Peanut Rock

Do you see the subtle change in my style?  I simplified the trees and gave them an element of impressionistic simplicity.  This work has a lot of interesting things happening, from reflective light along the wet shore, to the power of wind and an interesting 3 colour background.

Acrylics
12x14
$400

Morning Drama

I 

This scene can be traced back to my drive across the North Shore of Lake Superior. First a walk, then a photograph, then a sketch and then a painting in my studio.

Its fun to take a scene which was relatively flat with medium tonal values, and to give it colour, life and drama. Take a look into the foreground trees to see the variety of colours.  The reflections of light and colour into the water give it a lot of beauty.

Acrylics
12x14
$400

Surprised by Colour - A Painting from the Kicking Horse Flats

This painting took a while to paint. It began with me painting on location along the Kicking Horse River.  There is a playful dynamics of colour in my interpretation of this scene.

Acrylics
12x14
$400

Abandoned

This work began with a blank canvas. Nothing more - nothing less.  There was no photograph, no sketch, no advance planning.

I stood in front of the canvas a painted a line and let it unfold from within.

Before the Storm

I love metaphorical paintings.  This work is representative of the human condition, and we can each find a time when there is a place of peace within ourselves while the storm rages and blows around us.

The approaching storm can be seen in the sky and trees to the left of the pine tree. The centre of the pine clear, the sky is blue and there is hope.

This work was painted with three concentric circles in the upper half and there is a big circular path around the rocks. The rocks are aligned like an arrowhead, pointing towards the focal area in the centre of the wind blown pine tree.

This work began after as sketching trip to the Bowen Farm, north of the lake where I live.

Acrylics
11x14
$500

Revielle

Reveille
The awakening of the soul
An epiphany like the blowing of a trumpet.

I strived for movement and height and vitality in the forest above the beaver dam.

Kicking Horse Flats

This work evolved from a plein air study of the Kicking Horse Flats, east of town.  It has lots of color and power and movement in the sky and upper mountains.

Drama above and serenity below.

Creek Behind our Home

This little creek runs behind our mountain home.  The reality is.......everything in the stream is a blending of hues between black and white. I painted colour into it. After all, isn't the job of the artist to improve nature?

Dinner Dance

I sought to capture that rare moment when the osprey rises from the water, with a large, writhing fish in its talons.  It flies towards the foreground post where it will have its dinner.

12x16
acrylics

Nature's Roundabout

I finally got around to finishing this work. Funny how it goes. A work often seems to be complete but when it isn't seen for six months, you look at it with new eyes.

This work, as indicated by title began about a year ago (or maybe more) when Lynda and I took a trip out to a small campground along the Bluewater. I knew when I saw it that a painting was about to happen.

This work is an interesting mountain scene. I used long vertical brushstrokes to get the feeling of height. See where the rapids race by the bottom of the cliff? I painted the cliff in reddish hues to add vitality to the forest greens. This is a painters trick. Its a back and forth trade off between relatively complimentary colours. This helps build the power of both colours.

Finally to emphasize the drama of the scene, I painted the sky with parallel  movement and drama as you find in the river below. Lots of fun.

18x24
acrylics

The Mount

This joyful painting could be from any of a dozen or more Caribbean islands. The evening sun strikes the Mount, and bathes it in golden light and a solitary palm blows in the breezes along the shore.
Its a watercolour and I painted it a couple of years ago.  A dear friend suggested that if the viewer looks carefully behind a rock, you might find the lovely head of a little dog looking out at you.
An excellent Canadian artist, who looked at my paintings, said..."Let me tell  you what I like about your works....they make me feel happy."  That's a comment which "I have heard a few times now.

9x12
watercolour

St. Albans Church. Reed's Beach. Barbados, 2012.

This painting is of a local church along the beach where my wife and I hang out.  We met some Canadians on the beach and one thing led to another, and before the Canadians flew back home to Thunder Bay, one of them purchased this work - unfinished.  (Brave soul that she is).

I wanted to get the picture 'right', so I worked on the sky. Mamma (my resident art critiquer), and I had a few conversations about where it was heading.  So, I suggested that she take it to the beach with her after the prospective purchaser went home, and to discuss it with another friend.

A couple of American tourists saw my wife and her friend looking at the painting and they were drawn to take a look at it.  My wife said that one of them said that she would have bought it on the spot......if it were not for the fact that they had spent all their money on the vacation and were heading home the next day.

Strange how it goes. Its either feast or famine when you're a painter.

Free Spirit Barbados 2012

Free Spirit, exemplifies my style of Caribbean painting. Since most Caribbean islands are small, they are deeply influenced by the sea. Land and sea, interact and this means that people interact with the land and sea. Follow the movement from the sky on the left, into the trees, above the boat, into the shadow on the trunk of the tree on the right, down the trunk to the shade. The big circle, ends with the sea.
I have circled the boat and all the action takes place in the centre.

What is the little boy doing on top of the boat? Are the men talking as they work or are they talking to the boy? Go ahead, create your own story.

24x30
$900

Cane to Morgan Mills Completed in 2012

This scene was taken from the road which leads from Farley Hill down to Morgan Mills Windmill, and to the Atlantic coast below. I worked on it over the span of two visits to Barbados.

Its about 30x36 in size and it looks pretty good hanging on the wall behind our sofa.

$2,000 cd

'Hurry Home Baby' Barbados 2012 no. 1.

This is the first of my 2012 paintings from Barbados.

Hurry Home Baby catches the spirit of love which exists between a Bajan washerwoman and her man.
Love somehow bridges the age old struggle between land and sea.

10x14 inches

Sorry, but this one is gone.
I could have sold it 10 times.

But,the good news is, a bigger painting of this scene will soon be posted. It will be available for purchase.

Ladies Tea, St. James Parish, Speightstown

This small watercolour (9"x12") is one of my favourite works. It is possibly the most frequently requested painting from my collection, by prospective purchasers.  I was invited it to show it in the New York Art Expo.  They say that everything has a price.  Everything, except this painting. Its one of my favourites.

The Mount: Atlantic Coast, Barbados 2012

We arrived in Barbados two days ago, and I had no sooner entered our beautiful home away from home and I looked at the wall and thought: "This must be changed."

Strange how it works. Its too easy to fall in love with a work before it's finished. How do you know when its done?  That's easy. Hang it on the wall, lock the door, get on an airplane and return home to Canada and forget about it.  Then when you walk in the room a  year later, it looks like a painting that someone else painted. The first thing I did was pull it down from the wall and complete the job.
Well......its not completely done, for I did it on stretched canvas and still haven't painted its sides, and if you look carefully, you will see that I haven't signed it off.

Let me tell you what I like about this work. Its a scene from the Atlantic coast of Barbados, and I got caught up in the sweep of things. The wind blowing off the ocean, and sweeping up the hill and around the magnificent mount. The picture, like so many of my works, has lots of motion. You can almost imagine the bite of sand and the spray striking your skin.  Notice too how I circled the mount with clouds, and I completed the circle by making rolling hills leading up its side.

I have only been here a couple of days and my imagination is excited with the prospect of another good winter of painting.

24x30 inches
$900

Moonlit Fantasy

There are times when the mood is on you and this was one of those times.  I had been looking at an intriguing play of light in the mountains and thought that it would be fun to work it into a painting.
Its pretty much traditional to begin a painting with a values sketch - to work it all out with pencil and paper before making a commitment with paint. But get this.

I playfully painted the sky and thought, it would be good to put some trees in the moonlight, and the rest went from there - one whimsical brush stroke after the other, with the muse leading the way.

 Its basically a pretty straightforward work; sky, hills trees, water and some mist. But, its not what you paint - but how you paint.  The subject is subordinate to how you arrange your subject matter and how you work your values into it. This creates atmosphere.

I knew I had a winner, when I left it sitting on my kitchen table.  Everyone who saw it, "ooh'd and aaah'd.

It was fun to play with the diffusion of moonlight, and spread it into the painting.  I intentionally laid in a faint band of mist on the left side, to catch the moonlight and carry it forward into the middle zone of the work.  In the end, I tossed in a few touches of light on the grass and on the foreground trees and a few little touches of light, here and there to give the impression of sparkle. (can you find them at the bottom). I balanced these off with touches of starlight at the top. Ahh the joys of being a painter!

For those with an analytical spirit, this work measures in at 46cm x 60cm (16"x24").
And finally - it hasn't found a wall to hang on at this time of writing.

Sketching in the Woods

This work is often called a 'painter's sketch'. I did it below Burnt Dam this afternoon.  It's a small 8x10 painting, and I cracked it off in little more then an hour.

Plein air painting has a certain rushing quality about it. There's not a lot of time available for thoughtful consideration and planning.  You look, spread  your paints onto your palette, then click and shoot.

Peaceful Reflections and the Big Rectangle

Peaceful Reflections
16x20

I was deep into an art talk the other day, when a friend and I discussed how this work has elements of the traditional Renaissance style with the subject arranged within a rectangular form.  Take a careful look at this work.  Do you see the big rectangle in the water?  Check out the upper corner of the rectangle - where the focal point is.  Here is the uncanny thing.  I didn't plan it.  It happened without forethought.

Stroke for stroke this work took me longer to paint then any other painting of this size that I have ever done.  If I could peel off the successive layers I might be able to pull back a dozen different paintings. But, as my father used to say, long ago..."If a job is worth doing, its worth doing right."

Autumn on the Bay

This little work has been cooking on the back burner for a couple of months. It began with me sketching above burnt dam, and it ended when the leaves were turning colour. I was searching for that late season colouring, when the trees for the most part were wearing their yellow/green foliage. I intentionally gave the foreground tree its red tones so it would dominate the scene.  There is also a lot of blurring in its leaves to suggest that the branches are shaking in the wind.

size: 8x10

I wonder if this unknown man is looking at the blue ribbon painting above him. I would like to think so, but who really knows?

The paintings you see were part of the Norwood Fair's art display.  I had been tempted to enter a painting or two in the show, for the last 3 years, but I held back.  The truth is - there lurks beneath the surface of this mild mannered painter, a fiercely competitive being. I knew that if I entered my works before my time, I wouldn't stand a chance.   But, for some reason - this seemed like the right time.

The show went well for me. I picked up 8 ribbons from the 12 pictures I submitted, and  the three, ribboned works you see above, are my paintings.

I now see myself at the cusp in my local development. Its time for me to notch it up. Those who know me, know that I have studied under several artists and have dedicated myself to thousands of hours of painting.  Malcolm Gladwell, in his book the Outliers, says that it takes 10,000 hours for someone to develop advanced skills.    I have painted for 6 years - 5 of which were exclusively in watercolours. And, I have put in thousands of dedicated hours.  Some of my works are excellent, some are ordinary and some should never see the light of day.  I have pushed my developing skills to my limits and have just recently joined two large regional  art societies.

This may well be my last showing in the Norwood Fair.  I am ready for new challenges.  I believe  that it is patently unfair for an skilled painter to intentionally show a dozen works in competition with less accomplished, and most likely beginning painters.  Its unfair because it removes from beginning artists, the opportunity of experiencing the joy of possibly winning in a local competition. That is just not right.

But, let me add this. It was sure fun while it lasted.

Island of the Old Women

This unusual watercolour has taught me a valuable lesson about painting.  I have always had a feel for this work.  It is one of those "odd works".  I wanted to somehow capture the loneliness and desolation and coldness of the far north in the winter.  So, as I began painting it, I began to imagine what it would be like for the Cedar Trees to give the general impression that they were somehow human - almost like three old women caught by the grip of winter.


I hung this work in my home and it seems to me that 90% of the viewers have an immediate reaction to it.  Most people don't like it.


But the strength of their reactions intriqued me, and I wondered what there was about this work that created such a strong emotional reaction.  And if it did, was it not reaching inside the viewers at a deeper, subconscious, level.


After some deliberation, I chose this work for the open watercolour class of the local country fair.


When I submitted it for judging, I was surprised at the quality of overall works.  But, once it as entered, I left it to do its job.


True to form, The Island of the Old Women came through with the same reactive force as it had on my wall at home.  Only this time, it caught the attention of the judges and it took a first place ribbon.


Strange how it goes.


I will display each of my prize winning pictures in subsequent postings.

Autumn Glory

I began this work a year ago and it has its genesis from a location a few kilometers north of here.
It was a joy to capture the glorious colour of autumn in such a setting. The painting is one of my big works, 31"x 39". It is rich with colour and it has a good depth to it.

The North End of the Lake

Mamma and I took a final boat ride to mark the end of summer. If the truth be known, it was only our second ride up the lake this year.  We took our cameras along and brought a photo of this site back with us.  And, it goes without saying that that proved to be the genesis for this painting.

It was fun watching this painting evolve. I faced an option when I painted this work - either a big sky or big water. Well, since skies are more interesting because of all the shapes, designs and colours you can work into them,  I opted for the big sky.

Take a close look at the colours in the sky. Can you see the intereplay between the colours of the lakeshore panorma and the sky?  Its not unsual for painters to play back and forth between the earth and the sky.  There's even some green in the sky surrounding the trees.  This isn't as unusual as it may seem, for colours aren't as defined as people would like to believe.  For instance, colours are a wavelength. And, while the wavelength may eminate from the source in a relatively direct path to the eye it isn't as tightly defined as we would like to think.  Most artists play back and forth with colour and scatter it around their works.  

You will note when you observe this work that the central back area of the painting has reflective white in the water of the lake and there are greens from the trees in the right in the water darker blues to the left. This draws our sight towards the distant horizon.

But there's more. Notice the big circular design I have used to give us tunnel vision into the distance.

Lots of fun!

This work is now hangs in a private collection.

16"x20" stretched canvas

acrylics

location: Belmont Lake, Ontario.,

Companions in Karina's Garden

I was at odds with myself. I am so accustomed to painting landscapes that my week in Karina's house in Oshawa left me without subject matter. When this happened, I got restless and prowled.

As I stood in Karina's garden, I had an inspirational moment which led to this work.

I was treading on new waters. I'm not at home painting still life. But, as I settled into the job, I discovered the joy of a new challenge.

This painting taught me much about bouncing light. There is an ongoing trade off of values to make it work. Then, when I was almost finished, I had a eureka moment - a flash of creative inspiration.
A quick splash of orange on the rock and among the foliage, gave the painting a delightful lift in colour.

Its a 9"x 12" work and it will find a home one day in someone's kitchen.

The Change of Seasons

The season of change is upon us and the glory of autumn draws near.  Autumn saves the best colours in her palette for the month of October. This work began its life along Devils 4 Mile Road north of the village of Havelock.  I have repainted it a couple of times and it gets a little better each time.

In the Heat of Summer

This work (16"x20") began above the dam in Marmora, Ontario. I took a lot of poetic license in painting it. But, the reality is, I saw a painting in the scene which was more interesting then the scene itself.

Duke's Plantation, Barbados

watercolour
artist: Fredericks
year: 2007

I painted this work a few years ago in Barbados. The setting is one of Barbado's most frequently photographed and visited locations. While it is a scenic location it also as a rather tragic story behind it. I was told that in the 19th century, the lady of the plantation, was riding in her buggy above the gap and her horse spooked and plunged over the edge and she died as a result of the fall.

Who would have thought that such tragedy could lie behind such a beautiful place.

The picture is part of the personal art collection of the owner of the estate.

Serenity Bay

click on picture to enlarge

This dreamlike picture is about as far away from the blasted pines of the Group of Seven as you could possibly get. The scene soothes a troubled spirit. No driving wind and tormented waves in this work.

Dam on the Skootamata

click on picture to enlarge.

This little work (11x14) in size has a rather pastoral feel to it. It features the dam on the Skootamata River near Actinolite, Ontario. The picture looks a little darker online, but overall it has a lively display of colours and reflections in the water.

Its a small world isn't it?

Florie Evoy and Madonna Romback with Fredericks in centre

One of the joys of an artshow is meeting delightful people, family friends and having surprising things happen. Two of the women in this picture were unbeknownst to me, my son in law's foster aunts. And he lives in BC. They live in Newfoundland. And the meeting with them was unexpected and unplanned and even more then that...I didn't even know them. Florrie dropped by my booth and made a kind comment about my works and one thing led to another and, and the results can be seen above.

And Did Those Feet in Ancient Times?

click on picture to enlarge.

As I walked along the bank of the Skootamata River, I saw what appeared to be a fishing weir, made by ancient peoples. I could imagine the men, with their spears catching trapped fish. There was a big rock along the side of the river and it was easy to envision people standing on the rocks watching the event unfolding.

The presence of those peoples was so immediate to me, that I decided on the spot to paint the scene.
This work is one of my favourites. I took the scene and gave it a mystical colouring and I highlighted the rocks with salmon pinks and light blue hues.

Its a small painting - 11x14 in size and one of my favourites.

Path in the Forest

click on picture to enlarge

This is one of a set of four paintings which I did at the Ontario Plein Air Society's workshop at Bridgewater Resort. I was excited by the slope, direction and charm of the trees. It was a hot afternoon so I tried to capture both the heat of mid afternoon and the cool tones of the forest and rocks.

11x14

Plein Air Society's Bridgewater Resort Workshop, on Skootamata River

click on picture to enlarge

I had the pleasure of attending the Ontario Plein Air Society's July Workshop at the Bridgewater Resort on the Skootamata River, adjacent to the village of Actinolite, near Tweed, Ontario.

It was my first art workshop and I have to confess that I was over the top with enthusiasm about attending it.

Because I live a half an hour's drive from the Resort, I elected to be a 'day time' outcamper.

The food was splendid, the companionship great, the setting excellent and the instructor Edward Abela was first rate. Taking all in all, I couldn't have asked for more.

Keith greeted us and set the participants at ease by announcing that it was a non competitive workshop in which our only concern was our own development. Those words took a weight off my shoulders for I had been privately wondering how I would stack up against the other painters. My biggest fear was that I would be the worst painter in the group.

It didn't take long for the group to settle into the pattern of the workshop. Our aim was to produce at least one work a day.

The workshop marked a coming of age for me as a painter. No matter how good (or bad for that matter) my painting may appear, the truth is, most of my acrylics were more 'head works' then from the heart. No wonder, for when I watched Edward Abela paint, it dawned on me that my self taught style needed some tweaking.


When Edward asked the group what we wanted to learn from the weekend, I said......"To take an amorphous mass of green trees and separate them into distinct areas which I could paint. And, I wanted to make advances in colour work. Well, the good news is I felt that I had achieved both goals.

From the minute the easels were set up on the first morning I tore into my works with a passion.
I focused on breaking the "small stroke syndrome", and developing a longer more relaxed and comfortable brush application.

The good news is I feel that I achieved both goals by the time the workshop ended.

Size: 16x20

Meadows in the Sky

click on picture to enlarge

I painted Meadows in the Sky, after a visit to National Park, with the same name, near Revelstoke BC. I did it plein air, as a watercolour, then reworked it and more recently I resurrected it as an acrlylics painting.

While each painting has its own personality, I prefer this work to the others.
I went through Lynda's pictures and found exactly the right photo to use.

The background mountain range and lake hangs like a grand theatre curtain behind the foreground. The foreground has a rough beauty inspired by the profusion of mountain meadow flowers.

16x20

Careful Now!

click on picture to enlarge

When I was a little boy my uncle took me to a sugar bush. I talked to the farmer who was doing down the sap. Being a curious kid I had lots of questions. I remember asking him if the sap was pure and clean. He laughingly told me that it was, even though black squirrels sometimes drown in the pails.

Hello? Black squirrels drown in sap buckets? How can that be? Well, they edge their way down the trunk and lean forward for a drink and find themselves balanced on the fine edge of disaster.

I asked the farmer if he throws the squirrel and the sap away.

"Hell no. I throw the squirrel away, but the sap adds flavour to the mix." And with that he gave me a big wink and a laugh.

I decided that this would make a good story painting.

I had fun with this work, particularly gettng the textures right on the trees and getting the right bounce of light off the spring snow.

The picture is 61cm x 46cm. (24"x 18")

The picture has now found its way from my studio into a private collection.  Sometimes it hurts to say goodbye.