Winter Travels

It’s funny how suddenly I realized that though I live in Canada, I really haven’t painted the “Winter” scenery much, I guess I am more attracted to colour though I find really calming and soothing the white landscapes that we get to enjoy most of the year.

Here is one of my favourite views when travelling home, I think a series of the Winter season is brewing in my mind, I’ll share whatever comes out of it in due time. In the meantime, enjoy every season and travel around…
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"Vines"

Texture and colour… how do you know when it’s too much? You don’t… at least not when you are experimenting and working on the details of the whole composition.
In this piece I wanted to experiment and work the idea that I had in mind… I changed the colours so many times you could scrape layer after layer in this piece. Why did I decide to leave it monochromatic? Because less is more… at least for this piece. The texture and movement of the vines don’t need anything else to add to the effect, if only it were so easy to realize when in life less is more…

Whether as an experiment or a challenge, try something new and decide that the essence of who you are and the purpose for which you are doing it don’t need anything else added to, because by it self, what you are doing is great, it’s more than enough… in the same way that you are more than enough…
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"Plein Air"

Plein Air: Olds Wetlands and Slacks Slough 

Plein Air at Olds College Wetlands
When it comes to “Creativity” what is one of the things that inspires you? Perhaps a specific song, an activity, smells that trigger great memories or…
Plein Air at Slacks Slough
One of the things that triggers my creativity is travelling, visiting new places or re-visiting places in different seasons with different people. Though I had already done a Plein Air at the Olds College Wetlands, I had not experienced going on a “Plein Air” with my two little ones. The three of us chose the “Right spot” and sat down on the grass… there is something about experiencing totally the place where you are.

Here are 2 of the paintings that came out of visiting the Olds College and Slacks Slough in Red Deer with them, I hope you give yourself the opportunity to re-visit the places that may seem known to you with the people you love, in a different season and perhaps with an empty canvas and your painting supplies so you can enjoy them in a different way. 
Happy Plein Air painting…
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Sunny Cattails

This month has been an exciting and very growing one for me!

Regarding Art, I got to be part of the #ArtBattle248 in Olds. It is the second time I participated in it and though I have not gone to the final round yet, it’s an experience that has been very rewarding.

This year’s piece was “Sunny Cattails”. The premise of this Live Art Competition is that you must finish the piece in 20 minutes and use the Acrylic colours given. You can use any non-mechanical tools that you want and bring along.

The great part of this experience is that it has allowed me to go to the not so “scholar” part of my painting. Though I practiced before that day – because I didn’t want to be caught up at mid-paint when the 20 min, were over – this was not the piece that I practiced the most. I actually only practiced it once. The piece that I had in mind will be part of my next series: “Winter”.

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Reflections

Reflections-
Have you ever been in a place (physically, mentally or emotionally) where everything is so still, no movement or ‘disturbances”? Lately I have been thinking about time and reflections. How we invest or spend it and who we choose to invest it in or with. The funny thing is that whether you think about investing or spending time, the only thing that seems almost criminal is to ‘waste it’. The act of waiting is one of those that may seem like a waste of time… unless we use it for what is intended: reflect and prepare.
In one of my many drives last Summer I saw this almost blinding view while coming to a stop. The reflections in the water were so striking that… you guess it: I stopped and took a photo. This specific painting has taken me longer than anticipated. Partly, because I chose to do more of a glaze (which I usually don’t do because of the waiting process) and partly because though I liked the view and I liked the reflections it had no emotional connection to me. Until, I started thinking about the many hours I was investing in painting it.
Upon that realization, it came to my mind how fitting the title would be: Reflections. Reflections are just that, a mirror of an image. But when applied to us, to our thinking process, to our experiences and perhaps our spiritual walk, they also show us the real image; we see ourselves for who we are. Just like in a painting, these reflections could be blurry if the water where we are seeing our image is cloudy; yet it gives us the thought of a different possibility of what we have in mind. The trick of those mental and visual reflections is to identify where the light comes from, are we only blocking the light, creating a shadow? Or, are we really seeing a clearer image of what we think we see?  In the case of this painting, I was able to capture both, shadows and reflections. You’ll see that the first ones have a different angle and different tones in the water.
After this reflection ( no pun intended),  I was able to conclude that it was because I took the time to study and work on this piece that I could capture what sometimes we can ignore, light, shadows and reflections, which in reality, are not far from each other.

 

May you take the time to stop, invest and see the reflections that light causes in everything… there are more than shadows out there.  Hope you enjoy this piece!
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