Gray

Gray

8x8

oil on cradled panel
sold

Switching gears a little, on the third day at the Emma Lake workshop I decided to go to the beach and give the greens a break! I wanted to play with mixing grays and painting in a faster, looser way. I didn't specifically limit my palette here, but in the end I didn't use a lot of colours anyway. I had ordered some cradled panels when they were on sale from Opus, so I used one to see how it compared to the MDF boards I had been enjoying the previous days. The cradled panel I used for this painting was sealed with my new, trusty GAC-100 (Golden), so the pale colour of the wood showed through. In fact, I discovered that the colour of the wood was almost an exact match to Naples Yellow! There was not a huge difference between the cradled panels and the MDF boards. They are both obviously hard surfaces compared to canvas, which is what I am used to. The biggest difference was that the MDF boards were perfectly smooth, slippery even. The cradled panels had a slightly rougher surface, so there was a bit more "grab" with them.

It was a peaceful morning; very quiet, calm water, no breeze. I parked myself at the end of the dock. I had never painted there before, but since I had seen others set up in that spot I figured it would be okay. I slipped into my meditative painting mode quite easily. There was a canoe nearby on the other side of some reeds. I think the people were fishing, so any conversation they had was very soft and didn't bother my concentration. I'm easily startled when I paint because I guess I get kind of absorbed in what I am doing. Well, it wasn't long before I was being startled left and right! Why??? Because there were fish jumping everywhere... on my side of the reeds!!! It was unbelievable! If the fishermen only knew!  

I am including a photo I took looking back toward the campus from the end of the dock where I was painting. The building you see on the left is the cafeteria building. The dining hall is a circular shape and has a wrap-around, screened-in porch facing the lake. It feels like you are eating outside, but there are no insects! Very clever, very enjoyable. In this picture you can also see Adirondack chairs surrounding a fire pit and a cabin tucked into the trees.

Sigh. It is a wonderful place. It has a rich history that most don't know about... someday I will try to give it to you in a nutshell. For now I am typed out!

Cloud Over Emma

 

Cloud Over Emma

7x7"

oil on canvas

sold

I have been saying for awhile now that I would like to try my hand at oil paints. I have been enjoying acrylics, but have felt that I am limited by them to an extent, especially if I want to go for a softer more blended look. Acrylics just dry so darn quickly that you either have to work fast or else use a gel medium (not a fan) to keep them wet longer. Well, last month I was extremely close to ordering the full gamete of oil paint and supplies through Opus online because they had a sale on their Gamblin brand (Karin Jurick uses many of their colours). Then the practical and frugal side of me kicked in, as it often does, and said, "Why don't you crack open the starter set you got for your birthday a couple of years ago before you shell out the big bucks?" So yesterday I went to the studio and that is exactly what I did! I pulled out that little set of 12 colours and had the time of my life! Seriously, it's a whole new world ... I swear could hear Alladin and Jasmine singing as I painted... or maybe it was this guy.... "a whole new world, a new fantastic point of view... a dazzling place I never knew... it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world..."

So the result of my studio playtime was this little sky, and another which I will show next time, on a canvas I had prepared ages ago with a cadmium orange (acrylic) ground. You can see the orange peaking through here and there and I like the undertone it gives the lighter part of the sky above the horizon. I was a pretty large mess when I finished for the day because I kept forgetting the paint was wet, so there will be a learning curve fo sho, but you know what? I think I'm up for it! And today when I went in I got some serious encouragement and positive feedback from two of the other artists that were there working. They both especially liked this one, so here it is for you to see... my first little oil painting since first year university (many moons ago)!