Summertime....

When I don't see my surroundings as just a whole lot of work...I guess I'm pretty blessed.  A few hazy photos from the beginning of a very hot day here at Little Red Wagon Vineyard and of course home! Stay cool!   

30 in 30....day 23

A couple days ago I managed to squish 2 paintings into one day and so most of this image was painted yesterday.  I anticipated wanting a bit of a break, I didn't anticipate a wicked head cold, regardless my planning ahead paid off...today I had just enough lucidity to add a couple final strokes and post this.

This farmstead is from a photo I took last spring, just a clear and promising spring day travelling around on the back roads.

Now I'm going to curl up and rest.  I have been trying to think up wine label designs, how to create a fabulous sign for our vineyard and all that goes along with that.  I thought that being an artist I'd have all the answers and yet I'm finding committing to an image which will essentially become a brand is one of the hardest things I've done.  Maybe I'll use up a couple of hours attempting to figure that one out this afternoon...and maybe I'll do a little mock up and post here soon!

  

24 x 12

acrylic on canvas

30 in 30....day 20

Yay!  Day 20  -only 10 more days to go!

This challenge is a full time job!!!  Not really, but I am complaining, it is hard to be inspired ALL THE TIME!  However, the art needs to be done and the more I do the more experiments and experience acquired but it really is a very intensive assignment....there are days I just want to take a break, have a weekend...whatever, however...on I paint.

And today it was worth trudging up to my studio and putting paint to canvas, I really like how this turned out.  I painted almost the exact scene once before but the seasons were slightly different... this photo was snapped early autumn, the last time I painted this I captured an early summer day and it turned out predominantly blue and green.  Though there wasn't a lot of fully coloured leaves apparent in this picture I can easily see the results show a much wider colour spectrum.  I likely made about half of them up, or so Scott would say, he looks at my photos and wonders where I come up with all the variations...but honest, in my eyes those colours are there.
For real.
Which leads me to wonder just how differently do each of us see and perceive the same scene?

God knows we hear the same words differently, feel different in the same situations, interpret every piece of music, current event, facial expression and piece of art differently so I guess it's perfectly plausible that I really do see all the colours and Scott simply does not.
 
Likely much similar to how he interprets my eye rolls as a "sarcastic reaction"  whereas in reality it's just a sign of affection! -Ha! Now we'll see if he reads my blog!  ;)

  

 

      18 x 24

acrylic on canvas

30 in 30....day 14

I spent literally hours this morning scanning through my photo collections in an attempt to pick a subject to paint for today.

My big concern is tomorrow is the deadline for submitting images for the 2015 Pontiac Art Tour...and although I have built up a bit of an inventory I wanted another piece to add to my submissions that represent "me" well.  I am very much a country gal and most of my art reflects that.  

I finally decided on an image on file, printed it off and went towards my canvases and paints...and it fell flat, just like that.  One moment I had found THE image, the next moment not a shred of interest remained.

Back to square one.  I'm a little fickle like that.

So I picked up my phone and scrolled through my pics there and found it.  The result is below, again please pardon the image quality...by the time I finished all natural light had left and somehow the photo turned out brighter...it is a "little" more subtle in the real world!

This is a picture I took this fall while working in our vineyard.  We were making adjustments to our bird netting to protect the grapes for a few more weeks while they reached a higher BRIX (sugar level).   I turned around and there they were, the birds...just a waiting for us to go back to the house so they could feast.
  
 This reminded me of our trip to Prince Edward County when we started thinking about building a winery.  ( A research and development...and birthday trip all rolled into one.)   We were chatting with one vineyard owner and he told us he knows the grapes are ready when the birds fill the power lines...and here was finally proof that we had obtained a product worthy of attention...the birds have for sure noticed...every plant that did not get covered was picked squeaky clean of every last fruit...and even some that were covered were sabotaged as well!

Fortunately we did our job well enough that we have over 1200 litres ageing nicely in our garage... with lots more to come in the years to follow.

So, even though I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the birds...that day made me smile, and so does my painting!

 

  20 x 20

acrylic on gallery style canvas

30 in 30....day 4

Today I did a quick research on painting with palette knives before experimenting on canvas.

I have used one a bit in the past but have never covered an entire canvas with just the use of a knife. Not easy to manipulate when I'm more familiar with the dynamic of a brush.  I have also spent the last 4 days working on relatively small canvases when I really have a strong preference for large.

What I can say is so far my preference for brushes and big have not waned but I'm pushing myself to try new styles and techniques and even if in the end nothing changes I will know a little bit more about my shortcomings, strengths, limitations and such and I guess that's a good thing!

This was a photo from years back which I took at my childhood home, snapped on a day not unlike today, when the trees and entire world around here are caked by heavy snow.  A good day to stay inside and stay warm!

 

10 x 8

acrylic on gallery canvas

30 in 30....day 2

Back again for day 2 of the 30 in 30 painting challenge...

Here is my work for today!

From a photo I snapped while biking with the kids this past autumn (they kept asking why I had to stop so many times to take so many pictures....an occupational hazard I suppose)

'Twas a brilliant afternoon...everything really was this glorious-for real!

I've always been intrigued by the old lane way, the house has been torn down and it is now only used for the fields which surround the yard that was the location of the homestead.  Usually makes me a bit melancholy to see homes fallen and forgotten but with the light the way it was on this particular day I thought it had a festive air.

Wouldn't you love to travel home to this maple lined lane?
 

12 x 12

Acrylic on Canvas

Check out the Gallery page!...

Hi There!  Just updated my gallery page!  Unfortunately you have to scroll through lots of older stuff.
There's a few more to add and I have a show coming up so will have a couple more soon.  That happens in October at Café 349 in Shawville.
In the meantime here's a few images of paintings which are already sold that never got posted!
Wanting paintings for Christmas?  Order soon!  ;)    Jen 

"Spring Bouquet"

"Bullwinkle"

"Valley View"

"Sorority Sisters"








 

Just Breathing

I don't know about you, but I think for many rural individuals the seasons set the pace of our lives. 

In spring the urgent rush to prepare and plant the fields seems not unlike a long distance race where results are never immediate but the outcome is imminent and the only way to cross that finish line is to invest copious amounts of time moving steadily forward one foot in front of the other and never ever giving up. The list of tasks seem endless and urgent and yet there's a celebratory note in spring because we've just survived the winter, that enthusiasm propels us forward, has us take on things we'd otherwise never make time to do, we are energized and refreshed by the smell of earth as it thaws, the gentle breezes, the warm rain and the reappearance of life, first little bubbles appearing in the earth as it drinks up the melting snow, then tiny blades of strong lime sprouts push through last year's dead, dried grass.  Finally the song birds return home for the season and the land erupts and the season that seemed like it would never quite come is upon us and explodes chaotically all around.  Plants grow so quickly the daily results are measurable and never, ever cease to amaze. 

Then quickly and quietly summer arrives.  She comes in a blast.  One day you are working in the garden, a gentle breeze on your back and the next you are stifled with a wall of heat so thick that it takes your breath and streams of sweat run down your back.  Flowers bud and explode.  One day a garden plant bears a tiny blossom and the next long, crunchy beans, squash or peas appear.  The world becomes a buffet but the work is harder and hot. Still we adapt, the icy waters of spring quickly warm and become our playground, we alternate between basking in summer's hot rays and thick dappled shade to plunging into it's warm refreshing pools.  Summer stifles with her intensity but all too swiftly just when we wonder if we'll ever need the blankets on our beds again or if a breeze will ever ruffle the curtain, if those peepers in the pond will ever stop their incessant night time chatter she gracefully bows out and gives center stage to Fall. 

Autumn comes with a change of clothes from green to yellow.   We welcome his cooler days and are reinvigorated once again to tackle jobs that Summer's heat just couldn't inspire.  We cannot help but pause and marvel at all his splendour, he simply amazes with his riotous brightness from leaves to crops, to the squawking of flocks as they fly over beginning their journey to warmer places but he's a fast one that Fall...in a shaking of his robes the brightly coloured leaves swirl and madly whirl around encircling us with a frosty promise that work will soon slow down.  First, we must hurry, we have things to tidy, harvests to collect, jobs to finish because Winter is waiting.

Sometimes Winter sits impatient on the doorstep and she can be harsh and merciless and we don't want to be caught unprepared.  She blows into every corner sending chill everywhere.  The trees become lifeless statues frozen in her stillness, buried deep inside themselves as they set up a long vigil against her icy madness, swirling blizzards and deep cold.  She is also beautiful this winter, with her long, thick robes  that glimmer on moonlit nights and blind on sunshine days, but for me winter is a time to breathe, regroup and reorganize as the world around lays blanketed thick and white.  A time to rest and plan for the cacophony of spring that is sure to follow.  A time to not wish away but to enjoy and breathe because all too soon the cycle will start again.

Already the days are longer and I know my rest is coming to an end.  I am trying to collect myself, my thoughts, my ideas and organize them in a way that they won't spiral madly out of control at the first sigh of spring.  For now I plan and slowly I will begin again just as the seasons unfold, I guess time will tell exactly what that looks like and what the world has in store for me but for now I chose to simply be and appreciate all this world has to offer us if we only just open our eyes and see! 

Changing Seasons

   

Exhibiting soon...

Just putting the final touches on a few last pieces before my next show.

I am exhibiting at Cafe 349 in Shawville starting November 7th.  There will be a vernissage on Sunday, November 13th from 1-4 pm...if you're in the area drop in to say hi, I'd be delighted to see you!

Although I would have liked to be ambitious enough to have all new works to display for this; my first solo show outside of the studio, I will have to fill in with some that some of you may have already seen.  There will be be well over a dozen pieces that are new though... Hopefully enough to pique your curiosity!

As for a statement about my exhibit...it will go something like this:

I paint what I know.  I know beauty in the world all around.  In flowers, trees, landscape and sky...the vast open space that is my home and the creatures that inhabit it.  The way the light plays on the leaves, the land and the buildings all around, I have not seen much of this great world yet but what I've seen is pretty awe inspiring.
In cows  I see old, gentle souls.  They could not survive without the help of man and they seem to know it.  Together we are partners.  Anyone who has ever worked with them and paid attention can feel the trust and the contentment they have with the arrangement.  Likewise, when we do something out of routine those girls become scared.  We need to reassure, calm and care for them...not so different from people after all!  People say my cows have expressions and feelings, I say they're right, because they do.

...I dunno, I suppose a little too out there for some...but I guess I didn't get the reputation for being a bit of an artistic type by thinking like everyone else...can't change how I feel!