"Freedom Lies In Being Bold"
​12" x 12" Original acrylic painting on canvas with 1 1/2" painted sides (no framing required)
#20028118 To buy this painting on sale, click herewww.karenoliversfineart.com/painting-of-the-week.html

This painting is part of a 50's Fashion Series. Travelling together on one bike was both a skill and common. Dressed to be seen and having a blast with your best friend was the feeling I was presenting. A bike provides freedom, time, space and adventures ahead. The title is a quote by Robert Frost and is a reminder to keep that part of being young.
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This started as a series of abstract "play with new colours" mixed media. Starting with collage, marks and mixing the limited palette. Setting it aside and working on other pieces with the same colours, I left them to dry. I often see faces in my abstract work and this was no exception, a lady with a crown kept looking at me so I continued looking and saw a variety of people and objects from my past (won't spoil the view with listing them). You, the viewer will put your own experiences, views and relate in a different way to art...enjoy!

"The Queen's Court"
9" x 9" Mixed Media on watercolour paper,   #20020121

Picture 1 below - starting new mixed media pieces  2. photo in black and white to look at values, as I can't do the artist "squinty eye thing".  3. Work in progress

My friend Karen is helping to update my website and my inventory. Consequently I am looking at some of my favourite work and adding it. This is one of them, an encaustic abstracted landscape or weather view. I love the rich colours and the thick texture in this one!

​ "Winter Weather Coming In"
16" x 12" Framed in a 23" x 19" Burgundy frame, Original encaustic painting #20018121
  This week $300 including shipping in Canada and USA (Regular price $350 without shipping)      #paintingoftheweek #originalencausticpainting #karenoliversfineart #canadianart #abstractedlandscapepainting #winterpainting #originalartwork #paintingforsale #colourfulwinterpainting #canadianartist

I am so excited!!! I now have card sets on this website. My friend Karen has been helping with my website and now offer these beautiful printed cards of my paintings. They are in sets of 4 for $20 (shipping and handling included to Canada and U.S.A.) Please place order them here. 
Florals

Landscapes

From "My Happy Place"

"Beyond Habitat" 
​ Acrylic on water colour paper, max. size 29" x 21"  #20015121
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I took a 2 day workshop with Connie Geerts called "Loose and Large". This was the first painting we worked on, all using our own designs after Connie gave a demo. It felt like speed painting to me with large brushes on a full sheet of gesso'ed water colour paper (30" x 22") and we only had the morning (couple of hours) to work on it, whew!! The bottom left is in the stage I took it back to my studio, then a black and white photo to check for values. I am not sure if I am going to mount it on a canvas, or a board and frame so not sure of the final size.

"Canmore" 
16" x 20" oil on canvas, framed     #20006121  Not For Sale

This is the first painting that I did as a Christmas gift this year. I painted it in oil so it needed about 3 weeks to dry once completed. A friend posted a photo on Facebook of the Three Sisters Mountain range in Canmore Alberta after they did a wonderful river walk. I don't paint from anyone's photo without permission, but did to surprise them with it as a Christmas gift. Their family have created many wonderful memories here.  #paintingmakesmehappy #landscapepainting #canadianartist #originalartwork #giftedpainting #oillandscapepainting
#karenoliversfineart #joyfulpainting #thinkingoffriendswhilepainting

Meet Mojo, my sister Shannon's very busy pug puppy. This is a surprise Christmas pet portrait to hang with her paintings of her deceased pug ChiChi. When ChiChi passed away, the stars aligned and very quickly Mojo came into their lives. It was great to hear the laughter that only a new puppy can bring. I painted the background of Mojo's portrait to represent just how busy he is at this stage!

  "Mojo", Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas, 9" x 9"   #20130220

I was at a workshop with Connie Geerts called Loose and Large. We could paint from an animal reference that Connie brought or one of our own. I quickly sent our daughter a text asking for any photos of Freddie. This painting is on a full sheet of watercolour paper 30" x 22". It was very strange to paint a pet portrait that large and FAST!. I managed to get what you see above finished in the class. I outlined first with tape then with chalk, to see the final composition and size that I wanted, so I did not waste anymore time and paint on the rest.

"Freddie" Acrylic on Water colour paper,  mounted on board  #20128220
This is the finished painting. I wrapped and mailed it to our daughter and son-in-law in their Christmas parcel as sadly they could not be joining us this year (due to Covid restrictions). I would of wanted to see their reaction. It was really hard painting an all black dog, but I did have fun with wild non-traditional colours.

A huge thank you to Vernonique, Sue, Ross, Kathi, Deb and Bill for their purchase of original paintings in the fund raiser for the Red Barn Art Center. Also thank you goes out to those people that supported me with their kind comments, likes and shares on social media, it was wonderful to be supported. Dec 27 a $480 e-transfer was made from this fund raiser. There are a few days and 4 paintings left if you are interested - click here.

   "Pierre" Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas, 9" x 9"  #20131220

This was a surprise Christmas gift for Brent (a friend of our son's) of his dog Pierre.  I have wanted to paint Pierre for a long time and this Christmas season with the extra time at home, I finally had a chance! Pierre seems like quite a character and has wonderful shapes to his face. The photo above is what I based my painting on. The photo on the left is the "work-in-progress", working up the shapes to get the features. I loved the orange/red background to work on and how it peeks out of the final painting.

For someone who gets carsick quickly and randomly, interestingly I can sketch in the car while being a passenger. Looking straight ahead or at the sketchbook page seems to help. When we are driving behind a vehicle for awhile, I quickly sketch what I see of the vehicle ahead. I don't know anything about cars so really have to look as their shape or details (brake lights) etc. are not known to me. I have to sketch quickly as they may turn, pass or be passed at any minute. I usually sketch in ink as there is no time to erase and it is hard enough to keep my sketchbook and pen in hand.

​My favourite is to sketch in one continuous line without taking my pen off the paper. This makes some areas have multiple lines as I go back and forth and all the road bumps make very squiggly lines but I love the character it gives.

 #inksketches #sketchingontheroad #travelsketches #karenoliversfineart #sketchingforfun #urbansketch

This mixed media piece has layers including tape, pastel, pencil, acrylic paint. It was a cold blustery day and I was watching the wind blow the leaves off the trees. I wanted to capture the trees fullness before they were stripped of their beauty for the winter. This painting has been juried into the Federation of Canadian Artists "Works On Paper" and will be for sale at their Vancouver Granville Island Gallery January 25 to Feb 7, 2021.

"Tangled On The Prairie"
Mixed media on watercolour paper, 8" x 10"  #20101220
#karenoliversfineart  #colourfulart #mixedmediaartfun #canadianartist #colourfulartwork #originalartwork #mixedmediapainting

I felt like I needed to have some fun and two things came to mind right away - being outdoors (currently cold here) and cycling. Looking through my photos I found one that I had taken on a holiday. There was a dark brick wall behind the bike which did not suit my mood. I started with a painted drawing, then added a colourful underpainting (1). Building the brick in and defining the bike (2) then took a black and white photo to check the values. The finished painting is now on my drying rack (bottom photo). Hopefully this looks as fun as it was to paint, just what I needed! I will have cards made of this painting with a blank inside so it can be used for anything fun or celebratory.

"The Beginning And The End"
16" x 20" Oil on canvas, #20126120    For Sale under "Just For Fun" tab
​#paintingmakesmehappy #oilpainting #paintinglife, #canadianartist #originalartwork #karenoliversfineart #happyart #bicycleoilpainting

​Oh this was fun! I was working on an underpainting and this one painted itself. When I was done, removed the tape and turned it around, there was a white dog looking at me. It immediately reminded me of our daughter and son-in-law's dog Freddie. Freddie follows commands but "wait" is hard for him as he gets so distracted by anything and everything around him. Freddie is completely black so it was fun that this dog is white and very similar in looks.

Now that we are in cold weather again, my thoughts turned to my "snowbird friends". This would of been the first winter we could of gone away for an extended time. The cold swirling air around my "homebird" while looking shocked at me from the end of her branch is the internal view I have of this situation.

 "Snowbird, Now Homebird"
Mixed media on water colour paper, 6 3/4" x 10"  #20116020
#karenoliversfineart  #colourfulart #mixedmediaartfun #paintedimaginarybird #canadianartist #colourfulartwork #originalartwork #mixedmediapainting, #snowbird

For Remembrance Day, sketching while thinking of Flanders Field and those that are or have suffered through war. 
#RemembranceDay #familyandfriendsinwar #sketchbookmemories #Doodlewash #KarenOliversFineArt  #inkandwatercoloursketch

This painting started with an abstract underpainting using Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Yellow Ochre, Phthalo Blue, black and white. This is a mixed media piece that also has pastel and pencil. As I was working I was thinking about how great it was to have time in my studio and on the flip side, how difficult it is for everyone to figure out how to fulfill their obligations during this pandemic, hence the balls in the air. The juggling is uncomfortably high and my person is looking forward with no time for looking back.
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"Balls In The Air"
​Mixed Media on water colour paper, 8" x 10", #20110120
#karenoliversfineart  #colourfulart #mixedmediaartfun  #canadianartist #colourfulartwork #originalartwork #mixedmediapainting

"Sit (Check), Now Wait?????"
Mixed Media on watercolour paper,  10" x 8"   #20119120
#karenoliversfineart  #colourfulart #mixedmediaartfun #paintedimaginarydog #canadianartist #colourfulartwork #originalartwork #mixedmediapainting

This fun abstract painting really painted itself. I was working on an underpainting and when I was done I saw a white dog. It reminds me of our daughter and son-in-law's dog Freddie. Freddie will follow commands but "Wait" or "Stay" seem especially hard as you can see how distracted he gets by everything around him.

This was fun to do and out of my comfort zone with no end result to work towards.  Day 4 was "Play", What colours are right for me? Obviously bright and happy colours are my go to. One colour I played with that I love is Radiant Turquoise. This was a colour I purchased as I loved it in an artist friend's work but did not incorporate it in my art. I played with colours, lines and shapes. The first photo below is the way I painted it but when done, liked it turned around as well.

Day 5 Discernment and How can I create more of what I love? I found the questions Nicholas asked us and the painting lesson on our own work was very inspiring. I loved painting in this fun, abstract and physical way but felt like I wanted it to have more of a story. The red colour and circle marks made me think of our fruit tree that we had to cut down this summer so I went with that. 

"La Fruta"
Mixed media on water colour paper 10" x 8"  #20107120
#mixedmediapainting #colourfulart #canadianartist #contemporaryartist #karenoliversfineart #originalartwork #colourfulartwork #mixedmediapainting

I enjoyed a free 5 day online class which includes an email with thoughts to consider and questions to answer for ourselves to fill in on our "compass" sheet he included. We then post on a group Facebook page and comment on other's work especially if they are asking for input. Nicholas does a daily talk and paint to show us his process and thinking, usually around 30 minutes. I have been painting as he is talking/demoing  then end when he ends. It feels brave to put these tidbits of learning out "there". Day 1 - 3 in order.

Day 1 After journaling on our "compass", we were to make marks of any kind, and with any tool, I keep a 36"x12" hanging in my studio that I put left over paint or to try different things so I decided to use it with paint I had on my palette. Low and behold I saw 2 faces looking back pensively at me so I painted around them, what a fun surprise.

Day 2 (on left) "Where have you been and what made you happy as a child", Day 3 (center and right) "Where are you now and what inspires your creativity". So far all were "play", very messy and felt "child like". We were also journaling each day to questions on our "compass" journal page.

Funky Flower Fun
9 1/2" x 8 1/2" Mixed media on watercolour paper   #20125102

This painting was so messy and fun to do! I took a photo of the painting in progress and the palette beside as they were both so full of colour, shapes, lines and messy looking. I started painting in the background in white then changed my mind and went with a colour I don't use much - purple, a deep, dark and rich purple. So nice to do something different and fun.

Day 5 was all about "Discernment and Refinement". What do you like and what do you want to let go of? Number 1, way to (fun but) busy, 2. need to simplify and see a subject 3. Like textures and layers and still want to see them. 
This workshop was enjoyed and challenging. Nicholas Wilton had an array of services on his website Art2Life.

"La Fruta"
​10" x 8", mixed media on water colour paper, #20107120 For Sale

I found a spot to park my car at the edge of a rural driveway and walked a bit to this view of what the high water left in this tributary. The sky was reflecting on what little water that was left. The contrast between the shadows and sunshine is what caught my eye as I was driving by, the time was right. Two neighbouring men, curious as to what I was doing and then the owner of the driveway I was parking beside stopped for a chat and to see what I was doing. All were very pleasant, friendly and interesting which I feel is all infused into this calm and peaceful painting.

"The Time Is Right"
8" x 10" oil on canvas panel, en plein air (painted on location), #20122020    $80 unframed

Lucky, lucky me! Due to the Covid requirements my friend Evelyn helped out Dany at the Beaver Lake Mountain Resort and in return was offered a 2 night stay in one of their beautiful cabins. Here is where the lucky me comes in...I was invited to join her and we both celebrated our birthdays with this get away. In our wood stove heated cabin named Otter, we cooked wonderful food, enjoyed drinks, laughter, walks, exploring the lake by fishing boat and evening board games were a real relaxing treat . I painted one afternoon while Evelyn read and Dany  dropped by for a visit. Oh, to be sooooo spoiled!, thank you Evelyn and Dany!!!

"Invitation To Relax"
8" x 10" oil on canvas panel, en plein air (on location), #20119020