Almost Home - Landscape Oil Painting

Almost Home 12 x 10" oil on wood panel

On the way home from Collingwood on a sunny day, I noticed the cloud formations and fall colours. I love texture and bold strokes of colour. I primed the panel, then painted with two coats of gesso and a coat of raw sienna. Then roughly draw the image on the panel then paint it.

Standing Tall - Landscape Oil Painting

Standing Tall - Oil on 10 x 8" panel

I'm getting ready for several art shows this summer and fall. I need to get a lot of painting done.

Birches are fascinating trees and look great in a painting. Many people like birch trees. These birch trees are near Big Bay looking toward the other side of the bay. I love the fact that the trunks are so high and the leaves are concentrated at the top, like lollypops.

Autumn Clouds - Landscape Oil Painting

Autumn Clouds - 10 x 8" Landscape oil painting on panel

Clouds are fascinating to me, especially the big clouds with dark billowy sections. They really add to the overall composition of the painting. Clouds are a challenge to paint, and I keep being drawn to paint them.

The sides of this panel are painted raw sienna, and look like unpainted wood. It looks like a block of wood on the sides. It gives the painting an interesting unique look. 

This is a view from the road from Scenic Caves Road to Ravenna, in Grey County. This is a road that I've travelled on often in recent times. There's always wonderful views to see. 

I'm enjoying my time on this road.

In the Pasture - Landscape Oil on Canvas

In the Pasture -  60 x 30" Oil on Canvas

I was driving on the back roads of Grey County when I came across this scene of a maple tree with holstein cows laying underneath it. It was one of those moments when you have to stop and take a photograph.

The tree was huge with a very large trunk and long branches. It must be very old.

I like to paint scenery as it is without much editing. A few cows were removed from the final composition and moved over slightly. Deciding on the final arrangement of the cows was the most difficult part of the painting process. The leaves on the ground were painted individually with many different colours making up the final composition.

This is the second large painting over 48" that I've done and I'm enjoying the process.

This painting is at the Matilda Swanson Gallery in Clarksburg, Ontario.

Floating Overhead - Landscape Oil Painting

Floating Overhead - 12x12 oil on canvas

I'm fascinated with clouds. Especially the swirly, billowy, storm clouds with dark shadows which are floating past with great speed. These clouds were floating close to my home and I couldn't resist taking a photograph and painting them.

Shadow Play - Landscape Oil Painting

Shadow Play 36 x 36" Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas 

When I was deciding on the subject matter for this painting, I was drawn to this image over and over again. It was the shadows in the snow that fascinated me. I love the colour that shadows cast on snow on a bright and cold winter day. 

I can visualize this painting looking fantastic hanging over a fireplace.

For quite a while I've been posting small paintings and I admit that most of my paintings have been small ones. I've been asked if I paint larger paintings. My focus is going to be on larger paintings with a few small ones in between. I'm very happy with this painting. I hope you enjoy it too.

In progress photos

I numbered the trees to keep track of them.

Mixing colours on my palette

More progress

Autumn Maples – Landscape Oil Painting

Autumn Maples 12 x12 Oil on Canvas

SOLD

This painting is of Maple trees in my backyard. They are stunningly beautiful in the fall and I couldn't resist painting them. The sun was shining on the leaves and illuminating them from the back. The bark of the trees was very dark after a rain, increasing the contrast of the image.

The painting is full of texture which I love.

Along Country Roads - Landscape Oil Painting

Along Country Roads 12 x 12" Oil on gallery wrapped canvas.

SOLD

I was drawn to this image by the clouds and shadows. It's raining in the background. The clouds are moving across the sky, casting shadows on the ground. The sun is shining on the trees at the back of the fields.

The more I look at this painting the more I like it. It has been sold to an appreciative art lover.

Old Barn with a View - Landscape Oil Painting

Old Barn with a View 12x12 Oil on Panel

SOLD

This is the third painting of this barn that I have done. Each time I've painted it from a different angle and in a different season.

I'm drawn to this barn because it sits on a hill with a wonderful array of colour in the background. Layer upon layer and hints of different types of landscape. There are bushes, fields and more tree rows and fields. Each layer is different and each is a different colour. I find that fascinating. Autumn provides  a variety of colour in the rural landscape which I find interesting.

This painting is at the Hanover Saugeen Artist Store currently.

Autumn Sunset - Landscape Oil Painting

12x12 Autumn Sunset, Oil on Canvas

SOLD

This is the second painting in the commission that I recently completed. This was the more challenging of the two paintings because of the large area of grasses that make up the foreground of the painting. It always takes some time to decide how to handle it. I am happy with the result. I like the small strokes of different greens that make up this area. 

Another challenge was the sun lighting up the trees in the background making them glow. I mixed the greens with the same colours so they would work well hung together on the wall. Even though they were different seasons and the greens look different the colours contained the same hues. I cropped the horizons so they would line up if they were hung together on the wall.

Forget Me Not - Landscape Oil Painting

12x12 Forget Me Not,  Oil on Canvas

SOLD

This oil painting was a recent commission I did for a very nice woman who wanted a present for her husband's birthday. Happy Birthday. She found me on this blog and contacted me to do the paintings for her. I'm happy with the result. She was pleased as well. It's always nice when people are happy with  what you do for them.

I don't often do commissions, but I am grateful to have these. This is one of two paintings for the same person. I will post the other painting separately.

Late Afternoon on the Farm - Landscape Oil Painting

Late Afternoon on the Farm  60" x 30" Oil on Canvas

People have been asking if I do larger paintings and here is one. This is the largest painting that I've done to date. I wanted to make sure that the composition was good, the cropping of the image was good and the drawing was good. It was a lot of work and when you do a large painting you want to get it right. I'm happy with the result.

This is a farm that I pass by often. I had to stop and take a picture, when the sun was shining and the clouds in the sky were casting a large shadow on the ground. I love the way the fences criss cross the fields.

This painting is included in The Art Map 2014 Bruce, Grey and Southern Georgian Bay Landscape Calendar.

This painting is at the Matilda Swanson Gallery in Clarksburg.

Here's one photo of this painting in progress.

In progress

After the Harvest - Landscape Oil Painting

After the Harvest 10 x 8" oil on gallery depth cradled panel

I couldn't resist painting this scene in Grey County, the golden cut grain field was calling my name.

I will be open Friday Aug 9, Saturday Aug 10 and Sunday Aug 11 for The Art Map Open Studio Weekend. I will be here from 10-5 pm.

This painting which is my latest will be on display and for sale. I personally love the texture and colour. I'm hoping one of my visitors will see it, fall in love with it and make it their own. It looks great hanging beside my previous painting Long Shadows.

Long Shadows - Landscape Oil Painting

Long Shadows 8x10 oil on gallery depth cradled panel

I love texture especially when it becomes part of the image.

I enjoy taking photographs from the car as my husband is driving. I like the random images that result from trying to capture something in an accidental manner. Occasionally I get images that appeal to me as painting subjects and most of the time not. This image appealed to me because of the long shadows on the farmer's field, the colour of the shadows and shed combined with the soft green of the grain growing there.

Storm Clouds - Landscape Oil Painting

Storm Clouds, 10 x 8" Oil on Cradled Board 

SOLD 

I enjoy painting clouds and like the texture that they add to a landscape painting. This is rural Ontario in August. I enjoy painting small landscapes where I can finish a painting and then learn from the experience quickly. Large landscapes take time to create so the lesson it provides is a long time coming.  My hope is that each painting gets better with experience.

On this painting I toned down the greens which I seem to have trouble with each time. They tend to look too intense. I think I've got the green looking more natural here.

This painting is now at the Saugeen Artists' Store in Hanover.

Early Spring in the Valley - Acrylic Landscape Painting

Early Spring in the Valley 6 x 6" Acrylic on cradled panel.

SOLD

This is a barn close to where I live. I drive past on a regular basis and have seen it in all seasons. I find it to be a compelling subject. The willow trees growing near the barn hide part of it and other out buildings. The red colour, stands out against the bare purple trees growing on the hill behind the barn, creating a wonderful backdrop. The clouds in the sky create a highlight in the right place which gives it further appeal.

This is an acrylic which I don't normally use to paint with. When I'm in a hurry and need a painting to dry quickly, I'll use acrylics. I much prefer oils.

I find that my camera's photos tend to make the blues look more exaggerated. I've tried to tone it down a bit in the photo but it's still looking very blue.

The Birches - Landscape Oil Painting

The Birches, 12 x 12" oil painting on canvas

SOLD

I finally broke down and painted birch trees. I resisted painting birch trees since a lot of artists do this subject matter. However, these trees have light colour bark with intriguing patterns and I find that an irresistible subject for a painting. I decided to paint one small canvas and take it from there to decide if I want to continue with any more paintings. I have not come to any conclusions at this point. I've been told by another artist that birches are over. Time will tell.

My goal when painting is to apply the paint thickly. I love the texture of thick paint and the role that the texture adds to the overall painting.

Update: I sold this painting. I may do more. Honestly I do like birch trees.

Under the Sympathetic Sky - Landscape Oil Painting

Under the Sympathetic Sky Oil on Canvas 12 x 12"

SOLD

I'm getting ready for an Open Studio Event Oct 6 & 7 (Thanksgiving weekend) at my home studio in Eugenia. I painted this 12 x 12 oil for the occasion. I'm looking forward to being open and meeting everyone. If you are in the area please drop by and say hello.

This painting is of a local field in the country side, I was drawn to the lighting and long shadows that were created when the sun was lower in the horizon. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Tangle - Landscape Oil Painting

Tangle 30 x 40" Oil on Canvas

I am grateful to have two paintings accepted in the juried show "Canadian Spirit: People, Places and Icons", taking place at the Owen Sound Artists' Co-op. The show runs until September 30, 2012. The co-op is at 279 - 10th Street East, in Owen Sound.

Tangle and Cypress Lake are both landscapes of local subjects in oil. I find myself fascinated by light appearing through the branches of trees. The interplay of light and colour is very interesting to me.

Update: this painting is currently at the Matilda Swanson Gallery in Clarksburg, Ontario.

White Lily - Floral Oil Painting

White Lily, 4 x4" oil on panel

It is on panel which is 1-1/2" deep and the image wraps around the panel.  I painted this from a photograph that I took of a lily that grows in my garden.