Spring in the Chasm

The above picture evolved from a trip I took two years ago up the mountain creek behind our home in the Rockies.

Three days ago I took it to the studio of my friend, Ken Williams, who is a great carver of totem and ceremonial Indian poles and a splendid painter. We talked about it, and Ken suddenly said. "I can see this picture with water dripping and falling everwhere." Suddenly the light went on. He gave the work an entirely different focus.

This painting pits the cold of nature at the bottom of a chasm against the warmth of an emerging spring day.

Great icicles hang from the canyon wall and lazy fat snowflakes fall slowly from the sky. The snow at the bottom of the cliff is alive with colour.


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

Along the Columbia Valley

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This work gave me a lot of joy to paint because it was painted as a gift. And, there isn't enough money in the world that can take the place of a gift of love.

I have painted the Columbia Valley before but each time I painted it, I used the mountains as a backdrop. The perspective works in two ways in this work. There is a diminishing left right perspective. And there is also a cross valley perspective where you look with tunnel vision into the valley between the mountains.

I played with this work when I impressionistically created great circles of light. Look carefully and you can see the orbs.

I also used mountain blow downs, slopes and cuttings to lead the eye upward.

No matter which way you look at it, it was fun to paint.

Mountain Stream

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This painting came after a visit to Margaret's Falls, near Scotch Creek, BC. I took a lot of photographs and like most artists, they were simply a reference. This work is full of motion. The sky dips like water falling into a bowl, and there are vertical lines painted down through the rocks to suggest the downward flow of water. The river bounces and leaps over rocks as the water hurdles down from the snow capped peaks. And, finally, for good measure I put in a few splashes of foam here and there at the bottom of the work to complete the illusion of watness.

Approaching Storm: Mount Bastion - near Salmon Arm, British Columbia

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Acrylic on panelling
9"x13"
Painted on location near Salmon Arm, BC

I sat along the shore of Lake Shuswap last weekend, working on this painting. It was painted on the back of a piece of panelling and is about 9"x13" in size. Because it was hot and dry I had to work furiously to put the work together before my paint dried. That was a challenge.
Perhaps even worse then that, the panorama began to take on a dramatic shift in appearance.
Storm clouds moved in from the west and this resulted in a constantly changing landscape.

I hurriedly put the picture in the trunk of my car and brought it home where I added a few finishing touches to it.

The approaching storm gives the work a powerful sense of drama.

The Columbia Valley at Spillimicheen

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Here's the end result of my afternoon in Spillimicheen. Mamma took a look at the picture and said.."You nailed the spring yellow green's nicely." To make them stand out, I painted the forest background in Prussian and phalo blues with sap greens, and a touch of lemon yellow and titanium white. Since blue is a complimentary colour to yellow it makes the yellows all the more intense. I also painted a darker sky then I usually do. This makes the white snowy mountain peaks more dominant, but most importantly it gives strength to the colours in the work.

Painted for my private collection.

Life is a Song Worth Singing

 

This work 'under construction' is being painted in Spillimichene, British Columbia. Mamma Bear and I had lunch at a beautiful little restaurant which overlooked the Columbia Valley. I was given permission to sit outside in the shade under the pine trees, looking out over the valley. Mamma spent the afternoon reading, while I painted.

The bonus of the afternoon came when several interested people dropped by to talk to me.
One couple who had lived in Ontario chatted amiably about their life in Ontario, and art in general. The lady asked if I enjoyed plainting plein air. She understood the language or art. Another kind observor spoke of his years in Montreal and living among the art community and knowing many of Montreal's leading artists.

It was a delightful afternoon. I told those who stopped by about 'The Portrait' art blog and when my afternoon ended the owner came out and expressed her pleasure with me painting in front of the restaurant and told me that there would be a place for my works to hang on the restaurant wall to sell.

So, taking all in all - it was a spendid day.