Summer Memories (watercolour 18 x 24", shown above) is part of a series of paintings focusing on reflections in calm northern lakes. I love the clarity of light in this scene, where a swimming raft floats in the perfect calm of a new day, lily pads rest serenely on the surface, and the clear water reveals ancient stones near the shore. Looking at this peaceful place, the viewer remembers lakeside memories just like this.

Step 1 (above)

This painting began with a graded wash of blue paint, darker at top and bottom, to represent the clear blue sky and its reflection in the foreground water. When that was dry I drew a pencil outline of all objects in the scene, using several photos as reference.

Step 2 (above)

I masked off the waterlily leaves and some thin lines on the water near the horizon with masking fluid. When dry, I added several more layers of blue to the top and bottom of the scene, making sure to keep the horizon area white. This gives the effect of glowing light.

Step 3 (above)

The next day, after the blue paint layers were fully dry, I added shadows around and within the underwater stones.

Step 4 (above)

Once the stones were fully dry, I removed the masking fluid from the waterlily leaves and painted them.

Step 5 (above)

I began to paint the grisaille layer on the far shore and reflections. This gray paint locks in the shadow details of the pencil drawing while I can still see it clearly. There will be more colour layers added later.

Step 6 (above)

Once the grisaille layer was fully dry, I started blocking in several different green sections on the far shore and reflections. This variety of colour will make the trees look more natural.

Step 7 (above)

After adding a third layer of colour to the far shore and reflections, I painted the raft and its reflection, which took several layers to achieve the depth of colour needed for the shadowed parts. Then I removed the thin horizonal lines of masking fluid near the far shore and painted them pale blue. This simulates the effect of a slight breeze in the distance.

Once the paint was fully dry, I mounted the watercolour paper to an archival wood panel, then varnished to provide protection from UV fading, then mounted the panel in a black wood floater frame to complete 'Summer Memories', watercolour 18 x 24".

For more details about this painting, click here.

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It is remarkable how many memories can be captured in a simple lake scene. I grew up in the Canadian Shield region of Ontario, just east of Algonquin Park, so landscapes filled with clear water, sturdy rocks and wind-sculpted pine trees are ingrained in my soul.

April was another productive month in my studio, as I continued to create exciting new work in my northern lakes series. I love painting the effect of calm water and the stillness it imparts to the viewer. Many people tell me these paintings remind them of their childhood too.

Shown above is 'Summer Retreat' watercolour on panel (no glass) 24 x 18". This was inspired by several earlier paintings I created of stormy skies over an island cabin. Here are those earlier paintings:

'Refuge' (16 x 12") and 'Island in the Storm' (11 x 14"), shown above, were created in 2016 as demonstration paintings at watercolour workshops, where I showed students how to invent an imaginary scene using two reference photos. Here are my reference photos below.

The image of a wee abode perched on a rocky isle continued to haunt my imagination, even after the 2016 paintings were completed and found their forever homes. I wondered what it would look like under clear blue skies and in a large format. 'Summer Retreat' was the result. For more information about this painting, click here.

'Summer Memories', watercolour on panel (no glass) 18 x 24" shown above, was inspired by a scene I painted in February, called 'Welcome to the Lake' (18 x 24", shown below with reference photo to the right).

I was enthralled with this earlier painting because it is the view from the cottage my husband's family used to own on Big Cedar Lake near Apsley. We have many wonderful memories of this lovely spot, and when 'Welcome to the Lake' sold in March (to a family who also had a raft like this one at their cottage), I felt compelled to create another version of the scene. I moved the raft and added some lily pads to make a new composition and I love the result.

For more details about Summer Memories, click here.

I have several other excellent reference photos from our times on Big Cedar Lake and plan to make more paintings of iconic summer memories.

Shown above is 'Come Fly With Me', watercolour on panel (no glass) 12 x 16", which was inspired by a weathered piece of driftwood on the beach at Neys Provincial Park near Marathon, Ontario on the north shore of Lake Superior. We camped there last summer and I took a bunch of awesome reference photos. Here is the one that inspired this painting, along with a gull photo by Iris Vallejo (used with permission).

For more information about Come Fly With Me, click here.

'Wild Blue Yonder' watercolour on panel (no glass) 12 x 6", shown above, was inspired by this photo below of a winter scene that I took back in the 1980's during a snowmobile trip.

This photo also inspired this winter watercolour scene below, 'Enchantment' 5 x 14" which I painted and sold in 2006.

I find this grouping of pine trees very appealing so I decided to make a vertical summer lake scene, place the trees on a rocky island, and invent their reflections. Here is the concept sketch I made of the imaginary island prior to starting the painting:

I added the underwater stones in the foreground of the painting to balance the composition and give an indication of a rock-based region like the Canadian Shield. 

The literal meaning of Wild Blue Yonder is 'a location far away that is appealingly unknown and mysterious'. What a perfect title for this imaginary scene.

To see more details about 'Wild Blue Yonder', click here.

The last painting I created in April is shown above. 'Dive Right In' watercolour on panel (no glass) 8 x 8" shows the view from my sister-in-law's dock on Lake of the Woods near Kenora, Ontario. It is perfect in its simplicity and will bring back wondrous memories for many people, of sweet summer days spent on peaceful northern lakes.

For more information about 'Dive Right In', click here.

Does any of these paintings bring to life a childhood memory for you? If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming painting classes and exhibitions.

March was another productive month in my studio, as I continued to create new work in my northern lakes series. I am preparing for my Spring Open Studio (which is on the last weekend in April every year) and I need to replenish my commercial galleries for the upcoming tourist season.

Shown above is Misty Memories, watercolour on panel (no glass) 12 x 16", a scene inspired by the raft at my husband's family's cottage in the Kawartha Lakes region. Over the years, I photographed this raft in many atmospheric conditions - calm, wind, sunshine, storm, sunrise, evening, fog, and so on. This scene evokes the memory of a tranquil morning moment, looking out at the quiet lake cloaked in mist, anticipating another special day at the cottage. A gentle breeze has started to ripple the water, beginning to reveal a glimpse of pine trees on the far side of the bay. Click here for more details about Misty Memories.

Pictured above is Mystical Morning, watercolour on panel (no glass) 12 x 16". This is the fourth and largest version I painted of this scene, which depicts a red canoe pulled up onto the rocky shore, nestled under two glorious white pines on the point. Wisps of mist rise from the lake to reveal the forest on the far shore. A new voyage of exploration is about to begin. Click here for more details about Mystical Morning.

The painting above is titled Drifter's Dream, watercolour (no glass) 12 x 12". I deliberately left the bottom half of this composition without wildlife, boats, canoes, rafts, or any other evidence of human presence. I want viewers to experience the restorative peace of this quiet lake and let their imaginations decide what is hidden beneath the enveloping fog. Click here for more details about Drifter's Dream.

Shown above is Last Cast, watercolour on panel (no glass) 8 x 8". I created this simple scene as I was experimenting with different colour combinations for lake mist. I thought this rose/violet/gray combination was lovely and the scene is very calming. Click here for more details about Last Cast.

Back in 2006 I painted Sun, Sand and Sea, watercolour 5 x 14" shown above, and it sold later that year. I always thought this charming scene would look great as a larger painting.

This winter, I finally made time to create the new version, titled You Can't Catch Me, watercolour on panel (no glass) 12 x 24", shown below. I used more dramatic colour contrasts in the new work. Click here for more details about this piece. 

You Can't Catch Me sold before I finished it. A collector of my work saw the painting in progress in my studio and loved the scene because it reminded her of a beach in England where she visited with friends regularly.

After she took the completed painting home, she emailed me to say “It’s hung! And am I ever pleased. It’s hung at such a height, I feel as though I could walk right into it. It will take me back to England every time I see it, which is all day, every day.”

And that is how I make the world a happier place... One painting at a time.

Which painting is your favourite? If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming painting classes and exhibitions.

Many of my paintings are inspired by my travels to wild regions of North America, but this one came about thanks to a shoe store, the Toronto Cottage Life Show and a collector of my work who loves Lake Superior.

The story began in 2010 at the Cottage Life show in Toronto, where I rented a booth to show my paintings. There, I met this fellow who had a family cottage (or 'camp' as they call recreational seasonal properties up north) on Lake Superior. He bought one of my Featherstone giclee prints because it reminded him of heron feathers on his camp's pebble shoreline on Batchawana Bay, north of Sault Ste. Marie.

Fast forward to 2017, when I mentioned in my monthly email update that I had started a new series of paintings based on my Lake Superior trips. After seeing that, the collector from the Cottage Life Show emailed me these two photos he took during a Zodiac trip from his camp to North Sandy Island, in case I could use them for inspiration.

I thought both were excellent shots but the one with the shoe and underwater stones really ignited my imagination, and I already had my own reference photos of pebbles under clear water. I noted the idea in my 'to paint' file.

About 9 months later while holidaying with friends in Kingston, I chanced upon a sidewalk sale table of colourful running shoes. They immediately reminded me of the underwater shoe painting I wanted to make. I took a photo of the display table of shoes and now had all the references I needed to design a painting.

I started working on the 18 x 24" painting shortly after that, beginning with a very complex line drawing, and then completely finishing the painting, section by section.

For a large, intricate painting, this sequencing strategy avoids what can feel like weeks of drudgery when the whole painting is going through its unattractive, formative stage (I call this the 'teenage phase'). Finishing small sections creates excitement for me because I can glimpse the finished effect sooner and feel like I am making progress toward a positive outcome. The excitement is what motivates me to put in the hours necessary to finish the painting.

I interrupted the painting process many times to take photos of each stage, so I could make a time lapse video story of the painting's creation and title. I hope you enjoy this 2-minute video and that it helps you appreciate the thought and work involved in creating this intricate painting in watercolour. Click on the image below to view the video.

A Foot in Cold Water is one of my master works and every time I look at it I am taken to a happy place in my memories, filled with the excitement of discovery, exploring the stone-filled shallows of the North Shore. Sheer Paradise.

For more information about this painting, click here.

Have you taken an amazing photo of Lake Superior that you would like to show Karen, perhaps to inspire a painting? (She loves rocks, water, waves, trees, skies, sunsets, islands, reflections...) If so, please email your photo to karen[at]karenrichardson.ca and include the location, and the story of what makes the photo special to you.

If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming painting classes and exhibitions.

February was another good month for painting summer lakes scenes in my studio - the perfect antidote for winter winds and snow blowing outside my windows.

The first two paintings shown here are 18 x 24", which is the largest size I can make due to size limitations of the standard wooden art panels and 300 lb watercolour paper I prefer.

Above is pictured 'Welcome to the Lake', which is inspired by the view from my husband's family's cottage in the Kawarthas. I love the clarity of light in this scene and the flawless reflections. I remember that wonderful feeling of anticipation when arising in the morning, looking out at this peaceful lake and getting ready to enjoy another fun day at the cottage. I have wonderful memories of this place.

The diving raft, kept afloat by four empty 45-gallon drums, was one of several rafts built over the years by my husband-to-be, his brother, or his dad. The shoreline of the Richardson cottage property was sand with a few weeds, but I took the liberty of changing it to smooth stones in the painting, to make what I think is a more interesting composition.

For more details about 'Welcome to the Lake', click here.

Shown above is the second 24 x 18" painting, 'Whispering Waters', which is part of a new series depicting islands in northern lakes. I am thrilled with the mist in the background, which nicely contrasts with the dark hues of the island and adds a sense of mystery to the scene. The complex reflections were very challenging but turned out even better than I had hoped.

Everything in this piece is taken from my imagination and general reference photos from my trips throughout northern Ontario, except for the green cedar-strip canoe. It was made by First Nations (Huron) in Wendake, Quebec for Simpsons-Sears. My husband bought it in their store in 1963 and we still own this fine craft.

For more details about 'Whispering Waters', click here.

Shown  above is 'Mystified', a larger (9 x 12") version of the two little square canoe-and-mist scenes that I painted and sold in January. I love the sense of mystery in this piece, and the little pop of red from the canoe is the perfect contrast to the green trees and gray background.

Three of the galleries representing my work, who saw this image when I posted it on Facebook, asked if they could have one for display. A popular scene! I plan to paint a fourth version in a 12 x 16" format. It is impossible to make the paintings identical to each other, due to the serendipitous nature of watercolour, so each painting will be unique.

For more details about 'Mystified', click here.

Continuing with the concept of misty canoe scenes, shown above is a new 12 x 12" work titled 'Island Spirits'. The scene is from my imagination, but based on many northern lakes I have visited and explored by kayak. Places like this revitalize me and renew my creative energy.

Watercolour is a natural when it comes to portraying fog or mist, but it takes precise timing, moisture control, and lots of practice to get it right. I think I have the hang of it now and am keen to do several more misty lake scenes. They are satisfying to do and it just feels so good to immerse myself in these calm and quiet locales.

For more details about 'Island Spirits', click here.

Now comes something completely different. I finally finished this lively tulip piece, 'Spring Splendour', 12 x 9" shown above. This was a demonstration painting I did for a workshop several years ago. The original blue-green background had granulated and looked odd, but I loved the composition and colours of the flowers. Not sure how to proceed but unwilling to discard the painting, it languished in my unfinished works drawer for years. I recently decided I had nothing to lose and painted 4 coats of a very dark watercolour mixture I call 'Black Magic' over the background. I love the drama this creates.

For more details about 'Spring Splendour', click here.

And as our winter turns to spring, I look forward to creating more new paintings and sharing with you the stories behind them. Shown above are the tools of my trade, all ready to go.

Which painting is your favourite? If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming painting classes and exhibitions.

This year for our Valentine's anniversary, my husband and I and two other couples enjoyed a 4-day 800-km snowmobile tour through the Algoma region. This part of northern Ontario lies north of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. In the photo above, he and I are standing closest to the trail sign.

The 3 couples all towed snow machines from home and gathered in Espanola where we stayed overnight and parked our trucks and trailers for the duration of our snow adventure.

Below is a photo of our machine, which has a GPS navigation system, two gas tanks, and room for both of us plus 3 pieces of waterproof luggage. I ride on the very comfortable back seat which, along with my hand grips, helmet visor and vest, is heated electrically. Yes I'm spoiled.

Our first day on the trails we rode from Espanola to Blind River. The morning trails were icy but the afternoon brought a welcome snowfall. However, with a foot of fresh powder and reduced visibility due to strong winds, we occasionally lost sight of the groomed trail and bogged down in 3 or 4 feet of soft snow (shown below). You can see our friend is up to her thighs in snow and the back end of her machine is buried deeply.

We got to practice digging out our machines several times that week, whenever we mistakenly got off of the groomed trail. We developed a routine - clear snow away from underneath the front of the buried machine, then pull hard on the skis while another person presses the throttle. It takes at least 3 people about 10 to 20 minutes of hard work to retrieve a buried machine and get it back on the trail. You can see the process underway in the photo below. Many hands make light work...

The second day we snowmobiled from Blind River to Bruce Mines. The fresh snow made for excellent riding conditions. One of the local old-timers we met at a restaurant mentioned that he had not seen this much snow in decades and that the previous winter there was not enough snow for snowmobiling. We were glad to hear we picked a good year to visit Algoma for some winter fun. Below is a photo of my husband and me on our snowmobile.

Occasionally our group stopped on the trail to stretch our legs, bask in the winter wonderland scenery, and enjoy cups of hot chocolate from our thermoses. We  carried trail food for snacks (such as trail mix, chocolate bars, cheese, water) and equipment for emergencies (saws, tow ropes, first aid kit, space blankets, cell phones, tools, etc). Snowmobile trips are more like safaris than road trips. My husband and I are on the left in the photo below.

On the third day we rode from Bruce Mines to Elliott Lake. I took the photo below from our machine, which was at the back of our group of 5 snowmobiles.

We were stopped on the trail because we came upon a herd of deer (shown in a close up below). Fortunately they were curious about us and stayed still long enough for us to take several photos.

Groomed snowmobile trails provide easy travel routes for lots of wildlife. We saw tracks of deer, moose, rabbit, fox, and wolf during our adventure.

The Algoma snowmobile trail system was mostly well-mapped and marked with trail directional signs and periodic billboard maps, as shown below. We also had printed trail maps and digital maps on our GPS. Sometimes we had to call on all our resources to determine our way when the route was unclear. That is just part of the adventure of multi-day snowmobile trips in unfamiliar territory. We got to exercise our problem-solving skills as well as our muscles.

The trail system had a series of tiny warm-up huts with outhouses like those shown below, which we found useful from time to time. Note the snow load on the roof.

On the fourth day we journeyed from Elliott Lake back to Espanola, again with excellent snow conditions.

It took a while to clear the snow off of our trucks and trailers (shown below) before we could load our machines back into their trailers.

We spent the night in Espanola and drove home the next day. Our snowmobile adventure was challenging and fun, and we very much enjoyed the camaraderie of our longtime friends. We feel lucky to live where we easily can access world-class snowmobile trails for winter getaways.

One of the excellent side benefits of these extended trips is that I have access to gorgeous wilderness scenery, to take photos I can use for painting ideas. Shown below are a few of the paintings that resulted from years of snowmobile adventures. Click on the photos for more details about theses pieces.

Snow and Stone, watercolour 16 x 12"

Winter on Lake Kashwakamak, watercolour 11 x 14"

February Flow, watercolour 18 x 24"

Cabin in the Snow, watercolour 9 x 12"

Wild Wonders - Lynx, watercolour 22 x 15"

February Farm, watercolour 5 x 15"

What do you do to enjoy the outdoors in winter? If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming painting classes and exhibitions.

Pictured above are the five new paintings I made last month. To my great delight, the three canoe scenes have found new homes already, thanks to my daily posts on Facebook and my 2000 wonderful friends and followers there.

Shown above is the first canoe scene, Secrets of the Mist (8 x 8"). This little painting was inspired by a photo I took last fall on a lunch cruise of Lake Muskoka, organized by the Women's Probus Club of Lindsay, of which I am a member.

I had been hoping for fine weather for our cruise and when I heard the wet forecast I figured I wouldn't get any good scenery photos. How wrong I was. The rain provided a misty atmosphere and I ended up with dozens of paint-worthy reference photos. I added the red canoe to the painting to introduce a human presence and a pop of colour to the scene.

I posted an in-progress photo of this painting on Facebook on Jan. 23, and the finished version the next day. By Jan. 25 I had four offers to purchase - from collectors in Muskoka, Whitby, Brighton, and Oshawa. The Facebook post of the finished painting went on to garner almost 400 'likes' and 200 comments, which I think is the highest response to date for a single post of mine.

For more information about this painting click here. This artwork is going to a collector in Whitby.

Not wanting to disappoint the other three collectors, I painted a second 8 x 8" version of this scene, Secrets in the Mist, shown above. Click here for more details. This one went to its forever home in Bracebridge.

I plan to paint more versions of this scene in other sizes and will offer them to the remaining interested parties on a 'right of first refusal' basis before showing the artworks to the general public.

The third canoe scene, Bring a Paddle (12 x 12", shown above) was inspired by numerous reference photos of northern lakes, islands, and canoes. I was particularly pleased with the way the water ripples and reflections turned out.

Shown below are the reference photos for the lake reflections and autumn foliage, a concept sketch for the island, and the initial layout drawn in pencil on watercolour paper.

I posted in-progress photos of this painting on Facebook on Jan. 28 and 29, and had an offer to purchase before the painting was finished. The Montreal buyer said "I keep missing opportunities to get the ones I love. The last one left before I could... Bring a Paddle already has my heart even if not done yet... As soon as I saw it I knew I couldn't live without [it]... I see great things all the time but yours speak to me." Click here to see more details about this painting.

If you wish to see my paintings on Facebook as they are created, here is the link https://www.facebook.com/karen.richardson.studio.

Shown above is Morning Has Broken, watercolour 9 x 12". It was inspired by several of my photos which are shown below: two of an amazing morning sky I saw from my front porch, one of the sun reflected in a lake, and one of a white pine. The rocky ridge was inspired by many I have seen during my travels throughout northern Ontario. The photo below also shows the concept sketch for a tree on rocks, and the initial stage of the painting after the first layer of colour was applied to the background.

The sky was quite difficult and its depth of colour eventually was achieved with many layers painted over several days. I really enjoyed painting the tree with its branches reaching outward, as if Mother Nature is embracing the dawn. You can see further details about this piece here.

The fifth painting from last month is Lady in Red, watercolour 14 x 11", shown above. One of my Facebook acquaintances, Gerry Kaiser, is a professional photographer from Windsor, Ontario. Last October he posted a glorious photo of a red and gold sunset he took at Point Pelee National Park (Lake Erie). Gerry kindly gave me permission to use the photo as reference for my watercolour painting.

This was an extremely challenging subject. I masked out the sun and its reflection and then painted the sky wet-in-wet with several layers to achieve the depth of colour. I painted the lake reflections on dry paper using hundreds of horizontal strokes of colour. There was a lot of experimentation involved in this piece but I was very happy with the result.

When I posted an in-progress photo on Facebook and asked for suggestions for a title, I received 80 responses. I chose Lady in Red and recorded the rest to use for future sunset paintings. (Lady in Red was the name I gave to my third motorcycle, a red Honda Pacific Coast.)

I wrote a description for the painting using some of the beautiful words suggested by my Facebook friends: "This painting presents the fiery crimson blaze of the setting sun making her final bow before the heavens fade to black. Her radiance is reflected on peaceful waters as shimmering ribbons of scarlet and gold. We all have fond memories of splendid days that ended with breathtaking displays like this one."

You can see more details about this painting here.

As our winter continues, I look forward to creating more new paintings and sharing with you the stories behind them.

Which painting is your favourite? If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming painting classes and exhibitions.

A few weeks ago some of us got to see the Wolf Moon - Super Moon - Blood Moon in the heavens. This cosmic event reminded me of my most recent moon painting, 'Hunter's Moon', shown above.

In the normal course of my artistic practice, once I paint a specific scene, my creative curiosity is satisfied and I happily carry on to a new inspiration for the next painting. Some people refer to this in terms of  "been there, done that" but I think more in terms of a 'bucket list' of painting ideas that I check off one by one.

But, every now and then, a certain painting I have completed continues to haunt my creative mind. It is as if the scene or subject isn't done with me yet, and I feel the need to recreate the scene, perhaps in a different size or format.

With watercolour, it is impossible to exactly duplicate a previous painting, because of the serendipitous nature of the medium. I think of painting with watercolour as a dance, with water as my dance partner, and I don't always get to lead. This means a second version of a scene will always turn out differently than the first version.

The painting shown above, 'Moonlight Sonata' was a little 8 x 5" watercolour I completed in 2005 and sold the following year. I always loved the stark simplicity and symbolism of the scene, which was one I invented using a daytime photograph as reference.

I decided to use the same concept and composition in a new, larger painting. I found a stunning pine tree reference in my photo archives and created the second version of this scene in a 24 x 18" format.

Because I worked from multiple references and in a large format, I really stretched my design, drawing, and painting skills for this project. I had to evaluate after each layer of paint and decide what needed to be done next to make the scene look more real and to get the rich colour effects I was after.

I called the new painting 'Hunter's Moon', which falls in October and is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. During these full moons, sunset and moon rise are close together, which creates a magical twilight effect.

Fortunately I had the foresight to take photos of each stage of this challenging painting as I worked on 'Hunter's Moon'. From these work-in-progress photos, I assembled a 90-second time lapse video, so you can see the flow of this piece to its completion. Click on the picture below to view the video.

When I viewed the completed painting, I had a compelling urge to visit this imaginary place, to sit under this tree, breathe in the crisp night air, and admire the beautiful moon. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure this scene is done with me yet. Maybe more moon paintings will cross my creative path...

For more information about this painting, click here.

Do moon paintings evoke memories for you? If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

By the time I finished teaching my fall watercolour workshops at the end of November, I had many partially-completed demonstration paintings. My studio was full of 'unfinished business', and I find this visual clutter makes it difficult for me to concentrate. So, in December I got cracking and completed the six paintings shown here. (Click on the pictures for more details about each painting.)

The first three artworks shown here were used to demonstrate painting smooth stones in my Pebbles 1-2-3 single-day workshops. The painting above, 'Canada Rocks #1' includes a collection of reddish pebbles with a red maple leaf resting on a weathered board and represents a rustic version of the Canadian flag. I had such fun painting this one that I came up with a few ideas for other versions of the flag. I'll be working on those this winter.

The second pebble painting, 'Superior Lady' (shown above), was inspired by the beautiful beach stones of Lake Superior.  Click here to read about my recent Lake Superior trips and the other paintings they have inspired.

In this painting, I included an American Painted Lady. This is a very common butterfly whose habitat ranges from the sub-arctic to Mexico, east of the Rockies. I deliberately kept the stone colours cool and muted, so the golden tones of this elegant butterfly would shine. 

The remaining pebble painting, 'Superior Monarch' (shown above), also uses Lake Superior beach stones for inspiration, and includes a Monarch butterfly. I had a buyer for this piece before it was even finished, a gentleman who gave it to his wife for Christmas because she was from Sault Ste. Marie (a city on Lake Superior) and was raising Monarchs last summer. I hear she really liked the painting and I am glad it found a home with such an appropriate collector.

'Arrived' (shown above), was the demonstration painting from a three-day advanced workshop. One of my long-time students donated her shell collection so we could use actual objects to paint from (rather than photos). The detail in this piece is incredible, with hundreds of grains of sand, beach glass, stones, and intricate shells. I definitely needed my reading glasses to finish this one!

I taught a two-day workshop with this pile of maple leaves on a forest floor as the subject. I called this painting 'By the Sugar Shack' and emphasized the colour contrasts between the newly-fallen red leaf and the older faded leaves. As in all of my paintings, I mixed every colour I needed by combining the three primary colours (red, blue, and yellow). Adding all the blemishes to make the leaves look real took a lot of time, but I liked the result when I was done.

Of these six recent works, the painting shown above, 'Superior Strength', is the one to which I feel the strongest connection. It began as my demonstration piece for an advanced watercolour class at Meta4 Gallery in Port Perry. The students and I worked on our paintings for six weeks at class, with homework in between, and still had several days of work at the end to complete the scene. There is an incredible amount of detail in the trees of the far shore, the cracked and lichen-spotted rocks of the foreground, and the reflective-yet-transparent water in the puddles on the rocks. It was very gratifying to see this master work purchased by one of my collectors, a long-time friend, as a Christmas gift for her parents.

This winter, I look forward to creating more new paintings and sharing with you the stories behind them.

Which painting is your favourite? If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming painting classes and exhibitions.