Throwback Thursday

Ripple Effect

24 x 18"

acrylic on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2011

sold

I just got this painting back from the Black Spruce Gallery by Christopher Lake. It has also been in a group show in Ayr, Ontario. It is a well traveled piece! I love doing these abstract reflections; they have all been inspired by Spruce River. It needs a new home, so if you are interested please contact me... let's make a deal!

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

Throwback Thursday

Good Morning Meewasin

18 x 24"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2012

sold

I painted "Good Morning Meewasin" almost exactly four years ago. It was a scene I had always wanted to try and now I have painted the subject several times over. Saskatoon has the most beautiful trails and parks along the riverbank, the Meewasin Valley, and in the fall the colours are spectacular.

This painting went into a show I did that spring with my Dad; my paintings were mostly tree related and my Dad, a wood worker, featured his beautiful wooden bowls and wooden accessories. We called the show "Family Tree". It was hands down the best art show experience I have had to date. The memories we made are precious and I am so happy to have helped my Dad cross something off his bucket list. Here are a few pictures from the event:

I am being flooded with memories as I write this post. Happy Throwback Thursday! 

"Good Morning Meewasin" resides in a beautiful home in Calgary...

Throwback Thursday

By The Lake

20 x 16"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2010

sold

I painted this near the beach at the Emma Lake Kenderdine Campus. There is a lot of brushwork and texture in this piece. Here is the original post from 2010, a post that includes the story of my adventure as I painted en plein air that particular day.

The fun news, and the reason I chose to post it on today's Throwback Thursday, is that it just sold! Even more fun than that is who it sold to... my Grade Five math teacher! We had a great visit at the studio last week and she took to it immediately. I saw it at her home on the weekend and it looks great over her fireplace.

I am so happy it will be enjoyed every day.

Throwback Thursday

#30 - Showtime

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2011

sold

Five years ago I did a little project where I painted thirty paintings in thirty days, then took them to an art show and sale. All of the paintings were 6x6 inches. This was painting number thirty in that series. I recall it was not always easy to find time to paint every single day, but I did it even if it meant starting at ten in the evening or getting up really early to make sure it got done. The following year I did the project again and below is the last painting in that series.

#30 - Northern Curtain Call

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2012

sold

It is very interesting for me to look back at the two projects. I can see a marked growth between the two years and the years since then. That is all I can hope for. Gotta keep moving forward.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know this is supposed to be a throwback post, but look what I got today! So cool. I'll proudly display it on this blog and when I do future shows.

Throwback Thursday

Bare In Front Of You

20 x 20

acrylic and oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2012

NFS

This is the last ever painting I painted at the Emma Lake Kenderdine Campus. It was the culmination of a week of abstract painting in a workshop led by Alicia Popoff. I think I was just beginning to hit my stride and feel safe enough to really get down to the business of experimenting when the week was over. It was a real luxury to be able to take that time and I miss it dearly. I took a week long class there every summer from 2007 until 2012 when it closed. Before that I had also attended in 2000 and 2001. There has been nothing I have found in Saskatchewan that offers what it was able to offer. The campus has been closed for three years and it looks like another summer will pass by without it welcoming students, scientists, artists, musicians, dancers and writers among others.

This painting hangs on the wall behind me as I type this. I had to keep it. It reminds me of a special time and it reminds me that I need to stretch beyond what I normally do.

Throwback Thursday

Sunset Outside The Grey Owl Howl

8 x 8"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2012

sold

This painting was among the first I ever delivered to Lifestyles By Darrell Bell Gallery. It has been a good run and I am forever grateful for the experience.

From this little painting I received a commission to do a much larger version for above the fireplace of a fellow Waskesiu Lake lover. She immediately took to the subject as she had taken her children to the family dance, The Grey Owl Howl, in summer's past. She knew this view and she had seen the sunset shine through the trees in this way before. We settled on a size and then I got down to the challenge of working on a big canvas. And a challenge it was! Happily, when I finally delivered the piece, she was thrilled and even shed a tear. Her painting is below...

Sunlight Through The Pines

36 x 40"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2013

sold

Throwback Thursday

Takeover

30 x 24"

acrylic on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2007

sold

Wow, this takes me back. At the time of this painting I was working with acrylics. It would still be a couple of years or so before I would try oils. This photo isn't the best; the moss is not as white as it seems here. 

Mmmmm. I remember working on this at the University of Saskatchewan Emma Lake Kenderdine Campus. I was a relatively new mom and I somehow gave myself permission to take a week off to indulge myself in something I loved and missed desperately: creating art. With a five and a three year old under my wing at home there was not much time to squeeze in a shower let alone time to paint, so having a week-long retreat to take a workshop at the campus in the northern forest was in many ways a life-saver. Certainly it was a sanity-saver. I was sleep deprived and worn to a frazzle. I was losing touch with myself as a unique and individual woman with dreams and aspirations of my own. Having that time restored my energy and tapped into my dormant passion.

photo © Nicki Ault, 2007

painting near the beach at the Kenderdine Campus

There is something to be said for concentrated, uninterrupted work in an inspirational setting when you are a creator. I would eat breakfast at 8:00 and then head to the studio to work all day and into the night, breaking only for meals and the odd coffee. The opportunity to do that for seven consecutive days was invaluable. And it has been lost to our arts community because the university closed the campus in November 2012 for three years to determine its future. The loss has been immeasurable. A rich history of seventy-six years of operation has been cast aside. Why? Because they say it didn't make money? It opened in 1936 for crying out loud- in the midst of the Great Depression. If it can work then, how is it possible that the current administration of the university can't make it work now?

The end date of the three year closure was up three months ago and I anxiously await news of the reinstatement of the Emma Lake Kenderdine Campus. Right now the silence coming from the University of Saskatchewan is deafening.

Throwback Thursday

All I Ever Want

40 x 30"

acrylic on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2011

sold

Because I am painting larger pieces for the show at the Faculty Club (May-August) I will not be able to complete them as easily as I can small work. This means that having new paintings to show you may happen less frequently, but never-the-less I want to stay in touch. The remedy just may be tapping into the throwback Thursday idea. Over the next couple of months I will look in my archives and find older work to show you on Thursdays- it will be fun for me to reminisce and hopefully you will enjoy the stroll down memory lane with me.

Like this painting for example. I painted this during a time when I was captivated by the water striders dancing and skittling across Spruce River causing mesmerizing swirls and ripples on surface of the water. I painted a series of, what I called, abstract reflections. This was one of the paintings that came about at the time. I am trying to remember the reason I called it "All I Ever Want" and I think it was because while I was painting I was listening to a CD by The Lightning Seeds and I kept replaying the song called "All I Want". (click the link - it is a good song). I vividly remember selling it at the open studio that year. The most unassuming, petite older lady waited patiently for me to finish another conversation and then walked up and said she would like to make a purchase. What a thrill that she chose this painting. To this day I wish I saw the room where it ended up.

Here is a link to my original post on this painting.