breathing out & breathing in

It felt great to be painting again after working all week on either the computer or other art projects.

I have to say that this is a subject matter and pallet that continues to entice me. November in it’s changing motion, the warm breathing out and the cold breathing in. As I was working (looking out my studio window) there were many starling murmurations, moving in continues motion, mirroring the rolling clouds but in reverse black.

Snow is on it’s way.

 November, oil/cold wax on panel, 14x30in, 2013, sold

copyright Jan Yates

fall in to you

A warm November day enticed me to break from encaustic and hike out for some plein air.

I prefer the November 'fall' (versus October) as tree structures are more exposed with most of the leaves gone, looking like drawings in the air.
Indigo pigment is my best friend. It makes beautiful grey skies and black trunks, and when mixed with yellows, reds and violets; rich russets and quiet greens.

November, fall in to you, oil/cold wax on canvas, 24x24in, 2013, available

art-making and tools

Tools are an important, and personal, part of making art. Our attachment to them is so interesting-we all have our favourite brush, knife etc. Any time that I introduce a new tool as part of my process I will try to use it -and only it- in the initial stages of a  painting's unfolding. I want to not only push it, but I want it to guide me in order to explore new possibilities. This is emphasized in my classes but I am planning to introduce a new workshop that will focus entirely on tools in making art. stay tuned.

 November, Niagara Escarpment, oil on canvas, 20x30in, 2012, available

 Other than laying in an initial  thin under wash with a large house painting brush, the image above was rendered with one brush- a number 12 bright.

Unfortunately I was too impatient to put another coat of gesso on the canvas before starting. It's been sucking up the thin layers of paint so there will be a few areas to be touched up, but I will stay with the same brush size.

She loved a November Sky

The image below was made as respite from the paintings I am working on for the February show, although I may include it as it relates to the theme.

Initially I wanted to explore the field, as I love the way is sits this time of year. The dormancy and texture put me in mind of a tapestry, and the particles lifted and swept by the wind remind me yet again that nature is never still-minute microcosms playing in the air.

But when I got into the painting the sky seemed to take over and I let it. My Mother, who passed away less than a year ago, loved the yellows in a grey November sky. I remember our November walks and country drives-pulling over to the side of the road to marvel at the simple splendour of a November Sky.

As I’ve mentioned before, I often like to paint on top of older paintings and that’s exactly what I did here as I thought it might add to the texture of the field. There was a lot of red in the under-painting which I think added to the depth in the land portion. I did, however, prime the sky portion with aluminum and am happy I did as the greys and lighter hues retained their clarity more so I think than had I not used it. I did get carried away though-when the painting was very wet I gently dispersed some fine aluminum powder throughout the sky as well as in the field-in hopes of emulating the wee field particles caught in the shifting light. It did work-depending on how the light hits it there is a subtle trick of the eye quality-a bit of movement.

November(She loved a November Sky)

Niagara Escarpment

oil & aluminum on canvas

30x30in, 2011

Unfortunately because of the aluminum’s reflective qualities, it makes it REALLY difficult to photograph. In the actual painting, the tones and value shifts in the sky are closer-the top left more subdued and even and the willow tree on the lower left horizon line much lighter/brighter. I will let the whole painting dry and re-shoot.

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cycle

'For me November brings a new cycle of inspiration and tends to be one of my most prolific months.  As I write there are already a couple of ‘Novembers’ waiting on the easel in various states of ‘undress’.'

It's funny that these words, written last November, apply to this one. I am still madly working on some larger studio works (not the same ones). But since the weather is behaving this week, I have managed to sneak out for plein air breaks. They still need some fine tuning so in the meantime, an earlier 'November'-and yes, they are the same trees out of my studio window that you have seen in previous posts.

November, Letting go

oil on canvas

24x36in

Sold

last Illusions & Aluminum

November always seemed to me the Norway of the year.
- Emily Dickinson

The leaves were falling on all sides like the last illusions of youth under the tears of irremediable grief. A brood of chattering birds were chasing each other through the shrubberies, and playing games among the branches, like a knot of hiding schoolboys. Every landscape is, as it were, a state of the soul, and whoever penetrates into both is astonished to find how much likeness there is in each detail.
- Henri Frederic Amiel

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.
William Cullen Bryant

November

oil on aluminum primed canvas

11x14in, 2011

available 

I have been using pure aluminum powder with my encaustic works and today I thought that I would try it as a ground for my oil paintings. I have, in the past, painted straight onto steel but was curious to see how a stretched canvas ground, primed with aluminum pigment, would take the brush and paint. I quite like it so far as application. This was painted fairly thin and I am wondering if, once it settles a bit, any of the reflective qualities of the aluminum will shine through...(in a good way I hope)