Once Upon a Harbour

I have been painting along the harbour for a number of years. Normally very quick sketches using small panels that I carry with me. As the city grows visual access to the harbour decreases. Sometimes as I go about my day I travel on the Halifax side and sometimes the Dartmouth side, you just never know what you will find. 

One day not to long ago I drove up Barrington Street towards the new bridge and was struck by a display on our waterfront. I'm sure it wasn't planned that way but there it was Red, Yellow and Blue the primary colours just waiting to be recorded. I made a few stops and settled in to make some sketches of the site. 

I worked on the painting with the working title Bobs World in honour of our friend Bob and his father who spent years working on the waterfront in just such an environment. The scale of the waterfront is overwhelming.  Normally large equipment and buildings appear toy like. 

Mooseland

 A few years ago in spring Karen sent a photo of a young moose that had wandered into her yard.  At the time silhouettes representing animals had become part of art making. A decision was made to make a series of paintings using her young moose photo.

Images bounce around the studio, bits and pieces fitting together over time and twelve paintings later the moose lands on the very beach. Funny how that  happens from an original sketch of the beach at Blomidon on the Minas Basin. The moose seemed in awe of the site as I was the first time I watched the huge tides of Fundy drain the bay and then refill.

Artwork

Over the weekend  as part of the Garden Party show I was invited to paint in the gallery. I cut some flowers from the yard and placed them in the window. I used them for the afternoon and while I worked people stopped by to talk about paint and painting. There was no shortage of conversation. We talked and I worked at the sketch and invited those that were inclined to try their hand. Some expressed that they had bought materials and had them at home for years but were too afraid to use them. I passed them the brushes and colours and with some coaxing, away they went.  I hope I helped them over that problem. The show itself is going well with lots of great comments and support. The Chronicle Herald newspaper ran a large full colour image of one of the paintings and so the work was sold before it was hung. 

Garden Party July 2011

It has been a busy time in the garden and in the studio. The art sales and rental gallery has published a set of photos of the paintings. 

http://bitly.com/sHiD2t