Some recent gifts/commissions

 Well, I thought I should post some photos of some presents and commissions I did for this past holiday season!

My sister has an adorable pug named Cookie and I wanted to create a memorable gift for her.
Here is the original photo and the final chalk:

Another piece I created was a commission for a friend of mine. It was her cat, Tilly. She is a sweet little girl, a rescued kitty, and I absolutely loved her pose in this photo! This is the original photo and the chalk rendering next to it:

And finally, this is a photo of my nieces on their trip across Canada this past year. I THINK this is in Alberta, looking over at the Rocky mountains...but it was a nice capture of them and a memory of their amazing journey in 2023! The original photo is also on the left, with the watercolour piece on the right:

 

 

I really wish I could get a good photo of my final pieces, though - my camera phone just doesn't do the colour justice :P Ah well...at least you get the idea of what was created! 

Some newer pieces

 Good morning! After getting a bunch of snowfall here, I thought it would be nice to share a couple pieces I've been working on recently that have snow in them. One I sold this past weekend (yay!) and the other is still available.

I created some watercolour Christmas cards a while back and have been considering doing some again. I think this is one that I would like to use for such a thing:

"Robin on the Mistletoe" - $75, h/w: 6 3/4” x 8 5/8” (SOLD)

I've been wanting to explore chalk in more depth recently, using multiple colours instead of a simple tonal range, and this is the first one I've done where I dove into using as many colours/tones as I felt was necessary. I really like the result and am excited to do more in the future! I also loved the colours in the original photo I referenced - the blues and purples next to the browns of the deer itself. What do you think?

 

"Snowy Doe" - $60, h/w: 10 7/8” x 8 3/4”

Bears!

 I found these cute frames years ago and thought that it would be nice to paint some waterolours to go into them :) I really liked the motion captured in the grizzly trying to catch it's next meal. This piece took much longer than expected, as there isn't a single bit of it that is a wash - every bit is covered in detail, whether it's the fur of the bear or the tumultuous water.

 

"Goin' Fishing" - $110, h/w: 10” x 6”

 

 

 

(just a [fuzzy] photo of it in the frame!

The second frame I used to create this painting of a polar bear. I really liked the beauty of this photo, showing the bear both above and below the surface. Since completing it, I have had it pointed out to me that it reminds people of an iceberg - more of it hiding below the surface than above! It's also a sad commentary on how the polar ice has been slowly melting away, causing the polar bears to have to swim more often than  before and wait longer for the ice to reform before returning to their hunting grounds.

I sold this piece to a good friend recently :) I do have prints available, though, if anyone is interested!

"Polar Dip" - $100, h/w: 6” x 10” (Original has sold)

Chalk explorations

 I've been drawing with chalks for around 30 years at this point but have just started to branch out into using multiple colours....and I'm really liking what I've been creating! :D

I first used two tones, instead of one, while creating this foxy guy:

 

"Foxy Look" - $75, h/w: 16 5/8” x 13 5/8” framed

I then moved on to multiple colours, which was so fun to explore! I really loved the blue and purple tones in this image, in contrast to the browns of the deer:

 

“Snowy Doe” - $60, h/w: 10 7/8” x 8 3/4” framed

And lastly, this little piece depicting a snowy owl gently landing on a branch. I loved the feeling of the sun shining through their feathers:

 

"Silent Landing" -  h/w: 8 5/8” x 6 3/4” framed

 Hey all,
I've been a bit lax lately, as there was no internet at the studio for a little while there. Now that it's back, I'm going to start posting more regularly again :)

Here's a painting that I sold fairly recently, through the Artisan Village in Smiths Falls. The person who bought it is also an accomplished watercolour painter (which is very flattering!) and not only owns sheep but has painted them as well!

 

"Pondering" (sold for $275) h/w: 18” x 22”

 Hey there,

I thought it might be nice to see a work in progress, relating to the last post. I've started three more bees recently and snapped a photo of this one as I was working on it.

I truly enjoy painting the blurred backgrounds of these little paintings! This one had lots of fun pastel colours that were both a challenge to mix and a joy to paint with.

 Time for some more paintings!

I discovered these little wooden hexagon frames at Micheals and immediately thought that it would look kinda neat to have little bees painted in each of them, so I picked some up and got to work! I've posted one of these on this blog before, so I thought I should update you on the rest of them.

Bees are so important to our food supply and are amazing little creatures that supply us with honey. I've always loved bees and am an avid gardener so incorporating some flowers into my art was also something I was very interested in doing.

I plan on adding many more of these to the collection as I go!

This is "The Bee Collective", which so far includes 5 paintings (but I've already started three more - to be posted once they're done!). They are about 6" diagonally. I'm selling them for $80 each, 3 for $230 or you can purchase all five for $375:

"Bzz Bzz #1"

 

"Bzz Bzz #2"

 

 

"Bzz Bzz #3"

 

"Bzz Bzz #4"

 

"Bzz Bzz #5"

 

 

There will be more coming soon! :D