Adding to My Collection

I am so excited! Yesterday I received the beautiful and funky floral still life abstract painting that I bought from Lisa Daria Kennedy. She is one of the daily painters I have been watching and swooning over for the past five or so years. This is painting #2303 for her. Can you imagine that dedication? It is impressive to say the least. One of my other favourites, Abbey Ryan, just celebrated her eighth year of daily painting and today my painting hero, Edward B. Gordon is on painting #3168. The king of them all is Duane Keiser who pioneered the daily painting movement in 2004. His work is breathtaking. Please click on the links to learn more about each artist and to see the work they create.

So yes, with the purchase of "#2303 Beak" I have added to my sub-collection of Lisa Daria Kennedy paintings (I have five now) as well as my over-all collection of work by artists I admire. The shear joy and excitement I felt when I found the package in the mail is what I can only hope my clients feel when they receive my boxes. This summer I have shipped paintings to Edmonton, Calgary, Kelowna and I have paintings waiting to go to Mexico! It is a wild ride and I love it!

I have said it before and I will say it again... there is something, a certain je ne sais quoi, about owning and living with original art. I don't say that because I am trying to convince people to buy my work, I say that because I have experienced it first hand. To sit and look at a piece that belongs to you, an original piece of art nowhere else to be found, to imagine the mood of the artist, the thought process, the skill and vision they have. And the passion! It moves me to another place. And to know I am supporting an artist in their journey is huge to me. Huge. I will support original art when I can... like the simple and stunning faux vase I bought from Paula Cooley at Art @ Solar Gardens this past weekend. I have always wanted a piece of her work and even though buying it put me in the red for the weekend, I knew it was the piece I had to have. It was the one.

 

Can you blame me? It is a delight. And trust me, I am delighted. 

Thank you Lisa, thank you Paula!

Bargue Drawing - Stage Four

Bargue drawing, stage four

I cannot say enough about the drawing class I am taking. I have learned so much in such a short period of time. I think we have finished four classes and I was worried I would get a bit impatient with the process, but I haven't been at all. I feel so excited about learning these old master techniques and I really believe I will be so much more skilled when I complete this module and the ones to come.

We are working on Bargue drawings (based on Charles Bargue's lessons of old masters' skills and techniques); I just completed stage four which involved rendering the darkest shadow areas more fully. I learned the importance of edges, the airplane stroke and how to get a nice crisp, clean contour. At this point I have also worked in some of the reflected light into the shadow. The photo isn't the greatest because the shadow area in the actual drawing is darker in reality... though I may still have to darken it up a bit more. So far all the work has been done using a 2B pencil, but this week for stage five when we start working on the mid-value areas it will be time to bring out the HB pencil.  

Bargue drawing, stage three:
image transferred to Stonehenge paper 
and mid-dark values rendered

Bargue drawing, stage two
(totally didn't think to take a photo of stage one)

Tonight I ordered the book recommended by my instructor, Craig Berry, and which I recall one of my favorite painters, Edward B. Gordon, recommending at one time. The plates used for our exercises are from this book. The Canadian Amazon site has a really good price on this book right now:

Charles Bargue Drawing Course

I think I will do more Bargue drawings on my own time, so as to really make sure I have a grasp on things.

Under The Canopy - Forestry Farm

#28 - Under The Canopy - Forestry Farm

(30 paintings in 30 days project)

 6 x 6"

oil on board
© Nicki Ault, 2011  

(revised)

Today was the first day in this project that I really hit a wall. I did not know what to paint even though I had plenty of options. Sammy spurred me on to use a photo I took from the Forestry Farm, so with that boost I got to work. To capture the light from under the canopy of the trees I decided to channel my inner Edward B. Gordon. Turns out I don't have one. Nuts! I love how he catches that bright, intense light. I think he often starts with a board that is gessoed black as opposed to white. As I worked I thought that would have been a good idea. Today was his daily painting #1634. Unbe-freakin'-lievable!!!! 

As I stare at this on the screen I see some areas that could use a good tweakin', but first I have a seven year old to read with!

*note- I did make some changes and I am happier with it now.

Prairie Pool

# 1 - Prairie Pool
(30 paintings in 30 days project)

6 x 6"

oil on board
© Nicki Ault, 2011 
sold

A babysitter came this afternoon so I could get to the studio to paint. It felt good. I've been missing it. I am using "Field of Blues" as a study for a 30 x 30" canvas. I worked on it for quite a while then sat down and did this small painting with the same palette. I am stepping into the deep end and starting a small project... 30 paintings in 30 days! Okay, maybe it's not so much the deep end as the deepest part of the shallow end!!! I already have no idea how I will find time to paint tomorrow! I have always been intrigued by the "Daily Painting Movement" (started by Duane Keiser in 2004) and although I have no plan to continue beyond the next thirty days, I want to see what happens. This is going to be a real test and challenge. I'm definitely going to be scaring myself a bit each day! This project will wrap up at the end of May at which point I have committed to be one of ten artists in the first annual Friends of the Forestry Farm House Art Show and Sale. I will take my "daily paintings" to this venue along with some larger pieces and hopefully sell a few.

As an aside, one of my all time favorite Daily Painters, Edward B. Gordon (who started his project in 2006), just completed painting #1607! Doesn't make 30 look very ambitious does it?

This Day

This Day
(revised)

7x7

oil on canvas

This was how I felt today. I felt like these colours. I felt like these marks. I felt light and I felt dark, but mostly I felt blue. This was my mood. 

So much was right today. I went for a wonderful brunch with two of my best friends at Calories which is one of my favorite restaurants. When I got home, all my boys were out. My husband left a message saying I should do my own thing; maybe paint or read my book (yes, I am now on the third book of the Twilight series- I could only stay away for a pathetic 24 hours). To top off all of this wonderfulness, I picked up my Edward B. Gordon painting, Savignyplatz 15:30, from the post office! (More on that in a bit). It all sounds idyllic, right? And yet I have been near tears for most of the day.

I ended up painting two 7x7 pieces in the quiet and solitude of my backyard on what was a beautiful summer's afternoon. I needed the "exercise", so first I did a painting for the Twenty Minute Challenge which I will post next time. Then I just played with oils. I tried to paint from an emotional place, but to give myself a bit of direction I envisioned the swirling reflections that I love to paint. This painting is what I ended up with. I have no idea if it is any good. But it is what I felt, so at least it is that. For me, it is this day, in oil paint.

 

Savignyplatz 15:30 is beyond my wildest dreams. It sounds impossible, but it is a thousand times better in person! I think I gasped when I took the lid off the perfect little box and saw it there in full living colour. It was packaged so beautifully in a box especially designed for it's size. Tied around the crisp white box was a citrus orange ribbon printed with Edward's name. Alongside this, I unexpectedly received an assortment of postcards which I will pin up in the studio for inspiration. The painting is a jewel. I have already stared at it several times exploring the brushstrokes that you just can't see clearly enough on a computer monitor. It is amazing and I can't believe it is mine!

Blossoms By The River

Blossoms By The River

10x10"

acrylic on canvas
private collection

The forecast predicted a beautiful day for today, so last night when I went to bed I decided I would head out and paint as soon as I woke up. I felt the need to work on something smaller that I could complete and post. This piece still may be tweaked at the studio, but at least it is something to show. I have been trying to get work done on my large canvas, but it has been slow going. I am hoping to get to the studio a few afternoons this week and push the progress along, but today was definitely a plein air day. We have finally had a bit of heat after quite a number of rainy days and as a result the trees are blooming in full force and the grass is becoming more and more green. It was a glorious morning- birds chirping, people jogging and cycling and me out there pushing paint around. It was so relaxing and, as always, the time went by too quickly. As I worked on this piece it dawned on me that I have rarely used the colour pink. Humph... could be because there is not that much pink in the boreal forest which has been the subject of a lot of my work. And I do find it to be a bit of an intimidating colour. Odd, right? Anyhoo, I had my eye on the clock because I needed to get home before noon. Why, you ask? Well, for very good reason....

detail

I had to check the status of my bid on an Edward B. Gordon original!!! Yup- you heard me! For those few of you that have been reading my blog since (almost) the beginning you will recall this post where I described the event of my first attempt at a bid on one of Edward's paintings. I was rather tentative to get in on the bidding process again, but just recently I decided to take a deep breath and test the waters. Sadly I lost several auctions due to swoopers (people who bid at the last possible second and steal the "highest bid" spot from you). And there were a couple of auctions where I was flat out of the running straight away. But I was determined to continue to try- otherwise I would never end up with one of Mr.Gordon's daily paintings and the thought struck me...  what if he stopped producing them before I had a chance to obtain one? There are no indications that he is getting tired of the exercise, and it has become very successful for him, but still, the "what if" was in the back of my mind. So I have been bidding here and there, desperately hoping that no high rollers show up. Much to my complete shock it turns out today was the day! I won the auction! I actually won!!! So I am now the proud owner of "Savignyplatz 15:30". I love all of Edward's work, but I seem to be drawn to his rendering of the female figure and now I will have one to admire and learn from in person. Yay!

It was a good good day.

New Year... New Goals

Happy New Year!!!

May 2010 be a peaceful and enlightening year for all who inhabit this glorious earth of ours. May we find a way to share it and save it so that our children can enjoy it's wonders.

Today's post is one of my two ever attempts to use chalk pastels to convey the figure. This is a slightly cropped image of a piece I did many years ago in a night class I took. It was quite intimidating to create a flesh tone with no actual flesh toned chalk! At least with paint you can mix to get the colour you need. With chalk pastels it is all about the layering. It was fun, however, and after about two hours or so I guess I ended up with this.

I'm not huge on resolutions... they never seem to stick. Unfortunately the pounds I've always resolved to lose sure do! As a result, this year I will not make any resolutions, but I am okay with making goals for myself. I think that in this coming year I would like to experiment with new subject matter. I've made mention of this in the past and I would like to explore the beautiful river and river bank that runs through Saskatoon. I also found a beautiful area of town while accompanying Sammy's class on a field trip this past fall. Right in our city is a protected area of grasslands and while there with his class I took many lovely photos which have the potential to make exciting paintings. Those landscapes are on my to-do list. As well, I have long admired artists that paint the figure and portraits. I always enjoy seeing what Rahina is up to in Glasgow... I have really been inspired by her and over the last year that I have been visiting her blog, I have seen her skills and talent grow. As well, I am a huge fan of Berlin artist, Edward B.Gordon, and have found that my favorite paintings of his always seem to involve a figure. And then there is Barbara Muir in Toronto who paints her figures with such joy and vibrancy you can't help but want to try it yourself. She has just had the most incredible life experience in Florence, Italy and she has even sketched Oprah via Skype! So in effort to learn something new and expand my horizons, I would like to delve into the figure as a subject this year and I will look to these bloggers for inspiration. Aside from all of that I have wanted to experiment with collage and more abstract ideas that are stuck in my head. Ah, so many ideas and so little time.

As for any other art related goals I might have, well, I am excited to see what paintings I might find for my fledgling art collection. I definitely hope to add to it over the next twelve months. I have purchased four amazing pieces from other bloggers over the last year and a half. Two paintings you know about from previous posts (Orange Flower by Duane Keiser and Tattooed Bridge by Pierre Raby), but the other two I have not talked about. One I bought way before I began my blog and it was through discovering this artist on Etsy that I, in fact, found out about art blogs. Like Edward B. Gordon, she was also inspired to paint daily by Mr. Keiser. Who is it, you ask??? And which painting did I buy??? Well, my first ever online purchase was the spectacular little painting called "Stand Oil And Brushes on a Sill" by Philadelphia artist, Abbey Ryan. This painting actually ended up being chosen as a finalist for a competition she entered! She is extremely gifted and if you have never seen her work please make sure you check out the highlighted link. The second ever painting I bought online was soon after I began my blog and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. It is quirky and different and simple and complex all at the same time. I'm talking about Aaron Lifferth's "Tomato Distortion". It's so good. There you have it... four fantastic paintings by four fantastic artists. Maybe by the end of 2010 I will actually own a prized Edward B. Gordon.... or one of yours....!

I'm actually excited to be starting a new year. Hopefully a new year and a new slate. I'm fine with closing the door on 2009... it was a rough year... and I want to get off the roller coaster for awhile! There were some rocky times in a couple of very important relationships to me, the economy, so much illness this past fall and then our traumatic car accident. All of those things really let the wind out of my sails so-to-speak. But at the same time there were some true highs... like our first big family trip (Disney World), a visit to see my sister in Guelph and my first gallery show. Yup, 2009 was about peaks and valleys... I hope 2010 is about those flat grasslands I was talking about!