Thursday, March 18, 2010

Ice, Water, Snow, Frost

Ice, Water, Snow, Frost 
7x7"
acrylic on canvas
© Nicki Ault, 2012
sold

This is Tuesday's plein air effort. I did a bit of tweaking on it this morning while my little partner tried his hand at a bit of acrylic painting... with the addition of stickers. I had taken a photo of this one, but upon seeing it on the computer screen I realized that the land, water and foreground ice were all equally a third of the painting. It just looked way too orderly and contrived, so I dropped the water down and made some adjustments to the land. I'm much happier with this, compositionally speaking anyway.

Even though it was unbelievably windy, I went down to the river to paint yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon when the boys were at school. In the next day or two I will hopefully be able to post the piece I worked on but in the meantime I will have to finish it in the studio... the temperature really dropped last night, so I won't be venturing outside to paint. This one features a rock covered far bank and I don't know if I can pull it off. At any rate it definitely needs more time spent on it.

Also, to the Irish out there, I wanted to say a belated Happy St. Patrick's Day! My grandmother came to Canada from Belfast, Ireland when she was 4 years old. She was always so proud of her heritage and would wear a "Kiss me I'm Irish" button on March 17 every year. In honour of the day I made green scrambled eggs for lunch and put green food colouring in the toilet water! The kids enjoyed the fun, but in the end I was the only one who ate the eggs. Can't imagine why.

7 comments:

-Don said...

You forgot the ham. It has to be Green Eggs & Ham! I wouldn't have eaten them either, without the ham...

I'm so glad to see new works coming from you every day. You're back! I agree with your composition decisions and really like the final result.

Stay warm,

-Don

Miltrum said...

I love this painting. I also enjoy your description of the river, it makes me miss S'toon. This message won't be scary to Karen. Your art has always impressed me and I wish I could comment more intellectually. But I really like this and many others, even the ones you don't like.
Dave
i am in Saskabush in late April.

Nicki said...

Hi Don,

That is where I went wrong... I forgot the ham! It had nothing to do with the fact that the eggs were incredibly unappetizing to look at. Next year I will remember the ham!

Thanks for your input- yes,the composition works much better now. We've had the brief dialogue before about how to step back to get a more objective view of your work. You had mentioned to look at the painting in a mirror and that does work. I have also found lately that by taking a picture and seeing it on the computer screen I can be removed enough to catch things that I might have not realized otherwise.

Take care,

Nicki


David!!!

So glad you returned! Sorry I deleted you before. :0) Won't happen again! No need to be concerned about intellectual comments here... did you see my post about the bang trim I gave myself? Things aren't too sophisticated around this joint! And as far as the art goes, I just like knowing if a painting somehow catches the eye or appeals to the person viewing it. It doesn't have to go any deeper than that. I'm glad you like what I have been doing. Truly- it makes me happy to know.

I would love to see you in April if we can work it out... and Sam, too, if she is coming.

XO Nicki

Anonymous said...

hey Nicki, you've done a great job with the composition and the result is excellent! i thought the photo of the green rubbery stuff was interesting and was wondering if it was something to do with painting... when i read the post, i felt so sorry for your boys:)))

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Nicki,

I love this painting and the St. Patrick's Day tricks you pull. Food colouring in the toilet bowl? Hmmm.
The painting is a stunner. Just amazing beyond compare.

I so love your work.

XOBarbara

JRonson said...

this one is a master piece, bravo !

Nicki said...

Hi J.

Wow, thanks! Glad it struck you.

Nicki