Into the Light.

So the last few weeks have been crazy around here. I was working towards a deadline for my publisher and needless to say there was chaos. I was working on paper so that meant not only was the worktable being used, I had to spread the papers out on the floor to dry. You know what that meant right? some of them were adorned with cute little cat paw prints. If you want, you can see my posters with Canadian Art Prints & Winn Devon here.

I did find time one morning to sort through my rock and mineral collection. While doing so it gave me some time to think about how my art has been changing over the years-especially the last four. Going through a personal crisis really affected the type of art I was putting out. I went through a period there where my work was very dark and moody. I used alot of black and dark neutrals.

My urban cityscapes were especially 'moody' Some even called them somber. To me they were a reflection of my mood at the time. Now that I`m out of that emotional funk, my paintings are definitely getting lighter in mood and color. I still like neutrals and find them very soothing, but I've been using lighter versions of neutrals lately. Pale blues and greens like the many shades of beach glass. Light grays in warm and cool versions.

Taking some time away now. I`ll be in Vegas with my sweetie who surprised me with a trip for my birthday.
If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter (or both) I'll be posting pics along the journey.

My Palette.

I'm back. Well, sort of. Although I've been away from my blog I have not been idle. I've been enjoying the last few weeks of summer painting away in my little corner studio, with a couple of beach days in the mix.

The cityscapes have been put on hold for a short while as I've been using a light and bright palette. Summer days are for light blues, yellows and greens.

There will be plenty of cooler, cloudy days in the fall when I'll get back to my moody cityscapes.

But for now as the last days of summer play out, I'm painting with a fresh palette. See you in September.

From Inspiration to Finished Painting.

Sharing a little bit of my thought process today, from the inspiration to a finished painting. As I wrote in this post, I've been craving color lately (thanks to dreary gray February) and I have stacks of paint brochures and chips in my studio. But it is this palette of eye shadow 'Life of the Party' by Rain Cosmetics that has me so excited and inspired a few paintings.

 Image from Rain Cosmetics

The colors are so vibrant and lovely. They remind me of our trips to Las Vegas, driving through the desert (in the Porsche of course with the roof down) at sunset. The sky, brilliant shades of pink and purple turning to dark blue, and the sage green of the desert brush. Beautiful.

I start by mixing different colors to match the ones on the palette. Keeping notes so I can mix them again in the future.

Life of the Party 1 and Life of the Party 2

acrylic on illustration board

8x20 each

                               

Starting off with smaller test pieces, painting on paper scraps and pages in my sketchbook. I did about 20 of them with different combinations of the colors and decided on 2 that I liked. I painted them onto illustration board that I added texture to with gesso. These 2 smaller paintings would look stunning framed separately, each with a large mat and a frame with a metallic finish.

'Desert Evening'

Acrylic on Canvas

30x40

And here is the large painting that I painted just for me. It hangs at the front entrance to our condo (cleverly hiding the electrical panel) Every time I see it, it reminds me of those beautiful nights in the desert.

Inspired by Red for Valentines Day.

Continuing with the inspiration post from the other day and inspired by red for Valentines day. Simple ingredients for dinner make a beautiful still life. Red is certainly the color of the day.

Paint Color Inspiration.

If you're familiar with my blog, you know that something I do often is go to paint stores and big box home stores to check out the paint chips. You'll remember from this post, that I get really excited about them. I'm like a kid in a candy store.

Not only do the colors inspire me, I really like the names given to them. C'mon, how can you resist Wasabi, Fresh Olive, Hot Chocolate, Tiramisu, Biscotti, and these are just the food names. 

Then there are the comfort names such as Cable Knit, Lambskin Duvet, Overcoat, and Hush. Nature themed names pull at me such as Sea Foam, Bed of Ferns,Yukon Sky and Night Train (so romantic!!) If I wasn't a full time artist I think I'd be applying to the paint companies as a 'paint title-er'. Now that would be a fun job.

Today I dropped in to my local paint store and picked up not only some color chips that I haven't seen before, but I also had them mix up four sample sized cans for some DIY projects. I also lucked out and got some small sample pots that were being cleared out. They were free! Luckily, I found some in my fave colors and ones that I use quite a bit. Cool blues, greens and browns. Such a soothing palette. 

Back to my paints. I promise to share the DIY projects as soon as they are completed.