rolling along...

I blocked in this painting on Monday, but only got back to working into it again, today. I began with a bright zingy permanent rose oil ground. It proved to be a nice base to work the tulips into, giving the white's more warmth. I focused on the overall pattern and was conscious of trying to find a warm balance between the foliage and individual flowers.  The top background shape(which in reality is a lake, but reads here only as a large horizontal) has changed many times while I painted... a soft green tone, then a lilac shade, a neutral, and now it currently reads more of a gold than anything else...I was looking for a tone that harmonized with the rest of the painting, but did not come forward.  It may yet change.   Now that I've posted this in it's half-way state, I see that the lampost to the right of the couple on the bicycle built for two is on the lean...ooops!...funny didn't notice that while I was painting!  Ah, I will fix it next session! 

Wednesday

Spring Bike Path 3 - oil on canvas - 24 x 12"

Had a great evening last Friday night!  We went for a wander around 'Art After Dark' which is Kingston's evening art walk held in the spring and again in the fall.  It was such a pleasure to meander around our little city and see the art on display.    One of the place's that we went to (the last on our list of a selection of galleries) was the Frontenac Club Inn, where Susanne Langlois displayed her works. Very impressive. The owner, Susan Shaw, gave us a wee tour of the club's main floor...lovely...full of history...it reminded me of a b&b somewhere in the heart of England! In earlier days it used to be a bank, then a 'gentleman's club'. Such a delightful ending to our art walk around the galleries! Sorry I didn't get a picture of the evening's events.  
Instead I'm posting this almost finished painting, it's another in my new theme  of the moment.  heh.  I like this time of year in my studio, it's good for painting...not too hot, not too cold...when I need a break I wander outside into the garden. There is lots of new things everyday going on out there. Violets are everywhere; the last of the tulips are cheerfully standing guard, poppies are just about to pop into bloom.

Spring Bike Path #2

Ottawa has tons of bike paths all over the city.  Some of the nicest are near the Ottawa canal.  During the tulip festival it's quite spectacular.  
I began this painting on a fairly textured ground, using a random (not very good) photo as a resource.  I usually use a warm coloured oil ground underneath paintings, but this one was a vivid cobalt blue; giving it a bit of a mysterious cast as I blocked in the shapes.  At some point it got an indian yellow glaze, and then I worked back into it after that... It's been fun developing the design intuitively, as I go along. It may get a few more tweaks, but I'm feeling good with it at this point.
I'm off to Ottawa in an hour or two, as I will be assisting my dad as he undergoes a hernia op for the next few days. Maybe I'll get out and get some more bike path photo resources while I'm there, I'm enjoying this new theme.  I feel like it's been a long time since I worked on a new theme.

rental gallery loss rant

Lower Campus Golden Afternoon - oil on canvas - sold

On Monday I received news that our Agnes Etherington Art Rental and Sales Gallery here in Kingston will no longer be housed in the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, which is Kingston's major publicly funded gallery.  In my opinion this is such a huge loss for Kingston, and also for Kingston's artists who have shown, rented and sold work in the Rental and Sales Gallery for at least 25 years.  
Whenever I travel to other Canadian public galleries, I ALWAYS make a stop in to see their satellite rental and sales galleries....that is where you get to see current art from local city artists; it's always such a joy to see that.
The Agnes Etherington Art Rental and Sales Gallery is run by the Gallery Association.  It was begun as a fundraising initiative for the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at least 25 years ago. It was an exciting place to see fresh new Kingston art.  It expanded to include a gift shop for the public gallery as well.  The Gallery Association is the charitable organization that administers both the rental gallery and the gift shop.  Queen's University owns the Agnes Etherington Art Centre building. 
Over the years much of Kingston's community has supported the Gallery Associations efforts by fundraising. Why wouldn't we?  A great little public art gallery within our city, on the Queens campus.  The uniquely Kingston part of it was its art rental and sales gallery.  
Yesterday I went back through my records...I noted that I had sold 19 paintings from the rental and sales gallery since 2002, and rented tons more!  Clients I never would have found otherwise, chose my work in the AE rental and sales gallery.  It will be such a loss for me to lose the rental and sales gallery, if it does not find a new home.  The problem of course is that the rental and sales gallery had it good. They did not pay rent to use the space within the AEAC.  Finding a new home for the rental and sales gallery with such a similar easy situation, will be a difficult thing in this era of business first, art second.
When the AEAC needed the Gallery Association's fundraising money, it was welcome to occupy space within the public gallery. Now it seems that's not the case.  Hard to understand. Sad.

Spring Bike Path

Spring Bike Path - oil on canvas - 12 x 24"

Spring is in the air...finally!  Thank goodness, because we've all been missing it up here in the great white north.  I look forward to getting out on my bicycle a little. Hopefully Dave and I will enjoy some nice bike rides soon. We love riding around Prince Edward County, and Amherst Island beckons too.  The pleasant thought of the joys of riding inspired 3 new canvases this week, this one, 'Spring Bike Path' is fresh off the easel this morning. I'm working my way through the others.

Italian Rose

Got around to completing this piece today, it's an 18x24 oil that I had worked up from a smaller watercolour of a similar subject.  It felt good to resolve it; patience was on my side this morning:)  

Last week, I had notice that I'll be in the New Art Festival, an outdoor art festival taking place on June 21/22 in Central park of the Glebe, Ottawa.  That will be 2 art shows in the month of June for me.  I'm also doing Art Among the Ruins in Newburgh June 14.  But I like doing summer art shows, they're fun, if tiring.