Experimenting like crazy

In the past few days I've done more work that I couldn't keep
than work I will show. I've been working on a big
commission, and in between I've been trying out new
things (for me) and learning. Very tame results so
far.

It was the first day of school today -- so learning
seems appropriate. I met some of the students I'll
be teaching this fall, and felt the excitement I always
feel about going back to school. The people on the team
I work with are fantastic, and I have so many dynamic,
and incredibly funny colleagues.

Nasturtiums in my garden
Gardeners forgive the weeds.
One of the gardeners has
been out of commission

Inspired by the positive feeling at Seneca, I came
home and picked nasturtiums in the garden, then
set out to paint them using a palette knife -- and brushes.
I've painted one other painting with a palette
knife, and that was a large canvas. In that case
I isolated the techniques using a large palette
knife, more like a plasterers tool on one area,
and a fairly flat paint technique in another.

Nasturtiums in a small jug
acrylic on canvas
7" x 9 "
Not finished

This little painting is not complete. I'll finish
it tomorrow. The palette knife gets the
butterfly feeling of the blooms nicely. The
painting is too centered, and I think it needs
more dark, darks as my old teacher
Americo Del Col would say.

The main thing is I had fun doing it.

Have an absolute riot doing whatever you're doing today.

Animal crackers

True my animals have been a bit crackers today -- but the real
reason for the title is that I'm painting animals again. You
might think that's simpler than painting people -- but isn't.
Getting the same verve, personality and joyous painting
feeling is just as demanding with animals as with people.

Shorelines
Susan and Simone
acrylic on canvas
12" x 12"
unfinished

That made me think of this little painting I started last
fall, and didn't finish. The subject -- my cat
Simone wrapped around my friend Susan's neck, was
a good one. I loved Simone, but she died after surgery
last fall, and for a long time I didn't have the heart to
look at the painting.

Susan loved the photograph this painting was inspired
by. Simone loved Susan, who really doesn't like cats.
She especially loved Susan in a certain velvet collared
jacket Susan arrived in one day after work. Simone was
a shoulder sitter. Our cat Fiona isn't. Sometimes I
still get a clutch in my heart thinking about Simone,
but Fiona is an excellent distraction.

Simone the cat
Photo by Caitlin Grandison

I need to work on the painting a bit to finesse Susan's
face and hair, and to get Simone's beautiful eyes just
right. Oh and her ears need work. In fact the whole thing
is in a very rough state.

I like both the total awkwardness and humour
that's already there in the rough version of Susan's face.
Susan loves Cape Breton, that's why there's
just a hint of Big Smokey in the background.
I was working on my Shorelines series, and planned
to have a whole wall of people in favorite landscapes
painted on 12 " square canvasses and bolted together
to make a big canvas. I will do this one day!!!

Have a crazy like a fox day.

The apple of my eye

What a great day we had today. Steven took me out in the garden in my rented wheelchair, (which is light, comfortable and not bad looking), and I helped him plant the nasturtiums.


The garden, despite our neglect what with one thing and another (me breaking my ankle) looked just magnificent. The poppies are out and flourishing, and soon I'll have more nasturtiums than I can ever pick.

And the apple tree was laden with almost ripe apples. If we left them, the worms would get them because we're organic gardeners, so we picked a huge bag full (Steven did, I pointed out where the
apples were hiding in the tree) and tonight
Sam and I made applesauce, and Steven made a delicious apple pie. Both creations were a bit tart, but delicious with that wonderful combination of sweet and just a touch of sour -- Yum. Amazing.

I love the look of apples picked from our own tree, so
I began a small 7" x 9" painting, and I'll show you the first
stage.
Images: 1. Sam making applesauce
with the Foley Food Mill.

2. Steven getting the pie ready while
Sam makes applesauce.

3. The finished apple pie.

4. The first stage in my painting
of green apples in a bowl.

Enjoy the season wherever you are.

Have a sweet-as-pie day.

Weird day

While we were shopping for groceries at a Superstore north of
the city, an amazingly powerful lightning storm hit.
The roof of the high steel building reverberated with hit after
hit of lightning, but held. Then one of the indoor water pipes
broke and water gushed down into the store in a torrent like
a waterfall. The aisles started flooding dramatically and an
announcement came on over the loud speaker that the store
was being evacuated.

Steven said that would be a Sev 1 incident, meaning it was severe
enough to shut down business. They were letting people out through
just one door, and I asked if they could open another one.
So they did. The storm cleared up just as we were walking to our
car, and we drove home through blue sky and sunshine.
Thank you universe. Here's a very small 3" x 6" landscape of
a sunny, fall Ontario scene I painted a few years ago.

Have a calm and peaceful day!