Canola at Neuanlage

Canola at Neuanlage

8" x 8"

oil on cradled panel

Nicki Ault, 2013

available exclusively at Lifestyles By Darrell Bell Gallery

When it comes to painting a canola field I find the colour so intense that simplicity seems key. If you have never seen canola in person it is perhaps difficult to imagine the intensity of the yellow. It is glorious! The magic really happens when it is next to a crisp blue sky or set against a brewing storm.

The other week when a friend invited me out to the country to teach me how to drive a quad she was also telling me a bit about canola, one of the crops they grow at their farm. When the yellow flowers fade away the crop looks a light green colour and these long, skinny pods are left on the plants (like a mini string bean). Inside the pods are the seeds that the oil comes from and they must be harvested when the seeds are black. Before then they aren't ready. The seeds are quite tiny and it made me wonder exactly how many it would take to extract enough oil to fill the bottle of canola oil I buy at the grocery store. It's a head scratcher!

Under A Turquoise Sky

Under A Turquoise Sky

8" x 8"
oil on cradled panel
Nicki Ault, 2013
available exclusively at Lifestyles By Darrell Bell Gallery
sold

 You can't get much more Saskatchewan than  glorious canola field!

Not Even A Whisper

Not Even A Whisper

8 x 8"

oil on cradled panel

Nicki Ault, 2013

available exclusively at Lifestyles By Darrell Bell Gallery

The evening the reference photo for this painting was taken, it was wonderfully calm and serene. A bike-ride with my kids led us to this pond at Waskesiu Lake where beavers had been busy at work. I soaked in the mood, enjoyed the still reflection and sounds of nature, then proceeded to make a painting based on it all... and by viewing a photo on my camera's little screen.

Right now I am running on very limited access to technology... my computer has ceased up on me- big time. I am ever-so-slightly panicked about ALL of my files including photos of my kids from baby-stage until now. It is stressful, but my go-to computer guy (my brother-in-law) assures me that the hard-drive is intact and we will get to those files somehow. The kicker is we thought it was all being backed up, but it was not. Luckily I had some drafts already created for this blog, so I will be able to make a handful of posts in the next few days whenever I can borrow a computer. It's been a long time coming but this situation has nudged me over the edge and I will be getting my own laptop for my business and no longer sharing a computer with the men in my life! It's time for us to part ways :)

Last Light

Last Light

8 x 8"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2013

available exclusively at Lifestyles By Darrell Bell Gallery
sold

I have been home for a week now and I am happy to say that I survived the canoeing and painting adventure to northern Saskatchewan. It was four days I will never forget and I will write about it soon, but I also just delivered six new paintings to Lifestyles By Darrell Bell Gallery and wanted to post one of them. 

This has been the summer of the sunsets... or maybe it just seems that way because this year I have spent most of my summer at the lake or in the north rather than the city, so the sunsets are easier to observe. I wonder how many sunsets people are missed because tall buildings or houses are in the way. This particular sunset was on July 31 and I posted another painting of a different point in the sunset here..."Clouds and the Setting Sun". 

It's hard to believe summer is winding down... I got school supplies for the kids yesterday and I think it's the first year I have not quite felt ready to get back into a routine. Time is going too fast and they are growing up too quickly.

Cloud at Sunset

Cloud at Sunset

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2013
sold

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/nicki-ault/cloud-at-sunset/160708

I am constantly enamored by the silhouette of trees in front of the setting sun. On this evening in Waskesiu the air was calm as could be and the still clouds above the lake were illuminated by the gorgeous warm oranges of the sunset. I LOVE scenes like this!

Speaking of scenes I love... I just know I am going to love what I see this weekend on my "canoeing and painting in the wild" adventure. I have never been as far north in my province as this trip will take me and I am so looking forward to painting the landscape of the Canadian shield! I am a little worried about the canoeing/portaging end of things, but I'm up for the challenge! It will be a bit quiet around this blog for the next several days, but please check back next week to see photos and paintings of beautiful northern Saskatchewan (and hopefully there will be a few funny stories to tell).

Little Dead Spruce

Little Dead Spruce

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2013

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/nicki-ault/little-dead-spruce/160463
sold 

The northern Boreal forest is sprinkled with dead spruce trees. When many of these coniferous trees die, they turn what I think is a gorgeous orange/red colour. I find the pop of this colour against the green of the forest to be dramatic and exciting, so now not only do I get giddy when I see elk and deer, but I also want to pull over to take pictures when I see these dead, rusted out-looking trees!

Clouds and the Setting Sun

Clouds and the Setting Sun

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2013
sold

This is the last Waskesiu sunset of July 2013. I painted this piece on August 1st while sitting on the deck at my parent's cabin and looking at the screen on my camera. The variety of clouds and the way the light hit them was quite spectacular. I especially love the soft, wispy white cloud high in the sky that has not been touched by the hot colours at the horizon.

Driving By Canola

Driving By Canola

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2013
sold

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/nicki-ault/driving-by-canola/159663

As I drove my kids to Waskesiu when school was out, all I wanted to do was stop at every glowing canola field to take pictures, but that might have resulted in a mutiny so drive I did. The yellow fields were especially glorious this year and the intensity of the colour had me quite captivated... at least in a quick glance-as-I'm-driving kind of way. I tried to burn the images of the fields into my mind as I was speeding by. It was very blurry- the sky stayed still but the closer foreground was whizzing along. The tops of the distant trees were peaking out from the rolling hills and the sky had a turquoise colour to it. The soft white clouds had long tails on them. All of these observations turned into this painting which I did once I got settled at the lake.

Sunday Spotlight- Coming Soon

Well you can tell it's summer!  I have taken an unexpected sabbatical from the online world I love so much. I have been blogging about my art and life (to a lesser degree) for almost four years and it has been one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I can safely say, however, that THE best thing I have done for myself was to step off the career track and stay home with my children in their young and formative years. I am raising wonderful, caring, funny boys who make my heart beat with joy every single day! A happy side-effect of staying at home with them has been that I have been able to establish a studio  practice and I have been able to direct focus towards art which has been a love all of my life. Because I am rather shy, the blog forum has allowed me to type as if I am writing to my close friends, but yet I have been able to reach a larger audience. I truly appreciate the people who have connected with my art and check in to see what I have been up to. THANK YOU! But as wonderful as this is, sometimes I still find it hard to talk about myself or feel as though I have something worth showing or sharing. That is where the idea for the Sunday Spotlight came in. I am soooooo proud of all of the artists I have met over the last several years- WOW we have some excellent talent in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan. I swear, the prairies are a hot-bed for creativity!!!

I can hardly wait to introduce you to more artists... but it is summer and people are on holidays so I am sure you can understand that a natural lull is in order... especially after the winter we just had! It won't be long- Sunday will continue to be the day I tell you about amazing artists I know. I will write again as soon as there is a more normal routine. I just hope you don't mind waiting!

P.S. While at the lake, where I have been most of July, I have painted five 6x6" paintings and 3 8x8" paintings for Lifestyles By Darrell Bell... and I have three more boards to go. There will be lots to post when I am fully back on the grid and I can hardly wait to begin working on some larger canvases... plus there is a big abstract in progress that I am anxious to get feedback on! Please stay tuned!