Open Text's Canada Flag

This was painted last summer on a beautiful, sunny, and warm day, right in front of the Open Text office in Waterloo (Ontario, Canada). This was fun to paint because the employees who work inside the building would come over, talk to me and point out where their office was. My teacher (Jody Joseph) had asked us to paint a flag outdoors for homework. The flag at first looked great because it was windy but after about an hour the wind died down so I kinda had to paint the flag from memory.

Thanks for reading this and cheers!

13"x17.5" Acrylic on TerraSkin / $100 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Lilacs At Wagner's House

This was painted at my friend Wagner's house. He had lovely artificial lilacs on his coffee table so I painted them using the iPad, a program called Brushes (iPad edition), and my new Nomad Brush Stylus.

This piece does not have the greatest composition because I did not do a planning sketch, but I decided to post it anyways because I learned so much from it.

This is the first piece where I used transparent colours with the Brushes program. I also loved using my new stylus. I usually just use my finger, but my finger would cause friction which was not fun. But with the stylus, my paint strokes glide easily.  I found the result to be a more loose and energetic painting.

As usual, any comments, critiques, or suggestions are greatly appreciated. :)

Quills

I hope that everyone had a fabulous holiday! I certainly enjoyed mine!

For Christmas I received these pencil quills as a gift.  They have pencil lead at the end and were made for me by a very creative and awesome boy who I used to babysit. The gift was so thoughtful and pretty so I decided to paint them. Thanks again Mark!

I am very pleased with how this turned out.

This was created with a Wacom Bamboo Graphics Tablet and a program called GIMP 2

8"x10" print available.  Limited editions of ten, numbered and signed. $30 (includes free shipping worldwide).

Thanks for taking a look and cheers!

Light Behind the Trees Sketch

This was also painted last summer at Inkesetter Farm in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. I was doing a painting workshop which was being run by the incredible Laurie Wonfor Nolan. There was a patch of trees with light shinning through and a beautiful wheat field just behind. It was so incredible.  I tried to emphasize the light  by really making the grass nice and bright. This is one of the first paintings where I was fairly successful with using transparent paint. This is a sketch, but I later did a larger piece which sold! It was the first painting that I ever sold to a stranger. It was an amazing moment. This sketch is still for sale if anyone is interested, just email me. :)

6"x12" Acrylic on TerraSkin / $70 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Mirror Sketch

This was painted last summer at Inkesetter Farm in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. I was doing a painting workshop which was being run by Laurie Wonfor Nolan. The pond there was pretty still and had such beautiful reflections almost like a mirror, so I painted it. This is a sketch, but I later did a larger piece which sold! But this sketch is still for sale if anyone is interested. How I love to paint water. :)

8"x8" Acrylic on TerraSkin / $70 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Christmas Ornaments

I painted this during Laurie Wonfor Nolan's painting class. I borrowed some Christmas ornaments from my mother-in-law and was very, very pleased with the final result. I think that I am finally starting to get the hang of putting dots of colour beside one another to create a painting. I love the effect. :)

5"x7" Acrylic on TerraSkin / $60 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Neckwear Amassment

A very good friend of mine gave me a Wayne Thiebaud book which inspired me to paint my neck scarves.

In my painting class we were also studying how to paint fabric so this was good fabric practice.

I am very pleased with how this turned out and it was a lot of fun. It was created using a Wacom Bamboo Graphics Tablet and a program called GIMP 2. I like the blocky bits of colour in it.

I thought that the sketch for this looked really cool too!

Cheers!

8"x10" print available.  Limited editions of ten, numbered and signed. $30 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Columbia Lake

This piece is my second en plein air piece done with the iPad and a program called Brushes, iPad edition! I  was so impressed at how the sun was shimmering on Columbia Lake (in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) that I just had to paint it. I could barely see the colours on the screen of the iPad but when I got home and looked at it, I was very pleased with how it turned out.

8"x10" print on canvas paper available.  Limited editions of ten, numbered and signed. $30 (includes free shipping worldwide)

A Slice of Lemon

This was painted while I was at a bar using my iPad and a program called Brushes iPad edition. It is incredible that I could paint this while at a bar hanging out with friends and family. I was able to paint without paint, brushes and there was no mess! It was awesome. Overall, good times. My friends, family and I were celebrating the fact that our good family friend Jacob had quit smoking for three months! Go Jacob!

8"x10" print on canvas paper available.  Limited editions of ten, numbered and signed. $30 (includes free shipping worldwide)

The Little Nutcracker

This was painted using my iPad and a program called Brushes iPad edition. I printed this and my other iPad works on canvas paper and was very pleased with how they turned out. They actually look like paintings. So I have decided to start selling prints of my iPad work. But this is kinda new territory and I am not sure how to go about it. Should I limit the number of prints? Should I not limit the amount of prints so I can sell them for less money? I don't think the canvas paper is archival so either way I don't want to charge too much. It is just nice to be able to sell the same painting to multiple people. For now I will not limit the number of prints and just see how it goes.  But any suggestions, thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading this!

8"x10" print on canvas paper available.  Limited editions of ten, numbered and signed. $30 (includes free shipping worldwide).

Cherries on Top

This piece was painted during my Modern Masters class at the Dundas Valley School of Art. My teacher, Jody Joseph was teaching the class to have one section of our painting be the lightest light.  I think that I did well with that concept in this painting and I am pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks for reading this and please feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, critiques, etcetera.

6"x8" Acrylic on Canvas Board/ $65 (includes free shipping world wide).

Graffiti Wall

So here is my latest digital finger painting using the iPad and a program called Brushes. This piece was painted outside at the Grand River Conservation Area near Homer Watson House and Gallery. The Graffiti under the Old Mill Road bridge is spectacular.

This is my first digital painting done outside. It was difficult to see the colours of the iPad screen even though the day was overcast. Oh well.

Thanks for reading this and cheers.

Yellow Rose

Here is yet another painting that was created using my iPad and the program, Brushes-iPad Edition. This beautiful rose was given to me by Forbes Waterloo Toyota after they repaired the tire on my car. :)

I need to paint quicker. I started this digital finger painting, took a break to make dinner and eat. When I returned to the painting, the petals of the rose had shifted. It was most frustrating.

I am also shocked at how different this looks on my home computer monitor than on my iPad.

Thanks for reading this and cheers!

8"x10" print on canvas paper available.  Limited editions of ten, numbered and signed. $30 (includes free shipping worldwide).

Tea Cup Party

Today was my painting class with my incredible painting teacher Laurie Wonfor Nolan.

We went on a class field trip to Southworks Antique Mall in Cambridge Ontario. I decided to try painting with my iPad using a program called Brushes-iPad Edition. I am still learning this program but I am very happy with the results.

The Antique Mall was full of amazing and strange items. The colour of these cups caught my eye, so I decided to try and paint them. I would have kept going with this painting but Laurie warned me that the painting would soon be finished.  I realized that I was not necessarily making the painting any better so I stopped and decided to leave it as is.

Thanks for reading this and cheers.

8"x10" print on canvas paper available.  Limited editions of ten, numbered and signed. $30 (includes free shipping worldwide).

Flowers for a friend

I recently listened to a fascinating interview with David Hockney and Jian Ghomeshi on CBC radio. You can listen to it here

David Hockney talked about his current exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum where he would paint flowers on his iPhone and send them to his friends via email as gifts.

A friend of mine has been going threw a stressful time so I decided to make her a bouquet of flowers using my Wacom Bamboo Graphics Tablet and GIMP 2.6. It is like a traditional painting but I used different tools to create it.

I painted this from observation and am very impressed with how it turned out. It only took me an hour and a half. If it were not for all my painting lessons this year, I would not have been able to pull this off so well.

I hope to do more pieces like this.

Thanks for reading this and cheers.

The Sun Shines Through

This is a painting that I did for homework for my Modern Masters class. My teacher Jody Joseph wanted her students to practice painting a window with cloth draped over and some sunshine coming through the cloth. I only used the primary colours to paint this. I learned a lot and am very happy with the final product.

12 1/2"x17 1/2" Acrylic on TerraSkin / $100 (includes free shipping world wide).

Playing Cards Still Life

I am taking a course about the modern master painters at the Dundas Valley School of Fine Arts in Dundas Ontario. The course is being taught by an incredible teacher named Jody Joseph.

Jody asked us to paint playing cards. I have attached my first stab at the homework assignment. I have to admit that I was totally intimidated so I tightened right up while I was painting. I need to practice mixing my whites and I need to get used to painting cards. I also need to relax a bit. Not overwork the piece.

Enjoy and thanks for reading this. :)

A Beautiful Backyard

This was painted in a Hespeler (Cambridge, Ontario, Canada) backyard garden. Hespeler really is a painters paradise.

I painted this while hanging out with the incredibly talented Jennifer Depencier. It was a fun, bright and sunny morning. Good times.

This was painted with Golden Heavy Body Acrylics on an 8"x 8" piece of Terra Skin.

Thanks for taking a look. :)

SOLD

Sunflower still life

My very first sunflower painting!

I have always wanted to paint sunflowers, so my mother purchased some for me as a gift. The sunflowers were a big challenge to paint, but I learned a lot.

I need to do more still life painting. I think that I am getting too comfortable with painting landscapes.

I also realized that my camera distorts my larger paintings. I need to figure out how to compensate for that. The wine glass looks much better on the original painting.

Thanks for looking.

SOLD

Little Riverside park

This was painted at Little Riverside Park in Hespeler Village in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

I was walking with some fellow painters to pick out our painting spots for an event called A Day & A Night in Hespeler Village. Nancy Brent pointed out a beautiful composition. So I went back and painted it. I was so pleased with the results. :)

Inksetter farm clouds

This was painted during a painting workshop at the Inksetter farm located on Old Beverly Road, just east of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. The workshop was being taught by the amazing Laurie Wonfor Nolan. If you ever want to learn how to paint, you need to take lessons from her.

We were studying how to paint clouds.  I found out that you have to paint quickly and try to stick to the original intent of the painting because those clouds move quickly. But it was so much fun.

Up close rose still life

This was painted during my trip to Umbria, Italy, in May of this year. I had painted these roses the previous day and wanted to try painting them again. I zoomed in on the roses which I think made for an ok composition. The previous day I had been studying Manet and was trying to mimic his style. 


Any comments, critiques or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 


Thanks for taking a look.

Tree and bell tower above the wall

This was painted during my trip to Umbria, Italy, in May of this year. I just love the architecture of Monte Castello di Vibo. I had never seen tall stone castle walls with beautiful buildings (complete with terracotta tiled roofs) on top. Such a magnificent place. :)

Stairway to the garden

This was painted in Umbria, Italy, beside the building for the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture (which is where I studied painting for two weeks in May). I was setting up my painting gear and just before I started painting, the property owner opened the gate to reveal a garden. I could not believe my good fortune.

Thanks for taking a look. :)

Rose still life

This was painted during my trip to Umbria, Italy, in May of this year. I was studying Manet and was trying to mimic his style. I painted this with another fellow student and it was interesting how different our pieces looked even though we were painting the exact same subject.

Thanks for taking a look. :)

Preston Towne Farmer's Market painting

Today I painted at the Preston Towne Farmer's Market located in Cambridge, Ontario. 

It was so much fun! I really enjoyed the live music, beautiful weather, friendly people and the lovely colours of the vendor's booths. 

I was there to advertise for a local upcoming event called A Day & A Night in Hespeler Village. Check it out! http://www.hespelervillage.com/art-meets-music---aug-27.html