Throwback Thursday

Joy

7 x 7"

acrylic on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2010

sold

This is a commission I received six years ago from my neighbor. Her husband spends many hours carefully planning and tending a beautiful pond in their backyard; it has been his "pride and joy" (although now that he is a grandpa I am sure his grandchildren have taken over that title). She wanted to surprise him for his birthday and asked me to create a painting for him. It was a bit tricky because every view of the pond had either the garage or fence in it, so visually I was having trouble getting inspired to paint it even though the elements of the pond itself were lovely. I decided to suggest to her that I do three small paintings rather than one large one. This way I could focus on what her husband truly loved. And so that is how we proceeded.

Hugh's Pond

7 x7"

acrylic on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2010

sold

Pride

7 x 7"

acrylic on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2010

sold

Two Down

Pride
acrylic on canvas

7x7"

(update: for a better quality image see this post)
sold

I made it to the studio a few days this week and was able to get the second painting done for the commission I am working on. Well, it's basically done... now that I see it on the screen I think I may have to glaze over the stems again to make them appear more submerged.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I finally put to use a tube of paint I bought ages ago, but never quite knew what to do with. It is called Iridescent Pearl and it's really quite beautiful. I ended up using a small amount on each fish- to give the scales an iridescent shimmer. On this painting I ended up putting the slightest touch on the tips of some of the petals, just to tie the two paintings together. I think generally it is a colour that should be used in moderation, but especially in this circumstance when it is a gift for a man. I'm not too sure how much razzmatazz he would appreciate on his paintings!

Which got me thinking: I wonder when the shift happens for boys? When do they stop enjoying sparkly things? I know my kids love anything shiny when they are doing crafts and my sister, who teaches Grade One, says year after year the boys in her classes can't get enough of anything glittery. It's really quite cute. Just this week Sammy brought home a workbook on the Wright Brothers and their inventions which he completed in his Grade Two class. On one page he was supposed to list what he felt were "Other Useful Inventions" and his short list made me smile:

- tradeing cards

- toylets

- glitter glue