Holstein Hangout

Acrylic on Canvas, 24" x 48" SOLD

Cow Characters

Acrylic on Canvas, 36" x 48" SOLD

Stone Heron Gallery 2013

Patterns in Nature 1, SOLD

Mixed Media on Canvas, 6" x 12"

Cornerstone Exhibition

Patterns in Nature 2- SOLD

Mixed Media on Canvas, 6" x 12"

Cornerstone Exhibition

Patterns in Nature 3- SOLD

Mixed Media on Canvas, 6" x 12"

Cornerstone Exhibition

Terrific Trio, SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 12"

Out in the Sticks Exhibition

Golden Chickens- SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 20" x 20"

Cornerstone Exbibition

Simple Life- SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 18" 

Out In the Sticks Exhibition

Opening of the Stone Heron Gallery, June 21, 2013

Wolfe Island ON

Now open for the summer



The opening was a success!  This is my third summer exhibiting in this gallery and it has been nothing short of amazing since I have started.  This gallery exhibits the work of 20 local Wolfe Island Artists.  This is my home stomping grounds and where all of the magic began....



Art Among the Ruins June 15, 2013- a truly excuisite event

I LOVED this show.  It was my first time doing an outdoor event and I definitely think I was spoiled for the first one.  This show took place with 53 local artists and artisans.  On site there was a winding river that wrapped the exterior of the property and ruins from an old paper mill from the 1800s.  The site was truly a gem, the staff were amazing, flexible and helpful and my paintings did well!  There were people from all over Ontario and it was neat to visit and talk with them.  The show ended with a dinner for the artists which was fabulous.  Thanks to every everyone for a wonderful day!

Wooly Butt, SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 20" x 40", Cornerstone Exhibition

The greens look misty in the back and punchy in the front- I really like them.  This brushstroke style in the grass is a bit more mechanical and controlling than I am used to but admittedly, I started off with a brush that was round (instead of square which I normally use) and too small.  It was too late by the time I realized it so it was a bit painful to do the grass but I love the result none the less.  The sheep are great, I really liked trying to achieve painting anatomy with a certain fluffyness, tricky, but it worked here.  Sheep have really weird proportions - very small legs, and their faces are bizarre when you start to look at the.  They are cute none the less- these sheep are from a farm on Amherst Island.

Weight, SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 24" x 36", Cornerstone Exhibition

What can I say about this one....geometric colourful madness, and cows!  Love it.

Trudy's Turkeys

Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 16", SOLD

Trudy loved these Turkeys!  She raised them, herself and then we processed the meat together.  It was an absolute honour to help her out with the process.  She is a fourth generation cattle farmer but new to the bird thing.  I have had some experience with my chickens so she asked if I would show her the process.  Trust me, you really have respect for your food after a day of Turkey processing - very hard work.  These Turkeys had a great life. 

I love the feathers in this painting. There is just the right number of brush strokes to convey their texture in the shadows of the barn.  Love the expressions on these guys, priceless.  Turkey proportions are weird and hard to paint!  I love the composition they make in this piece. 

Parked out back

Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 12", SOLD

A quaint scene from Amherst Island.  Lovely little tractor really.  I enjoy the kiss of sunshine it is getting at the top.

The Grass is always Greener… SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 16" x 16", Stone Heron Exhibition

He was really interested in what the other was eating!  This piece painted from a  photographed taken at the barn on Middle road by HWY 15, Kingston ON.  I love the muted greens and the expression of the black cow.  The angle of the golden cow was a bit tricky, but I think I managed to capture it- his neck and leg seem to shine. I the colours in the face of the black cow. I like when different colours come out of the black in the sunlight. 

Luminous Laze, SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas- 16" x 48", Stone Heron Exhibition

I just finished painting this piece last night and brought it to Cornerstone at lunch today.  It is may favourite one yet (I may have said that before but I think it is a good thing!).  I created the back drop from my head and then pulled cows from three different photographs I took.  I painted from left cow to right cow. With each cow I painted, it was my favourite until I painted the next.  I really enjoy the lighting in all of the cows.  Also, I have never painted a cow completely from the side such as the Holstein on the right. I really like its belly and utter.  I love building up the muscles of the cows with the paint.  Muscle insertion points are especially a challenge and I think I really achieved capturing musculature in this painting. 

Little One on the Run, SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 8" x 8", Cornerston Exhibition 

This painting is quite special.  I am glad it sold becasue it is quite sweet to look at.  This is one of my Buff Orpingtons running through my back yard through the dappled light created by the sun shining through the overhanging willow. 

Poking about the Pasture, SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 36" x 48", Cornerstone Exhibition

This painting involved lots of math- I sat on my hardwood floor with a ruler, a pencil and a calculator writing down numbers for about an hour before I got the proper composition.  The cows came from three different photographs where all of the cows where different sizes.  The cows started off as different sized boxes to simplify the problem.  First, I had to size them to each other and then I blew them up to fit them onto the canvas.  Then it was just a matter of penciling in the cows into their respective boxes. The cows are from the barn on Middle road at the HWY 15 intersection.  The landscape background came form my head.  It was a foggy day on which I painted it on so interesting to look at it and see the haze in the background even though I didn't consciously intend for it to look that way.  I really like the but on the cow laying down the subtle tones are captured. 

Late Day Labour of Love

Acrylic on Canvas, 22" x 28", SOLD

This piece was a pleasure to paint I really enjoy the weed in the foreground because it was a gutsy decision that turned out! I left the underpainting poking through to construct it.  Then I added some darker tones to define it. The tones of reds captured make me feel the warmth of the late day sun when I look at the piece.  This was painted from a photograph that I took on Amherst Island, I managed to capture a farmer pulling out of his barn.

Trudy's Turkeys

Acrylic on canvas, 12" x 12",  SOLD

These are Trudy's Turkeys - fairy junior at the time.  They have hilarious little expressions and body language.  Fun to photograph and fun to paint. I actually painted this piece up-side-down!  I was having problems painting what I thought I saw in terms of colour and value and not what was really there....turns out I just have to invert the image to encourage my right brain to dominate again.  I love the brushstrokes and the subtle muted and bright tones in the feathers.  I loved painting this one.

Hungry Holsteins - SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 24" x 30", Cornerstone Exhibition

In this piece, like the forest/ mint greens against the cows and the orange underpainting-  it is fresh and cool.  The cow in the middle has an extremely challenging pose to capture, there is foreshortening and subtle tones which indicate bones and muscle groups.  I got it right away with this one- I knew where I was going with the brushstrokes.  I was super satisfied with it because often this does not come easily and I am painting it five times over!  I really like the character of this herd.

His and Hers

Acrylic on Canvas, 11" x 13", SOLD

This painting is just so old fashioned and quaint.  The front tractor is a Massey Fergusson- I am not sure about the one on the right.   I love the lighting in this piece; the light pouring thorough the door and illuminating the reds of the tractors in particular.  I really like the subtle tones in this painting.  I also like how there is not much colour to this one and then a punch of red- this is something that is hard to do for me.  I am so in love with bright colours that I just want to paint them all! Sometimes it is more effective however to just have a few - restraint was the excersise here!

  

Hazy Hay 2 for sale

Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 12" SOLD

This painting is a slightly different angle than Hazy Hay 1 - Again I love the geometry of the brushstrokes in this one.  The hay bails in this one are neat as well.  This painting reminds me of summer time on Amherst Island with my family. 

Hazy Hay 1

Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 12"

This is a beautiful little scene from a farm on Amherst island.  I love the geometric brushstrokes in this one.

Feeding the Flock

Acrylic on Canvas, 12" x 12", for sale

This is my friend Kristen feeding all of her chickens in all of their glory!  When she lived on the island, she had so many different species of chickens, it was awesome.  There were lots of little bantam roosters (mini chickens), chickens with feathers coming out of their feet, large red roosters, I could go on-it was quite exotic really.  Anyways the lighting at this time of day in her back yard is exquisite- how could I not paint this one.  I really enjoy the brushstrokes in this piece especially like the brushstrokes in the warm brownish orange under painting which is why I left so much of it exposed.

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Dinner Time - SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas, 24" x 30", At the Cornerstone Exhibit until July 20th, 2013

These guys are so lovely.  I recently had a photo shoot with a bunch of cows on Middle road Kingston ON (near HWY 15 intersection).  I was tipped off about these lovely cows from one of my buddies Michelle....thank you!  I now how hundreds of photos from which to paint.  This photo shoot was a bit of an adventure because I went on a 30km bike ride while doing it.  I thought it would be fun to mix exercise and art, and it was! 

In this piece I really enjoy the lighting. On the cow on the right, it is almost as if his spots are glowing :)  The poses I was getting from these cows were priceless- they were flaunting it.  They were really curious about my presence.  Grass is hard to do- it can easily look monotonous if there are not enough colours and values and the colour can look tacky quite easily if the right reds and browns in the grasses are not captured- I really like how I captured the muted and subtle tones of greens in this painting.

Chicken Scratch

Acrylic and pumice on Canvas, 12" x 12", SOLD

I love the lighting and the late day lighting captured in this one.  I LOVE CHICKENS!

Big 'n' Tall - SOLD

Acrylic on Canvas 12" x 16", Cornerstone Exhibit

I find this painting amusing.  I am really starting to get into the character of the cows.  There are so many different shapes sizes and expressions; I just love to attempt to capture their personalities.  This was painted from a photograph of cows on Wolfe Island.