three of his men in another incident. He was one month from returning to his wife Tara, 1 year old son Lucas and his family. Matthew came from a military family. His father Peter is a retired lieutenant-colonel. All four sons served in the military... and one currently commands the Canadian Afghanistan contingent.

Even as a young peewee hockey player... Peter was a leader on and off the ice. His quick wit and infectious smile is something of "Him" that still burns strong in my heart today. Just before his untimely death Matt was quoted as saying that "he couldn't wait to get home to his family in Edmonton and Kingston"... "and that his heart ached to change diapers and do the daddy stuff " with Tara and Lucas. Too sadly.. both "He" and "They" would never enjoy those precious... taken-for-granted daily moments... which most of us sometimes gripe about.

According to his superiors and his men who loved him dearly..."Matt led from the front"... and he paid the supreme price for that valour and example. Tomorrow at the Remembrance Day services in nearby Midland... during that "two minutes of silence"... "taps" and "Reveille"... my heart will belong solely.. to Matthew and his courageous family who survive him: Tara...Lucas... Reine his mother... Peter his dad and brothers Philip...James and Peter.

Kingston is an army town... a base for the army, Staff College and the Royal Military College. We had a home in nearby Grenadier Village. Our children were raised and schooled with army children. It was indeed a tight family environment... and the ties remain. My daughter Allison lives just down the street in Kingston from Tara and Lucas. Last Friday, we dropped by in order for me to present this painting memento of my respect and thanks for their sacrifice. Tara was not home... but Allison has offered to deliver the painting and a note to Tara and Lucas on my behalf. Others have recently offered gestures of remembrance in Matthew's honour which underscores his community's and whole family's continued belief... that their loss continues to have meaning and purpose. I have include a couple of jpegs to show those gestures with my viewers.

We have all been robbed of beautiful... wonderful... precious minds... each in our own corner of existence. Let us set aside daily thoughts of gratitude to those who "led at the front"... and sacrificed their tomorrows... so that we could have today! Honour them... by making something lasting and good Today... and Tomorrow... in their memory and honour. We owe them that debt of gratitude... not to squander their precious gift to all of us!

Heads and hearts up!... and back to the easel!

Good painting...to ALL!!!

On the Job With Dad Day... in Kettleby!

2011-11-06T08:39:00.001-08:00

Bryn's admirable effort... at the lay in stage... lots of potential!

Dad's effort... with a bit of work to finish

Kettleby ... in a bygone era

Village General Store, Kettleby c 1930 - watercolour 20x25 inches by Peter Haworth, a Canadian artist I much admire for his water colouring efforts

Two hearts... as "One"!

Bryn at the easel.... "into it"

Curtis House -1890

The Italian Bakery (Old General Store)

Our subject for the day- John Stone Clift's Home and Blacksmith Shop - 1890

Looking down Main Street, Kettleby

The weather stills holds as I write today's post... blue skies... sunny... +12C degrees... but the four successive days of hard overnight and early morning frosts have all but eradicated the colour. Pockets of oaks... poplar... birch and tamarack/larch provide much of the remaining colour... and for that... I am grateful!

Bryn and I enjoyed a wonderful paint out together at Kettleby on Wednesday. The weather was sunny and bright... but the winds remained gusty and chilly all morning. I pulled the van up close behind our easel setup together to help serve as a partial windbreak... but we were in the shade of a house and large trees... so that heightened the cold of the wind.

We chose a subject which combined the 1890... century home and shop of village blacksmith John Stone Clift. It has been updated... still to period tastes and stylism... in a board and batten construction. My guess is that it was a simple frame "centre plan" clapboard home... typical of the period throughout most of rural Ontario.

This style of one and a half storey home, typically had a central entrance on the facade, located below a dormer window located directly above in the half storey. You entered the home to be greeted by a staircase that led to the second storey. The dormer window provided the necessary light for this staircase. The low ceilings in each of the two upper bedrooms followed the slant of the roof. The ground floor consisted of a parlour and dining room to the front which were lit by front windows.... and a kitchen/pantry area to the rear.

While painting... we were visited by local octogenarian resident Mrs. Marjorie Burkholder, who has lived her entire life in the village... in the same house as a child... during the whole of her lengthy married life... and now alone. She readily shared her vast knowledge of her village's history and fellow residents. Her pride in her heritage and her obviously sharp mind and memory are something which I greatly admire. There still survive... places and people who embrace "the older ways"...and live contentedly in quieter places. Kettleby and Marjorie are examples of this anachronistic phenomena... where Time... seems joyfully and willingly... to stand still.

We enjoyed a wonderful hot beverage break midway through the morning at the busy local Italian Bakery... house in the old General Store... and went back at noon to warm up... and to enjoy a delicious hot lunch. After lunch we did a tour about to look at other homes... stopping at each to read the historical plaques on the facades of each building. Little has changed in Kettleby... and newcomers have been happy to embrace the villagers need... as a whole to maintain their identity. We didn't even have to take down our easels during the whole day. We presented no threat to the comings or goings... and were made to feel welcome everywhere we went.

Bryn managed to get his panel to the lay in stage... and I purposely stopped a bit on the unfinished side for me... to enable us to continue the paintings back in the studio on his next visit. I took supporting digital images which can help with reaching a suitable studio finish... but at the same time maintaining the plein air freshness.

I asked what he had learned from "being on the job with Dad" experience. He said he had learned a lot about mixing colour... about brushwork and about aspects of composition and... the effects of cold on paint... and a lot about the history of Kettleby from Mr's Burkholder. Tongue-in-cheek... and he's a master at this... he laughingly replied..."And I learned that I won't be joining you for winter paint outs!"

I too... learned lots ... watching Bryn work... listening to his questions... watching him learn from the Kettleby experience and history lesson. Parents should avail themselves of more opportunities to work side-by-side with their children. Each learns to appreciate... and to better understand the other!

The cold did bother him... as it does most folk... and "Me" on occasion as well. But I look forward to winter painting... and being "out there"... with that winter world... all to my Self!!!

I'll post the finished pieces next week to show their final state!

Until then... Good Painting to All!!

Still Chasing Autumn!...

2011-11-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

" Things... go better with Coke!"

"Fenced In By Autumn"- oil on panel 8x10 inchesa

"Long Morning Shadows!'-oil on panel 8x10 inches

I simply can't believe the good painting fortune that I've enjoyed! The weather... and the colour continue to provide me with unbridled enthusiasm and subject matter to be painted!

The remaining foliage here is so soft and muted in most places... like the woodwind section of the orchestra... and then ... here and there yet... the rich brass of remaining maple oranges, softwood golds and raucous oak russets sound a distinct trumpet fanfare - splash of "colour surprise that begs the inclusion of a dash of raw pigment... almost directly from the tube!

The two jpegs that I've posted today are examples of what can be done to make contemporary/ modern homes more appealing as painting subjects. I tried to surround these otherwise rather "ordinary" (from a painter's selective eye) subjects... with a "supporting cast" of interesting visual elements... which do exist... but are "amplified" for artistic punch to create more visually appealing images. I also have used a much sharper and steeper than usual three quarter perspective to elevate the subject... giving it prominence... and a greater sense of... dare I say... majesty????

Regardless of what viewers... or even owners will think... I very much enjoyed painting these two... and feel a great sense of achievement from my own belief that they really don't stand out as being different from... or inferior in artistic merit to the "heritage" homes... which obviously are my usual subject matter! I hope that you enjoy these first two examples. I hope to do a couple more and then finish with a couple of my usual fare.

I will be absent for the next three days however. Tomorrow.. I will be painting in the quaint rural village of Kettleby south of Hillsdale near Aurora with my youngest son Bryn, aged 15 years. It is "Going to Work With Dad Day" at his high school... and he elected to join me at my ..."Work"! Kettleby is a picturesque throwback to rural Ontario town life at the turn of the twentieth century. It provides a host of interesting subjects, many of which I have painted before... and is the perfect quiet place to spend a day painting ... en plein air... with a Soul Mate... and "He" most certainly is that!

On Thursday and Friday we will head down to our home town...Brockville, on the St Lawrence River to visit our dentist Peter Culp. Pete and I go back a long way. He was a student in my grade seven and eight classrooms in the late 70's... and we have remained "joined at the hip"as long time friends ever since.

We will do an overnight visit with my eldest child Lisa at her lovely home on Kerry Point Road... five doors down from the site of my family's cottage on Narrow's Lane Road. Next day we will head two miles westward to Rockport to conduct some "business". More on that...at a later date!

We then head up the highway about 45 minutes to Kingston to "do lunch" with my daughter Allison... to celebrate her birthday and to presenther with her La Salute painting.Later in the afternoon... we will point the van cross-country towards Hillsdale... weaselin' our way through the back roads taking in the beauty of the Canadian Shield along Highway 7. Though the journey is a good 4 hours in duration... the scenery never fails to give us pleasure... and less trafcfic for sure than the other major 4oo level semi-infested speedway alternatives

A whirlwind couple of days of travel... but that's what painting does for "You"... keeps the grey matter energized... and the arthritis at bay and the soul joyous... and thankful!

Talk to you soon! Stay tuned... for our combined results arising from our Kettleby Kaper! I'll most likely post again towards the weekend. Until then...

Good Painting ...to All!!

The Beat Goes On....

2011-10-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

"Jail Birds!" - oil panel 8x10 inches

" Final Fanfare" - oil on canvas 12x16 inches

"Sunlit Lane" - oil on panel 8x10 inches

"Forgotten... Until Today"- McFadden's Sugar House - oil on panel 10x12 inches

Friday morning... when the sun reluctantly did crest the eastern horizon... what did we behold... but white stuff on the ground... "just a dusting"... as we refer to insignificant first flurries... but nevertherless - SNOW! The forecast on the radio this morning is for more snow in our area over the next few days... but the snow tires are on... the car's winterized and a good supply of windshield wiper fluid is on hand. We're ready!

Despite the cold temperatures that have swept into the Oro- Medonte... the colour continues to hang on... the sun continues to provide warmth and lighting. I've been able to be "out there"... still capturing more village material for our upcoming "Friends and Neighbours" exhibition in two weeks. This morning... I will return to the field... two, or maybe even three sites already on my radar... weather permitting!

The jpegs posted today are favourite places that continue to interest "me"... a couple I have painted on more than one occasion. Two others are "first timers" for me. Not that they didn't strongly pull on me to be painted... just that the old adage...."the grass seems greener on the other side of the fence"... seemed always to draw me away from what was beautiful... and at hand. No longer! They are now painted... and "I" will feel less guilty in passing them... as I did frequently because they now have a presence.

The top image is an old throwback... a designated "Heritage Site" from Hillsdale's earliest rural past. It is a one room jail... two holding areas... complete with iron bars... each with a cot... and a wood stove to provide the "amenities". There was no need even for a guard I'm told... so "visitors" were simply left to their own thoughts and amusements until feeding time... or release.

I noticed this site on many... many occasions before painting it finally... simply because it is located on a lane leading directly to our parking for our Gallery. We must pass by it each and every time that we return to our Gallery and home. The colour was still rich and enticing on Thursday... so I decided to bite the bullet and give it a stab.

Earlier in the summer... as I swung up the lane... I was met by a small gathering... or "murmeration" as it is known.. of starlings either feeding, or gathering small stones for their crops in the view ahead. It struck a funny chord within... which I have held on to until this pleasant wee painting...."Jail Birds" came into being! Sometimes the waiting... is about rethinking...revising what is merely visual... into a stronger image with something more to say! I like the final cut!

The second jpeg... a lovely Victorian vintage Ontario brick was once the manse for St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Since serving the servants of the Lord... it has served as the home for a very gifted potter... and presently is the home and business of Event Decorator and Design... owned and operated by Elizabeth and Steve Johnston. Liz is the only daughter of Biker n' Triker, Rolly Hallyburton. Deb at one time was the book keeper for this very high end event planning business... until her "craftiness"... got the better of her! HA HA!!!

I painted this painting yesterday morning... watching the half inch or snow on the tree branches and ground melt out of existence... for now! It was a lovely bright and crisp day. The quiet and solitude was broken only by a couple of interested school children... headed of to classes at the nearby elementary school... a block or so further eastward down Albert Street... and a very busy blue jay that kept noisily ferrying back and forth into the fir cover to the left in the painting.

The third image lies up Mill Street West... near St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. I liked the higher elevation of the sunlit clapboard house... joined to the foreground by the brightly lit roadway and dark foliage shrouded wings left and right. It was a simple composition... simply painted and I am pleased with the outcome.

The fourth and final image for this post... John McFadden's Sugar House... has been on my list-to-do for three weeks. However... the leaf cover was too dense and gaudy to offer a pleasing and uncluttered composition. So I patiently waited... and that paid off! As Kenny Rogers so aptly put it: "Ya gotta know when to hold!" Painting outdoors is indeed like playing in a game of poker with a myriad of other "players" in the "game"... playin agin ya! Sometimes the cards are stacked against you... and "Ya simply...gotta fold!" HA HA!!

During the next week... although I will be away for two days... I will be concentrating my attention upon more contemporary and modern homes in the new subdivision... to show that the village is composed of both the old... and the new. Life is lived quite differently in both places... but I quite enjoy walking through both areas... and have friends living in each. Both add a distinct flavour to village life.

So Autumn continues to hold Winter in abeyance... for who knows how much longer? But who cares? I look forward to Winter's arrival... as a continuation of expected seasonal change. I will be ready! I have my winter clothing... cotton gloves... boots... and trusty snowshoes at the ready! But until winter arrives... I'm out there!... Painting another piece of Autumn 2011!

Good Painting to ALL!

Turning a Rain Storm... Into a Brain Storm!

2011-10-27T09:23:00.001-07:00

"Wrapped in Autumn" - oil on panel 10x12 inches

"Faded Rose, Rumble's Flour and Feed Mill" - oil on panel 10x12 inches

"Bathed In the Final Warmth of Autumn" - oil on panel 10x`12 inches

"Waning Light and Colour" - oil on panel 6x8 inches

How strange this Autumn! I reported earlier last week that Autumn's colour seemed to be waning... along with the idyllic "Indian Summer" conditions which Ontarians can usually expect in late October. Last week the winds and rain lashed our area continuously for five days straight... and as I reported... I totally expected that the highly anticipated and enjoyable Fall painting run was completely at an end.

That was not to be the case, however! Blue skies... warmer temperatures and evidence that a whole lot of the colour remained aloft in the mixed woodlands of the Oro- Medonte... raised my spirits and juices... driving me outdoors for two more wonderful and productive plein air sorties.

So far... I've managed a total of eight 8x10 and 10x12 inch sketches to be added to my fall production for 2011. All of these sketches have been located within walking distance of the Gallery... so no waste of time... driving about... looking for inspiration at the cost of time... and

productivity!

The positive response to my small local Hillsdale sketch..."Autumn's Hangin' On... But Mary's Gone" struck a chord on Friday morning. Why not spend a block of time sketching usually ignored homes and sites right in the village and nearby area? Having toured about on my nightly walking ritual... I quickly realized that there was indeed "the meat" for an interesting... and close-at-hand make work project for me using these "ordinary" village subjects.

Deb and I have put our heads and hands together to flesh out my local paint "Idea" into an actual late fall show aptly entitled: "Friends and Neighbours." We have mailed out an invitation to all Hillsdale residents via a coloured flyer through our local post office... inviting all to the opening of the show to take place on Sunday, November 13th. The show will continue for two weeks only... ending on Sunday, November 13th.

The show will consist of about thirty works... most being plein sketches completed about the village... of historic and contemporary homes as well as heritage sites such as Rumble's Flour and Feed Mill. Our hope is that village folk's interest will be piqued enough... to come out and see... "Is our home included?"

The answer is quite simple! Might be! But if not... it can be easily added... as a direct commission tailored to your own space... format and specifications! What a great Christams idea for that special someone... or to fill that dull... empty wall space in your home!

If nothing else is accomplished by the creation of this show... we sincerely hope that it might cause residents to "see" their village in a new light... and bring about the feeling which I have for the village... that it is indeed beautiful and worthy of spending my own time and effort to record its specialness. I have included four jpeg "morsels" for your interest and input.... with four more to come later on during the weekend.

We'll see what happens. Nothing ventured... then nothing gained! If you don't send a ship out... then don't sit waiting at the dock waiting for one to come in! As my ol' pal Rolly Hallyburton... owner of The Hilldale Bicycle Shoppe offers: If you don't have your own "bikes"our front... then people don't know you're there... and won't stop by!"

"I"... am a converted Graduate... of the Rolly Hallyburton School of Business! His costless... effective sales strategy works! We have our "Choir Boys/ Orphans"... lining our front stairs... each and every day... waiting to be adopted... at "fair" market value... considering that they all owe us rent! Get the drift?... Move 'em out!

Stay tuned!.....

Good Painting... to All

Turkey's finally finished... but Thanksgiving remains!

2011-10-23T03:48:00.000-07:00

"Autumn's Hangin' On... But Mary's Gone!"- oil on panel 10x8 inches

"The House That Built Me" (Line from a popular c&w tune)

Commission: Oil on gallery wrapped canvas 12x16 inches - SOLD

Despite the constant maelstroms of wind... and the deluges of rain all week... the colour is hangin' in there... and so am I ... hoping to get "out there" for one last full day of fall plein air painting. Fingers crossed!

But before I allowed myself that pleasure... I had things about the studio... and in personal life to tie down before that could happen. I can happily say now... that those necessities have been met... and hopefully either today orMonday will find the colour remaining as it has been... in pockets of dots n' dashes of the earlier crowning colour... which has for the most part passed.

I do actually enjoy the more muted and subdued colour as I suggested in an earlier post... where the heavily moist and misty air offers moody views and more manageable values that don't overwhelm or dominate visual senses. Just one guy's preference...

After completing Allison's votive painting of La Salute on time... and varnishing and providing the hanging necessities for the house portrait completed recently... delivering it... and getting paid by one very happy client... I noticed a subject not more than 200 paces from the Gallery door which commanded my immediate attention. I had contemplated possibly painting this subject many times for a number of reasons... as I passed by it on my evening walks.

I quickly came home on Friday... grabbed my easel, box and can of spirits and went over to the site in my van. It was drizzling n' spitting, but I simply used my usual inclement weather set up... "one leg of the easel inside the trunk area of the van... two legs outside... and myself under the overhang of the van rear door." After about an hour of quick brushwork... I packed 'er... "as is"... and headed back home... and directly into a deep hot tub to get rid of the damp cold that I felt in my core.

The first reason was that I liked the intimate... compacted composition... a neighbourly, almost familial relationship between the tree... house and church. Now... in that composition... the maple had dropped enough of its foliage to create a peek-a-boo view... broken by small clumps and bright golden "floaters"... to make a stunning and visually interesting subject to get my teeth into. I really like what I captured... it's plain... and simple!

The second reason was more personal... and was perhaps the more driving reason and incentive to make this painting. The 86 year old Lady Friend... large "L" and "F" fully intended... who had lived in this simple home.. had raised her large family of sons, daughter and grandchildren here...sadly had passed this summer... after a long, but never-complaining valiant struggle with cancer and simply old age.

Mary Morrison was an independent... always cheery and upbeat soul, who lived alone in this home... but with the help of her caring and attentive family who checked in on her daily. This home is reputed by local lore at least... to be the oldest surviving home in Hillsdale... being of log construction under the now faded "modern" mask of pinkish brown aluminum.

I often visited with Mary on her porch... pausing to catch up... have a few laughs and to get another village history and heritage lesson. She also enjoyed a nightly walk ritual... the same loop... only in opposing directions... "To spice it up!" she often jokingly threw at you. Often... she would simply appear at the front door of the Gallery and come in and sit down for quick visit. On occasion... she would have a fistful of grainy black n' white Brownie Sure Shot photos to leave for me... "to use in my work."

We shared so many small moments and time... and it cost so little to share these. I miss "Her"... more than ever now... as this year's autumn season slips away... too quickly. I hold on to these warm memories of "Her"... and in my own way used my paints to leave a small... perhaps insignificant "snapshot" back to "Her"... which declares with some joy... thanksgiving... appreciation and gratefulness that Mary Morrison... mattered and is remembered. That is so... if for no other reason than because "She" reached out unconditionally and consistently to the rapidly changing small world of Hilldale... and to this man... "from away"!

Thank "You...Mary!

Sharing... and caring knows no barriers. Anyone has the ability to participate... and the endless blessings... are unseen and certainly unexpected! Thank you ALL... for sharing your paintings... thoughts and ideas on your individual blogs

Good Painting... Sharing... and (extended) Thanksgiving to ALL!

Buon Compleanne... Allison!!!

2011-10-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

"Notturno Veneziano" - oil on gallery wrapped canvas 12x12 inches

I am dedicating this evening's post to my lovely art historian daughter Allison Morgan... aka Jemima Puddle Duck/ Ms Pig... who will turn thirty-one tomorrow. It seems hardly possibly that thirty-one years have passed since she and her Mother laboured for twenty-seven difficult and dangerous hours to bring her into this life. It seems like only yesterday... that she shared my studio space every Saturday morning at my Brush Works Gallery in the Woolen Mill in Kingston , Ontario.

All of my children have shared in my artistic journey... each one with his or her own individual interest and ample artistic talent, I am proud to say. But it has been Allison... who has made it her life's avocation to pursue all things Art... up to and including her earning her Doctorate In Art History from St Andrew's College in St Andrew's, Scotland. She now teaches Renaissance Art History between Queen's University in Kingston and Carleton University in Ottawa... while continuing to write a post doctoral enlargement of her thesis topic for publication.

I am indeed proud of "Her" ... and her academic achievements... but what I most admire about Allison is her sense of self-determination... loyalty... intelligence and her wonderfully quick wit and sense of humour. "She" is... the kind of teacher that we so very deeply need at the head of the class... to guide young new minds through her wonderful example. Her sense of fair play... yet high expectations for her students will lead many other students... particularly young women like herself to push forward the envelope for opportunity and advancement in the world... for these young minds... in a too tired and male-dominated society of the past.

I decided to paint a special picture today... a sort of commemorative gesture marking not only her special day... but one which would visually celebrate the common love that we share for now... and always...Fine Art - Past and Present... as well as the common love and affinity for magical Venezia. It was here in this magical city of culture... that we both found our life's passion... work... and our Selves!

The image I have selected is my favourite basilica in Venice.... Basilico Santa Maria della Salute... or "La Salute"... as she is affectionately known by all Venetians. I visited her and sketched it her many times during my eight weeks of study in Venice. This High Baroque church architecture... constructed of white Istrian Limestone sits like an iceberg in the inky darkness of night... fairly seeming to float on the surface of the quiet waters of the night lagoon.

She was designed by the important Venetian Baroque architect Baldasarre Longhena between 1631 to 1687 and was opened with a special pageant known as the Festa della Madonna della Salute on November 21st, 1687... and that pageant processional still is observed on that same day... travelling from Piazza San Marco and across the Grand Canal to La Salute. Some cultures never forget to remember and to celebrate... things that mattered from their Past!

"La Salute" was constructed and dedicated to honour and to give thanks to the Blessed Virgin to give thanks for deliverance from the Great Black Plague which decimated the population of Venice... other Italian cities and the rest of the known world in the first half of the 17th century.

Her luminous and ethereal presence... against the stark, inky black of night... from the very first time I witnessed this moment described in my painting... perfectly described the basilica as being a looming symbol of new hope... in a previous world filled with suffering and death. And even today... in these troubling times... that Hope is revisited each ... celebrated and embraced by the citizens of Venice on November 21st. It's a marvellous example of... simple... child-like Faith and Hope!

So... I offer this rough quick study of this fine Venetian monument to "You" Allison... as a symbol of hope for a bright and fulfilling future life... and as a deeply held and unconditional gesture of my great love... affection and pride that I hold in my heart... especially for "You". Thank you ever so much for the constant and unconditional love that you have offered me along our journey together...

I so look forward to sharing many more exciting adventures together... and our always enjoyable returns to The Hundred Acre Wood... The Blustery Days... and our fav... The Muppet Adventures! Still young at He(Art)... EH Jemima???? HA HA!!!

Have the Happiest Birthday ever!... I look forward to a real celebration get together soon!

Until then Ciao... and Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

All my love ALWAYS!!!

Dad

XXXXXOOOOOXXXXX

Good Painting... to ALL!!!

PS I'll give this a "tickle 'er two in the morning Allison and add a few figures on the steps to amplify the grandiose Baroque scale of this magnificent edifice. It was a mad one session dash to get it posted in time for the celebration! Hope that you like it!

Autumn is in its last throes here

2011-10-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

"A Beauty... Even in the Gloom"-Madawaska River Near Whitney oil on canvas 12x20 inches

This past weekend colder weather... relentless northwesterly winds and sheeting rains ripped unceasingly and mercilessly through the maple canopies... leaving only pockets of high colour here and there in the Oro-Medonte Hills. Colour from here on... up to the final stages of autumn will highlight the burgeoning and dominant russets of the oak... gaudy yellow softwoods... ochre tamaracks/larch and the groves of contrasting greens of reddening white cedar... darker black spruce "pointers"... and lighter green white and red pines. The fanfare aspect of autumn has been reduced to but a few plaintive notes... before unceremoniously submitting bare bones... to winter.

As I mentioned in an earlier post... Autumn is at best a bittersweet moment... a time to reflect about one's personal life and to give thanks... it being our annual Thanksgiving... for the copious blessings that we all enjoy. It is also a wondrous time to watch nature's creatures either preparing to winter... or to depart for safer and warmer latitudes to avoid it's harshness... and lack of food sources. Geese and crows ferry about neighbouring freshly harvested fields... fueling up for their long journeys south... while new faces like those of the grey-breasted juncos flit and rummage actively in the hedgerows and ditches... seeking out seeds.

Despite the realization... that winter will soon blanket the entire world with his ermine coat... and that leafless frozen tree branches will rattle their skeleton tune in all treetops... I really do love to be out painting... trying to capture the now muted colour and enjoying the acrid smell of fallen leaves, as they begin the process of mouldering away. Even man's presence seems less intrusive... and I look forward to the ambient smell of seasonal woodsmoke in the crisp cold air. There is an intrinsic beauty... even in the face of the likelihood of "too many " months of harsh cold... and gloom.

My wife always (constructively) complains that paintings completed from this period in the year are hard sell items... simply because of the simple fact that people do not want to be reminded about what is upcoming... or just passed. However... I choose to make these paintings for my Self... and I'm more than content to have a few of these hang about... simply to remind "Me"... that one can find beauty and something to enjoy... in all parts of the year.

Today's offering... completed en plein air... up north along the Madawaska River... just outside Algonquin Park is one of such paintings... a "reflection"... that I still much enjoy. It was completed in late October in the fall of 2004. I still get a great deal of pleasure from seeing the painting... and re listening... if you can believe it... to the actual conversations that I shared with my painting pals on that day. I hope that you enjoy this little "special child" of mine... and see something that redeems it... through your eyes and tastes.

I am at present buried in a smallish 12x16 inch commission... thankfully small.. and currently at the two thirds mark to being complete. I will knock this one out of the batter's box by tomorrow... with a couple of blazing fastballs... straight down the middle! It will be a "nice"... competent piece.... but it's about the lack of full artistic "ownership" of the process...

You all know what I mean by this! Grateful for the opportunity to pay the bills... and the confidence shown by my client in my painting style ability. Gratefulness as well... to have it in the done tray... so that I can joyfully return to day dreaming.... and painting again... outdoors!

Good Painting... and Happy Autumn... what remains of it... to All !!!

What if?..... OOPS!!!

2011-10-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

Surprise! Surprise!...."What if "... I posted a new post for today and it didn't appear.. today? Well... it's just happened and the reason is simple. I began the draft earlier on in th month had held on to the post... originally begun on Monday, October 3rd... until this morning!

Silly Goose... this Bruce! The Blogger memory doen't advance previously begun posts to the present. So "if"... you are at all interested... simply scroll down two posts passed... to the post title...."What if". The whole post is there... along with the updated version of this reworked canvas shown above !

Sorry for the glitch!

Good painting to ALL!

Bittersweet Autumn... A Time for Reflection

2011-10-10T04:12:00.000-07:00

Evening Angelus, Combermere- Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Heads bowed in Grace

In this pastoral place-

Giving thanks for the plenty

In this beautiful space.

Two ol' Pals

Cavalcade of Colour at Brewer Lake

Brewer Lake Reflections.. Algonquin Park

View to the confluence of the York and Little Mississippi Rivers at The Conroy marsh

Oxtongue Rapids Inukshuk

Bittersweet Moment, Combermere- oil on canvas 11x14 inches

Madawaska Magic- oil on panel 12x16 inches

Summer always seems to be a time of hustle and bustle... a time where human activity mimics the energy and vitality of the natural world where human kind reside... work and play. Though it is long like winter as a season... it really almost seems to evaporate in one's mind. Where did the time go?... is a question in most of our minds. It seems that cottages were just opened... and that boats were just slid into the water... and the kids just got out of school for summer vacation.

These are the questions that surface in autumn... questions that again, I'm certain... are brought forward in the face of sudden changes in the natural world. As the summer warmth is stolen from us by the slyly approaching winter... as the myriad of lush summer greens are replaced by the flush of the tumultuous final fanfare of colour in our woodlands and hills... as the animal world shifts into high gear as hunter-gathering activity takes precedence over courting and play... we come to realize and become more attuned to the natural rhythm of the rapidly changing natural world, where we are but pawns in the chess game of life.

For those of us who have reached the "autumn" years of our own earthly journeys... autumn perhaps seems rich and vivid on one hand... yet saddening in another. "Bittersweet"... is the word that comes to mind for "me"... to best describe my own feelings. It is at this particular time that I pause to look across the breadth of my journey... recalling highlights and less pleasing moments... recalling changes that have evolved during the course of my journey... recalling friends and relationships that have enriched my own journey. Some of those... have passed on... though they were as young as I... way back when. Time is indifferent to the human term "fair"...

I choose to embrace and to bathe my Self in the blessings... the gifts that continue to sustain "Me"... those gifts that further enrich my life and offer renewed possibility. I choose to view the glass ... "as half full... rather than half empty. Autumn... for "Me"... the whole short season is about Thanks-giving! I am richly blessed!

While I was painting with Deb and my friends David and Diane at the century farm near Combermere, I roamed about... camera in hand as I customarily do for a break once in a while during a painting session and came across this natural and poignant still life created by some farm soul who shares my Faith and connection to Life. It will most certainly become a large painting in the studio down the road... but I wished to share the photo image with all of you today because it encapsulates my belief system so wonderfully about Life and our brief place in it.

I am... as well including the two sketches that I managed during our wonderful and unforgettable Algonquin Getaway-2011.

Rich blessings...Happy Autumn... and Good Painting to ALL!

Happy Thanksgiving... to ALL!!

2011-10-07T16:09:00.001-07:00

"Bountiful Blessings" - oil on canvas 30x24 inches

Deb and I just returned from a three day stay in Algonquin Park with painting pal David Kay and his wife Diane. We went up Wednesday, arriving at noon... in order to get in some painting before the usual Thanksgiving weekend hordes descended upon The Park.

While we enjoyed some quality time painting... however, the really high colour had already been reached a week earlier... leaving only traces of the heavy red and orange prominence in all parts of The Park. Strangely enough, there were also larger numbers of Park visitors than I expected along Highway 60 and down the various roads leading to favourite painting haunts.

Given these changes... David suggested that we spend some time down the abandoned railway bed that runs alongside the Madawaska River from Whitney to Madawaska. We have painted successfully there before on many occasions and we had complete privacy along the river on Wednesday afternoon. We both managed to make a nice painting each... and Deb took some great action pictures of the series of dramatic rapids. A good start for all!

Next day we struck out over to the Barry's Bay/Combermere area and painted... again totally alone at a century farm with phenomenal views of the Highlands where the York and Little Mississippi Rivers converge upon the Conroy Marsh Preserve. The landscape is nothing short of spectacular... and will remain untouched by development because of the sensitive nature of the area .

Deb and I painted a section of a century old log barn complex with the area mentioned above a s its backdrop. Diane curled up with a book on a chair in the warm sun... and played the afternoon away with the four barn kittens who kept visiting her. Each of us was doing what we wanted... basked in warm sunshine... and surrounded by unparalled quiet and beauty!

Later... we returned home to David and Diane's lovely lakeside home on Galaeiry Lake... where we enjoyed drinks... followed by a sumptuous barbecue meal of steak... pork chops... baked potatoes and fresh smoked laked trout... accompanied by various greens and squash by chef David... finishing up with a deliciously baked apple apple crisp... a la Diane and an evening of fellowship and laughter!

A night's sleep... minus the usual continual hum of highway traffic afforded us a wonderful and unbroken rest. We headed home this morning after a filling and traditional egg... sausage and toast sendoff at the East Gate Motel Breakfast room. We gradually weaseled our way back through the Park and Muskoka side roads into the Oro-Medonte and back to Hillsdale to be here to meet weekend visitors to The Paint Box Gallery.

Life cannot be better! Good friends... good painting... good food and another round of good Algonquin memories. A bounty of blessings... for which "I" am truly grateful! This has been a truly great Thanksgiving celebration that we will long remember.

A Happy and Hearty Canadian Thanksgiving Greeting... to All my followers and Friends... no matter where you live!

God bless!... and Good Painting to ALL!

PS Paintings and Pictures from the trip to follow next post. This still life painting of my bounty-laden Grampa Birrell's wheelbarrow covers the Thanksgiving bases most adequately I feel!

What if....?

2011-10-03T04:50:00.002-07:00

Reworked in burnt sienna washes. Note underlying brushwork still visible.

"September's Song" oil on 8x10 inch canvas... using plaette knife only!

"What if"... is one of those quandaries which visits and confronts each of us at many times... often even daily in our painting lives... and along our journey. Those words usually predicate an immediate need for a decision for change. Often the change is small and the term is used casually in personal thought... or perhaps in conversation with another to explore options to create a desired direction of change. Usually, if used in conversation with another... the term could signal a rather loose "invitation" to participate in the development of a change... a gentle and nonthreatening way to gather and assess options or possible solutions to a pesky problem.

If the term is used as personal response to an inward questioning... it might be simply a verbal rehearsal to used to posit "possibilities"... before deciding upon a definite course of action to solve the problem at hand. In both of these cases... the term reflects a positive and normal strategies for problem solving in our daily lives. That same condition applies to creative thinking and action(s) as well and usually leads to a more positive outcome than merely diving into the problem ... without a plan of attack... or weighing of possible outcomes.

There is another form of "what if" as well... one that is not productive. In fact... if used to reflect upon actions NOT TAKEN which lie clearly in the past... and only reflect a sense of regret over a failure to act... the term is highly negative... and destructive.

The Universe, meaning Life... offers each of us an unlimited number of choices and opportunities over our journeys. The choice... and right to either act... or not lies squarely on our shoulders alone. We surely must take into account... a myriad of conditions in order to make these decisions... and we must also weigh in how our decision impacts the lives of our friends and loved ones. Choices can also be influenced by financial and personal health and safety issues as well.

All of this said... we are each given one life to lead... with no absolute guarantee of another awaiting us beyond this one. It behooves each of us then... to maximize our given opportunities by facing each bravely as we encounter them and to regularly exercise complete belief and trust in our Selves to make these decisions. We all are guilty of "coasting"... ceding over responsibility... even making irrational excuses for avoiding what we fear most - the Future. It is much easier to bask in the comfort of the known... "The Now"... or worse still... to rest upon the laurels or fear of failure based upon "The Past"... neither of which is fully relevant to future outcomes in our lives.

It is never too late to begin any journey in life.... nor to undertake any personal change in the course we have been following. Rather than wallowing in self-pity.... or hopelessness due to constraints imposed by others... or your own fear of flying, why not choose to use Today... and Tomorrow to plan and execute your very own Redemption.... and Transfiguration. It is never too late to fulfill your own personal bucket list.... one item at a time. It only requires that internal reflection... inwardly... a truthful "conversation" with your Self... adding in your own..."What if?".... and get down to work... just trying to accomplish that first step in the process!

The "loser"painting in my post is an artsy way to demonstrate my point. The first canvas' subject... not able to be seen now ...was a "scrubber"... completed way back in September 2001. It laid about until I know longer could bear to look at the failure in it. So I sanded and again reissued this small 8x10 canvas. As I looked at the "new" white emptiness.... I could still discern some of the underlying brushstrokes through the shadows they created. I began to rotate the canvas... constantly looking... searching to find... or "See" something concealed in its emptiness.

Finally... I said to myself..."What if you introduced and played with some thinned burnt sienna?"... which I did. Before long, I found a landscape of sorts emerging... one that bore no resemblance to the original image at all. I left it overnight and returned to it fresh the next day.

"What if I used a palette knife... instead of a brush?" That would certainly help bury many of the "too obvious and unwanted lines." And so it proceeded... until "The Now" version. The only remnant of the Past is its title: "September's Song". Both were completed in the month of September... and keeping this shard from its less illustrious Past... seemed a fitting reminder.

Following the process.... these are the "What ifs" that ran through my mind.What if I had just junked the canvas?".... What if I had "Shermanized" it in the usual fashion? The "What if "... has now become the "What is"... and I am most pleased with the result... not just the image... but more the process of making an earlier failure work into something positive... with "possibility"!

Take courage! Take risks! Take ownership for your own Destiny.... and live your Life... each day... as a Blessing!

Much Peace... and Good Painting... and Safe Risking... to ALL!

Autumn Idyll....

2011-09-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

"Waiting For Winter"-oil on canvas 10x8 inches

Autumn Idyll - oil on canvas 8x10 inches

Idyll: (noun) a scene or time of peace and happiness; a description in literatureof a picturesque and charming scene or episode

My blogging friend in Wales Rob Ijbema visited my last post "River Vesper" and commented that I must live in an idyllic place... and I surely do! Both the Oro-Medonte through to Georgian Bay and Muskoka ( The Thirty Thousand Islands) and Rockort-Gananoque in The Thousand Islands are in their own rights.... both Paradise! I am blessed to be able to call both my home!

Autumn... bringing with it change in terms of weather and activity... in both the natural and human worlds is a time for reflection and contemplation. It is also that wonderful part of the year that plein air enthusiasts look forward to because of high colour...waning warmth and freedom from insect invasions and interruption.

In short... idyllic well suits the conditions of Autumn for painting outdoors on location. It is a brief period of time... and can be cut shorter by rainy conditions that can dominate this entire part of the year. None the less... spirits run high to get "out there"... and to push paint in quiet places. That is indeed the case for "Me."

I have been fine tuning my eye and palette this week... working on smaller canvases in preparation for my annual foray to Algonquin Park to paint with my painting friend David Kay, who lives on the edge of The Park at Whitney... at the East Gate entrance. The weather this week has been steady showers and thunderstorms... so that impacted my decision further to wait for better weather... hopefully next week.

My last three images... all in the 8x10 inch format is not my favourite, or most comfortable choice of canvas to work on in the field. I prefer larger canvases ranging from 16x20 inch upwards to 36x48 inches... which allow big brush exploration... application and movement.

That said... I am very satisfied with the loose... contemplative and quiet nature of all three of these smallish works. I feel that they hit the mark and are evocative of a contemplative mood of that brief moment in time that we fondly call Autumn. I hope that you enjoy viewing them as well.

Good luck all... with your own Autumn painting... wherever you live! Get "out there"... and simply paint... and enjoy the warmth and beauty of your own world!

Good Painting to ALL!

Autumn's Upon Us.....

2011-09-24T04:16:00.000-07:00

On our way down to Rockport and all along the Thousand Island Parkway.... things have begun to change quickly... and colour now has begun to replace the deeper summer greens. Even the air is changed, as the leaves and field vegetation emit a pleasantly acrid odor that for "Me"... signals that Autumn has arrived.

Geese are now gathering in larger flocks and fly about in training flights preparing "new wings" and new primary feathers for the long migration haul toward southern wintering grounds. With corn and grain crops already harvested... they spend most of the rest of their time on the water... "tipping up" and feeding upon the aquatic energy-rich vegetation that is available to them now because of the annual the low water levels.

It is a magical show to watch... and be a part of... one that never fails to inspire and entertain me. One can never be a part of this wonderful natural drama... in a studio. It is a side dish... at no cost to the plein air painter. Others of my kind... like Phil Chadwick, David Kay and Poul Thrane will understand what I am getting at. We have spent many hours together sharing the magic of this brief part of the year... and I am grateful for their company...a reason for genuine..."Thanksgiving."

The painting posted this morning is small... but its large spiritual context is unmistaken. I think it wholly captures my deep and abiding spiritual connection to The St Lawrence River... Rockport... painting... and my deeply rooted connection to the peace and sanctity of the natural world that "I" am blessed to be a part of. I hope that you enjoy it too.

Good Painting... and Happy Autumn to ALL!

Recapping the Rockport Paint Out Pictorially.... Part Two

2011-09-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

"Your blessing is no more than being safe and sound for your whole lifetime."
- a recent fortune cookie

May the Peace and the beauty of this special place... Rockport ... somehow enrich your journey!

St Brendan's RC Church (Est 1889... and the Queen of Peace high above the harbour

A serene River beauty... even in the gloom

River dredge in the morning mist... off to work in the Islands

Cruisin' the Thousand Islands aboard a comfortable, modern Rockport Boatline vessel

Some artists getting ready for exhibition time at The Rockport Restaurant & Patio!

An Andress style inboard wooden river craft... still tickin' along!

The Boathouse Restaurant

Zavicon Summer Mansion... late 1890's vintage

"Boathouses on Zavicon Island" - oil on canvas 16x20 inches

"Rockport Respite", Cornwall's Point -oil on canvas 24x20 inches

" A Blessing from The Queen of Peace" (1919)... to Boaters sent from St Brendan's RC Church"- oil on canvas 20x16 inches

For this post... I will simply share some of the pictures and my final three plein air pieces in this post. I think that they speak amply for themselves... and I have more than amply described my own personal feelings about the entire adventure... so enjoy!

Good Painting to All!... Fall is already getting underway here in this part of the world! Good colour and dramatic subject matter ahead!

Deb and I are off to Rockport again on Thursday... for another few days of enjoying this paradise and visiting. Maybe another painting or two?....Well see!

Stay tuned!..

Rockport Paint Out ... and Reunion - Part One

2011-09-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

People's Choice #2
Ed Andress, Master Wooden Boat Maker's Craft Still Lives in Rockport
Oil on canvas 24x20 inches - Gifted to the Andress Family

People's Choice#1

Work Tug Ishpeming - Captained by Eugene Johnston

Oil on canvas 24x20 inches - SOLD to Ishpeming's Master, Captain Eugene Johnston

The 1st International Plein Air Artists Paint Out held over the past weekend in Rockport, Ontario... in the very heart of the famous and very beautiful Thousand Islands was a smashing success! Not only were we blessed with "picture" perfect weather on all three days... but the planning and hospitality of the organizers... The Rockport Development Association and the warm reception and hospitality of all Rockport village residents at large went far beyond expectation... contributing greatly to both the level of comfort and the painting enjoyment and success of the twenty-three participating artists.

Not only did we have a carte blanche welcome to paint anywhere within this quaint and historic village itself... we were offered ridiculously low priced water taxi access to outlying, privately owned island retreats that are normally not open to visitors. My second painting was made on Pine Island... the personal retreat for John Keats, an American columnist/writer best known and much-loved "Of time and An Island"... a book which nostalgically chronicles island life and life along The St Lawrence River... as many of us have been blessed to enjoy.

For my second painting site... I water taxied out to Pine Island with several other members to explore possibilities on the island. I chose to paint the boat houses of the mansion-covered Zavicon Island located a scant two hundred feet south of Pine Island... looking eastward down the River. I was joined by Phillip Chadwick, a recently retired meteorologist for Environment Canada in Toronto. Phil and I have an early connection dating back to 1967 to Brockville, Ontario... our shared home town. He was a student in my very first class... a grade seven class at Toniata School.

Phillip was a very gifted and exceptional art talent even then and has grown to become a recognized and very successful plein air painter in his own right. He offers lectures... as "Phil the Forecaster" which tie together his observations and thesis that the plein air works of the Canadian painting legend Tom Thomson record very accurate meteorological data of specific weather in time in Algonquin Park. His after dinner talks on both Friday and Saturday nights kept all of us attending rapt and riveted by the combination of his quick and lively humor... as well as the very demonstrably plausible evidence he provided about Thomson's skill as a meteorologist! I take great pride in having taken Phil on his very first plein air outing. I "fore casted" great things for him in this school of painting... and he has done us both proud! I was very proud of him on those evenings!

The entire group of participants welded together instantly as a common family. No one was left out of the circle. No one dominated or stood off by themselves. We shared every moment of the three days... in harmony... good cheer and encouragement. Everywhere one went... you would find others who were sharing common subjects without reserve or petty jealousy. How good it felt to be in the company of such sharing individuals... brought together under their common passion for painting and this beautiful natural kingdom.

The meals were both wonderfully and tastefully prepared... and again efficiently... and with reasonable costs. And after a long day out in the fresh air... no one was left wanting for more food. The portions were excellently prepared... and very filling!

The Rockport area is a place very familiar to me. My family had a summer cottage... no a home really located at The Narrows where the mainland nearly touches Tar Island. Our family use it in all four seasons for fifty-four years. I worked in Rockport as a teen at Ed Huck Marine and Caiger's Fishing Lodge... the very site of our first evening meal! The whole experience was a home coming for me... a blessing... a catalyst of renewal.

To be able to share my knowledge of the history of the area with the other artists was so gratifying for me personally. I met so many people, old friends of our family... and saw so many faces from as far back as fifty years... fellow cottagers that I had chummed with. How gratifying to know and feel that we shared more than wrinkles and years. We shared lasting common memories and a common joy that our presence still had meaning in the minds and memories of others. I felt so blessed.... to reconnect!

On Sunday morning... we headed out for one last painting foray of choice... for one final go at this pristine painting paradise. I remained on Front Street and painted the entrance and alley that led to The Cornwall's Restaurant and Grill. The Rockport Boat Line loads its passengers from tour buses... en route to a Thousand Island cruise nearby. People came and went for lunch at The Cornwallis and Boathouse Restaurants. There was a continual stream of passersby during the course of the painting session. Due to the many questions and reunions that kept coming and going... I was unable to completely finish the painting. I'll take it from the lay in stage to finish tomorrow... from memory

I was deeply embedded in my painting thought... you know the feeling, when I recognized a familiar woman's voice behind me. That voice belonged to a woman, Janet... from"way back when" who came up from Cleveland, Ohio each summer with her family to their haunt on Tar Island. She now lives with her husband Don Pedersen and lovely family in Oregon. I had not seen her in at least twenty years.

How joyous the reunion for us both! Our now..."ancient history" could be better classed as "a crush"for us both... as opposed to a "squeeze"... in nature. We were simply friends... and common members of a cottage family/community that water skied... swam... danced... wiener roasted and hung out incessantly each summer during our teen years. Romance bloomed momentarily... and I might say was more often than not... was the result of "cross-pollination"... and sharing. Another blessing delivered!...

The greatest blessing occurred at the final scheduled event of this Paint Out event at the Boat line Patio. All artists were invited to exhibit their paintings to the public at an informal wine and cheese social under the auspices of the RDA. The event was well attended by citizens from all around... local dignitaries and press reps from local newspapers.

None of the works displayed against the surrounding benches were signed. Each had a numeral assigned directly below. Artists were not permitted a vote. Votes were democratically cast on a small ballot given each person... no matter their age entering the one entrance to the patio. They were given the two hour period to view all of the works and them they were asked to submit a single vote for their favourite painting of the lot - a difficult decision... given that each of us submitted at least four or more paintings. The ballots were then placed with the official on the door and were then tallied to determine the three favourite paintings in the exhibition. There were many very different... yet equally beautiful paintings presented.

How surprised I was... to learn that two of my five paintings were awarded First and Second place. I have never painted expecting awards and really have not followed the competition and juried shows route... except on a few occasions. I have always painted for myself and for pleasure. To be awarded two awards by people from my own heritage community really touched me. It will be a memory I will always cherish fondly.

This entire event... from start to close reflected a very unique situation... a situation totally governed by generosity and sharing. I wish to thank all of my fellow participating artists... now all friends... Wendy Merkley, her husband Art and her hard working Rockport Development Association team... The Rockport Boat Line, Andress Boatworks for the excellent water taxi service, Rockport and Island residents who permitted us to share their truly magical properties .. and our fabulous dining hosts at Caiger's Fishing Lodge and The Cornwall's Restaurant for their fine food and impeccable service and hospitality during our most enjoyable stay. Be assured that we will each carry the "Good News" about Rockport... and share it wherever we go!

Until the 2nd Annual Rockport IPAP Paint Out next September... a HUGE Thank You ... ALL for this incredible painting experience!

Stay tuned for Part Two and more pix and details... and Good Painting to ALL!

Interfacing With the Universe...

2011-09-05T11:04:00.001-07:00

When two things... or people interface... they are in the act of a mutual linking... interaction one with the other. Whether that act of interfacing is either accidental... or driven by one of the pair... the final act of their linkage or interaction is determined by mutual agreement to move forward.

When two people... even total strangers meet... someone must initiate further action between the two by some response that is both recognized by both as nonthreatening... worthwhile and authentic in purpose. If these conditions are met in the minds of both individuals... then the initial interaction can proceed into further conversation ... and even towards the building of a long term and lasting relationship. That is a simplified... yet human example of how interface can occur. Some might define the initial contact as an act of Fate... or Karma... or serendipity. As humans... it is always one of our basic needs to classify and define what is at first new or unknown to us. That act... in a small manner offers comfort I suppose.

We all accept the term and existence of "The Universe" as scientific fact... and grammatically defined the term as "the whole of all existing matter, energy and space." But the question remains, as to how one brain can perceive and deal with that and seemingly limitless expanse and concept of existence. Many people ... including myself, have given a large amount of time and thought to try and get our heads around that term and concept. And in my own case... "being of little brain" in comparison to these greater minds, I have rather generalized the term "Universe" when I refer to it... as a rather large and unending "Creator" of successions of opportunities that one can choose to respond or not to during our daily and earthly lives. In my own way I personify the term Universe.

I dearly hope that my delving here into metaphysical things doesn't discourage or offend any of my readers. That surely is not my purpose. It is like all other posts that I write... an open opportunity to share and compare our thoughts, as well as our art and processes. In the last post I mentioned that canvas "L'Heure d'or" was special to me personally... and that I had always been at a loss to understand why it stayed around for so long... for over eight years.

But after witnessing the joy that the lady who purchased the piece shared with me in the studio, this act supplied a sort of comforting answer and closure for me. Her email of this morning... further revealing her pleasure in hanging it immediately upon arriving back home in Saskatchewan... even before she unpacked... further amplifies my joy... and the belief I have that paintings we commit ourselves fully to... will find their home "on their own steam"... as The Universe provides opportunity to release them from us. The Universe comes to your door knocking... but only after you have gone out in some fashion to the Universe beforehand.

Too often... we become discouraged and caught up in the value of immediate sales as a measure of success and acceptance. Too often... we yield or bend our principles and goals in favour of trying to procure these latter two by jumping about to "catch" the market... and in so doing... I think that we surrender that inner sense of accomplishment and worth that can only be felt by true... creators.

Yesterday... The Universe and I interfaced again briefly... and two other smallish plein air works that I truly enjoyed making found new homes... after many months of being moved and shuffled about in the Gallery. The one piece... "The Jumble" a plein air effort of 10x8 inches was fun to paint... rather like doing a jigsaw puzzle. Many noted that it was jolly... and fun to look through the maze of branches. That was exactly how it was created... painting using the negative spaces... as opposed to making it a tedious drawing exercise.

During the late afternoon, a wonderful family of four entered the Gallery... each member setting out to look about... independent of the other three. The young woman... whom I would judge to be in her mid twenties made her rounds twice and kept bringing both parents around for a conference at several pieces of various sizes. Finally she approached us at the counter and announced that she would like to have "The Jumble." That painting was waiting for her... and that meeting of the two gave me great pleasure.... far beyond the money value.

As it turned out... she had just graduated from Queen's University in Kingston (the Alma Mater for Allison, Andrew and myself) and was moving to downtown Toronto to begin her first job and this purchase was to be her first art purchase... for her first apartment of her own! Her parents added a second small 5x7 inch piece "Retired and Forgotten to round out their visit with us. Even their choice it came to be revealed was not based only upon the beauty of the painting alone.

They run a B&B closeby... and they produce maple syrup on the property. I have for a long time slowed my van as I pass their lovely yellow Cape Cod-style home on the Bass Lake Road... thinking what a nice subject it would make. Now... I know the owners... and have an open invitation to visit. What a wonderful gift back from the Universe... to meet such a wonderfully wholesome family... bound together... by genuine love for each other and choice.

I learned further from my conversation with her brother... just graduated from school as well that he was taking a year off from planned future studies, before heading off to teachers' college to work with children with special needs... using his interest and qualifications in psychology as a springboard. We shared that background interest. My teaching career... for the most part, dealt with the neediest of students.

No matter what your sense of spirituality might be... or whether it differs from what I have posted here... my hope is to encourage readers to pursue their own visions... never surrendering to not doing your best. But mostly... I simply wish to offer that belief in one's self is primary in succeeding at anything in life... and most especially when it seems the Universe and "You"... are not interfacing.

Sometimes... one has to go out to meet the Universe... to explore... to find new ideas that the Universe can offer. This can be accomplished by trying a new medium or technique... or painting en plein air... without regard for painting a masterpiece. Simply filling ones senses makes us come alive and opens our eyes to new and refreshing truths that help us to grow and sustain our creative spirits.

This next weekend, I will be at a three day 1st Annual Paint Out organized in Rockport, Ontario on the St Lawrence River... under the auspices of the International Plein Air Painters, a worldwide organization for plein air enthusiasts.... see http://www.ipap.homestead.com/ of which I am a new member. Check out there site for details and events scheduled. The area is hardly new to me..

My family cottaged at this very area each summer for over fifty years. I worked in this quaint river village... and know and feel about it deeply. That area forms the core of my own Universe... physically... spiritually and artistically. I think that this "going out" to be with like-minded plein air painters will result in some great paintings... and new relationships! Stay tuned.....

Stay the courses! Reach out! And SMILE... even "whistle while you work... and you'll be surprised... at some unpredictable moment during that hard work... The Universe will indeed SMILE back upon "You"!

Good Happy Fall Painting to all !

Final Food For Thought:

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.

Change is in the air... or it should be!

2011-09-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

Episode One: Friday afternoon

I went out yesterday in search of a shady... quiet place just to work my palette back into shape without interruption or having to travel around looking for the perfect subject. We've all done that too many times in our past and often came home discouraged and frustrated and... worse still... without " bird in the hand."

I headed eastward out Mount St Louis Road... past Rumble's Mill... and beyond Mount St Louis Cemetery. I have always enjoyed this particular area because it is shaded ... quiet and relatively unsettled. Stones in this cemetery describe the early French settlement, dating to the mid to late 17oo's. This can be said to represent the earliest of settlement in this Oro-Medonte area... just a few generations after the Jesuits and French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in this area... then known as Huronia due to the tribal presence of the Huron First Peoples. This area became important to the French in the development of the lucrative fur trade route from Hudson's Bay to Quebec via the Great Lakes chain.

I swung south up the 5th Line Road and pulled into the shady maple grove that lines both sides of the road at The (new) Mount St Louis Roman Catholic Church... established in 1839. By a European time frame this is indeed "young"... but in terms of church presences in this part of Ontario... it easily can be referred to be at least "middle aged." Mass continues to be offered regularly on Sunday at 9:00 am... whereas many other churches of other denominations are either rapidly in decline... or already closed. Many now function as personal residences.

This plain country brick church at a crossroads reflects the faith and commitment that early settlers in an solely agrarian society had for their belief system. The church also formed the social hub of the community for any functions... with its white frame hall located on the same property. Today... it serves the same function for the community... but as well serves as a "coffee house' for folk music enthusiasts on Thursday evenings throughout the winter months.

I settled down to work quickly and was making rapid progress... when the light suddenly disappeared and thunder and lightning replaced it. All of my reasons... especially the patterns of light were gone... as was my desire to be located under such old and heavy maples during an electrical storm. I quickly began the taking down process... but sheets of rain were already drenching everything... outside of the canopy of shade under which I was working. A good choice of location for two reasons! I would have to take a "rain check" on this sortie... and hope for another similar day tomorrow!

Episode Two: Saturday afternoon

I headed back to the same location with my "rain check" in hand... and a renewed desire to get back to finishing yesterday's business. Everything was relatively the same with regards to lighting so the painting moved along nicely and finished without difficulty and finished in just over an hour. During the relaxed part of this painting process... my mind drifted about considering a lot of concerns and impressions that I have observed over the past few months.

Strange... how the plight of this one small church seemed so different than larger ones in more populated areas around it. What was it that enabled it to continue to function in the same manner as it always had... in the face of the same environment of financial woes and social changes that had challenged and finally defeated larger parish churches?

Things do change in all aspects of life... and only they that are willing to change with the times can either grow or survive. I think that will be true also for working artists for the next few years. This weakened economy and the lack of confidence in the money markets will certainly shape future spending practices of even those with affordable incomes - the backbone of art sales wherever you live.

I think that Faith in oneself and a sustained strong work ethic must be key factors in surviving in the new marketplace. Keeping an eye on... and adapting to market changes are certainly essential as well. That doesn't necessarily mean abandoning your own process and choice of subject matter to become a "market painter." Being ordinary... or following the lead of others will simply result in being rolled in with the others. Buyers today are better educated... and more discriminating than in previous generations from my experience... so that offering fresh new ideas... drama and higher colour will attract the eye of these new patrons.

Look for new ways to present your own ideas. Expand your repertoire. Go out on a limb to experiment. Look to new places to visit... portfolio in hand... with new ideas to promote your work. Take a look at your pricing and gauge it according to your painting and exhibition experience and the quality of the work around you. Sometimes we artists are heady on... but not always totally realistic about "who"... and "where" we really are in this rapidly diminishing... yet more highly competitive art world that we live in at present.

How strange... that a quaint wee country church can evoke more than a subject to be painted! When one is painting... en plein air.... there exists a space for such contemplative thought that normally is absent in the studio. Out here... all of the senses are enlivened... firing at full capacity. Out here... many of the worries... and the hurries and scurries disappear... allowing one to commune with one's soul. Painting should really be just that. Painting "Ideas".... from the inside ....out... to be shared with whomever might care to pay attention.

This very special and infinitely large space is not ... just a single church. It is a personal cathedral... without denomination or dogma... a sanctuary for celebrating and enjoying the gift of The Creator and His Creation.... and hence the title for this painting is simply...."The Sanctuary."

Good Painting to ALL!!!

L'Heure d'or....The Golden Hour

2011-08-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a painting that you especially like... hangs about and draws very little attention even though you showcase it... and continue to believe in its worth and merit. Normally most paintings come and go without any feeling of attachment... they quite simply "are"... and have served their purpose in creating a challenge or capturing an interesting thought or moment.

For whatever reason... this painting struck a chord with me. It surely was one of those unusual fellows that simply "paints itself from start to finish. Perhaps it was truly the fact that the light was golden... even divine at this church in Les Eboulements in Charlevoix, Quebec and that the painting rapidly and confidently painted... really did effectively and emotionally capture the hour.

Or perhaps... it was the fact that my mentor/ older brother and I were together sharing this marvellous part of the country. Now... for reasons best left unmentioned here and forgotten... we are not "in touch" with each other and thus... the painting is an important bridge back in my mind at least... to a happier past.

For whatever the reason... my unchanging belief in this smallish 20 x16 inch plein air sketch was validated yesterday when a most lovely lady spent an hour or so with Deb and I... carefully studying the wide assortment of offerings in The Paint Box. Finally after much deliberation and deep thought she made her way back to the counter with "L' Heure d'or" in hand saying that this painting would now come to live in Regina, Saskatchewan.

How strange... after eight years of waiting... that this Quebec painting would pass to Regina, Saskatchewan... only an hour or so from Deb's RCMP corporal son Spencer and his family who live in nearby Yorkton! How strange the Universe and its workings! How joyful my heart! Not just for the sale in a longer than usual seasonal sales drought... but mostly joyful because this lovelyand personable woman of taste shared my love of this wee piece of Quebec! C'est magnifique... cet univers du mystere!!!

Back to my easel... and the outdoors! Another trip planned to Algonquin... Soon! Stay tuned....

Good painting ... and sales for all!

Simply... Jack!

2011-08-23T11:38:00.001-07:00

I had almost completed composing my next post which chronicled a wonderful visit last Thursday to The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa with my wife Deb, my daughter Allison and her friend and fellow art historian Sharon. We went to see the international blockbuster exhibition entitled: Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome (1592-1606). But that will wait until another day.

I felt compelled to share a post which relates my deep sadness for the loss of an individual who embodies everything that is good in the world... taken far too soon at age 61... at the very pinnacle of his journey when it seemed that his vision for himself... and more importantly, for ordinary Canadians for whom he had toiled so unselfishly... would indeed come to fruition. And we all... as Canadians would be the better for it!

Jack Layton was the federal leader of The New Democratic Party and had just led his party through a tough, and very physically draining campaign for him personally in the late fall. This victory earned him the right to form and to lead the official opposition when Parliament resumed in Ottawa this September. He accomplished this huge upset... while battling prostate cancer and a recently fractured hip.

On July 25th, pale... very emaciated, but still defiant and full of the optimism that he always displayed... he called a news conference to announce to Canadians that he was stepping aside temporarily to battle a new cancer... but that he would be back in September, vowing to fight and beat the disease so that his vision could be carried on.

Yesterday, at 4:45 am in his home and with his beloved wife Olivia and close staff members... Jack Layton lost his final battle to cancer. That fact has plunged all Canadians... no matter party lines into deep grief. We all realize that we have lost some "One"... and at the very same time... something that demonstrates the very Best that can be found in Humankind... anywhere!

Many tributes have been offered unconditionally and without reservation from all parties and walks of life from across Canada. Ordinary people assembled at Parliament Hill yesterday in tribute to "Him". Former Governor General Michaelle Jean offered this tribute... which best parallels my own feelings about Jack Layton's accomplishments and his legacy to Canadians:

"Canada has lost a man of courage and great integrity who embodied the values dearest to Canadians."

And from the tributes of others I will borrow expressions which best described those "values" of which Michaelle Jean attributed to Jack Layton: fundamental decency... passionate dedication...love of country... courageous... legacy of commitment... humanity... a rare state of grace... and that list is endless.

But perhaps the greatest measure of the man is revealed in a letter that he wrote to his fellow Canadians just two days before his life ended. In facing the prospect of his life ending... and separation forever from Olivia... he composed this magnanimous and immeasurably powerful letter to be read to all Canadians. His last message was to be one of thanks, hope to fellow cancer patients, political colleagues, Quebecers and finally for all Canadians.

Dear Friends,

Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one - a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can all do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change...

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.

And we'll change the world.

The Truth and eloquence of these words and the man is unparalleled in my lifetime as a Canadian... and most especially words from the mouth of a politician. The message is something that "I" will carry forward with "Me"and put into practice. I aim to dedicate a larger part of my time to working towards seeing his vision accomplished... using my own energy and talents.

The profession of politics can truly become an Art form... when it is carried out with passion... with integrity and commitment over a lifetime. Jack Layton has taken politics to an art form level... and his wondrous and joyous life is to be celebrated as a great Canadian Masterpiece!

I hope that this message inspires all of you to live your life fully... to reach out... to persevere... to share your gifts... to make life... wherever you might live better! Therein lies the Hope for mankind and the world no matter your politics or country of origin!

God bless and embrace "You" Jack!

Sharing the Plein Air Spirit!

2011-08-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

I was asked by the ladies of Meta4 Gallery in Port Perry to conduct a workshop on Saturday for a small group who wished to be introduced to plein air painting back in late June. I agreed and was notified on Thursday that I was indeed to have the workshop with three participants.

Living about two hours distant from this bustling community... I was unable to really scout around beforehand... as is my usual practice... to prepare for a setting that would be suitable and would therefore optimize success. Summer painting has its hazards... as most plein air painters recognize and prepare themselves for.

I struck off at 6:00am to arrive in Port Perry to make my scouting foray. Glad that I did! All of the usual haunts along Lake Scugog were either overgrown with bull rushes and slimed over because of unusually low water levels... or overrun with people doing a variety of activities from hiking trails... sculling... or launching small craft. Neither conditions suited my comfort zone... so I patrolled the back streets until I found a place with a paintable subject... quiet... shade... washrooms nearby and parking.

I arrived back at the Gallery and awaited my fellow painters and by 10:15 we were off to the chosen land. In arriving... I was a bit unsettled to learn that all three were raw beginners... even to painting really and that their equipment and lack of it reflected that fact. However... being "out there" has taught "Me" to be flexible... and to be over prepared. We shared paints and I even surrendered my easel when one of the easels gave up the ghost... even before being put to the test.

I had them follow me on a "walk about" to determine possibilities... but suggested that we all focus on the same subject from the same viewpoint... given their mutual inexperience. I felt a sense of relief come over the group... which I shared. I set up quickly and within 15-20 minutes quickly moved my interpretation of the view through the lay in process... then helped each of them establish the basic form and elements to begin their own lay ins. The lay ins proceeded slowly at first... but once colour mixing problems and brushwork suggestions were in place ... the pace and their individual confidence picked up, so that we were able to break at 12:20 pm for the planned lunchtime visit to the restaurant for a meal at a local bistro nearby... arranged through Meta4.

After a sumptuous lunch and sharing of backgrounds we headed back to our site and the threesome immediately and enthusiastically jumped back into action. It was refreshing to "Me" to watch over the shoulder of each of the individuals pushing forward with their newly-acquired skills and self-confidence... and seeing the implementation in their own terms and through their own artistic eyes.

The day was very warm... and the sun shifted westward... leaving us in direct sunlight. No one seemed to even notice...or complain.What was even more surprising to me still... was that all reached the final destination within minutes of the others. At 3:45 pm... we packed up our gear... said our goodbyes... and headed off in our separate directions... back to our own worlds.

Each of the pairs of jpegs gives the lay in to near finished pieces for comparison. The growth for each of the participants is very obvious... and I would say... a remarkable accomplishment for first time painters... suddenly dipped head first into the plein air hot pot.

But one thing is certain in my mind. Four individuals who have been brought together through a plein air experience... now have an appreciation and a healthier new respect for their own creative abilities. As well... we learned valuable lessons about our own lives... and that we are not so very different in how we live them as we often fear. "We"... all share a very common path... with its myriads of joy... disappointment... successes... failures and opportunities... if we take the courage to reach out and risk!

I returned joyfully to my own life with Deb enriched by the spirit of three new acquaintances... who I KNOW... I will meet again! "We" are bonded by an experience where everyone was a winner and an equal in the midst of others!

My humblest thanks to the Meta4 ladies for their continued belief and support of my artisitic journey! If you are ever in the area or have a few moments drop in to the gallery for a REAL art fix! Their tastes are immpecably displayed in every corner of their gorgeous and friendly shop!Their web site can be reached at www.meta4gallery.ca/

Paint on Carol...Neil and Christine! You really shone...each of you!

Happy Painting to All!

Found!... and passed along to be shared!

2011-08-10T06:05:00.000-07:00

Terra Skin Tree Free Paper- A new and exciting tool in my box!!!!

All of us constantly search for new ideas... new concepts... new techniques and new products to either enrich and enliven our own painting processes... or one which provides a new tool for our painting and sketching boxes.

This particular product was recommended to me by my friend and fellow (accomplished) plein air artist and teacher John Anderson. John is the manager of Curry's Art Supply Store in Barrie ON and knows the art business front page to back. He excitedly recommended Terra Skin...Tree Free Paper as multi-media surface based upon his discovery that it fit the bill for people like ourselves who work both in the studio... and in the field... where conditions really can present difficulty and limitation.

Here are some of the "positives" to be considered:

*tree free paper

*subtle tooth, yet smooth

*flexible, easy to cut, won't buck, can be rolled and flattens again quickly

*ideal surface for oils, acrylics, watercolour, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, printmaking

*it is archival and requires no priming for any medium used

*it is composed of 75% mineral content ground limestone and 25% resi

* non-toxic

*available in 25x17.5 inch sheet $2.29 and 25x35 inch sheet @$4.49

*348 lb weight, comparable to 300 lb watercolour sheet

I am sharing the two smaller sketches that I have recently completed... one in the studio the other in the field. All turned out acceptably... given my first awkward attempts. John simply mounts his sketch-sized sheets beforehand with masking tape on Masonite support. If he is pleased with the outcome... he mounts it permanently. If it misses the mark he simply flips it over and gives the other side a go.

I chose to jump to the more permanent step and mounted my precut paper directly onto the 1/8 inch Masonite panel using acrylic medium gel... applied thinly with a palette knife. I then carefully laid the sheet down on the gel surface and used a brayer to insure even adherence right to the very edge and to remove any air trapped between the paper and the Masonite. With a rag I removed any excess gel from along the four edges. I then applied weight to the entire surface and allowed it to dry undisturbed overnight. The next morning, I used a razor blade to easily trim off the overhang around the perimeter of the panel.

The panels provide a very stable, archival and exciting surface to work on. The paint moves freely... but the surface has enough tooth to create drag and not simply slip and slide out of control. I used it with acrylics in the studio in the first go... completing the Charlevois piece which measures 10x12 inches. I encountered no real difficulties at all and enjoyed the entire painting experience.

The second tome out I used watercolours en plein air, as I customarily do when travelling. Deb and I went out to a favourite spot at White's Falls, Muskoka where I knew there was good subject matter, quiet... and shade. My mistake made was that I underestimated the too rapid drying effect of the deep humidity on the watercolour. It simply resisted any attempt to "make it behave"... as this medium ALWAYS does. It controls you... you are only around for the ride... and must "get with the flow...or in this case...no flow!"

I gave up after the lay in stage was nearly reached... deciding that I could not get what I wanted... so set it aside and simply enjoyed the scenery... the nice day... lunch and outing with my sidekick Deb! Back in the studio the next morning, I resolved to make something of the perceived disaster of the previous day. As is always my strategy when the ---- hits the fan... and I'm not getting anywhere using my "magic formula"... HA HA!!... I reshuffled the deck... pulled out my oils... sprayed the water colour with retouch varnish... then dove into the water alla prima... literally! All the reference required was in the lay in!

I have included the watercolour disaster... and the final oil outcome. You be the judge as to the success of my little experiment! It's framed... and on the wall as I speak... but I would appreciate your feedback!

This post is directed specifically to my pals Suzanne Berry and Keith Tilley... both of whom are adventurous... prolific... gifted... and forever in search of new things to try! Suz... try this puppy... for your puppies! But it is also shared with all of the rest of you who constantly visit... share and support "me" in my journey! Thank you all!

Happy Painting ALL... and Happy Summer!

PS Simply Google Terra Skin Paper for local availability and more facts!

Summer Visit to Algonquin Park

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

I just arrived back from a two day trip to Algonquin Park... with no particular agenda in mind... just to visit old friends who live in the Park... and to suck up some Algonquin Summer and sun.
The Park was as is always the case in the summer... very busy with campers... wilderness canoeing enthusiasts... hikers and Park visitors from many parts of the United States, Canada and the world really.

I fought my way northward from Hillsdale to the West Gate entrance at Dwight... battling sheeting rain for over two hours... rain that made driving almost impossible at times... and certainly not restful. Not too promising!

I arrived in full sunshine... at my destination in Whitney where my both sets of friends reside permanently. The first part of my visit was to the home and studio of Gertrud Sorensen at the Couples Resort... a Five Star Resort... now run by her son John.

Gertrud and her deceased Danish husband Fritz... arrived seeking a new life from Europe in 1967. They purchased a declining fishing lodge and over succeeding years developed it very successfully into The Bear Trail Inn... the very place where my love affair with the Park began. I first visited in 1982 when I was invited along with my painting buddy Frank A. Edwards... to a workshop being conducted by my new acquaintance Poul Thrane. That was a pivotal moment in my painting journey... a journey that forever bound "Me" to the Park... and to Poul Thrane... who became a mentor and huge influence in my work.

I had promised Gertrud on my last visit to the Park to participate in The Mystery in the Park Exhibition that I would come up and we could spend a day painting together... either out in the Park... or in her lovely studio. Upon arriving... I realized that Gertrud was very tired and struggling with all of the responsibilities of having a guest. At eighty plus years of age... I will be feeling much the same I am sure.

She wanted to nap after lunch and urged me to go painting for the afternoon and to come back for supper at five-thirty. I decided to take her suggestion and was heading out of her drive and I spotted a subject which struck an immediate chord in my heart. Tucked in the woods was one of the original cabins akin to that which Frank and I had stayed in ...way back when. It was unchanged... and took "Me" back to those exciting first Algonquin experiences.

All of the other quaint log cabins and the main log lodge were moved from their Galeairy Lake location across the road and down the Madawaska River ... a distance several kilometers away. They were modernized and updated to attract "higher end" clients and the cluster was renamed Adventure Lodge. I gave a workshop and demo there in those very comfortable quarters the winter before last.

During the two hours of painting this subject... my head "danced with sugar plums"... as visions of previous visits... events... conversations even... and the faces of many individuals I painted with and admired deeply for their artistic abilities and passion... who are now... sadly departed this earthly existence. Time has a way of silently creeping up on one... and having its way finally with us all.

Gertrud appeared near the end of the session... and wandered over... all the time querying my reason for being there painting... when the Park was so close at hand. When she saw the sketch... and heard my reasons she was moved I think. She mentioned that the cabin had been kept intact for that very reason. It could be accessed by clients at Couples with their key (cards)... Chuckle! Chuckle! ... see within the relics and photo collection which chronicled the entire history of Bear Trail Inn and Couples Resort.

She offered me her key card and I made a quick visit to the "shrine" and enjoyed several moments alone with that memory treasure bank stored within. I shall return on my next rainy day in the Park for a fuller look and enjoyment... for certain!

After a wonderfully relaxing and sumptuous Hungarian goulash meal... and conversation that piqued my taste buds so... that I required no dessert. The meal ended with a rich cup of expresso... backed by numerous biscotti. What could be better to end such a wonderful visit?

Thank "You" friend Gertrud for this visit... and all of the wonderful times that you and Fritz served up to all opf us at Bear Trail!!

I... a bit sadly... bade Gertrud adieu... and was really going to just have a quick drop in to say hi to my other pals, David and Diane Kay who also live in Whitney... and own and operate the East Gate Motel.

I first met them as their overnight guest... but as I would discover... David was also a very accomplished and dedicated painter... an outfitter... trekker... part time undertaker... handyman... and very well respected and established member of the Whitney and closely-knit Park community... a jack-of-all-trades. Being so remote and operating a motel teaches those necessary lessons for survival!

Since then... David and Diane have become our friends and when opportunities arise... we visit back and forth... David and I painting... and the gals doing... well whatever gal pals do when on the loose together. In short... we have become very good friends and have made some very good and lasting memories together.

They are first class folk... generous... friendly... intelligent and obliging individuals who would be great hosts "with artist pocketbook" accommodation rates... should any of you desire ...or find yourself in the Park. Just contact www.igs.net/~outfitters/ ... or appear at the East gate Motel office in Whitney and ask for David or Diane. Tell them that Bruce recommended you... first class friendly Canadian treatment and artistic support guaranteed!

During our catching up... they insisted that I stay over.. so that we could have a lengthier visit. So I checked in with Deb to bring her up to speed on my safe arrival and my plan to remain over and to amble my way back to Hillsdale for suppertime the next evening... with a promise of bringing supper with me - which I did!

After a filling breakfast of sausage , toast , eggs... and several cups of their great coffee I headed off to the West Gate and back towards Hillsdale... taking in the sights as they rolled by.

The Park was strangely different on the drive home... when I had time to poke about and not have to battle the hazardous rain and roads. I was dumb founded to discover distressingly low water levels everywhere that I visited. In all of my years in coming to the Park, I had never seen water levels this low.I decided to pull into the Park Headquarters at the East Gate entrance and inquire about this baffling and disturbing situation.

I learned that the answer was fairly simple. The water levels follow cyclical patterns and are heavily influenced by abnormal weather shifts. This year, there was an over abundance and highly unusual amount of rainfall during the early spring... necessitating the release of larger amounts of water in the spring at dam control points placed at intervals throughout the myriad of rivers and lakes... some of them huge in this vast wilderness Park. The fear of devastating washout conditions along highways and cottage fronts necessitated this dire decision.

The later drought conditions that I have mentioned in previous posts which effected my area to the west... also visited the Park causing the complete drying up of marshes... roadside swales and small creeks and rivulets along Highway 60... the main east-to-west artery leading visitors through the Park. I am including a few jpegs to give you the idea... and a painting jpeg to create a yardstick of comparison.

As you can readily see and understand... this will indeed impact species large and small whose lives are dependent upon water ie. plant life ,waterfowl, beaver, deer, moose, fish to name but a few vulnerable species... the list is endless. The comforting aspect remains however... that the Park is monitored closely and carefully managed by knowledgeable staff can be made to lessen the effects which left unchecked... would be disastrous. Let's hope so!

We are indeed... but small grains of sand on a huge beach that we know as the Universe... subject to the same whims and sometimes harsh conditions that cycle about... seeming at the wrong time... and as they please. Though we can "think".... and can change the course of natural order in a negative fashion... the first and only species to have that claim... we are indeed subject to whatever Mother Earth wishes to deliver. Arrogance... and there seem so much of that everywhere in society... from us to the decision-makers these days. Take heed I guess... OR????

Back to the easel and on with my work!

Good Painting to ALL!... and Happy Summer... what remains. Use it wisely!

Summertime Dreams...

2011-07-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

"Summertime Dream is the title of a popular 1976 Gordon Lightfoot album and also a summer anthem/song favourite of mine. Back in October of 2002, I created a solo show for a prominent gallery around this title and a number of the cuts from this remarkable album.

Lightfoot captures the essence of being "Canadian" in my mind. His soulful lyrics embody my own personal feelings of pride for a beautiful and diverse landscape... and a cultural mosaic of immigrants seeking a new life and freedom in a tolerant land of opportunity and possibility.

Summertime is truly a time for dreaming... and dreaming belongs unquestionably to children who are free from the arduous demands of school classrooms... and parental work schedules. It is a time for outdoor activity without the burden of heavy clothing. It is the time for beach bumming... fishing... hangin' with friends... going to cottage and camp... and taking the much anticipated annual family vacation trip.

In short... Summertime is a time for Adventure. A time to catch fireflies... roast marshmallows... pick blueberries for free... a time hike and explore. A time for the Peter Pan in "You"... to let Tink outta your pocketand play... and be your own Child... if "You" dare!

We spend so much of our lives "acting our age"... and responding out of shame to: "Grow up!" In short... as adults we are expected to surrender too soon... the very most precious and innocent part of our lives to conform to expectations of an often dismal... demanding and discouraging world where competition... money... influence and status govern every aspect of daily life.

I have always valued my "Child within"... and protected it from rakes that would try to pry it away from "Me" or devalue it. I let that child out to play when I feel he is safe... and in the company of other like-minded individuals. I travel with Friends who remain so from my earliest life... and "know" immediately and embrace those who also dare to live by the creed.

The two large paintings that I wish to share with you in this post are special paintings for "Me"... and the Family who commissioned me to paint them. I was given some rather obscure photo references and the free agency to create them both as I saw fit.

The two places were favourite two favourite vacation places for these four people. Both are located on Prince Edward Island... and I had visited these places myself... so it was easy to create the ambience that would carry our shared love of these places.

Both paintings progressed without difficulty. They "painted themselves"... is the term I often use for this piece of luck. Right from the initial pen and ink sketches to form the composition from multiple photo images through to adding the final details... they simply revealed themselves without difficulty.

Upon meeting the two girls and their mother, I immediately felt the energy of my own "child within" resonate with their youthful exuberance and joie-de-vivre. Even the figures and the interaction amongst them seemed to summon and include "Me".

Both of these images appear side by side in my book "Two Voices-Paintings With Poetry of AW Bruce Sherman. Both are accompanied by a poem that I felt compelled to write and include to register my feelings about the content... and how they somehow applied to my own youth.

The first painting is entitled "The Shell Seekers" an oil on panel and measures 12x36 inches.

The Shell Seekers

Three kindred spirits

Together

On a wind-swept shore.

Seeking shells...

No conjuring up fantasies of doubloons and lost treasure -

Together.

Three kindred spirits

Together

On a path called Life.

Seeking meaning...

And a sense of connection -

Together.

Three kindred spirits

Together

"One" with each "Other"

Their Creator...

And the Universe -

Together.

The second painting , entitled "Soaring" is an oil on canvas measuring 36x48 inches and pictures the two girls heading off... pails in hand to beach comb at their favourite summertime vacation haunt.

Soaring

Clouds soaring...

Slip-sliding gulls effortlessly wind dancing

Spirits skipping -

Drawn to the storm-littered beach,

Heady with visions of filling pails with waiting buried treasure,

Pirate booty soon to be claimed as their own!

Free to explore a world beyond adult reach -

Free to learn lessons that only Nature can teach.

Free to be the children they're entitled to b

Free to be the children

We once used to be.

Spirits...

Soaring!
Free!

I was to discover only when the three came to pick up the finished paintings a truth in their lives that I had not imagined. The man in the Shell Seekers... so a part of their adventure and happiness was not their birth father. Their dad had been killed in a tragic automobile accident. The mom was overcome with joy that I had captured correctly the natural way that these girls and their new dad had grown together... despite the tragedy.

The Universe is a mysterious place. It often reveals itself in strange... but worthwhile ways. This was one of those occasions for all of us in this chapter. "I" am deeply proud of these two pieces... and that they will each belong to one of those girls later in life to recount these special childhood moments. Making paintings and Art is not always about money... or about perfection. Mostly... it is about capturing emotion and special moments... and sharing!

"The Pony Man"... another of my Lightfoot favourites was written for his children Freddie and Ingrid. Although they would listen to his songs... they were not "into" either his on-the-road- a-lot life or his lyrics. As Lightfoot so rightly puts it: "Kids don't really care what you do do; they just want to be with you."

These two paintings and the lives of these family members offer testimony to this important message!

Farewell to July!

Happy Summer to all!... and your Families!

Sweet Summertime Dreamin'....

Putting Summer... on a Pedestal

2011-07-30T04:11:00.000-07:00

"Putting Summer on a Pedestal" - 0il on board 24x20 inches -SOLD

The title for today's post and jpeg really highlights the feelings of most northerly-residing Canadians and Americans. Summer is a brief respite from the long winters of darkness and cold... and the necessary swaddling of the body in layers of clothing to simply carry on daily lives outside of the home.

Most of us expect a lot of this season and the warmth and sunshine it brings us. We plan long-awaited trips holidays around it. We plant gardens and crops...count on a limited number of frost-free days to bring our efforts to full bloom and harvest. Many of us look forward to hopefully endless days of sunshine and warmth to travel about painting outdoors. We truthfully do live... and look with "Great Expectations" to these few days to offset those many days of confinement and restriction. Little wonder that we place summer on a pedestal... despite the fact we have been taught ... even learned that such a practice usually turns into disappointment... and in the extreme cases... resentment.

This summer has been one of those summers which like a petulant child constantly has challenged our patience with its erratic behaviour and non-pattern turbulent displays. In many parts of Canada and the US summer has created havoc and disastrous conditions with hail... flooding... twisters... record-breaking temperatures and the distinct possibility of deep and lasting drought in some areas.

But despite all of the erratic displays... cruel and disappointing displays that we have witnessed during our summer here in North America... we need look no further than the helpless and defenceless inhabitants of Somalia in Africa... or the entire nation of peace-loving Norway to put an end to our feelings of being "hard done by".

Each of us should look deeply into our hearts and be thankful for the blessings that we continue to enjoy.. and if we are able... reach deeply into our pockets with whatever we can afford to offer to help offset the rapidly escalating misery of millions of desperate brothers and sisters... who are beyond being able to provide for themselves.

In so doing... we can perhaps truthfully put our summer on a pedestal for the whole world to "See"... admire and emulate. We can put a part... no matter how small of our summer harvest... on the tables of these unfortunates... to give them Hope!

"We" are greatly blessed.... and blessings are best appreciated when they are shared!

Rich summer blessings ... and Good Painting to ALL!

Summer... In Transition

2011-07-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

"Summer in Transition" - oil on canvas 24x24 inches SOLD

Summer seems highly unpredictable and extreme in most every part of the world at the moment. Here... as in many other parts of Canada and the US a " heat dome"has created abnormally high temperatures and resulting withering conditions for crops... livestock and people in both rural and urban centres.

We are desperately in need of rain in our area. Crops are stunted... hospitals are overwhelmed with critically ill patients who have been effected by prolonged exposure to this oppressive week of extreme temperature. Tourists are staying put and are wisely... not travelling about - as am I.

Nearly all of you in the blogging world who are suffering from this are finding your own unique ways to "stay cool". I have spent a good amount of time doing indoor jobs like cleaning up my palettes... neglected after a session of painting. Certain pigments dry overnight causing them to skim over... making them unsuitable for me to work... with even a day later.

I also finished up some of my gallery wrap canvases by painting them around and beyond each edge to extend the image in proper perspective. This eliminates a need for a frame... unless the client wishes one.

I also have gotten into reading some of the books I had started and had to set aside... in the cool of our air conditioned bedroom in the evening and the early morning before my walk. So ... I am busy and feel a sense of accomplishment... despite my absence... for the past few days from being at the easel.

I have learned from many years of being "out there" that the sun of today is more punishing to one's skin than earlier. My three trips to my skin specialist over the past ten years to have pre-cancerous basal cells removed... has lit up the warning on my dash board. Sun block#60 is what I run about smeared with... covered by long sleeved shirts and pants... a good hat and cover under a trusty shade tree to work under. Take heed!

My reading and listening to my favourite radio programmes triggered a couple of ideas that seemed to fuse together my thoughts about painting en plein air. You already know how very much I believe in the power of outdoor painting to enrich and promote one's artistic growth. The value gained through plein air painting...as strange as it might seem is revealed through the words of an old favourite sacred song from an old Presbyterian Hymn book:

This is My Father's World, and to my listening ears

All nature sings, around me rings

The music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world, I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies, of seas,

His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world, the birds their carols raise;

The morning light, the lily white,

Declare their Maker's praise.

This is my Father's world, He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,

He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world; O let me ne'er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the Ruler yet.

This is my Father's world the battle is not done,

Jesus, Who died, shall be satisfied,

And earth and heaven be one.

Though my own Spiritualism rests in no particular pew... nor in the hands of any earthly man... it rests in my heart and soul and in my belief in a Creator... and Creation. My Faith knows neither liturgy nor man-made dogma. It is pure... personal and allows for freedom of thought and practice that seeks no permission to be adhered to.

Like my own education and artistic process, my sense of spiritualism is somehow eclectic... borrowing from many sources in Western and Eastern religions. But most of my deepest spiritual thoughts derive from my interaction and observance of the Natural World... where "I" feel most that "I" belong and am at peace.

In "seeing" and understanding the mysteries of life on so many levels as they reveal themselves to "Me"... I have gained a non-denominational belief system that embraces birth... transition... death and renewal. The Natural World is my Cathedral in which "I" worship... give praise and thanks... each and every time that I am in it to commune and to paint its glory.

I see this pattern of living in every species... from humans to fauna and flora. I see it in the heavens and in the seasons. This reality is confirmed for "Me" in every corner of the landscape... in every country that I have been fortunate to visit. The Universe... and Life contain and describe mysterious yet magnificent cycles... ongoing dramas... beyond human control or comprehension... fortunately so in my mind!

The painting from the past that I am sharing today is entitled: Summer in Transition. The transition of summer in it is measured and is documented in time by the appearance of summer wildflowers as they appeared to me. The Summer season's passing can be observed and understood in terms of their appearance... within days... each and every summer. They are in fact, a floral clock measuring the hours of summer ... from beginning to end.

Human life can be seen to follow the same cycle from fragile birth... to the bloom and promise of adolescence... to the withering of spirit and body in age and in the earthly finality of eventual passing... to who knows where. What is important is Faith. Faith in your Self... your "work"... your Family... your Friends... and in "Possibility".

"I" choose to believe in the possibility of a continuance of life... in some form... beyond my comprehension despite having spent a lifetime searching for answers. "I" require no guarantee of "Life insurance" by strict adherence to one doctrine. I place my Faith in my own actions throughout my life... to live sharing... in service of my fellow man and my choice to live actively in the Now... in the present.

I have sought my own Redemption for my many misdeeds... by making right the wrongs... as I was able with those who were wronged by them. I seek no forgiveness beyond that... nor do I believe that I will be held accountable beyond my own private "acts of contrition".

Though this post does indeed weigh in more heavily with "lofty thoughts", I feel that perhaps given the posts I have lately read that seem discouraged with their lives... this post offers insight into how "I" find Peace and deal with the natural rhythm of the "ups n' downs of daily life. I offer its content as food for thought... and not ...the Gospel according to St Bruce! HA HA!!!

Summer is... and always has been a time of reflection about the blessings of my life and the richness of Creation. "I give thanks for these blessings - they are many and my blogging friends are amongst these! Thank "You"... each... for tuning in....

Happy Summer and Good Painting to ALL!

Stay cool...keep shinin'... and smilin'...

Heat Wave Here!.... No end in sight!... But some "Cool" as well!

2011-07-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

We have been subject to an intense and unusually unseasonable July heat wave here in our area. Only a complete fool would venture outside to paint in these temperatures... even in the shade! I am now allergic to the sun... having overdosed in UV from years of painting in weather that was equally punishing. Fool hardy is the word that come to mind! Whenever I am out... I lather on 60 level sun block... and look for a large elm "umbrella" to set up under! HA HA!

Last Saturday evening... my large quadriptych... "The Magnificence of Algonquin Through the Seasons" - 6 feetx 12 feet (bottom jpeg) was featured at the Grand Opening for The Point Gallery in summer community Big Bay Point, located east of Barrie on the shores of Lake Simcoe. The owners Nicola Sammeroff and her husband Jonathan Cohen hosted a cocktail party for a special list of invited guests from the summer home and cottage community of which they and their family are long time residents.

They asked Deb and I to attend... and asked if I would entertain the idea of conducting a painting demonstration to introduce their clients to me and my work. I agreed... and after some soul-searching... decided to use a recent sketch as the impetus for that demonstration. I chose the recently posted "Summer Zephyr, Wolfe Island"... a 12x16 inch canvas (jpeg 2nd from bottom)... I felt that this subject "raised up" to a larger studio format that evening... would give an accurate picture of how I take my plein air studies to the studio format and higher level of focus and finish.

I selected a 24x30 inch black t0ned canvas and followed the same pathway as the quadriptych. I quickly laid in the preliminary linear "map/guide"... recording only basic and very roughly laid in essentials... and then jumped into the painting process... beginning by laying in transparently stained blocks of colour so that the black area took on a sort of stained glass appearance. I let that set for about ten minutes.... and answered multiple questions from the gathering of adults and children who stood watching. You guessed it! The kids offered the most challenging and interesting questions... they always do!

I then began laying in the heavier layers of pigment gradually to a point where the black canvas was all but opaquely covered in its entirety. I added a few of the details that I intended to add in a later session... to demonstrate how one reaches the next level of finish. I heightened the lighting effects slightly... but again not entirely... wishing to save that until I was alone to concentrate and work more gradually. The entire process from black canvas to final lay in... as seen in (2nd jpeg from top) began at 7:15 pm... and ended at 8:40 pm... just as the evening light was fading. A great time to bring things to a halt.

Although the quadriptych is as yet unsold... I had two seriously interested couples... who have both the money and the space to own it... should they wish to do so. But more importantly... the word "Magnificent" was uttered over and over again from adults who value fine art... and from children who respond truthfully and "call it as they see it". This validates my very reason for creating the piece. My painting created the very same awe on this wall... so very far away from Opeongo Road in Algonquin Park and the deep feelings of respect for this wilderness... as it does in me ... always! Sold... unsold... it doesn't matter. It's that it "is"... and has been completed!

The last jpeg shows the finished Painting entitled "Windswept July Meadow, Wolfe Island, Ontario -oil on canvas 24x30 inches....( as the jpeg shown at the top). You can note that this painting has been "revised"... intentionally. The sketch will remain in my possession... the painting will be on the block... and hopefully sold.

My painting... and Deb and I met new friends and gained a feeling that our combined vision and efforts are worthwhile. In this very sad and discouraging economy... any "leg up" sustains Faith and Optimism. We all need a large dose of that in these trying times!

Back to the easel!

Good Painting to all!

Smile!....

2011-07-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Aside from... and accompanying the before-mentioned gift and blessing of music that "I" was endowed with by my parents and family... "I" was blessed with the gift of "The Smile"... and the "gift of the gab." I say this without any intent to be funny... or to add humor.

These three gifts have carried "Me"...my siblings and families through each moment of all of our journeys, either as individuals or as extended family. These gifts have brought us together in joy... carried us beyond sadness and yielded acceptance for each one of us in the presence of unique situations with groups and situations that we meet in our varied daily existences.

I have grown to better understand the power and value of these gifts, as they have applied to my own journey up to the Present. We as a family are known... and I believe are respected and enjoyed as "people", simply because we enjoy... no revel in creating and taking part in opportunities that provide conversation/ discussion... story-telling... joking... teasing...performing... laughter and "all things good" on this planet - Art... Music... Dance... Literature.

Smiles play more of an integral part in daily lives... than frowns. Speaking generally... I would offer that we are each... in our own unique fashion... cheerful human beings... and that cheerfulness was inherited more likely more through Nurture... than through Nature.

We certainly did have our family "moments"in those early years as all families do... and we still do still do from time to time. However, I believe that all of us have found our own doses of Happiness... Success and Acceptance because of the gifts offered and modelled earlier in our parents' home.

"I" was truly blessed to have received these gifts. They have more worth and value to "Me" than "things or personal wealth. To live in one's earliest years in the midst of song... laughter and to know that your "Voice" matters and is valued prepares a child to commence his or her human journey filled with Hope... Tolerance... Generosity... Compassion... and Courage. These values form the value set that not only promotes Self-esteem... but as importantly, also the respect for the Self of "Others" as well.

An authentic Smile... capital "S" fully intended and heavy on the meaning of "authentic"... is a powerful tool and each of us, as Human Beings possesses the capability to create one. We are the only species which can! That smile has the potential to open closed doors... to bring joy.. even to disarm anger and fear. A simple... authentically given Smile along with Music and Art knows no borders... translates the same meaning in all languages... requires no intellectual or developmental capacity to be understood... absorbed... and passed forward!

In closing, I offer a few of my own images that make "Me" Smile.... and... the beautiful lyrics of a favourite song. It gives me comfort and Joy to share these images... and to posit... that these "Smiles"... on canvas will be smiling on someone... perhaps years after my own smile has vanished from earthy existence. Is that not at least some form of immortality? Enough for "Me"!

The Universe is mysterious and conspires to offer opportunity... if "You" listen and risk acting. Each of the selected paintings were purchased by clients who like "Me" and my family
smile and laugh as a matter of fact. I think that they were attracted by the "Smile" feeling that is imbedded in each of these pictures... more strongly than the subject matter itself. In any event... at present they each currently reside in smiling households! May that be always true!

Smile

Music by Charlie Chaplin, Lyrics byJohn Turner and Geoffrey Parsons

Performed in 1954 by Nat King Cole

Smile though your heart is aching

Smile even though it's breaking

When there are clouds in the sky,

You'll get by

If you'll smile through your fear and sorrow

Smile and maybe tomorrow

You'll see the sun come shining through to you.

Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although a tear may be ever so near

That's the time you keep on trying

Smile, what's the use of crying?

You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile.

That's the time you must keep on trying

Smile , what's the use of crying?

You'll find that life's still worthwhile

If you just smile

Hope that my blog and my paintings add a Smile to your life... as yours do to mine!

Keep on Smiling!... and Good Painting to All!

Jpeg#1 - Summer Reliquary-oil on canvas 30x24 inches

Jpeg#2 - Summer...Simply Stated - oil on panel 20x24 inches SOLD

Jpeg#3 - Things Go Better With Coke! - oil on panel 16x12 inches SOLD

Jpeg#4 - Lost In the 60's- oil on canvas 20x16 inches SOLD

Jpeg#5 - A Demi-tasse Filled With Summer - oil on canvas 16x12 inches SOLD

Jpeg#6 - Evening Greeting at Les Eboulements - oil on canvas 20x24 inches SOLD

Something(s) Old... and Something New!

2011-07-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

"Summertime... and the livin' is easy"...! "Summer breeze... makes me feel fine... goin thru' the jasmine of my mind..."! "Heard it thru the Grapevine..."! And the beat goes on!

Music has been an integral touchstone for "Me" throughout my lifetime.... but never does it tug more strongly on my memory and "being"... than in summer. I can practically reenact my entire lifetime through a treasury of summer anthems.... "Classics"... that continue to be replayed im my mind...and enjoyed as well... by generation after generation. These "golden oldies" somehow manage to bridge gaps... and more lately it seems... abysses that separate young and old.

Even in the constantly morphing and competitive music industry itself... these standards resurface continually with the newest spin or tempo. Take Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Through the Grapevine" as an example. Gladys Knight and the Pips... and Creedence Clearwater revival both successfully breathed fresh life into... no resurrected that Motown Magic for yet another trip on the musical merry-go-round. I heard it while painting... "the dory" this week... cranked up the volume and boogied my way around the studio the way I did "way back when"... a zillion years ago!

Most of "You"... young uns' out... most likely can identify with my silliness... and the strengthening of artistic spirit which music activates... and sustains. Music knows no politic... crosses all barriers and never fails the create deeply emotive behaviour. In short... music can become an artist's tool... as effective or affective as any subject... brush or painting surface. Music creates mood... and out of mood comes emotion... and through emotion comes connection... artist to subject... and subject and artist's thought... to viewer!

I am offering two "Oldies"... "Classics" I believe from my own archives... along with something "New"... but not entirely... because it has its roots in my distant past. The original "Idea" for this painting was created one languid and beastly hot summer day in July... while painting en plein air on Wolfe Island opposite Kingston on Lake Ontario. Plein air adventures can create the very same memory magic as music as well... for "out there"... can be heard the sweet soft woodwind sounds of sighing pines... water music... and the choruses of sweet birdsong that rivals any instrument or human voice !

So for all of you "jammed up" souls... get "out there" and "crank up the tunes! You'll be surprised how quickly depression and blockage disappears... when the dam bursts and your creative spirit is free... once again to adventure!

Happy Summer!... Happy Listening... and Painting to ALL!

PS Jpeg #1 is Summer Zephyr on Wolfe Island oil on canvas- 12x16 inches

Jpeg#2 is Morning Has Broken, South Stonehurst, Nova Scotia - SOLD

Jpeg#3 is Heard it Thru the Grapevine oil on canvas (Triptych) 18x36 inches - SOLD

"The Eagle Has Landed!"....."

2011-07-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

A very appropriate phrase... for a mission completed... on this beautiful sunny 4th of July Holiday! My happy thoughts of good will are sent to all of my American followers who are celebrating... in their own significant ways across the United States!

Thanks to those who sent along encouraging comments when my drawing attempts "failed to ignite"... leaving "Me" in a circling orbit... and a bit discouraged and grabbing for straws to get back on course. Responses indicated that many of us were in the doldrums... and struggling with our separate creative spirits. Thanks too... for the many suggestions and strategies that many of you offered!

I did regain the groove... after my after supper plein air sortie to the 6th Line of Oro-Medonte. That exercise seemed to buoy up my spirits... and I have managed to complete the 24x 30 inch canvas today in fine style... with only a bit of reworking needed in the rock ledge behind the dory. I had it well lit and of a different structure... but it loomed over the dory and dominated the foreground... as shown in the upper jpeg.

I mulled it over in my mind overnight and made the final decision to make the changes shown in the lower jpeg. I think that you will agree... that the dory now has the prominence it rightly deserves... and especially after all of the suffering to make its lines authentic!

That rock structure more closely resembles the actual rock formation in Bell's Cove... layers of limestone dropping into the water. The daisies were there... the dory indeed is a well-weathered red... and the composition is... as it was or... as I care to remember it! HA HA!!! A few "licks and promises" are still to be added to tweek up values etc... but basically... done like dinner!

The title for the piece is "Morning Slipping Quietly Into Bell's Cove, Nova Scotia! I hope that you enjoy this Maritime Canada moment!

Happy 4th of July .... All!

Good Painting!... and Happy Summer!

Fighting Artist's Block!

2011-06-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

All creative people in all creative pursuits run out of steam. The flow of ideas may dry up at any time... or lose their creative appeal. It is indeed an especially frustrating occurrence... and especially for those who are prodigious in their production of work, or who are passionately driven by their need to create. This experience visits us all over and over during our careers.

I have offered some strategies that help me deal with... and even break the deadlock... when my mind... heart and hands seem to be "out of sync." - Changing mediums... working with unusual methods or materials... visiting exhibitions... painting outdoors... thinking "outside of the box" by creating unusual challenges for yourself.

This week, I have been working intently on a larger canvas (24x30 inches)... at a subject that has created within me much self-doubt and discouragement. The main part of the painting involves drawing a foreshortened version of a Lunenburg fishing dory on a tilted plane. One cannot fudge the lines of such a beautifully crafted boat... especially when it will dominate the foreground area of the picture. I spent almost two days working and reworking the form of the dory and found myself rapidly losing interest... in the whole concept.

After supper two evenings ago, I created a challenge to distract myself from the block caused by the drawing hangup. I headed outdoors at 6:00 pm with three burnt sienna acrylic toned panels under my arm... determined to make a painting on each within the three hour window before nightfall.

I hoped to accomplish this task... and at the same time try to avoid acerbating the drawing block, by painting the whole painting in terms of abstracted blocks of colour at the onset... and adding only a small amount of detail at the end of each painting. I allowed myself a window of one hour to set up and complete each.

In my first set up... I added another challenge. Years ago, one of my important mentors, Poul Thrane queried my need to drive around for hours at times, in search of the "perfect" subject before setting down to work. He remarked, "Bruce, you will be a true artist when you are able to select and paint a subject of choice... and upon completing that... turn the easel a full 180 degrees and complete a second good picture directly behind you." It was time to put myself to his test!

The first two paintings, shown top to bottom... are the result of that challenge. Poul was right! A true artist... one who learns to "see" and recognize the strong elements in whatever they are looking at... can make exciting pictures... anywhere about them. I feel that these two small sketches do satisfy his challenge requirements. I enjoyed making both paintings... and found myself excited by both the process and the result. I completed all three paintings within 40-45 minutes... well before the light disappeared.

This process required that I think intuitively... making quick decisions regarding colour and careful placement of brushstrokes. The process was akin to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The structure and content of the painting emerged without the aid of linear drawing in the initial stages. Those small needs were added easily at the end.

Today was spent in the studio... back to my dory "daze"... and surprisingly... that problem evaporated and the painting is past the lay in stage - ready for "rockin' n rollin' tomorrow! I think that Poul's challenged broke the ice for me and restored my confidence substantially. Can't wait to get at it! The paint will be set up enough for me to make the final decision as to what colour the dory will be. In my original sketch... it was red. In most cases in the Lunenburg tradition... past and present... the dory is a soft, off-coloured orange. I'll decide tomorrow.

But that's a story... for another day and post! Stay tuned!...

Good Painting to All!!!

Natural Structure... Simply Stated!

2011-06-24T05:50:00.000-07:00

Today's painting... "The Big Zee/Zed" demonstrates very clearly that exciting painting subjects can be found... and successfully painted... despite the predominant green veil everywhere one looks in the landscape. But as I suggested in my last post, the onus is on the artist to "make the scene his or her own." Which often means painting in and out aspects of the subject... and even painting with the palette of colour which supports your vision... or "The Idea" that you wish to capture and present.

There is little question that the challenge to paint outdoors... without the studio support system... facing the elements... insect attacks and the overwhelming visual imagery before you can be daunting... even discouraging to the novice. But like everything else in the human experience... if one persists with determination and desire... learns and is open to the lessons that are only found..."out there"... the pay back is immense and will provide tools that apply and can be used successfully ion the studio as well. One never forgets how to ride a bike... ever. But one must conquer the initial fear... and practise to gain confidence and skill.

I am offering today's painting as an encouragement to a young and very talented artist, Kim Rempel who has very successfully launched into a plein air orbit. What "She" is producing is surprising "her"... but not "Me." I always recognized the potential in her deft brushwork... good eye for composition displayed in her daily 6x6 panels. Having moved to a broader and more challenging space... she has "raised the bar" ... and will from now on continue to do so! Good on "You" Kim!

I pass this site many times in a month... and it never fails top yell, "Paint me!" I have even stopped to get a digital on different occasions. But as is the case with all of us... life gets in the way... and the image gets lost in the visual library... until you get the "overdue notice." I finally decided to "just do it"... and pulled out a longish 12x24 inch canvas which best suited the panoramic feel that I needed.

When I visited the site... I found the field to be planted with grain... likely wheat... which though it was a vast sea of a rich teal blue hue... lacked the interest which I had in my head. So I visited my files and found a jpeg which capture the field... golden and rust clad in ripening canola.

The basic structure was the same in both. It was that huge and elongated "zed" that divided the field so gracefully... so naturally into an exciting prospect. I decided to really "give the deck a shuffle"... and chose to begin the painting process on a white canvas. Not standard practice for this ritual-based painter! Secondly... I simply bled very diluted OMS washes of Indian Yellow across the width of the canvas at the sky level ... beginning at the top. To this, I added thinned bits of burnt sienna as I approached the field level of the canvas.I allowed this to run and form "fingers" that reached down into the raw canvas below... making no attempt to manipulate or remove them. I then moved away from the easel and let this "Idea" set and form a foundation for beginning the real painting process.

At this point... I paused to decide what matter of painting I would employ to actually commit to the painting. I decided to play my "wild card" at this point. I reached into my box and hauled out my dormant medium painting knife - too long ignored and forgotten... except for "executing" my failures when they appeared. The knife took away my predisposition to work in detail... sometimes... admittedly too much detail. It left a loosely painted and fresh rendering of the subject... that pleased "Me" greatly!

The actual painting with the knife was actually a lot of loading and dragging... downward mostly at the beginning. But that motion shifted to a horizontal and smoother and thicker application of pigment as the process continued. I could not at this time tell you how the values and colours emerged... or what their derivation might be. "I" was .. in "The Zone"... transfixed and unaware of any guidance system. It was easy to cease painting. I did so... at the very moment... when I had too think ... "Where does the next stroke need to go?"

Taking risks... working ouside of your normal comfort zone can be stimulating... and create some pleasant surprises! Take a ride on the wild side!

So this one finds itself in your genre and experience Kim. Congrats on the success you've obviously enjoyed! Stay the course! Do visit Kim's site http://www.eatdrinkpaint.blogspot.com/ ... see what she's about... and up to! Also a side trip to Linnyland... http://www.linnydvine.blogspot.com/ will yield another gifted and highly successful lady on our West Coast! Whimsy unleashed! Pure joy!

Happy Summer!... Fair Sailing... and Good Painting to ALL!

Summer's Coronation

2011-06-22T04:24:00.000-07:00

This subject is located only minutes away from our Gallery and home. I pass it many times during the course of daily comings and goings.... usually with scarcely a glance of interest. But two days ago late in the day.... my eyes caught sight of this piece of drama. Filled by excitement... I turned around... drove home... grabbed my camera and raced back to try and "capture the moment." But the moment had passed... as those fleeting moments of dawn and dusk have the tendency to do.

I immediately downloaded the image from my camera and sat surveying the "caught" image. At first, I was bitterly disappointed with what was in front of me... but as I surveyed the STRUCTURE... which first attracted me to this place... it was still there.... certainly not with the dramatic lighting effects... and not even without distracting elements that offended my eye.

But the physical essence of what attracted my attention remained.... and the longer I looked the deeper my memory reached back... until the glorious sunny moment flickered... then rekindled the rich colour and pageantry that I sensed in one glance as I drove past.

I grabbed a 20x24 inch canvas and toned it with Mars Black acrylic and left it to dry overnight... knowing that the rich colours and dark contrast would set the tone for the drama that I wished to create. This was one of those paintings that fairly stated...."painted itself"... from start to finish. Many refer to this as a zen state... and in my own mind, it is essentially that.... meditative. At no time was there any hesitancy... or hurdle to be jumped. In retrospect... I believe that this state arose out of the fact that "The Idea" was fresh... and that the process began and ended in almost a plein air fashion.... "done like dinner"... in under three hours.

The other contributing factor was the fact that "I" owned the process... making decisions based upon deep experiential feelings and creative choices... rather than the reality of what was recorded in the photo. The camera is a great tool to assist in creating... but it does not in any fashion possess one single ounce of creative spirit. It is limited by the fact that it will never have emotion to add to the picture-making programmes it possesses.

I am including both the jpeg of the actual site... and my interpretation... "impression" of that fleeting moment. I leave "You" to judge for your Self which is more appealing... regardless of a faithful direct rendering of the scene!

"Some artists show a reverential attitude towards the natural world. Nature is something to learn from and, at best, to emulate, with no thought of manipulating, much less commanding it. The best you can hope for, perhaps, is to, in Thomas Eakin's phrase, "sail parallel."

-The Artist's Mentor
Inspiration from the World's Most Creative Minds
Ian Jackman, editor

Fair Summer Sailing... To ALL!

Thank You For the Music!... and Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Today is Father's Day... a special day set aside each year to celebrate and to thank the Dads of the world. That was a ritual in my life... and even when I could not make it home (which was rare)... I always sent my card in advance... and called on the day to wish my Dad to let "Him" know how important his contribution to my life had been.

Both my Dad and my Mom have passed on... so that ritual is no longer physically possible. As a matter of fact, I will not even be able to get down to place flowers at their grave to mark the occasion. That's how I have celebrated for their days since their passing. This year... my youngest son Bryn, aged 14 years is playing in a weekend soccer tournament. He managed to make the "rep" team... and wondered if I "might like".... to see his games on Sunday.

My Dad would understand... and expect "Me" to follow his example and choose "to be" with my son on this important event in his life... and I shall be there rooting in the stands for "Him." Life is indeed about change... and rituals are most important to the living. Rituals afterward do have to do with respect... but the impact upon the living is what passes forward the sense of respect and links generations.

My Dad and Mom created many blessings in our family's lives. They showered all their grandchildren with that same love and gift of their time. When I have to think about Dad's greatest gift to us as a family... it is hard to separate love... loyalty... compassion... generosity and consistency to decide upon that one gift of largess. But I believe... that his sharing of his gift of music... his impeccable and unique piano styling... were shared not only with his family as a whole... but with several decades of his community as well .

Mom simply added harmony in our family of song... and encouraged creator ship... in her homemaking and her personal gift of decorating... using the simplest of materials for all occasions and celebrations. "She" took us to the Natural World... guided us... taught us to observe... understand... respect and assume stewardship for it.

In short.. together... they used music to stitch together a way of life that remains intact... even after they both have passed on. Of all the blessings they offered "Me"... "I" am most grateful for the Music... that continues to soothe my soul. There is a favourite song of mine that best describes my gratefulness... and today, I wish to share it in love with each of "You":

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

What would life be?

Without a song or dance what are we?

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me

Thank you for the music

For giving it to me...

-ABBA

Thank "You" Dad and Mom... for the many blessings!

I love "You" both forever!!

XXOO

Happy Father's Day Dad!... A salute from my brush and heart to "You"!

... and a Happy Father's Day to all the Hubbies and Dads out there in Blogger land!!!

Good Painting to ALL!!!

Primavera!

2011-06-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

"Summer Breeze, makes me feel fine

Blowing through the jasmine of my mind..."

-Jimmy Seals & Dash Croft (Summer Breeze - 1972)

Primavera is a combination word of Italian origin roughly translating as in spring... or springtime. Prima by itself translates first... while vera translates wedding ring. First thoughts about how this combination of two words translates springtime left me puzzled. However... in pondering the question this morning while on my morning walkabout... what I beheld before me, offered some kind of an impression/explanation for "Me."

Wedding rings in most world culture symbolize the joining of two spirits in harmony amd marriage. It occurred to me that Spring in fact joins together the cold of Winter with the heat of of Summer. The richly scented... varied green... and flowered majesty of Spring is the wedding ring in this "nuptial". There is much fanfare... birdsong and rapid growth and energy to ceremoniously herald this union of our two longest seasons of the year.

In my plein outing with Jennifer... I offered that the challenge of painting and capturing this season of transition is possible... provided that one uses the KISS method (Keep it simple stupid). Find strong structure in the scene. Make a thumbnail or two to develop a"map" based upon ONLY three values. Keep detail to a minimum... and good pictures can be made.

Today's jpeg "Summer Breeze" oil on canvas 12x10 inches... illustrates another solution to the "too much green" discouragement. Simply find some man made-structure... a house... in this case, a colourful sailboat and quiet patio on a river and voila... a still life which uses the greenery as a backdrop. I think you will agree... that both methods can work... if you risk... and get "out there"... with a plan!

Give it a try!

"To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country, or a seaside strolls a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall."

-Thomas Henry Huxley

Looking for the "Idea" and making it your own will produce results at any time... even during the "dreaded" (by some)...Primavera!

Good Painting to ALL!!!

Eden is not just a place...It's more a state or feeling!

2011-06-12T05:21:00.000-07:00

A First Plein Air Experience!!!

I had the great pleasure to spend the day Saturday painting in the beautiful garden of good friends Rolly and Grace Hallyburton. I was joined by my minister friend' David Howes' lovely wife Jennifer... this being a special day for her. David hired me to take her out on her first plein air adventure... as his fourth anniversary gift to "Her'.

He could not have honoured her in a more fitting and meaningful way. She came expecting to face the same barriers that she struggled with in her previous attempts in a studio and in a couple of courses to find growth and development. "She" ... was in the very same loop that so many of my students in both my elementary classes and my art workshops shared - a cycle of self-proclaimed failure... before they even picked up a brush. That to "Me" has always simply equated with... low self-confidence... battered down self-esteem in their previous experiences... or from the lack of a system from which they can proceed one simple step at a time towards a seeable and uncomplicated goal.

This beautiful Eden... on the shores of Orr Lake... a Love Garden created over more than ten years by a couple with a vision... and a passion for life and beauty... was also the setting for my marriage to Deb six years ago. Everywhere one looks or walks... one can find "still life" settings created by Grace... where one can pause... suck up the smells... the sight of greenery and sculpture and odd bric-a-brac interspersed... and all the time be chorused by every kind of songbird voice that lives in this Eden.

One could not fail to make a good picture in this setting... and neither Jennifer or I missed the mark in that task! Both of us came away refreshed... enriched... and with a "winner" in hand. Never at any time in the outing was Jennifer "lost". She took charge... asked questions... and painted with the confidence of a seasoned plein air pro!

We began the morning with a leisurely tour about the paths and walkways... contemplating "possibilities" and working out strategies to maximize success. I stressed to her the strong importance of taking ample time to choose a subject based upon structure... that is large masses and shapes... rather than complicated elements that required excessive attention to detail and draughtsmanship. Time is of the essence in plein air work. Light is constantly on the move and thus constantly effects the scene

Secondly, I stressed the need to think about the painting process and subject in terms of ONLY THREE VALUES. I introduced the value and personal practice that I use to address both of these concerns through making one or two simple pencil sketch thumbnails. The first sketch was simply a map that recorded the strongest or dominant lines... through squinted eyes in the scene. This creates a road map... or framework... on which to hang the three values.

In the sketchbook... white of the paper is the highest value... light pencil shading is the mid value... which coincidentally makes up at least 75% of the entire colour package... and heavy dark pencil is the darkest dark in the scene.

After making these preliminary sketches at the scene which Jennifer had selected... we set up the easels and palettes together... with her following my lead... and using the equipment and materials that I provided her. She decided upon a vertical format- Good! Simply because the trees in the painting were integral parts of the composition.

We simply retraced the initial sketching steps... this time with paint used thinly to create a value study and then began blocks of colour... as seen through squinted eyes to isolate the various large blocks from one another. Within less than an hour, we had the 116x12 inch burnt sienna toned panels to the lay in stage. We paused at this point to enjoy lunch on the dock at the lake and to replay the mornings findings and progress.

The next stage of the day's work was to work on values... balancing the myriad of greens to create more a more accurate and defined pattern of darks and lights. I stressed making a firm decision on where the light was coming from... and we took support references... so that changes could be made back in the studio if necessary... that captured "the moment" that we had chosen . We worked feverishly to get as much done as possible... because the wind had picked up and the skies threatened ominously overhead. We finished and packed up... just before the deluge arrived.

We arrived back at the studio... where Deb and David poured praise upon our efforts. David was so very surprised with the painting resulting from his anniversary gift... with Jennifer... justifiably busting her denim britches! Plein air painting is both a salve and tonic for the weary spirit. My piece was completed in full... while Jennifer wishes to take hers back to her home to finish certain areas, but even at this semi-finished state.. it is easy to discern the very admirable quality of her first plein air piece.

It is in every way a form of meditation during which the mind is transported out of reality... to a place where time and troubles evaporate. A place where the Id and Ego coexist in complete peace and harmony.

Have "You"... visited this place/ state called Eden?.... I wonder????

Happy 4th Anniversary David and Jennifer!... Many Happy returns... to Eden and Plein air Painting!

Good Painting All!

Glad Tidings to Share...

2011-06-09T02:16:00.000-07:00

Summer has dropped in... from dizzying heights.... bringing heat with HUGE winds and thunderstorms... the "usual stuff" that one associates with summer's bombastic displays. Menacing deer flies during the day and mosquitoes during the night... have replaced the black flies in the field and on my walks... but these daily rituals fill my heart with joy and excite my desire to be "out there" in a new world full of scents... sounds and sights that change almost daily!

Deb is back from her week-long Grand Gal visit to Saskatchewan... heart gladdened by the experience and all the Gramma huggin'... but also gladdened to be be back in the [cleaner]world and life that "We" share...HAHA!!! "She" was overjoyed with my effort and simple gift... as "I" was overjoyed to have her company and laughter... when "I" tease and perform. Simple joys and pleasures like my morning coffee and newspaper delivery to her... our daily cribbage matches in the studio and sharing the daily newspaper crossword rituals are again the order of business... and pleasure at The Paint Box Gallery. Life is good... and "Summer" in my own world ... has surely returned!

More glad tidings to share with those of you who took up my pleasure to support Allison's Chicken Pesto Sandwich entry to that on line Country Harvest Ultimate Sandwich Contest. Her entry was selected as one of the three finalists to receive a $1000 prize for her efforts! A yummy surprise for a young gal conducting her first university summer class in Venice! Thank "You " to all from Allison and "I"... for your daily votes sent in on her behalf ! Another solid example of the power of blogging as a tool to reach out and... simply share! Thank you one and all !

Congratulations to Sherry... for pushing forward with her coloured pencil to overcome the block that "She" was experiencing! Never giving up the ship... always results in saving it! Glad to share your glad tidings read in your last post! When the canoe dumps you our suddenly... stay with the canoe. When lost in the woods. Sit down and think. Get your bearings... make a plan and move on only after the initial bewilderment and fear subsides. Good common sense decisions.... in outdoor adventures ... and in the creation of art!!!!

A very BIG thank you"to Suzanne Berry for Spot lighting "Lost In the Sixties" on her wonderfully rich site (see right hand tool bar)... and for the Lady Bug Brigade Parade! Exquisite summer fare... those Lady Bugs! One of them might just be my own Lucky Lady Bug... Deb! That's what I call her! My thanks also... to those of her followers who left gracious and uplifting comments concerning the piece! Do come on over for a visit whenever you are able!

Today's jpeg featured here in this post is the last (for a while) in the series of acrylics that I "played at". The site is Bateau Channel... a favourite haunt of mine on the inside of Howe Island... where Lake Ontario drops into the St Lawrence River. Access to this island site is obtained only by means of a small cable-driven four car ferry... a peaceful summer getaway from the mainland rat race. Sunset is a particularly serene moment on this picturesque and quiet island retreat... looking westward up through this channel. It gets its name from the fact that the channel was used by the "batteaux", or large rafts made from squared white pine timber that were driven by crews of men who lived aboard from the entry point upstream near Trenton down the entire length of the St Lawrence to awaiting timber ships at Quebec. It was then loaded and taken across the Atlantic to Britain. This heritage piece that harkens the earliest historical beginnings of travel, settlement and industry in this part of Canada.

Happy Summer!... Good painting to All !!