blue moon and harvest picnic

QUICK! go outside and look UP !!!!!  (August 31 )

 Each year, the moon completes its final cycle about 11 days before the Earth finishes its orbit around the sun. These days add up, and every two and a half years or so, there is an extra full moon, called a blue moon. The origin of the term is uncertain, and its precise definition has changed over the years. The term is commonly used today to describe the second full moon of a calendar month, but it was originally the name given to the third full moon of a season containing four full moons. 

from 'Almanac Moon' series, encaustic on panel, 6x6in, 2012

 

Below is more 'produce' for today's Greenbelt Harvest Picnic.  

 

 

 

Bartlet pear 2 encaustic on muslin panel 12x2x12 2012

Ruby's pear (sold)

mmmm 

My dogs love pears and 'pick' them from the lower branches of the fruit trees we pass on daily walks. I was told that the core is harmful to them so must monitor their consumption. 

 One of the dogs, Ruby, is very sneaky and hides them in her mouth.

This is painted from a pear rescue reference-don't you think tooth marks enhance the overall feel of the work ?

Ruby's Pear, encaustic on panel, 6x10in, 2012, available

 Upon completion of the work Ruby did get her just deserts.

Food for Thought (sold)

 

More produce for next Saturday's Greenbelt Harvest Picnic

 

 

Bartlet Pear 1, encaustic on muslin/panel, 2x12x12in, 2012, available

 Food for Thought, encaustic on panel, 5x2x15in, 2012, sold

new encaustic work

I've been eating, drinking, and breathing art. The weather has been refreshingly cool, fuelling energy and inspiration. Deadlines do that to me as well-there is a lot to be said for working under pressure. The week has found me painting amidst rows of sky-high corn or ducking out at twilight for some plein air.

I also resumed some encaustic work planned for next weekend’s show. 

For many years vegetables from the garden or pears from abandoned orchards here have been constants my work.  However, I enjoy the challenges of seeing them in new ways and like to present them differently. 

Below is the first of a new series and there are a few more on the go. Fingers crossed that this  energy will keep flowing until they are finished and ready for the Greenbelt Harvest Picnic.

Cayenne 1, encaustic on panel, 4x2x14in, 2012, available 


*

August

I just love August and always seem to be productive with outdoor painting. Interesting how we go (grow) in cycles.

Evidently  my obsession with wild and abandoned fruit trees is still going strong..

August, Niagara Escarpment, oil on canvas, plein air, 24x36in, 2012, available

 I had started this painting last August -below is an image. You will see that I changed it quite considerably.

 

This  path is right behind the studio that leads into my beloved painting mecca. Right now it is chock full of August--goldenrod, dried grasses and fruit that are trying their best to emerge from unkempt  trees.

right as rain

I usually work in our gallery on Sundays but took yesterday off. I wanted to savour it and anticipated an all day outdoor painting excursion.

Of course the weather did not exactly cooperate -the sun was taking a holiday and rain was forecast. I decided to go out anyway and it did rain intermittently but I just waited it out and resumed work when it cleared. It was worth it because I could really observe and become engaged with the sky's changing light and atmospheric effect on the land.

 August (between), Niagara escarpment, plein air, oil/cold wax on canvas, 11x14in, 2012, available

This is the first canvas of the day and I will post the others later.

Painting, Planting, Growing

When we moved into this old farmhouse the first thing I did was plant hollyhocks from seed. Sometimes they would grow, sometimes not. So when they come, to mark my delight in their arrival, I paint them.

Their old fashioned look suits this place and I love everything about them-stalks, buds and leaves as well as the flower. This summer’s hollyhocks (I even like their name) appeared beside the house and as bedraggled as they are from the season’s drought, (and neglect) managed to show some optimistic blooms.

  Finally my Hollyhocks, oil on canvas, 18x24in, 2012

This morning I set up my easel and laid in the overall composition. It’s likely that I will go back in to resolve/refine and quiet  areas down - but I think I like the overall feel of the work.

The wee Black-Eyed Susans make a nice contrast

Greenbelt Harvest Picnic & encaustic

 

 Hay before rain, encaustic on canvas, 18x18in, sold

 

I have been invited again this year to participate in a wonderful 'grass roots' event

 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE: (see www.harvestpicnic.ca) HAMILTON: September Seventh Entertainment Limited and Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation are proud to present Feist, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Gord Downie and The Sadies, Sarah Harmer, Mix Master Mike, Jesse Cook, Brady L. Blade, Sr. and the Hallelujah Train and more live at the 2012 Greenbelt Harvest Picnic on Saturday September 1st at Christie Lake Conservation Area in Dundas, Ontario. Gates open at 11AM and show starts at 12PM. The event serves to create awareness for local farmers and the eat local movement.

 

 October, Niagara Escarpment, encaustic on canvas, 11x14in, sold

The images in this post are earlier encaustic works.(2003-5)

I think I might work this way again and try to finish a few for the show. 

 

 

 October, Niagara Escarpment, encaustic on canvas, 14x14in, sold

I would pre-coat my painting surface with encaustic medium, then go out and paint plein air with oil and use these as under-paintings. Work is then resumed in the studio and finished with encaustic. 

 

 

   And the moon swept down, encaustic on canvas, 24x30in, sold

 

                 

summer plein air

What a beautiful day!

The summer is breezing by and like most, I’ve been crazy busy. I love teaching but with doing so much of it and along with gallery responsibilities, there hasn’t been much time left to just get out and paint.

Today I finally had a free day and the weather could not have been better for plein air. My painting comrade joined me and we set up under some shady trees and worked uninterrupted.

July, Niagara Escarpment, oil on canvas, 30x36in, 2012, available

I’m  happy with this painting-the warm blue of late summer chickweed and the aptly named Queen Annes Lace floating amidst it always enchanting.

 I also became  interested in the upper part of the painting and in the divisions between here, and there.

Even when I remember to bring my camera  I get so busy with my students in larger groups that I forget to take photos. However I brought it along today and below are a few images 

My friend Dora -her paintings full of robust colour and form!

Updated Painting Workshops

Studio on the Ridge

Workshops & Classes

upcoming in August 

August, Greenbelt disaster, oil on canvas, 9x12in, sold


 

Plein Air Painting

 Mondays, 6:30 -9PM, $85 for a series of 4 sessions.
series starts Monday, August 6

more info

 

Encaustic Painting

Sunday, August 12, 10AM-1PM, $70 includes most materials

Class size is limited and students have ample time to work hands on with this fluid and luscious medium.

more info

 

Exploring the Surface: Painting with Cold Wax

  Sunday, August 26, 10AM-1PM  $70 includes most materials

more info

Registration for any of these classes can be made conveniently and securely online via paypal.

to sign up please click here

*New Series: OPEN STUDIO

 

 

These sessions are primarily self directed. You can work inside the studio or outdoors ala plein air.The instructor is available to guide you and address your individual needs in a mentor-ship approach. These sessions are ideal for those just starting out or for the more seasoned artists who wish to push themselves in a new direction. This is also an inspiring environment for those who simply need time to work. Participants provide their own materials. If you are new to art-making we will be happy to recommend materials and media most suitable for your needs.

 

Ongoing Tuesdays:

10AM - 12:30PM

Or

6:30 -9PM

$85 for a series of 4 sessions or$35 per session

all classes are held in Grimsby, ON

edges, convergence and photographing work

 detail (July, Rendezvous with Queen Anne)

 I am having such a hard time photographing/documenting the large painting below. I usually take work outside and hang it on the side of my studio in grey even light, but the weather here is so humid that it cast a grey over the whole image. So I then had to do a lot of digital editing and it still doesn't read true. In fact I think the more editing done on the computer, the worse the image looks.

 I think I will photograph it indoors under controlled light when it is completely dry-or maybe out in full sun. Or if all else fails I will lay it down outside and climb on a ladder and photograph it. Can you tell that this is part of being an artist that I really HATE? And I think it must only be me that has a hard time with this as I see everyones' work online and it looks fabulous! Do you all hire professional photographers? 

detail (July, Rendezvous with Queen Anne)

I was interested in edges and convergence in the below painting. It is a re-work of the same image done last August. I was looking for a photo of it to post re showing the difference, but I hated it so much that I deleted it! 

 July (Rendezvous with Queen Anne), oil/wax on canvas, 36x48in, 2012, available

Anyway, I am happy with this painting -and if you were to experience it 'live' you could see all the subtle value shifts and tones and the colours are more unified than in this digital image. Oh dear, I am being very negative! I will blame it on this humid hot weather!

The truth about Cold Wax & upcoming workshops

Upcoming Workshops:

Exploring the Surface: Painting with oil & cold wax

Whether using a brush, drawing, scratching, scraping, rubbing or employing knife techniques, this ancient medium fosters versatility. Its translucent qualities allow light to penetrate into the paint surface, emphasizing rich and vibrant colour, depth and tone. 

Texture, movement and fluidity can easily be achieved via working with cold wax, oil paint and drawing materials and I will share techniques and tools used with this lush painting medium. Recommended for artists with some painting experience.    

  

*Please click here for current workshop dates

The Truth About Cold Wax

Notes

The primary reason that I make my own cold wax medium is to ensure that I can build surfaces with up to 50% beeswax/oil ratio without the worry of it cracking. Some commercial brand wax mediums contain paraffin wax because it is inexpensive but if used on it's own, is brittle and can crack. So it is combined with another synthetic wax- petroleum based microcrystaline. This is a  soft wax and very pliable, counteracting the brittleness of parrafin. Both are used as fillers in some commercial grade cold wax mediums. If you are working with a minimal amount of cold wax medium with your oil paint it works fine and is cost effective.

Along with pure natural refined beeswax I make my cold wax medium with stand, poppy or walnut oil to balance pliability and to improve blending and adhesion. I incorporate resin to varying degrees depending on the surface I will be working on and the amount I want to build up. Dammar resin is a natural resin that will add gloss and more transparency to your surface if you polish it.

I have been working with wax mediums -both encaustic and cold -for many years and it is nice to see a new interest in both. A word of caution: there is a lot of information -and mis-information-on the internet about cold wax. I advise those of you who are interested in learning how to use cold wax to take a workshop from a seasoned instructor. 

If you would like more technical information about cold wax please visit:

Gamblin

Kama Pigment

Jacquard 

COLD WAX MEDIUM FOR SALE

*I have been supplying hand ground cold wax medium to local artists as well as students. In response to requests from those further afield, I am now making it available and ship throughout Canada, the US and the UK..

The medium is refined to a smooth, buttery consistency. Made with natural pure unbleached beeswax-no fillers.  It mixes instantly with oil colours, powdered pigments, powdered metals and graphite and is extremely versatile. Cold wax medium can be thinned for finer work or used as a paste for impasto techniques. Finished paintings can be polished to achieve a soft sheen or left matte. 

 Price:

350 grams: 20.

1 Litre: 40.

Payment can be made securely online via paypal. Shipping throughout Canada, US and Europe via Canada Post or expedited via UPS. Please contact jan@janyates.com for shipping fees.

 

fading fast

I was able to sneak into the vineyard next door for some quick sketches to work from in-studio. It was too hot even for me to stand out there 'en plein air' this week!

With this drought and heat, the greens are fast fading..

July, Niagara Escarpment, acrylic on canvas, 30x36in, available

For some reason I always switch to acrylic paint when the weather is this scorching. I think it is in hoping all that dripping water will somehow cool me down. As well, acrylic takes longer to set up in the humidity and I like the little bit of pull on the brush as it is drying.

I also wanted this work to have an immediacy and an airy sketch-like quality to it and polymer easily lends itself to that approach.

 

Someone once said that the good thing about acrylic paint is that it dries fast-the bad thing about acrylic paint is that it dries fast. 

I've worked with polymer for many years and it is a fun and forgiving medium. It can, however, create some really bad habits if you work in oil or other transparent mediums. Because it is opaque, you really don't have to think about how it affects the colour under it if you are working in a direct painting technique. If you go back to working with oil with this approach you may soon be in mud.

I like using acrylic pigment for indirect painting methods, primarily glazing and scumbling.

Sometimes I will also do an under-painting with acrylic and finish the work in oil.

Radio Flyer Ranger Wagon & plein air

It’s cloud’s illusion I recall

I really don’t know clouds at all..Joni Mitchell

 June afternoon, Niagara escarpment, oil on canvas, 12x24in, sold

We have had some absolutely beautiful June days here. Cool and clear with big billowy clouds playing in the wind.

 Yesterday it was too windy  to fight with my easel if I were to work standing up, yet I wanted to do some observational studies. I opted to work small-and sitting down-and have a radio flyer wagon just for such occasions. I load it up with my usual painting gear but also bring along bungie cords and rocks. I can sit my full box easel across the top without opening the legs, then I simply place weights behind it. The rest of the wagon is used as a table and I can just ‘enjoy the ride’ without worrying about my easel falling over and my canvas escaping. Obviously I can't take this set up off location but it works perfectly when painting close to home.

Having said that, when we went out for our evening  plein air class we did have larger canvases so because of the wind we tied our easels to trees and chairs –managing to avert a few potentially dangerous gusts. Nothing worse than laying in that perfect stroke and having the wind pushing in from behind to move that stroke where it is not welcome.

 

So, a few small sketches and above, last year’s June clouds. 

(and yes, those specks in the paintings are wee bugs)

June afternoon sketch 1, 8x10in, acrylic on canvas, 2012

                    June afternoon sketch 2, acrylic on gessoed card, 4x6in, 2012

June afternoon sketch 3, acrylic on gessoed card, 4x6in, 2012