Lone Star

Lone Star

48 x 36"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

available at Assiniboia Gallery

Big. Beautiful. Brand new!

Gentle Comes The Night

Gentle Comes The Night

30 x 40"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

Art Now Saskatchewan Fine Art Fair was such a great weekend for my art! Assiniboia Gallery swapped this painting out with the Waskesiu River that sold the night before at the gala opening. "Gentle Comes The Night" promptly sold later that morning!

Beautiful Storm

Beautiful Storm

36 x 36"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

Many challenges came my way with this one, but it finally got to a place where I could call it complete. I love the warm light in the clouds juxtaposed against the cool, stormy blues. This was the main painting I created for Art Now Saskatchewan Art Fair, but it pre-sold and therefore didn't make it into the show!

The Calmest Of Days

The Calmest Of Days

24 x 36"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

The light in this one really turned out well, the photo doesn't do it justice. This painting sold on opening night at Art Now Saskatchewan Fine Art Fair in September.

Serene

Serene

20 x 20"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2019

available at Assiniboia Gallery

This peaceful scene is now available at the Assiniboia Gallery in Regina. It is quiet and contemplative. A reminder of those gentle summers' evenings at the lake sitting on the beach and listening to the water lap at the shore.

Painting The Landscape At Darrell Bell Gallery

Here is your invitation to the third annual Painting The Landscape show at Darrell Bell Gallery!

I have been hunkered down like crazy lately. August was definitely an eat-paint-sleep-repeat month. However, I feel like the work was all worth it - there isn't a dud in the bunch! I love the painting they used for the invitation above. "Deer Bed" is a 20x20 based on an 8x8 I did earlier this year.

Below is a photo of the back-sides of all of my August paintings with sizes listed! I cannot believe how much I accomplished. Mind you, I did have a few under-paintings prepared before we went on family holidays in July, so those were ready to go when I started painting in August. The 10x10's are already at Assiniboia Gallery and the 6x6's replenished the wall at Evrgreen Coffee and Food in Waskesiu.

© Nicki Ault, 2019

I'm delivering five new large paintings to Darrell Bell Gallery today for the big show opening next weekend. I have at least four new large paintings and four additional new 10x10's (in progress now) going to Regina on Friday to replenish Assiniboia Gallery and for their booth at Art Now Saskatchewan Art Fair happening in two weeks. I have a new batch of 8x8's building at the studio which will be delivered next week to Darrell Bell Gallery to refresh the grid in time for the weekend.

Whew!

And to top all of that off, I have been quietly working on another project that I will reveal in a matter of days. I cannot wait!

Please stay tuned and thanks for your patience as I haven't been posting much lately.

The Boreal and The Blazing Sun

The Boreal And The Blazing Sun

40x30"

acrylic and oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery 

This blog post has been in draft-mode limbo along with about seventy other paintings from the last year. I am having trouble keeping up with it all and can't post fast enough. Anyway, this one sold at my Artist Feature exhibition earlier this year at Assiniboia Gallery.

Graphite Sky at a Party!

Graphite Sky

36 x 36"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

available at Assiniboia Gallery

I took this fan-favourite down to Assiniboia Gallery the other day. There is a special event in the gallery tonight and I hope the perfect match for this painting attends. Do you have a modern aesthetic? A sophisticated eye? A designer's vision? If you answered yes, "Graphite Sky" could be the painting you've been waiting for! :)

Dusk In A Ravaged Land

Dusk In A Ravaged Land

24 x 24"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

available at Assiniboia Gallery

This one is another spin-off from a 6x6 I produced in my daily painting project. The other one I painted was a slightly altered composition to accommodate a rectangular format. Both of these were done on boards.

The effect of the sky on this one gave me a hard time. It's funny how simple things like moving from a hard, smooth surface of a board to a bouncy, textured surface of a canvas can affect my approach. Or maybe it's more about the prep of the surfaces. I sealed the boards with a clear-coat so the colour of the board is what I built the painting on. I never paint on a white canvas, so in this case I put on a coat of orange/peach gesso over the surface before I started painting.

The orange gesso looked great with the under-painting! So much so that I tried to keep the effect by mixing mostly orange and orangish-yellow oils to paint the sky. Unfortunately it didn't translate and just felt dark, like there was no light in the sky. The mood from the under-painting and gesso was lost. 

In an effort to salvage the painting, I started making changes and probably re-painted the sky four times until I was finally happy. 

Lessons are learned every time I am at my easel.

The Sun Burns Through

The Sun Burns Through

30 x 48"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

Yesterday I drove to Regina with my studio mate, Bridget, to deliver work to her gallery and to mine. We gabbed so much I really don't recall stopping for a breath! I think we solved all the world's problems and we came to two basic conclusions: humans need to stop being cruel to each other and the world would be better off with more art.

I'm really excited about the three new pieces I dropped off at Assiniboia Gallery which I will post over the next few days. Or you can check out the gallery website a bit later today to see them first! I hope you agree that they have a modern feel and that each have the potential to be show stoppers in their own ways. Fingers crossed they go over well and I look forward to feedback from the gallery as they get eyes on them.

This was my first day away from the studio in quite awhile and I missed it! I can hardly wait to get there tomorrow to get started on my next projects. Stay tuned and thanks for checking in!

Ethereal

Ethereal

24 x 36"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

available at Assiniboia Gallery

This one is all about the sky, so I dabbled with a rather unorthodox composition so that all of the focus would be on the clouds. As a result it's a bit quirky. I wanted the overall feel to be soft, glowy and ethereal. I think I got it there.

This painting is part of the feature on my work at the Assiniboia Gallery for the month of March, so that means there are only three more days to stop in and check it out. I am thrilled to say that they have already sold six of the twelve paintings! You can view the featured work here and also see the full inventory of my work available at the gallery here.

The Winding River, Waskesiu

The Winding River, Waskesiu

30 x 24"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

available at Assiniboia Gallery

This river gets me every time.

Final Heat of the Day

Final Heat of the Day

10 x 10"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2019

available at Assiniboia Gallery

The muted tones of this scene are given a last jolt of energy from the heat of the setting sun.

Among The Wolf Willow and Makeover Monday!

Among The Wolf Willow
(after)

36 x 36"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

The original (below) always troubled me. It was never a painting I felt excited about or really felt finished with. I tried to convince myself I liked it, yet I kept it turned towards the wall at the studio. That should have been the first clue that I didn't like it, but it took me three years. Finally I decided I either had to deal with it or it had to go to the chipper.

Realizing I had nothing to lose, I asked Bridget (my studio mate) to talk through the issues with me and after that critique I felt excited by the challenge of finally trying to make the painting work. 

I now LOVE the fresh, soft delight that it is. The "after" painting (above) really makes me happy. It is lovely in person and I feel so good about it that not only do I want it facing right-side-out from the wall, I want lots of people to be able to see it! It is now available and hanging at the Assiniboia Gallery as part of the feature they are doing of my work for the month of March.
 

Among The Wolf Willow

(before)

© Nicki Ault, 2016

New Growth at the Old River

New Growth at the Old River

10 x 10"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

I love the vibrant, new growth on the tips of evergreen trees in the spring. Such a hopeful sign. This painting has a very different feel than the smaller study, "Three Little Evergreens", which I painted last fall. Here, I let the warmth of the underpainting show through and I included a few dandelions - another sign of spring!

Available as part of the feature Assiniboia Gallery is exhibiting of my work for the month of March.

Soft Summer's Eve

Soft Summer's Eve

18 x 36"

oil on canvas

 Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

The goal here was to make a calm and quiet lake/water/sky image that didn't feel blue in colour. I am trying to knock myself out of the "blue" period I seem to have gone through last year. I tried to keep the palette grayed down and leaning towards purple, with a lovely quiet energy coming from the more chromatic, warm colours.

Secret Path and Delivery Day!

 

Secret Path

30 x 24"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

Today is the day! I've got a variety of new paintings for Assiniboia Gallery and my Artist Feature in March, so it's road trip day! And for once the weather seems pretty reasonable! 

I am really happy with this grouping, in particular "Secret Path". I love , love, LOVE how it turned out! The mood is just what I wanted; the lights and darks, the cool and warm colours, the varied chroma intensities, the focal point, all of it! I hope you like it, too.

 

 new work for Assiniboia Gallery!

photo © Nicki Ault, 2019

Into The Amber Light

Into The Amber Light

10 x 10"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2019

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

Let's get down to the business of a new painting!

I took many resource photos from the stages of the sun's descent this particular summer evening several years ago and it has kept me going ever since. I continue to be drawn to it, trying something new each time. Even though it's obviously a sunset, I am really excited about some of the more abstract areas:

These areas give me food for thought as I prepare to attend a workshop next weekend on abstracting the landscape with artist and instructor, Susan Woolgar.

This painting and others will be delivered next week to the Assiniboia Gallery in Regina for the feature they are doing on me in March. Stay tuned!

Feature At Assiniboia Gallery and Getting Something Off My Chest Part II

 

Lakeland Light 

(detail)

© Nicki Ault, 2019

Between the big solo shows planned for this year, Assiniboia Gallery is doing a few smaller monthly features on some of their artists and I am the "Feature Artist" in March! Preparing paintings for this has been my main focus over the last couple of months. I will be taking new work down to Regina next week including the largest painting of the bunch, "Lakeland Light", 36x48 (detail above).

In other news, as I could have predicted, I am now feeling a bit silly about my blog post the other day. As much as I needed to get those things off my chest, I am not sure it was a constructive undertaking other than the small release it gave me from my anger.

I wrote my last blog post to express thoughts and concerns about how rough the art community can be on itself. I have definitely struggled with the notion that, in general, the art world at large looks down its nose at landscape painters, but then when other landscape painters within our smaller community take that a step further and look down their nose at "beautiful" landscapes, well, let's just say the rage has been building.

The thing is, I love landscapes. Right now they are the vehicle, or muse even, that resonates with me as a way to explore light, mood and emotion in my paintings. And since I don't have any interest in painting something that isn't of beauty, I will stay the course.

All I know is anger isn't a good look on me or anyone else, and sequestering myself from the community isn't the answer either. So on my "To Do" list:

1) Get through this rough patch of S.A.D.
2) Help my son with his physio
3) Explore more ideas in the back of my head using Landscape as my muse
4) Take deep breaths and let things truly roll off me when I feel "dissed" or...
5) Politely ask for clarification when I feel I have taken a jab
6) Look for a "yoga with goats" class to help with my anxiety... or maybe a coffee shop with kittens :)

and maybe most important of all...

7) Focus more on how supportive the art community can be. Somehow I allowed myself to veer off course in this regard and pay too much attention to the negative side of things. Thanks for the many emails, messages, texts and comments - they were a great reminder of this very thing.

A Moment of Grace

A Moment Of Grace

10 x 10"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

LOVE this one! Delivered last Friday to Assiniboia Gallery in Regina. 

Trying to capture the moment when the setting sun delivers such wonder that you, as a mere human, must stop everything to watch and you realize how lucky you are to be here on this earth as a witness to it all.