Andalucian Village

Andalucian Village

Poured Watercolor

9x12"

$250

This past week I taught a course on pouring luminous watercolors. It was a week long course with a great group of people. Most of them chose to work from the same photograph that I worked from. It is another painting of Spain. The white buildings in the little villages work so well for this technique. After teaching this technique many times, I have realized that the one thing people learn the most is to have a really good drawing to start with and then to be careful with the masking fluid.

Summer Small Works Show

After the Falls

Watercolor

7x10"

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria has a small works show every summer. It is a salon-style exhibition and sale of over 200 pieces of work by some of the artists on the island. Many of these artists were part of the Moss Street Paint In, inclucing yours truly.

This year I have 3 pieces that are part of the show. All three of the pieces are landscapes. The show runs until August 29.

Butchart Gardens Exhibit

Filburg Park

Poured Watercolor, 11x14"

sold

The above painting was juried into the FCA Butchart Garden Exhibit at . . . you guessed it! Butchart Gardens. The Gardens are located just outside of Victoria, BC and are a well known tourist attraction. They are some of the most beautiful gardens I have personally seen and something is always in bloom throughout the year.

The show starts August 1 and runs through September. If you get a chance, please drop by to see my painting and while you are there, don't forget to see the gorgeous flowers.

Abstraction

Color Study in Watercolor, 7x10

I was recently inspired by some paintings that I saw at a client's home. (Unfortunately the name of the artist has left me.) The paintings were color studies and what I think were pours of ink onto handmade paper. I saw these paintings just before I went on vacation to Long Beach in Tofino. So as I relaxed on the beach I was also able to ponder the beautiful patterns in the sand left by the waves.

Upon returning, I decided that I want to paint some of those patterns. This was just a study in some of the simpler patterns, building up different blues with pours and lifting some of the color as it dried. I like the effect and have started on a larger version. Since every pour is so spontaneous, it will be interesting to see what the result will be.

Moss Street Paint In

My Portable Gallery

View from the other side

Starting a new piece

Yesterday was the Moss St. Paint In here in Victoria. It is an event sponsored by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria where 150 artists are juried into the one day show.

It was a great day meeting new people and reconnecting with friends and fellow artists. I was surrounded  by some other fabulous watercolorists including Anne Hudec, whose work is on the cover of Splash 11 and Sandu Singh, a recent addition to the Victoria art scene.

Of course the ultimate compliment to an artist is to have their work purchased. I received this compliment many times yesterday and I am happy to say that several of my paintings have found new homes.

So thank you to those of you that gave me such a great compliment and thank you to those of you that came out to admire the show. I hope to continue to see many of you in the future.

Watercolor Portrait

Commission Portrait, watercolor, 22x30"

I was asked a few weeks ago if I have ever done a portrait in watercolor. That is when I realized that I haven't shown many of my portraits on this blog. Although my focus this past year has been pours and landscapes, I do paint portraits. It use to be my favorite thing to paint but have enjoyed exploring many other things.

The above painting is my latest portrait. It is a commission of a teenage son and daughter. The family lives at the beach so they wanted that feel to the painting. I think I accomplished this request.

I started this commission at the same time that I started another one. However, the other piece had an unpleasant outcome for me. It was a lesson learned in using my own photos, among others. 

This piece sat unfinished for a couple of months before I could even think about approaching it. This time the result was much better and I am so happy to have done it. I am now ready to get back to more commissioned work.

Plein Air Painting at Esquimalt Lagoon

Towards the Lagoon, watercolor, 7x10

Behind Royal Roads, watercolor, 7x10"

The Bridge, watercolor, 7x10"

This past Sunday I taught a plein air workshop at the Coast Collective Gallery at Esquimalt Lagoon. The Gallery is located on a beautiful piece of heritage property just behind Royal Roads University. Royal Roads is building the Robert Bateman (wildlife artist) museum.

The day was unsettled weather wise but the sun did end up coming out and there was a cool breeze to keep away the heat. I am not one to mind the heat since we don't get enough of it around here. Victoria is mild and it doesn't often get below freezing in the winter but it also rarely gets hot in the summer. I love the beach but only when it is hot enough to enjoy the water.

Experimenting

Poured watercolor on clayboard

Sold

I spent last week experimenting with technique and medium. Both of these paintings were done from the same photo taken in Zuheros, Spain but done two different ways. The first painting is a poured watercolor done on clayboad. I usually do my pours on paper but wanted to try it on clayboard so that it can be framed without glass. I only did 3 pours instead of my usual 5 and then I painted the rest. I only did 3 because I was anxious about the masking fluid staying on too long.

Acrylic

As most of you know, I have not touched acrylic in years. I decided to try it again just for fun. The above painting is the result. It seems to be more true to the photo than the watercolor.

I would love to hear which painting is more favorable.

Zuheros

Spanish House, watercolor, 11x14"

sold

One final painting done while in Spain.

Our last excursion was to Zuheros, a beautiful white village with a castle built into the rock.

The Castle

View from the top of the castle

Zuheros

Lunch in Zuheros

The Gang