Wedding garden stone

A garden stone I was commissioned to do as a wedding gift. It's about 12" x 9", and weighed around 19 lbs.

I haven't been getting a lot of art done, as I'm working full time during the summer, while juggling the whale watching business and family. Stay tuned for more frequent postings in the fall!

finally a rock for myself!

I've been busy the past few weeks putting in the vegetable garden and doing yardwork, and things are looking so great, that I made this for myself. I can always do more ;)

Two new stones

Two stones I've been working to finish for the MacDonald Museum show.

Celtic humpbacks: The Spiral Dance

Celtic Humpbacks: The Spiral Dance

mixed media on watercolour board

for sale at the MacDonald Museum Gallery, Middleton, NS

A new painting I've been hurrying to finish. It was delivered to the MacDonald Museum Gallery today. I really wanted to have something with my whales design in the show. I've tried to represent the whales bubble cloud feeding: the whale(s) swims in an upward spiral around a school of fish (ie. herring), all the while emitting a string of bubbles from hsi/her blowhole. The bubbles form a curtain around the fish, who think it is a solid barrier and pack in closer together, making it easier for the whale to swim through with open mouth and CHOMP! From the surface of the water, it looks like the sea is coming to a boil as the bubbles rise up and break.

The exhibit is called "In The Neighbourhood" and features the work of artists from Digby and Kings Counties. The opening is Sunday, June 24th, 2007 from 2:00-4:00 pm, and the exhibit will continue until Labour Day weekend.

finished stones

Here's how these two stones turned out, before they went to live for a while at Bluefin Pottery. I gave them both a satin-gloss finish by treating them with beeswax. This makes them appear wet and brings out all the lovely colours. (And they smell good too!)

Keji morning... new ATC

Keji morning, 2.5" x 3.5", watercolour on watercolour board.

I'm not too thrilled with this one, but they can't all be fabulous, can they? The eagle in the sky wasn't s'posed to be there, but morphed out of a drip of dark grey paint that happened at the very last moment. I had fun doing the wet-in-wet washes for sky and water.

Last Light, Petit Passage... a new ATC

Trying to catch up on my ATC project, I made this last night and finished it up this morning.

Last Light, Petit Passage, ATC 2.5"x3.5", watercolour on watercolour board.

Aberlemno Stone Spiral rock carving - finished

Taa daa! After about 1 1/2 hrs last night, she's done. The outside circle is 7.5 cm in diameter, I've photographed the stone with my chequebook to give a better idea of the size. It was challenging to work with such small lines so close together, but I'm very happy with the results. I think I'll have to go the the beach today for more art supplies. ;)

celtic whale #2

Celtic Whales #2

watercolour, ink, and metallic gel pen

ATC size, 3.5" x 2.5"

whales ATC

ATC size, 2.5"x3.5", watercolours, micron pen & gel pen on Reeves watercolour board.

so I'm really into the ATCs...

Copper on blue spiral fragment

gel pen and acrylic paint on mulberry paper

2.5" x 3.5"

Water lily

coloured pencil on textured cardstock,

2.5" x 3.5"

Gold leaf Relief Knot ATC

Gold leaf relief knot,

gesso and gold leaf on (three thicknesses of) acid free cardstock

3.5" x 2.5"

I wish you could touch this! The fun thing about this series of ATC's is that I can try new techniques on a small scale. I had a lot of fun building layers of gesso to make this knot three dimensional. It's not as smooth as it could be, but I rushed it because I wasn't sure if the idea would work. Next time, I'll use thinner layers of gesso, and sand down the final layers a bit, if need be. Still, I was thrilled with it. It's so tactile, and I made sure to give it a couple of light coats of Kamar varnish so it can be touched.

Miniature paintings

Here are three ATC's I've been working on lately.

I wasn't going to post them here before they had reached their destinations, but they've all been mailed, and I don't have to say who's getting what. ;)

Blue Heron, coloured pencil on textured cardstock

Illuminated R, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, mounted on heavy cardstock

Peggy's Cove, acrylic on canvas, mounted on heavy cardstock

(cliche Nova Scotia ;) )

dad's car

I just finished this today, as a (late) birthday present for my Dad. His birthday was on Saturday.

Dad got his '62 T-bird roadster three years ago, and his pride in it sure shows. Every part of this car gleams . He and my mom show the car around the province in the summer.

The painting is acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10 ".

tulips and fence - finished

I spent another hour or so today on this and I think I'll call it done.

finished ornaments

Here they are finished!

My mom helped me make these today. I learned how to cut glass, grind the edges, foil, and solder. The paper is sandwiched between two foiled panes of glass, then wrapped with the foil tape to hold them together. Then, the foil is soldered and a ring is attached at the top.

I'm really happy with the way these turned out . (Sorry for the poor quality scan of these, it really doesn't do them justice! ) I like them so much, in fact, I plan to make a few more. :)

These are gifts for my son's grade 1 teacher and his bus driver (who is my uncle). On the flip side of the ornaments is a handwritten christmas greeting to each of them from my son.

No. 2 in ornament series: the church in the woods

Coloured pencil and gouache on gessoed 300 lb. W&N watercolour paper. ACEO size 3.5" x 2.5"

Peter's Island miniature

Today's piece is a small painting of Peter's Island lighthouse. It was done in watercolour and coloured pencil on gessoed 300 lb W&N watercolour paper. It is from a photo by Laura Titus, and you can see the original photo here (Thanks, Laura!). Check out her site for some great local photos. This painting is for a gift... I'm working on a series of these 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" paintings with my mom, who is a beginning stained glass artist. The plan is to sandwich the mini paintings between two panes of glass, and then foil and solder aroung the edges. Add a hook and a piece of ribbon et voila... ornament. (That's the plan, anyway... I'll post photos of the finished project.

Tonight is the school Christmas concert. My son is going to be Santa in an underwater Christmas story. I can't wait to watch all those freshly scrubbed faces so excited to be reciting their lines that they've been practicing. And fidgeting and pulling faces.

Okay, I've jumped on the blog bandwagon!

My first blog posting and I'll begin with my latest painting, finished yesterday.

Sorting Apples , 9" x 12", watercolour and coloured pencil on watercolour board. From the WetCanvas.com 03 Dec. 06 Weekend Drawing Event. The reference photo is from India (thanks, Rohit!).

Available for sale, framed or unframed, just contact me!