Treescapes

There is something about trees. They are a way to escape the urban environment. 

Treescape #1

Treescape #2

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Last Cow Standing

After a hiatus I am happy to be blogging again! I am also back to painting and finished what I believe is the last cow in the herd. I am feeling "cowed".

He is sharing some "news" on his forhead but you may have to purchase him to read it.

Mooseworthy

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Gone to the Dogs

I seem to be on a roll, having never painted animals before. Recently I was given an opportunity to leave my recent obsession with the bovine family and contribute to a dog rescue group by painting a member of the canine family.
Some members of the North York Visual Artists group were asked to paint pictures of rescued dogs onto canvas tote bags. This was under the direction of one of our members, a talented painter of animals - Soudabeh Majidi. The bags would later be offered for sale to support a volunteer rescue group.

Some of our NYVA members

Famous Dog Painter at Work

From the website of the Vafa Animal Shelter:

Founded in 2004, the Vafa Animal Shelter is the first animal shelter in Iran. We are dedicated to providing help and shelter to injured and homeless animals in Iran. The Vafa shelter is a non-government charity organization relying solely on private donations and volunteers. 

Hundreds of stray dogs live in the area. Since they are not altered, they constantly reproduce. Cars often hit dogs as they cross busy highways. Not all die immediately. Some linger in agonizing pain on the roadside for days until they finally perish. We are located in the town of Hashtgerd, about an hour and a half west of Tehran on the road to Ghazvin.

Pet overpopulation and animal cruelty aren’t just Iranian problems. They affect animals all over including affluent Western countries. Concerned and caring animal lovers around the world unite for a common cause - to end animal suffering and to make it a better world

"My Dog" called "Hope"

Hope lived with her puppies. Some of the puppies were shot by contractors and Hope was also. She survived, but surgery is not possible and she retains some bullets. She managed to return to the site to protect her puppies. Hope has been adopted by a family in the USA.

Darcy

Darcy is our  dog. He was a stray and rescued by "Speaking of Dogs" a rescue group. 


vafashelter.com

speakingofdogs.com

nyva.ca

smajidistudio.com

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Lost Sheep

Oh no! How did he get here? I thought he was sold. He must think he is a cow.

Lost Sheep

Thanks for hanging around the paddock.

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Round up

Home is Where the Herd is

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Sunny Ways

An Udder Day in Paradise

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In the Pasture

Tomorrow is an Udder Day

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The Cow Parade

Hang on to your artistic sense of humour!

Udderly Alone

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Why Paint Cows?

In the last post I explained my admiration of everything bovine: they remind me of some people I know - but no - I love their soft eyes, their varied colours, their placid nature, their international habitats and their soft "moos".  Their babies are charming. They are also just amusing, and a great diversion from "serious" art.
The herd will meander through these posts for the next week. Watch out for cow patties!!

Lucky to Have Each Udder

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Artist's Block

Don't you just hate blocks of any kind? I especially hate artist's block. What this means is that just when the New Year is a fresh start and calls for inspiration - I am stuck!

Gary Larson, was a very prolific creative genius who before his retirement produced 23 books of collected cartoons, with combined sales of more than 45 million copies. When I saw this cartoon it spoke directly to me in more ways than one. First of all, I have to get on with producing my collected works of art, and secondly, it reminded me of my desire at one point to paint cows.

"Why paint cows?" you say. Perhaps because they remind me of some people I know - but no - I love their soft eyes, their varied colours, their placid nature, their international habitats and their soft "moos".  Their babies are also charming. I have in fact a herd of photographs of cows doing various things in various parts of the world. Talk about inspiration! I no longer feel "cowed."

To the 45 million followers of this blog ---- HAPPY NEW YEAR

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Are My Paintings Underpriced??

Peter Doig, one of my favorite artists is a lucky man. He recently sold "Swamped" a 1991 painting for $26 million US at auction! This is one of his many paintings featuring canoes. (See more about Peter Doig in the January 30 2015 post)

Swamped

Modigliani's "Reclining Nude", 1917,  was sold at Christie's  recently  for $170 million. It nearly created a scandal when it was first exhibited in Paris.  It was the second highest price ever achieved at auction for a work of art.

Reclining Nude

Pablo Picasso's "Women of Algiers" of which there are several versions, holds the record for the highest sum ever paid for an artwork at auction. It sold for $179.4 million in May.

Women of Algiers

My thoughts - I will stick to my pricing plan, but consider doing some nudes in a canoe.

A final thought  - An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings on display at that time.

"I have good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman enquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."

"That's wonderful," the artist exclaimed. "What's the bad news?"
"The guy was your doctor..."

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Paintings That Tell a Story

 I love paintings that tell a story, or rather that stimulate the viewers to complete the story themselves.

These paintings are inspired by interesting people or situations, usually seen by chance. My interpretation of the story is already formulating. I always carry a camera with me and so can often grab a photograph.  Preparing a sketch as a plan for the painting, allows me to adapt the photo to the story in my mind. 

Your Place or Mine

Our Red Umbrella

Cafe Wedding

Travels with Charley

Beach Play

Cold Out

Lady in Waiting

Shelved

Beach Stroll

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Celebrity Artists

Some artists like Picasso become celebrities but can it happen the other way around? Some of our favorite singers and actors are harboring dreams of artistic fame and aren't afraid to get a little paint on their hands. 
Jerry Saltz, the senior art critic for New York magazine maintains that "It is very hard, if not impossible, to be several things at once and be great at all of them"  What to do you think???

Let's start with Paul McCartney:

Father Figure

Yellow Linda with Piano

We all know that Tony Bennet paints as he has been painting from the age of five. He paints every day and has had his work commissioned by the United Nations twice.  Three of his originals are in the Smithonian permanent collection. Take that, Jerry Saltz! (Tony Bennet being one of my all-time favorite artists)

Golden Gate Bridge

Untitled

To continue...............         

Keith Richards - Johnny Depp

Landscape with Sunset - Madonna

Woman and a Horse - Leonard Cohen

Ava's Dog - Frank Sinatra

                                                 

Summer Wind - Frank Sinatra

Guess who in his studio

Please send a comment if you want to see more work from these famous artists. Keep posted for the next installment of celebrity artists!

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More Fun With Nuns

The second of my nuns has been sold! Both of these have been purchased again  for a sister for her birthday - the last on her 85th! I need to get cracking for her next birthday. Nuns willing to pose, please sign up.

Blessings from Gucci

Nun a la Carte

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How to Paint Like Turner

I have recently visited the exhibition -  J.M.W. Turner: Painting Set Free - at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

One of the memorable and well-know paintings- Snow Storm - Steamboat off a Harbour is oil on canvas. Exciting as this painting is, I much preferred his luminous watercolours.

                                                              The Blue Rigi, Sunrise
                               ( He did several variations of this image in Switzerland)
                                                 

                                                                      The Red Rigi

                                                                Nordham Castle,Sunrise (my favorite)

    Fort Vimieux

                                                                               
Imagine my surprise when I saw a book advertised in an art journal claiming to  help you "paint like Turner". Wow! Off to the public library for a copy of  How to Paint Like Turner, edited by Nicola Moorby and Ian Warrell and featuring the work of various artists.
This is a book well worth a look. The forward is by Rosalind Mallord Turner, his great-great niece and also a painter. It is an interesting introduction to Turner and provides practical information and demonstrations.
I found the book provided additional material on Turner which enhanced my appreciation of the exhibition I had just seen. I decided, however, that I wasn't ready to"Copy first the works of God, and then the works of Turner" as Edward Lear suggested.

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Too Busy to Paint!

Sometimes there does seem little time to  paint in between shows. I did complete some new paintings however for the upcoming North Toronto Group of Artists Fall Show (see below). This painting has made more use of the application of texture than I usually do. What do you think?

                                                                    Whirlwind
                                                               

Thursday evening, November 12, 2015, 6:00 to 9:00 pm

Blessed Sacrament Church,(basement)
24 Cheritan Avenue -  Yonge Street just south of Lawrence.
The location is fully accessible.

There will be music and refreshments will be served. No registration is needed.

The show continues  on Friday, November 13, from 12:00 to 8:00 PM and Saturday, November 14, from 10:00am to 3:30 pm.

 

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Current exhibition

The Willowdale Group of Artists is holding and exhibition at the North York Civic Centre with approximately 90 paintings in a variety of mediums. The show closes on Friday November 13.
More information about this art group can be found at www.willowdaleartists.com.

One of my paintings on view there is landscape inspired by "cottage country" Ontario.

                                                                        Haliburton Still

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Wonderful Watercolours

Golden Artist Colors Inc., a company well-known for their acrylic paints, have produced a range of "modern" watercolours called QoR -  pronounced "core". The binder in these paints is different from other watercolours, and according to the company, it gives colour greater intensity and clarity. They offer a large range of colours, including three iridescents.

Four colour sets are available. Three have six colours and one has twelve, and are a good introduction to the watercolours.  I purchased the "High Chroma" set of six, which included Cobalt Teal, Green Gold, Quinacridone Gold, Transparent Pyrrole Orange, Quinacridone Magenta, and Dioxazine Purple. They are presented in the paint box below, which can serve as a small palette. The tubes are 5ml and unfortunately paint tended to ooze out of some of the tubes when opened.

I utilized my new paints on two impressionistic woodland scenes on terraskin.

Watercolours on terraskin, as a rule, tend to be more vibrant so it is difficult to asses the brilliance of QoR. What do you think? More later.

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Art in Haliburton

Art is everywhere - even in a forest in cottage country in Haliburton, Ontario which I discovered in a recent holiday in the Haliburton Highlands.  The Haliburton Sculpture Forest is a unique opportunity to view a collection of sculptures by Canadian and International artists as you meander along wooded forest trails within Glebe Park. There are 26 sculptures in total. See www.haliburtonsculptureforest.ca/ for more details. 


Here are a few of my favorites:

Fire and Ice:A Really Big Shoe Charles O'Neil A steel and wire two meter tall stiletto adorned with red and crystal beads 2009

A Walk in the Woods  Mary Ellen Farrow-Stylized limestone hiker holding a bronze cast of a maple leaf 2001

A Conspiracy of Ravens  John Mckinnon - A flock of ravens created of of fabricated and welded steel 2002

Redwing Frond   Darlene Bolahood - 4 metres high, curved steel spine with painted acrylic panels 2003

Spiral Ascent     John Shaw-Rimmington - With students of the 2015 Dry Stone Structures Course, Haliburton School of the Arts
Dry stone granite cairn with spiraling grassy walkway 2015

Curled Figures  Susan  Low-Beer - Two curled cement figures mounted on a large boulder. 2003

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