Plein Air in St Andrews, NB

I wanted to share the remainder of the plein air paintings from Artists by the Sea for Hospice.

Here then are some more.

Clearing Over St Andrews Wharf, 7 x 10", watercolour, July 10, 2010

Sold

After a wet and foggy start to the day it finally cleared in the afternoon.  The whale watching excursions that had been cancelled in the morning were able to sail.  This painting shows some of the many people who walk out along the wharf, to board a whale watching boat or maybe just to take in the sights.

On the Fly, 10 x 7", watercolour, July 10,2010

As I was working on the painting of the wharf, above, I kept an eye on the passage of water approaching the wharf.  There was not as much boat traffic as I had hoped, but then this sailboat come in from beyond Navy Island.  I grabbed a new peice of paper and sketched the boat and its crew directly while they drew nearer.  I managed to get the shadows painted on the sail before they sailed past the wharf.  When they came out past the wharf, the sail was down and they were preparing to moor.  I painted in the water and the background from what was around me and from memory.  I am very fond of this one, as it seems to me that this is what plein air is all about.  And the title seems especially apt as well.

Whale Watching, 7 x 10", watercolour, July 10, 2010

This is the last of the paintings that I made on Saturday.  The clearing clouds were making wonderful patterns in the sky, so I chose to paint the low cabins that house the whale watching operations that operate from the St Andrews waterfront.  This allowed me to try to capture the sky.

Sunday was a new day.

Sunday morning I started late as we had family visiting from far away and I did not want to run away to paint for a second day.  So I started at lunch time.  I went to the beautiful Kingsbrae Gardens and set up there just in time for it to begin truly raining!  So what I attempted to paint there is now on the back of a peice of scrap paper.  I moved down to the front street to try to paint in the rain.  The street was to busy to get a good view from the front of my car like I did the day before.  I set up under the awning of a local business and went to work.  (The business is Treasures and Trash, and the proprietress, Lola Boyles, was very kind and welcoming)

Water St in the Rain, 10 x 7", watercolour, July 11, 2010

You can see a big ugly clip in this one as it was in the way as I photographed it and I did not notice it.  When I set up it was just sprinkling but it soon turned into a down pour!  At first there were lots of tourists in summer clothes, shorts, tank tops, flip flops, but these soon disappeared to be replaced by folks in jackets and under umbrellas.  It is no fun having it rain on one's vacation!

The air was so wet that my paper was very reluctant to dry.  I started this next one and needed the paper to dry before I could proceed, so I actually took it inside Treasures and trash and tucked it under an antique bed to dry until I could keep going.

Man, It's Really Raining, 10 x 7", watercolour, July 11, 2010

I should have called it "Man, I am glad we packed these raincoats!"  but I did not think of it until later.

And here is the last one, I was getting pretty worn out by then, and cold, but am still fond of it.

Wet, 7 x 5", watercolor, July 11, 2010

Even though the weather was terrible for painting, I had a good weekend.  I hope that the Hospice was successful in their fundraiser, despite the weather.  If you can make it to the event next year, I would encourage you to go.

All the paintings in this post have been sold.

Artists by the Sea

Here are some of the works that I painted last week at Artists by the Sea, a fundraiser for Hospice of Charlotte.  I did not think it would take a week to get these up here...  All I can do is thank people for their patience.  I shall post the works in chronological order.  It will take a few days for me to get them all posted, I believe.

Water St, 7:30 am, 7 x 5", watercolour

All paintings in this post have sold.

When I started out last Saturday morning, it was raining.  So I parked the car on the main street in St Andrews, aptly enough, named Water St, and started painting.  I rested the board on which I mount my paper on the steering wheel, (Carefully, as no one appreciated horns honking at 7:15 am)  and spread out paint, brushes, etc on the passenger seat.  It worked reasonable well.

                                                          

Car in the Fog, watercolour, 5 x 7"

Niger Reef, 5 x 7", watercolour

After painting the two street scenes, I moved out to the waterfront where I set up on a boardwalk running behind the sheds from whence operate the whale watching operations.  It was still quite foggy and as I sketched, I watch the fog advance and recede, advance and recede.  What was quite neat was seeing how the fog revealed that what looked like solid clumps of trees were actually trees separated by fields.  I could quite clearly see the different layers of distance with the fog creating a screen or curtain which moved with the wind.

Golf Course view, 7 x 10", watercolour

Boats in the Fog, 7 x 10", watercolour

This is the same view as the previous one but the fog is closer to the viewer in this one, and I added the boats which I had left out of the above version.

St. Andrews Wharf in the fog, 7 x 10", watercolour

So that is all of them for today, but more to come soon.  Stay tuned. 

A Chance to Win This Painting

Sailboat sketch, 7 x 5", watercolour, 2010

I am offering this painting to one lucky individual among those who sign up for my newsletter by September 30, 2010.  For those of you who have already signed up, I will include your names in the draw as well.  Think of it as a thank-you for choosing to subscribe.  So if you like my art or are interested in watercolours, sign up now for my newsletter and your name will be enterered in the draw!

This weekend there will be a "Come and See" event in Digby at the Digby Curling Center on Shreve St (Saturday 1 to 5 pm)  This show and tell is hosted by the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, of whom I am the newest member in Atlantic Canada.  Anyone may attend.  There will be demonstrations of watercolour techniques, (one by yours truly), the opportunity for critique of the audience's works (you may bring one or two pieces if you choose), a slide show of works by Atlantic CSPWC members and more.  Leave me a comment or email me through the contact me link on the right hand side of the blog menu if you would like more information.

Artists by the Sea for Hospice

Hayfield, 7 x 10", watercolour, July 2010

This is a recent plein air peice, that shows the field across the road from where I grew up. It is a recurring subject for me.  I am enjoying having the chance to paint it several times while I am here.  Already it looks different, as the hay has now been cut, baled and safely stored in the barn for the winter.  It was the first time that I was home to help with the haying in years, and it was a lot of fun.  It was work, but good work.  I did take a break from some of the last load to take lots of photos which I hope to turn into paintings sometime in the future. 

This weekend will see artists from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia gather together in St Andrews, NB, to  paint and make other artworks in support of the Hospice of Charlotte. The art works will be auctioned off through silent auction at the St Andrews Legion Hall (corner of Queen and Princess Royal in St Andrews).

Auction Details:

Saturday July 10, the Legion is open at 11 am, there are two auctions, closing at 2 pm and at 5 pm.

Sunday July 11, the Legion opens at 2 pm and the auction closes at 4 pm.

There will also be a gallery show of framed works by the artists involved in this event at Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Center running over the same weekend.  Contact the gallery for more details. 

Hospice of Charlotte provides practical, emotional and psycho-social support to terminally ill people and their families to improve their quality of living and dying. Services include care-giver respite, transportation, information and resources, bereavement and grief support, volunteer training, complementary therapies and community education. These services are provided to residents of Charlotte County, Grand Manan, Campobello Island and Deer Island.


To stay up to date on this and other painting events that I take part in, subscribe to my email newsletter.

A new boat painting

Here is a blog post about a new boat painting that I completed just prior to the plein air event in Saint John. Click here to see it and read about the painting.

Paintings ready for exhibit

Reversing Falls Bridge, Tide going Out, 10 x 14", watercolour,

yesterday and today

Here is the one that I almost finished yesterday, but stopped early to meet up on time with the other painters. I went back to the Reversing Falls Bridge Look off and finished up. Then I decided to do another painting. The weather was foggy and the mood was quite different from yesterday. Today I arrived before the tide got down to the level of the falls so it was very quiet and the water was calm. Yesterday had been sunny and the water was rushing out of the river quite noisily as I arrived. I was an hour earlier arriving today and the tide is always an hour later each day so there was a significant difference in the water level. . As I arrived at the bridge a cluster of cormorants came flying out through the space underneath it. They would have been marvelous to capture in a painting to give a sense of the space, but I shall save that for another painting. There were many cormorants fishing all the time that I was there and I even saw one eating a fish it had just caught! . That is part of the joy and the challenge of painting out of doors. There are so many things to paint! Happily, I always carry my camera so I can capture for later most of what caught my eye. But I missed the cormorant with the fish in it's beak. . Here is today's bridge painting:

Bridges in Fog, 10 x 14", watercolour, today

Again, Ihave to apologize for the poor presentation of my photos. I shall have to clean them up when I get a chance on the right computer.

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After the cool dampness of the riverside, I felt like coffee to warm me up so I went to downtown Saint John only to discover that the Old City Market was closed. No coffee without walking further! Rats! So I walked and found the Magnolia Café, which looked interesting; it was also closed. But it was in a beautiful location so I did a painting instead. This is a view along Prince William Street, looking toward King St and Market Square.

The Old and the New, 10 x 7", watercolour, today

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The title of this one refers to the brick buildings in the foreground with the modern office tower in behind them. Saint John has some beautiful old architecture (if you like old brick buildings, which I do) The ones that I find really neat are the ones where you can see different layers of bricks and stone work and can see where changes have been made and new structures built on older ones. Each of these buildings in the painting have their own unique patterns and brickwork and I did not do them justice. Next time.

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So, now I have enough paintings for the exhibit, which is a good thing as they are to be turned in 9 am sharp tomorrow morning. If you wish to see them, they will be on display from June 23 to September 4 at the Saint John Arts Center. The opening of the exhibit is this coming Friday, June 25 at 5:30 pm. If you are in the area, come meet myself and the other artists.

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And now for something new, a picture of me, painting. Here I am on the trail looking out to the Reversing Falls Bridge.

Plein Air Painters of the Bay of Fundy

View from Manawagonish road, 7 x 10", watercolour, today

So here I am in lovely Saint John, NB, painting my fool head off. The Plein Air Painters of the Bay of Fundy is a group of artists who gather to paint scenes outside, in the Fundy region. Today and tomorrow is the annual paint out where we converge to paint and create an exhibit. Tomorrow I will give you the details of where and when they will be displayed. After a full day of painting I just want to get these images posted and then rest for tomorrow's day of more painting.

Above is a view I have long admired. The island in the picture is part of the Irving Nature Park, where I hope to go paint tomorrow.

After painting there, I went on the the Reversing Falls Bridge, which is a Saint John icon. There is a touristy café with a lookoff looking up at the bridge. I painted there and made a painting which needs just a bit more done to it before I frame it (or post it, you will be able to see it another day).

Then I met up with some of the other painters of the group and we set up at and around the Saint John Power Boat Club, where there was lots of stuff to paint. The interaction of the different shapes of the boats and the relatively calm water made for too wide a variety of subjects. I focused on one boat and painted it in 3 different compositions.

Fractured Reflections, 7 x 10", watercolour, today Portrait of a White Boat, 10 x 7", watercolour, today

The One that Got Away, 14 x 10", watercolour, today

The title for this one might sound a bit obscure, but you will understand as I explain. I was just starting to paint in the reflections (my drawing was finished, thank goodness) when I heard the motor start up. A man and a woman had been working on this boat all afternoon at the shore and now it was time to return it to it's mooring. So I finished the painting from memory. I had a few minutes to concentrate really hard before the boat moved away so I think that I did ok with it.

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As I am working on a different computer than usual, I have not been able to process my photos as I usually would, so you can see the edges that I usually crop out. In fact, the first painting in this post shows you how I secure my paintings while painting. I use binder clips and a varnished plywood board. The paper usually dries fairly flat and I find this very portable and simple. When the paper dries with a ripple, it is easy enough to flatten it out, as long as I am careful.