I have been studying quite aggressively under couple of artists who work only with oils. One of them made a comment that if one has any ambition you must not waste time and master oils. Well I do not have much time left to master anything so I had grabbed basic supplies last fall. I had decided to give oils a go. Santa was asked to get me a plain air easel and, of course, I did not “get to it” till late spring this year.
Motivated one morning by my cute garden flower clippings on my yellow kitchen table cloth I had decided to act upon a sudden impulse. I set there looking at the arrangement and created my very first oil. I have struggled with geranium flower clumps but the yellow shapes came out rather nice. As it turned out the failed red geraniums ended up being a great backdrop for the brilliance of the yellow petals. I did like the medium and its challenges and rewards... but it was a while before I had continued.
The Shade Pot came about as I felt guilty not even setting up the easel by late July! I looked for an easy plain air spot in privacy of my garden. I am definitely not ready for an audience of strangers in the park just yet! I loved the coolness of this particular clay pot and the cold lavender shade of the hydrangea blooms. The pot sits under heavy fir tree canopy so there was no light or shadow variations. I have started with quite dark underpainting and love the “old masters” dark background, unplanned, result. “Happy accident” I guess.
The most recent oil painting of our beloved Brickyard Bay Community Park was a quick reaction to a photo posted by my golfing buddy Cristal Ironside. I have taken exactly the same photo wintertime struck by the three young arbutus seedlings growing and surviving such hostile growing environment. On clear days, in this particular spot, we can see the distant peaks of Mt.Baker on the US side. Cristal’s photo also captured what welcomes us on this particular new memorial bench – the evening glow on arbutus bark paired with dried grasses and heat emulating form the rocks collecting heat all day. Those of you who never visited Vancouver Island need to plan on observing arbutus beauty when given a chance. Especially in early morning or late evening sun glow. The way they twist and turn and grow irregularly, with pealing orange bark, at most unique locations near the harsh coast. Most local artists paint those unique trees and you shall see more coming from me as well. So do stay tuned. Enjoy last week of this fab summer.
