I am fortunate to have art greeting cards and five of my paintings in the first show of 2023. The hanging committee does an exceptional job of hanging the paintings and placing the pottery, jewelry, knitted, sewn, woven art pieces to highlight each piece. Gratefully, Marg brought my paintings in for me and Bonnie does a wonderful job of making all the tags. If you are going through Enderby, B.C. it is really worth the stop. As an artist run gallery, there is no pressure as it is lovely to see people take a break and enjoy a feast for the eyes. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am until 4pm.

What  a wonderful morning! The group had decided to paint the area around the Red Lobster restaurant. What caught each artist's eye was really interesting. I used the restaurant table and had my easel beside it. The beautiful and very full bush that was leaning over and the colourful doorway behind caught my eye. Some of the artists did drawings and chose not to put them in the "smack down" at the end for the photo (see below). I love the name "smack down" as that is the sound of the sketchbooks on the tiles. This time I remembered to take a photo of the painting on the easel with the view (below).

"The Weight of Beauty"
8" x 11" oil on canvas sheet    #20024123

Working in a sketchbook takes the pressure off of a "finished piece". Wild colours and textures, experiments and most of all memories  are all captured. Below is a good example: the feathers are from Magi a Macaw parrot living on the property (water colour and ink). Diane feeds, waters, pets and talks to this bird daily and brought back a feather for me!! The feather was so interesting as each side had completely different colouring, I had no idea! The second is a pineapple (acrylic 10"x7") that I was about to cut up and decided to paint it first in a Robert Burridge style. It tasted as delicious as it looked. I picked a few flowers after visiting Magi, cut a plastic water bottle into a vase and enjoyed it for a couple of days before painting it in my 7"x5" watercolour sketchbook. Another beautiful sunset on the beach (7"x10" acrylic).

This very enjoyable couple of hours at Las Hamacas restaurant (before it opened for lunch) has a beautiful view of the ocean and beach. Some artists like myself chose to paint in the covered restaurant and others went down on the beach. At one point I counted 16 artists sketching and painting, what fun! Before everyone was gone, we did the "smack down" which is basically the sound of sketchbooks on the tile floor for a photo with those that want to participate (not a requirement) of finished and unfinished work. It is always so inspiring to see what has caught each artist's eye at the same location. 

"The Shade Huddle"
8" x 11" oil on canvas paper     #20019123

So happy to reconnect with the weekly plein air group in Mexico! We met last Saturday at Bungalows Azteca and happily planted ourselves around the grounds. Some painted by the pool, others in any shady spot available. The bungalows were all so brightly painted, it was a feast for the eyes. I planted myself in the shade and dug out my oil painting supplies hoping I did not forget anything.

Mid morning, my husband exchanged bikes so he could get mine fixed. I did not consider that his did not have any baskets when I left so had to balance and carry everything as I walked his bike. A vehicle drove by on the dusty dirt road and the breeze picked up my painting off the cardboard and it flipped upside down into the dirt, of course it did! I brushed off the larger bits and left the rest on to dry, hoping it would just brush off later. The smeared painting is  the second one below. Once it dried enough, I painted over with some of the same colours left on my palette. Some of the dirt is still on the ground in front of the bungalow. Plein air is always an adventure!

Mexican Bungalows
8" x 10" Oil on canvas pad  #20013123

Below is some of the artists' finished and unfinished paintings from my first plein air experience of 2023. I had so much fun being around these wonderful artists and found what they focused on very interesting and inspiring! Looking forward to the next outing at Las Hamacas,

I signed up for Kara Bullock's Art School "Let's Face It 2022" where a different instructor does an online demo once a week. I have been trying to paint along if I have the tools. Some of the classes required specific apps or programs (those I watched, but bypassed). I was in Mexico for the first 3 months with very limited supplies so did my rendition with what I had with me. That was fun, creative and challenging. The photos below are my renditions and the artist's name and link are below that. The first 3 were posted before the start of the course as warm up bonuses by Kara Bullock and bottom right was instructed by ​Jennifer Bonneteau. Once you have paid for the course you have access to it so I can continue with the weeks I am interested in now that I have more supplies. I happily signed up for "Let's Face It 2023" and in fact won the 2023 class, whoo hoo (thank you Kara Bullock!!)

Week 1. Top left - Lauren Rudolf. Week 2. Top middle - Robert Kelly  Week 3. Top right - Christa Forrest  Week 7. Bottom left - Nadyia Duff  Week 8. Bottom middle - Emma Petitt. Week 9. Bottom right - (Sculpture) Kathryn Lewis Day

 Week 10  Top left - Jennifer Bonneteau. Week 11 Middle -  Week 12 Top Right - Katrina Szyszkoski. ​Week 13 - Top left - Dylan Sara in handmade inks, mine is painted with coffee.

 Week 15 Top left - Dina Wakley abstract mixed media, Week 16 Middle -  ​Angela Kennedy, Week 17 Top right - Tara Roskell - abstracted face with water colour pencils, Week 18 Flo Lee @florenceleeandco, expressive portrait on toned background

It is with a very grateful heart that I thank everyone who has encouraged, bought my art, travelled this journey with me (near and far), commented, cheered, painted with me, helped with suggestions and expanded my learning on this very heartful art journey part of my life. I am looking forward to continuing this art journey with you and am very grateful to you, thank you!

These is an exploration of a photo that I thought would make an interesting painting. I worked through the stages in my sketchbook with thumbnail sketches (small sketches for shape placement and value) and then continued on in my sketchbook with a very rough oil painting. The end result was it was a nice photograph, but just wouldn't work up to a painting I would be excited to paint. Always great to have this work in a sketchbook as I may change my mind or come up with a different plan at another time. The top left is the photograph and a couple are black and white photos that I took to check my values. 

Wishing you a wonderful shared holiday with pets, friends and family. To my artist friends, I wish you a new year ahead of creative exploring!

Continuing on enjoying this year long course of a weekly demo, week 18 was an Expressive Portrait on a coloured ground or background. Flo Lee @florenceleeandco was the instructor. As soon as I saw her work, I loved the minimalist portrait work. Her explanation was calming, relaxing and very clear. This year long weekly course can be watched and gone back which is what I did with this one. I have signed up for "Let's Face It 2023" and look forward to more learning and exploration from various instructors.

The reference for this painting was taken by Shauna Flath. We talked about a commission but just couldn't get our schedules to line up so she sent my a few photos with permission to use them. This painting is a small portion of one of her photos. I could not paint the size she was looking for as I did not have the canvas and couldn't order one at that time. This is a very textural painting with the under layer having words cut out of magazines and other sources that had a lot of meaning for me. I then painted over top basically ignoring the textures. It's unfortunate that photos flatten everything out. Right now I am enjoying this painting on my wall but due to space issues have reluctantly put it under the Landscape tab on this website for sale.

I happily worked away at this acrylic painting with it finished in my mind. I got so far and then was stuck. What I was trying to do was not working out to my satisfaction. We went away for almost a month travelling and visiting family before I could get back at it. My initial tries did not work to what I had in mind, so I thought about it a little longer and voila, it worked and now I love it. Below the final painting are the stages it went through.

"Nature's Bounty"
14" x 22" Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas with scene flowing onto sides.
$460          #20112222

The top left is the canvas I started on. I keep a canvas on my wall that I try acrylic colours on, wipe my brush, use up paint at the end of my day. It is usually very vibrant and textural. I sketched over top in chalk to place everything. Painting in my shapes, I used chalk again to re-establish the fence and took a photo in black and white to check the values. I tried changing the shape of the trees, fence and haybales and just wasn't satisfied. After changing the values on the trees and the colour in the sky, I was finally happy. I am so happy with this painting, if I had room, this one would definitely be on my walls instead of my website!!

There was so much to see on this holiday. The Spanish people are friendly, quick to laugh and love their food, wine and beer. We averaged 18,000-20,000 steps a day, enjoying all the sights and history. I loved the food and beer. I have a cow dairy allergy and loved that it was mainly sheep or goat cheese and very little butter in their meals. We did finish our holiday in Amsterdam but the only sketch I did was of the family's home that we stayed in. They had a mother-in-law suite (think high end boutique hotel room with mini kitchen, a bathroom and own entrance) that we rented on the north side of Amsterdam. We took the free ferry that runs 24 hours across to the north shore and walked about 10 minutes to their Air BnB. They had a beautiful guest book and someone had skipped a page so I sketched their home as part of our write up (bottom picture). Our private entrance was through the gate on the right.

Two favourite activities combined; a holiday and sketching. This trip was shared with our son for the first week and my husband and I continued on for 2 more weeks. We were so busy visiting the sites, food and weather that my sketches were drawn but painted later. I usually like to do them to completion and if possible on site. Our son Curtis and I hiked the 8 km El Caminita Del Rey which for me was one of the highlights of the trip. Rhonda, Nerja, Frigiliana, Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla and Malaga were all walked, hiked and as many sites/sights taken in that our time would permit. I toured the Picasso Museum in Malaga and many castles. We travelled by rented car with Curtis then by bus and train for the rest until we flew from Malaga to Amsterdam for our last 3 nights. We really enjoyed our time there as well seeing the sights, a canal boat tour, renting bikes to go into the neighbouring towns but was to busy to sketch with so much to see and do. Stood beneath a windmill on our bike ride, not realizing how big those blades are! 

This is the third year my friend Ev and I had a wonderful 3 night holiday at this beautiful Beaver Lake Mountain Resort last month. The accommodation was perfect, this year we were in the Bear cabin. Ev is a superb cook and I do well cleaning up and keeping the wood fireplace burning so when we were inside the ambiance, warmth and light was relaxing. I managed to plein air paint standing on the shore and our private dock. We spent a good part of one day paddling around the lake in the resorts kayaks, even having our lunch of charcuturie board we picked up from Intrigue Wines on our way up to the resort. Our feast was spread across our kayaks while we enjoyed the stillness of this fishing lake and the scenery surrounding us. There was enough for 2 lunches! Once again, we had a wonderful, relaxing, fun filled stay in our delightful "Bear" cabin. The morning coffees at the office were a wonderful start to the day (thank you!). The joy, laughter, paddling, scenery, reconnecting and even a memory lane dance party were just a few of the (to many to list) highlights of this holiday. A special thank you to Daniela from both of us!! The painting of the 2 red chairs was happily gifted to Ev's father Tony.

Our intrepid Eagle Valley Arts Council is having an evening and matinee with the first theatre production in quite a number of years. Cindy MacKrell is the director and energy behind this evening (SCAT - Sicamous Community Amateur Theatre) with the play "Working Stiffs". Also organized by the Arts Council is a painting challenge showcasing 3 artists painting "live", a talent show, the photography club's presentation of a photo show, karaoke etc. It will be a fun evening of celebrating the wide range of arts within the Arts Council and the surrounding area of Sicamous. Grab your tickets for this Saturday evening or Sunday matinee. Your invitation is below with my donation of original mixed media painting called "Dance Moves". Thanks in advance to everyone that is participating and volunteering their talents and energy!

With a very busy summer, I decided to make a sketch book out of random discarded papers. I had been tossing interesting used papers in a basket for collage work. Instead, these were gathered up and made into a unique sketchbook. I watched a Youtube video where random flowers were rolled up and steamed to make beautiful marks in a sketchbook. Well that did not work for me but I decided to keep going and make it a playful floral sketchbook. 

Some of the pages were tracing paper that I had used to transfer drawn images on canvas, tickets, music sheets, book pages, used painters tape on paper, palette papers, BC Ferries ticket, lottery ticket, water colour paper pieces etc. for a variety to work on. This book was meant to be pure play! I worked on random pages with left over paint, cut outs, anything I had handy and are still working in it.

On the top left photo you can see the left hand side of the unpainted page and the right side is painted. The second page shows the flowers that did not leave a bright mark when I tried to steam them in and on the right of that photo is actually tracing paper I used to transfer a dog portrait I drew onto canvas - it is turned sideways but the design worked well. Discarded paper cutouts on the bottom left and a negative painted flower on the right (I drew the flower and painted around it, not in it). 

"Blooming Fun"
16" x 12" acrylic on canvas board, #20102022

This is the end result of a fun teaching day about negative painting with the Eagle Valley Brush and Palette Club. I saw this on Robert Burridge"s weekly "Bob Blast". We each picked 3 colours (a red, blue and yellow) and splattered, smudged and finger marked these colours randomly all over our canvas. Rigmor brought in different shaped vases to help us decide on what our vase would look like. Negative painting (painting the background, not the "thing") around the splattered paint to carve out a table top, vase and flowers. Then going back in to add details, refine shapes and shadows and "Ta da....lesson completed!" As usual when I teach, this one was finished in the studio as I find walking around talking to participants and answering questions fills my time.

I was to host on September 24 in the Courtyard Gallery in Enderby B.C. I arrived to find the power turned off for the whole town (planned outage). It took me a little while to figure it out and I finally came across a couple people next door who let me know. First of all, the drive from Sicamous was beautiful and peaceful and I thoroughly enjoyed the splendor and with little traffic.
I was celebrating my birthday that day and had made mini cupcakes to share with gallery visitors; neighbours and my husband enjoyed them instead. I posted on Facebook and Instagram as I had written a blog and told friends and family I would be there and now was not. As well, my sister Shannon and my Mom were going to drive up to surprise me so glad I posted that I wasn't going to be there.
Another Courtyard Gallery artist, Cynthia Langford had left a message on my phone the previous day but due to my phone notifications being accidentally turned off, I missed that key piece of info (thanks Cynthia!!).
A beautiful afternoon hike with my husband and the stunning lake and Sicamous views was another wonderful way to celebrate! Thank you to those we had planned on celebrating with me!!
Below is another painting sold at the Courtyard Gallery in Enderby and views from our hike.

"Sunshine Welcome"
Plein Air, Oil, 10" x 8"    SOLD

I am going to be the host this Saturday September 24 from 10am until 4pm and would love to see you. I am also the Featured Artist for the month of September and have the full wall when you come in of my paintings, unframed art and frameable greeting cards. It is exciting to see my "painting" face on the Courtyard Gallery website under "Exhibition" tab. ​https://courtyardgallery.ca/#exhibit

Finally digging out my plein air paints and set up in the spring, I painted a scene of a decorative mailbox and the flowers around it in the flower garden. I did not do any thinking about the design, just wanted to paint. When I was done, I was happy with the experience but not the painting, sigh. While on my shelf drying, it continually annoyed me with the extremely poor composition but I loved the colours.

​Finally a thought came to continue with the flowers that drew me to the scene to begin with. I am so much happier with this painting (bottom) and love the contrast of the warm earth tones and the cool blues.

"Spring Fling" - flinging the paint!
8" x 10" Oil on canvas board
​#20020922

These were painted in my homemade 5" x 7" watercolour sketch book on our Vancouver Island holiday. The views were excitingly fresh and new to me along with the colours. A new positive traveling experience always seem brighter and exciting. I sketched the scenes around me and even had time to sketch while awaiting our lunch at a lakeside pub. The final paintings were at the ferry in Powell River awaiting our ferry and even a sketch of the man ahead of me. I thought his hair was fascinating and he sat still while looking out the window. For that sketch, I used a black Elegant Marker calligraphy pen and added water with a water brush, what fun!

I am grateful (and doing a happy dance!) to be the Featured Artist for the month of September at the Courtyard Gallery in Enderby, B.C. As you go in, the large blue wall contains my paintings and below it are some unframed works and greeting cards. It really is an overwhelming feelings to see a body of work together. I also have a few pieces in the regular area of the gallery. The poster below has been posted around town as well as emailed to all members. Please check it out. I will be hosting in the gallery on September 7 and 24 this month.

The photo below is of my paintings and artist statement on the wall. Yup, still doing the happy dance!!! Please come and see my work and all the other artists beautiful paintings, glass work, fibre art, jewelry, pottery, sculpture, cards and more.

I am so delighted that some of my art cards are now being sold in 2 boutiques in Sicamous, B.C. Diane at Wild Beauty Wellness Bar + Apothecary is carrying my hand drawn "Colour Yours" cards as well as a variety of others. Val at Lily of the Valley Floral Boutique is now selling my floral cards. They both have them beautifully displayed in their lovely shops. If you are in Sicamous, please go check them out, they are wonderful to talk to as well as shop at.

​Courtyard Gallery in Enderby, B.C. also has a large variety of my art cards as well. All the cards are based on art I have painted. The cards are blank inside to be used for anything you need.

Above, an assortment of floral cards (blank inside) at Lily of the Valley Floral Boutique (say hi to Val and check out her beautiful work).

Wild Beauty Wellness Bar + Apothecary has a wide individually drawn art cards "Colour Yours" for you or your receiver to colour in, as well as some funky others. Diane's friendly greeting and the wonderful smells and visual displays are worth the trip. Wildbeauty.ca  @wildbeauty

The Courtyard Gallery in Enderby, B.C. has a wide assortment: landscapes, waterscapes, animal, people, floral, "Colour Yours" and still life.

My husband and I went on a camping trip to the Sunshine Coast, B.C. for 3 nights. It was a feast for an artist's eyes! I brought my homemade water colour paper sketch book and tried to sketch and paint on location although a couple were finished from a photo. The 5" x 7" sketchbook was perfect for sitting on the edge of the water with the tide creeping closer.