Charlotte's Sky

 
Charlotte's Sky

36 x 48"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2018

available at Assiniboia Gallery

So my first crack at a big painting for the Assiniboia Gallery to debut at Art Now was dismal and abysmal to say the least. I had no choice but to abandon ship and start fresh. 

New canvas, new image, new palette, new approach. Thank goodness because "Charlotte's Sky" is the result and I LOVE IT! 

When I delivered it to Jeremy yesterday he was thrilled, which of course made me glow. We had a good laugh about my first effort because he knows I thought it was a piece of sh!t. He actually wants to see it if he has time for a studio visit today and I will be happy to indulge him. Studio life ain't always pretty!

When I was in London with my sister and family in August, we had a "free day" the day after my birthday. My husband booked himself on two tours he was interested in, my sister took the kids out on the town and I went to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery! I enjoyed myself immensely. I will be posting work soon about the paintings I saw, some extremely famous and others were obscure, but absolute gems. One of my favourite pieces was a tiny (8x10? 11x14?) study from the 1700's. It blew my mind.

 
Daniel Swan

Trafalgar Square

  find him on Instagram
@danielkswan
 

Anyway, as I walked through Trafalgar Square from the National Gallery to the National Portrait Gallery around the corner, I spent some time watching the street artists and listening to a band play. I always support artists on the street when I spend time being "entertained" by them and in this case I was actually quite taken with the music, so I bought the band's CD! Back at the studio I played it over and over again while I worked on this big sky. My favourite song on the CD is "Charlotte" which happens to be the song that's playing in the background of my video below.

 "Charlotte" by Leon Coeur

So, thank you to Leon Coeur for inadvertently inspiring my painting sessions and helping me title the resulting piece of art!

 Leon Coeur

Trafalgar Square

Please come to Art Now this weekend if you are in Saskatoon - and check out "Charlotte's Sky" at full scale. Reception tonight!