This beauty was painted on site in a wonderful wetland in BC early one spring. The sound of happy birds filled the air. The lovely pink blooms of a distant tree caught my eye, along with the soft muted greens, that inspired me to create this plein air painting. I love this wetlands area and I visit it every time I’m in that part of BC.
I so enjoyed painting this lovely fall scene on the prairies of Alberta in the small town of Rosebud. The large grain elevators of today are different from the historical ones, however I still value the important role they play in our rural farming lifestyle. The leaves were rapidly falling as I painted this on a very windy day along side the shelter of my car. The textures and colours worked so well to tell the story.
This was painted on site in Kananaskis along the shores of the Bow river in early spring. I love the transition of seasons and the touch of snow that still remained yet the river had begun to flow again. The red willows certainly captured my eye with the Rocky Mountains in the background, it set itself up to be immortalized as a painting. The rick textures that working with a palette knife and oils allows also creates the feeling of the rugged environment of the west.
This fun little plein air painting was created on site in the height of an Alberta autumn in the foothills. The golden yellow leaves of the aspen trees were so bright and cheery when the first morning light captured my attention. Created again using oils and palette knife it enables me to move quickly and be very gestural before the light changes.
Inspired from a walk on a road on the west side of Columbia Lake BC in the fall. I painted these interesting pine trees and late day shadows, first on site in plein air as a small 6 X 6 study. Then re created it in the studio in this larger size, as I so loved the fall colours contrasted by the rich aqua colours of the lake. The colours simply sang to me and I just had to paint them. I enjoyed such a feeling of joy and calm as I spent time in this location.
This plein air landscape painting was created at the base of one of the Rocky Mountains, called Mount Yamnuska, west of Calgary. The reason for the name of this piece is that we saw evidence of bears in the area, but we set up to paint anyways! It was easy to imagine them loving this area and playing in the fields and streams.
This beautiful late summer scene captured my interest in the many textures and variety of shapes. It features warm lighting with golden yellow marshland interspersed with evergreens and framed in by the mountains. The water glistened in the warm sunshine and we were entertained by many large dragon flies.
I painted this scene on my farm from my car in about -30 degree temp. I was doing a 30 day painting challenge in January one year. I had to paint from life each day, not from photographs. I’d run out of views from my home windows and decided it was too cold to drive very far, so I just went down my lane. The warmth of the late sun shining across the hay field really doesn’t show how very cold it was. I have a steering wheel easel that I use for painting from the car that’s really quit a cool invention. The round hay bales dusted with snow is a familiar winter scene here on the prairie landscape.
It was a warm chinook day in January, so I walked to this location from my home on the farm. I set up my plein air easel and painted for a couple of hours. Such an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. This is a small piece that holds the value contrasts so well. Created en plein air and with a palate knife in order to work quickly as the lighting changes fast as the afternoon sun goes down on the prairies. The warm yellows of the tall canary grasses contrasted by the dark shadows on the snow really captures this scene beautifully. I really enjoy the textures in this piece that was created using a palette knife.
This piece was created on the final day of a thirty day painting from life challenge in January. I drove out west to the foothills and stopped along this snow covered creek called the “Dogpound Creek”. Kind of fun to walk out onto the ice and set up my easel to capture a view I that would in other scenes, be impossible to paint. I loved the rich deep reds of the dogwood shrubs and the lovely shadows cast onto the creek.
This lovely breezy seashore landscape was painted on site on the Big Island of Hawaii. It was painted by standing on lava rock formations, on the beach area called ” Place of Refuge” It has quite a history and I loved the ancient old ruins of a lava rock wall, you can see at the base of the palm trees. It was an over cast day and the wind was blowing, rustling the palm trees ever so gently. I also enjoyed the contrast of the black lava rocks agains the lovely warm tones of the sand. It was painted mainly with palette knife.