Garden Sketch

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t is always a pleasure to draw and paint on site. When the site is our garden it somehow seems so much better. Time can slow down and work can progress as the day allows. In this case on the first day blooms where just beginning. Pencil was used for the first pass and then a wash of colour to isolate the elements. As well as adding colour to the work the wash also serves to tighten the canvas on the stretcher. The next day black paint and a brush were used in drawing the blooms.

Painting Summer in Nova Scotia

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ou don't have to look much farther than flower blooms to remind yourself that we are enjoying the heat of summer in Nova Scotia. As much as blooms can suggest warm air and all the joy of summer the floral painting remains way down the list of things to paint. I'm not sure what is at the root of this idea other than the fact that blooms have been represented in still life work as far back as we can look. In our visual library of preferred images floral and still life work occupies a space somewhere near the bottom of the pile with landscape images.

Old Wall Paper fragment discovered in Guysborough County home, 2017.

It is interesting that floral images cover our walls and bodies to such a degree in paper and cloth prints while dismissing them as suitable for framing. Our gardens and the bounty they provide are reminders of ideas just for the shear joy of involvement.

Early Spring Energy

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wo paintings created independently and at different times of the year have been combined into one. The resulting image appears more dynamic to the eye and stronger overall. The paintings energize one another when they are combined into one and open the doors for new possibilities of representation.

Walking in Halifax

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ou just never know what will catch your eye while you walk around Halifax. While the city grows around its busy port interesting shapes appear at every turn. Buildings and equipment rise from the ground and cut the sky and water into small segments. It is always a pleasure to watch the action and make a small sketch whether it is the morning sky reflecting on the water or giant cranes loading and unloading cargo ships.

Painted Garden

T he various views of our garden are a constant source of interest. It may have something to do with the shapes of things or the space between the lines.

Start Painting Here

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hen you begin to make an image you could start with a line or a tone. You can draw from objects or  work from memory allowing chance to influence the outcome.

Cape Breton Adventure

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ver the weekend which was the first weekend of summer we enjoyed a trip to Cape Breton Island. We travelled to visit a friend who had returned to her childhood home on beautiful Isle Madame. There were short breaks in a weather system that had settled in and no real chance to get out and paint on site with water based media.

It reminded me of a trip years ago to Cheticamp on the north west coast of the island when fog also entered the picture and cloaked the harbour in a veil of mystery. Both adventures were cloaked in fog but none the less a good time was had by all. There is something in the air that calls you back.

Breakfast Guests

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ith all the plants blooming in our garden shapes and colours are amazing.  It is hard to imagine anything missing but recently I had noticed that in all the years we had never seen a family of flickers. All the other locals seem to use our yard. There are crows and sparrows, starlings and robins to name a few but never flickers. Until today that is when I looked out the window, Lo and Behold, a family of flickers. You just never know what is around the corner.