Marine Commuter Traffic

Marine Commuter, 14 x 21", watercolour, September 2010

Available throught the Flight of Fancy

Bear River, NS

You can read about the sketch that led to this painting and the gentleman who inspired it in an earlier post on my blog, here.  Rowing in this fashion used to be a major means of getting around in the days before good roads and motor cars.  There are stories of men rowing across the Bay of Fundy (35 nautical miles!!) to see their sweethearts on the other side.  Now that is a sign of committment, if you ask me.  It took this fellow a while to row the 1 km from the wharf back to his boat, but it did not seem like it would have taken much longer than walking.  (Of course I was painting while he was rowing and my husband can tell you all about my perception of time while I am painting....) 

So when your look at this painting contemplate how you get around during your day.  When you are hopping in the car to drive somewhere really near by, stop and consider if you could actually walk that distance instead.  So often I find myself rushing to get places and hopping in and out of the car.  I do not leave myself the time to walk the short trip from the bank to the post office or from the store where I work to the place where my meeting is.  But I should.  It would be better for me and for the planet.  More restful, too.

Waiting for Earle

Reflections on a Sailboat, 7 x 10", watercolour, August 22, 2010, SOLD

Another Paint the Town painting.  These boats are all one sailboat that I sketched as it swung back and forth on its mooring.  There was only the one sailboat there that day but I wanted to do something more interesting that just a portrait of that boat.  This is the result. 

This one is from Paint the Town and there is yet one photo to come.  (I know that I said last night that there was only one photo left but I forgot about this one)  I also painted another one of sailboats sailing down the Annapolis Basin toward Digby but neglected to photograph it.  If you are the owner of that one (you would have bought it on Sunday at Paint the Town) I would love to hear from you.  Especially if you have not framed it yet and are willing to email me a digital picture.

Meanwhile,  we have battened down the hatches here in Digby County.  The eye of Hurricane Earle is expected to pass very close to us tomorrow morning.  The weather office says that it will likely all be over by noon tomorrow so we shall see how right they are.  Last year's Hurricane excitement was provided by Hurricane Bill which passed over here quickly as well.  I was driving to Cape Breton that day and ended racing the hurricane up the length of the province.  I am glad that I do not have to do that again!  I remember the colour of the sky.  When the rain was just beginning as I got on the road outside of Annapolis Royal the deeply overcast sky was an odd green shade. 

If you want to know what is happening here tomorrow you can always tune into CBC radio from anywhere in the world.  They livestream their broadcasts on the CBC website and this includes the Halifax station.  It sounds like there will be local radio all morning.  During Hurricane Bill they did a good job of keeping us informed of what was going on (when I could hear the radio over the din of the water on the roof of the car!) 

Glare over Granville, 7 x 10", watercolour, August 22, 2010

And this is the last Paint the Town painting.  With the dark clouds in the background I thought it a suitable picture to end with tonight. 

Blackberries, Green Beans, Tomatoes and WEEDS!

I am on vacation from my day job this week.  Thus I have been busy trying to "get things done" in the garden and spend some time doing fun local things with the kids, like a trip to Mavillette Beach and to the theme park.  Today was a garden day, with the pulling of many many weeds.  Weeding garden paths seems more pointless than weeding the actual garden beds, but it all looks so much better when there are not 3 foot high weeds growing up through everything.  I am still paying the price for 3 weeks away in July.  It takes forever to get caught up.  However, I was very pleased to pick about 10 pounds of pole beans, and the first big picking of tomatoes and, best of all, blackberries!  Yum!

 Because of all the outside activity I have not had any time to paint in this last week.  Thus the urge to paint is rapidly turning into a burning NEED to paint. I hope to get into the studio tonight after the kids are in bed...

I will have lots of chances to paint this weekend at Paint the Town in Annapolis Royal.  Click here to read more about this annual plein air painting event that is the main fundraiser for our local arts council.  If you can come to the event you will have the chance to see over 70 artists making spontaneous art in and around the town of Annapolis Royal, which is a lovely place to make art.  Paintings are sold Saturday and Sunday by silent auction at the Annapolis Legion.  This is a great chance to get fresh works of art and yet spend much less than you would in a gallery.

In the meantime, here is a painting that I did this spring based on a scene I observed in Annapolis at Paint the Town two years ago.  This painting was hanging at the Flight of Fancy in Bear River but sold this month.

Coffee Break, 7 x 10", watercolour, May 2010
Private Collection

Red Boats Visiting Digby

Red Boats Visiting Digby, 14 x 21", watercolour

June 2010

Now Available at Bluefin in Digby

The title of this painting is in response to the gentleman who was viewing cards made of my first red boats painting. He stated, "those aren't Digby boats" Perhaps he thought that I was taking some artistic lisence. However, the thing about boats, is that they float, and move around. For whatever reason, those boats came up to the Digby wharf in December of 2007. They belong to the fleet of Mr Kenney who operates from the wharves of Westport on Brier Island. Regardless of where they came from, the line of the bright red boats against the dull colours of a December day caught my eye. I have painted these boats before but this painting is composed a little bit differently.

Another viewer had commented on the last painting that it bothered him that he could not see the top of the wharf. So I painted the one above to see how I liked it with sight of the sky above the wharf. Here is the older painting...

Red Boats, watercolour, 9 x 30", 2008

Private Collection

Visually I find the top of the wharf distracting. Maybe it is the fish shack in the extreme upper right that bothers me. I think I should have left it out or moved it closer to the center. I could have added more vehicles to balance it, but I did not want to fuss. I shall just learn what I can from this one and move on.

So what do you think about the two paintings? Leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Plein air painting now on ebay

Fishing Boats, plein air, 7 x 10 inches, August 2009, watercolor

Here is an older work, from last August, that has SOLD on ebay.

rowboats, sailboats and more

Here are some more in my series of small paintings. I am trying to work quickly in an effort to keep my paintings from looking overworked. I have learned that the paintings by master watercolour painters that I love have at least this one thing in common. They are all fresh and allow the spontinaity of the watercolour paint itself to show through. By working on small and quick paintings I hope to get better at doing that myself.

Scattered Sweet Cherries, 5 x 7", watercolour, January 2010

Now for sale by auction on ebay.ca

Click here to view and bid!

Sailboats III, 5 x 7", watercolour, January 2010

Rowboat Resting, 7 x 5", watercolour, January 2010

Now for sale on ebay.ca

Click here to view and bid!

Small works (one now on ebay)

Sailboat Racing, 5 x 7", watercolour, 2009

I am trying something new by launching an ebay auction for this painting (pictured above) The auction is open until Sunday evening, Jan 9th. If you are interested, I suggest you go and check it out here. This is the only one of my little paintings on ebay right now. I hope to add to it as I go along. I encourage you to keep watching. Here is another one of several little paintings I have been making as part of my internet selling experiment:

Blueberry Picking, 5 x 7", watercolour

The ground here looks very pink. If you are not familiar with the habits of the low growing wild blueberry you might not know that the foliage of the bushes really does turn this incredible crimson colour in the fall. Now, I have taken a bit of artistic license in this picture. The foliage usually turns after the berries are picked, but that is one of the joys of being an artist; I get to change things!

Artist by the Sea, Saturday's paintings

These are all but two of the paintings that I did on Saturday (july 11).  One of the missing is a picture of daisies, the other is the picture with 3 sailboats from my post last week.  

Daisies by the Sea, 5 x 7", watercolour, $60

Painting Buddy,watercolour, 14 x 10"

This one is the last that I painted on Saturday.  It is not for sale, as it is a picture of my sister while she was painting.

View from Centennial Gardens, 5 x 7", watercolour, Private Collection

Rowing, 5 x 7", watercolour, Private Collection

High and Dry, 10 x 7", watercolour, Private Collection

watercolour, 5 x 7", Private Collection

watercolour, 5 x 7", Private Collection

Sailboat, 10 x 7", watercolour, Private Collection

Morning Wharf II

Morning Wharf II, 20 x 30", watercolour, April 2009, $990

One morning earlier this spring I was driving through downtown and as always had half an eye on the boats at the wharf. There were heavy clouds breaking up with bright sunshine sneaking in under them and spotlighting one white fishing boat. I have done my best to do justice to the scene.