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 


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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