11 October, 2019 0 comments Leave a comment

After a glorious summer spent touring the island of Newfoundland, it feels great to be back in my beautiful studio making lots of art. I really needed the break from all the hats I wear at home, in my volunteer work, and in my art business. Now I feel rejuvenated and excited to paint again.

This week I varnished and framed the three paintings shown above. I did a bit of work on them in our trailer, on the few rainy days we had during our East coast adventure, and completed the finishing touches at home in September.

Misty Mystery, watercolour on board (no glass), 8 x 8" is shown above. I added lots of intricate lines and details to the trees and rocks with my black pigment pen. This is the same pen I used to write my signature on the paintings. While the misty scene is largely from my imagination, the shapes of the trees are borrowed from this photo I took on Lake Muskoka last fall (below).

Click here for more information on Misty Mystery.

I so enjoyed making this little painting that I decided to reverse the drawing, shorten the main tree, and create a second piece with a rectangular format. 'Mysteries in the Mist', watercolour on board (no glass) 6 x 12" was the result (shown below).

Click here for more information about Mysteries in the Mist.

The third painting I completed last month was the view of Pebble Beach at the town of Marathon, on Lake Superior's beautiful north shore. This 20 x 16" watercolour on board (no glass) is titled 'Superior Jewels' (shown below).

I visited Pebble Beach shortly after a rain shower - what I call a 'soft' day. I loved the combination of vividly coloured stones and misty background. I chose a low point of view for the composition to give the stones more prominence, and I selected the title because these stones are as breathtaking as jewels to me.

I started working on this complex piece in April, and had it on display as a work in progress during my Spring Open Studio event (shown below on my drafting table).

I painted more beach stones in June while in Newfoundland, but by the time I was back working in my studio this fall, almost three months had gone by since my previous work on this painting.

During this elapsed time, I had lost interest in finishing this scene, and wanted to work on some new ideas for paintings. However, because I had put so many hours into this piece already, and because smooth stones are my favourite subject to paint, I made myself press on to the finish.

As I added the final patterns and shadings to the foreground stones, I soon revived my excitement for this dramatic beach scene. I am glad and relieved that this major work is done and am captivated by the result. It is everything I hoped it would be, and more.

For more information on Superior Jewels, click here.

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