Two Openings This Week

For those of you living or visiting the Okanagan I'd like to invite you to a couple of FCA openings this week. First up is at Leir House in Penticton, "Harmony" highlights the work of many local artists in various media. Opening is 4-7 on July 1. Next at Handworks Gallery, 35648 97th St., Oliver, "For the Love of Art" is a juried show of new work by various FCA artists. Opening is 2-4 on July 2.
Join us for food, wine and art. Posted are my paintings that will be displayed at these venues. Hope to see you there.

Good Company

People sometimes ask me if I become attached to my paintings to the degree that I resist letting them go. Generally that's not an issue. On the contrary I usually have forgotten the most recent work about fifteen minutes before its completion. My mind is surging ahead to the next challenge. I think that's pretty typical of most artists. Its the process of growing and seeing/learning new things that keeps us dreaming at night, certainly not revisiting past paintings.
I find that I can better appreciate my work after its aged awhile (preferably hanging on someone else s wall).
I will say I do enjoy sharing my studio with my little friends like these two shown. Its time to pull them down to make room for some current work and I'll miss their company.

Outside it studio

Since it is raining today I spent some time in the studio finishing off some pieces and preparing panels for my next outing.
On a previous post I showed you a plein air painting that needed more work. I was interested in the rich yellow flowers that dominated the landscape with special emphasis on the sunlight that washed over the pastures in the middle ground.
As you can see when we move indoors we pick up smaller brushes and get a bit more anal. I consciously try to avoid this but am not always successful. I think this worked out okay; the photo doesn't do justice to the interplay between strong
yellows and soft violets in the hills but you get the idea.
Blogger wants to post these pics backwards and I haven't taken time to learn how to remedy that but hopefully its obvious which is the finished painting.

Painting in the rain

Today's painting was all the more enjoyable as I was able to share the experience with my friend Cal. We perched on the edge of the Similkameen River near Bromlee Rock. Water is now running at its seasonal highs and sitting beside this natural force while observing the subtle nuances of color in the overhanging rocks and trees was pretty special.
The rains filtered through the trees and we were blessed with the occasional wash of sunlight. I must return on a brighter day to capture the amazing value shifts in full sun.
My umbella is much appreciated; if you paint outdoors without one of these I recommend you order one asap. You wont regret it.
I managed to pull one oil out of this while Cal created a flock of pen and watercolor studies.
As a wise man once said "even a bad day of painting is a good day".

Stress benefit

May 7 found twenty of us artists scattered among various vineyards on the benches above Okanagan Lake. Our mission was to complete at least one plein-air painting to donate in support of a public art facility in a nearby major center. Typically I would paint outdoors in a small managable format - 8"X10". This day I decided to feed off the need to complete a reasonable painting in a short time and amped up the stress a bit by painting a 24"X24" canvas.
I find its usually a positive thing to impose a little stress on my work occasionally - certainly clarifies the mind and sometimes results in a painting with some character; you be the judge.
At mid afternoon I visited with another painter who was squirreled away at the top of the vineyard far away from the visiting wine-tasters and fellow painters. He is a well- established watercolorist who has painted professionaly for over thirty years. I looked at his two pieces.
The first was a 4-5 hour fully rendered overview of the rolling land , vines, buildings and lake. It was very believable and rang true but felt stiff to me, more illustration of facts than a feeling of the place.
The second painting he had just begun and he ripped it off confidently and very skillfully in front of my eyes in maybe 10 minutes. As great watercolors can this one absolutely captured the feeling of that panorama, that day.
Looking at the two paintings , framed and displayed in the gallery a few weeks later, the second painting took me right back to the sensations of the day in the vineyard.
Considering painting it seems to me that solid and emotive art needs to be put down quickly and without too much analyisis - but only achieves success when standing on a large foundation of disciplined work.
So, back to work for me.

Intention

Since the dumbing down of the web has reached my level of incompetence I think its time for me to take advantage of this tool. For those friends and collectors interested in following my art development sign on to my blog and I will attempt to regularly upload latest work and observations that seem relevant to my efforts.

I've been painting plein-air (on location) the past two days enjoying the sun and clouds, hanging out at the foot of Green mountain in a horse pasture. The fences are in disrepair so the fifteen horses I've been sharing my days with are essentially free-range. Been interesting painting with these beasts- they are basically reserved but curiousity gets the better of them and after a few hours they are surrounding me and obstructing my views of the landscape.

I'll include a couple of studies from these sessions. I will paint into the larger one in the studio and the time spent on location will greatly inform this peice. I'll post it when finished.

Thats all for my first entry-please sign on if you're interested and I'll try to make your visits interesting.

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