Finished

I think this one is finished. I am letting it "simmer" as is for a while anyway. I am extremely happy with the results,
I love the balance of warm and cool colours. I like the way the painting feels alive with movement and reflects the
energy and struggle that went into it's creation. I don't know what other people see when they look at this work but
it has become more and more important for me to feel a certain harmony and balance with the end result and not
worry about what the outside world is seeing. The only way I can truly paint these days is from the inside out, this means
allowing the brush to move intuitively and trusting all the years of work I have put into studying techinique and observation. Now all that input has settled inside my bones and can flow out of my brushes with joy and passion, unhindered by self-conscious restraints. Painting has become such a dance of joy for me and I love it and need it as much as the air that I breathe. Today I bought more canvas, I am overflowing with new ideas for paintings and can't wait to get started on the next piece!

Fire Mandalas

Here's a great shot of the fire mandalas that are on the barn wall outside.
There is something so complete and wholesome about working within a
circle. Today was the first day that it was too cold to work in the barn.
It was actually warmer outside, where Michel and I built a fire. I dragged
a smaller easel outside by the fire and started working on a smaller piece.
Also primed some boards with modeling paste to create texture for the
next paintings that are brewing inside.

Work in Progress

Here's today's work, I am having so much fun with this piece. The leaves are abstracting into little birds flying
right off the canvas. Starting to get colder in the barn but still working in the glorious sunshine.

The Barn as a Studio

Painting in the barn has been so healing for me this summer. The 150 year old building itself is a work of art, situated on a high profile road en route to Mont-Tremblant, yet
set back into the woods far enough that it is a quiet and pleasant work environment. People who come to visit are transformed the moment they enter the barn by the beauty that surrounds them. Nature, art and history embrace
them as they slow down from their busy lives and wander through the humble studio/gallery that makes no lofty claims
about what art is and allows the viewers to approach the work on their own terms. Eventually the barn will become too
cold to work in and I will have to move to warmer digs for the winter but for now I am relishing every moment in this magical
environment.

Progress of a Painting

Been fighting a migraine for the last few days again.
Always a drag when it interupts my flow of work. Here's the piece I have been working on for the last few weeks. First
an underpainting of transparent oxide red.


Next I started to add some colours and more cad red fire in the underpainting of the forest.


The canvas is large 72" x 60", I had to have help stretching it and it's still not as tight as I'd like it to be. I have to use
a step ladder to reach the upper section which makes the actual painting very physical. It feels a lot like dancing once
I am totally engaged in the play of colours, shapes and movement. Hopefully I will be able to work on it more tomorrow, as
usual there seems to be a struggle between light and dark going on within the work.

Water Receiving Sky

It's been a while since I've posted. Lots going on for me on many levels but it all feeds my art which is evolving
in leaps and bounds! Saw the Renoir Landscape show at the National Gallery in Ottawa and loved it, this is
the piece I did immediately after and during recovery from my partial masectomy. Painting heals me, the barn
as my studio for the summer has been heaven sent and I spend as many hours as I possibley can there.
Will try and post more of the work I have done over the summer when I get some time.