Painting Trip to Kamouraska 2019 - Part II

The Abandoned House, acrylic, 8" x 10"

Block 28

Usually, this would be a blog-free week, but I decided to post the sequel to my Kamouraska painting trip today to be able to publish all the parts before my next painting trip to Lake Clear in Eganville at the beginning of October.


Tuesday, September 10, 2019

When we woke up, it was sunny, but only 6 degrees. However, there was hardly any wind and the tide was out. Therefore, we decided to go to the Route de la Grève, where we painted the monadnock and part of the riverbed. As you can see, my painting still needs work.

Then, we went towards Rang du Mississipi as we wanted to paint a barn, but we could not find a space to set up. Before looking any further, we had a picnic at Sentier du Cabouron. After lunch, we drove back to Kamouraska, where we first looked at the old mill at Chemin du Moulin Paradis before continuing to the Rang du Petit Village. There, we all found a spot that inspired us. I decided to paint an old abandoned house. It did not go well, and I was very frustrated at one point. However, I persevered and suddenly the pieces fell into place (see image at top of blog).

In the evening, we enjoyed Bill’s spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce and coleslaw. For dessert, he treated us to a variety of sweets: almond shortbread cookies from the bakery, two-bites, vanilla ice cream and different toppings.

Sweet Candy, Wool, 9.5" x 11.75"

After dinner, we sat together chatting. I was surprised to be able to finish the felted version of my painting “Sweet Candy”. This was the only evening project that I had brought thinking that I would probably need the whole week to create it. As I brought a lot of yellow wool, the memory of the sunflowers inspired me to start a felted sunflower. I am not sure whether it will be a felted painting or a three-dimensional object. Time will tell.


Thursday, September 12, 2019

Tomorrow is already the last painting day here in Kamouraska. We had very bad weather on Wednesday with high winds and pouring rain. It was quite dark the whole day and so cold that we were freezing in the winter garden, where most of us finished paintings that we had started at the beginning of the week. None of us went outside. I was able to finish my sunflower painting and the first painting from St-Andre.

In the evening, Sharon served a hearty meal of ham, potatoes, corn and carrots followed by a very light mousse with apricots.

Kamouraska Monadnocks, acrylic, 6" x 12"

This morning, we were delighted to wake up to a beautiful blue sky. The first stop was the bakery Niemand that was open for the first day since the weekend. Once we had our delicious goodies, Hélène, Janis, Leslie and I decided to go back to the Rang du Petit Village. A farmer had talked to Hélène and Leslie on Tuesday and permitted us to access his property to paint the monadnocks from his fields. He was so excited about having us paint his monadnock that he had taken Hélène on his ATV to show her the great view. Actually, several spots were great for painting. I decided to paint the monadnocks that were a little further in the distance as their shape inspired me more than the big one right in front of me. However, I was struggling with the small board. To fit a huge mountain on a 6” x 12” board felt very restricting. Moreover, the green of the field in front of me was very bright and looked unnatural. I have no idea what kind of crop I was looking at as I do not know anything about farming, but the fields very brightly green. I adapted the colours and shapes a couple of times, but I was still not too thrilled with the result. This would be a great scene for a huge canvas. Maybe, I will create a second, much larger version, in my studio.

1st panel of "Wild Rose", acrylic, 4" x 4"

Leslie had decided to enjoy a quiet afternoon. The rest of us went shopping for groceries after lunch because it was my day to cook. After shopping, we went back to the house. As it was such a wonderful, warm afternoon, I did not want to waste the time inside. Instead, I set up at the side of the road in front of the house to paint a wild rose on a 4” x 4” linen board that I had ordered thinking that it would be much bigger. I enjoyed painting the rose even though I kept wondering how the bloom looked different every time I looked up from my canvas until I realized that the front petal was slowly falling while I was painting. I felt a little bit like in the movie “Beauty and the Beast”, where the falling rose petals signify that time is running out. I was happy that I finished my little painting just in time to start cooking. I spent a long time chopping vegetables and peaches, as I served a vegetable casserole followed by peach compote on top of vanilla ice cream. Tomorrow, we can all relax. No-one has to cook as we still have lots of leftovers. We are all looking forward to another great day of painting.

Painting Trip to Kamouraska 2019 - Part I

Grassland, acrylic, 11" x 14"

Block 28

I am back from my painting trip to Kamouraska. Our Kam 6 Group spent a wonderful time painting the always-changing landscape. The week flew by much too fast. Here is the first part of my travelogue. As I have so much to share with you, the next part will follow next week. The final part will be published in two weeks. I hope you enjoy following my adventures.


September 8, 2019

We are back in Kamouraska. For Janis and I, it is our 10th time. This year, Hélène, Janis and I decided to carpool. It was the first time that the three of us went in one car. When we arrived yesterday afternoon, it was only 9 degrees, windy and rainy. I cannot remember any other year when we arrived at such cold weather. As we were too early to get into the house, we bought our groceries and kept an eye out for painting spots. We were looking forward to the arrival of Sharon, Bill and Leslie. We had so much to talk about after not seeing each other for a year. When it was time for dinner, Hélène’s lasagna with salad and blueberry coulis hit the spot. We were all looking excited to get painting the next day.

Pastel Landscape, acrylic, 5" x 7"

When we awoke this morning, the rain had stopped. However, due to the strong wind, painting outside was challenging. Therefore, we went to St-André, where we set up in the lighthouse at Parc de Ancien Quai. I painted a 5”x 7” and an 11” x 14” (see top of blog) landscape painting of the St-Lawrence River.

Sunshine Family, acrylic, 11" x 14"

Around lunch, the sun came out and it warmed up. We stopped at the house for a break, before Hélène and I drove to the Jardin des Générations in the Rue Notre-Dame in Saint-Pascal, next to the arena, where we painted some beautiful sunflowers in the sunshine. It got so warm that I took off my shoes and socks. Two hours later, we fled from the mosquitoes that had eventually caught up with us.

Tired and hungry, we were ready for Happy Hour and later enjoyed the delicious salmon with potatoes and salad that Leslie had cooked. We finished the delicious meal with an apple crumble with strawberries and coconut cream.

Le Gros Pèlerin, acrylic, 6" x 12"

September 9, 2019

Today, we had a day with mixed weather. When the sun came out, it was very warm, but the wind was so strong that I wore my rain pants, scarf and gloves when the sun hide behind the clouds. Because of the clear view, we decided to go up towards St-Germain, then turned into Rang Mississipi, but could not decide on a painting spot. We turned around, went further up the Rue Principal, then took the 230 east until we hit the 289. There, we turned towards the river until we reached the Rang Premiere East. From this road, we had an amazing view of the Îles Les Pélerins. Janis and Hélène left after lunch, but Leslie and I stayed into the afternoon. Then we drove to Route de la Grève, where we walked along the beach. As it was too late to start a new painting, we drove back to Kamouraska and stopped at the store “Le fil bleu”, where you can buy local artisans’ works. It was another great day. At night, we enjoyed Janis’ chicken curry with salad and her traditional blueberry duffs.

Blog-free week

The Pilgrims, St-André-de-Kamouraska, oil, 11" x 14"

When you see this blog, I will be in Kamouraska for the yearly painting week with my friends. Whether you are painting or enjoying any other hobby, I hope that you will be able to include your family and friends to make it even more fun. Have a great week! I will have lots to share with you from the trip starting next Friday.

My August Projects

Beebalms and Globe Thistle, acrylic, 8" x 8"

Blog 27

Summer is almost over, but I hope for a strong finish. Last year, we had such a great September. It would be lovely to get a repeat. September has been a great month for me for the last couple of years, as it starts with our yearly painting trip to Kamouraska. We are leaving tomorrow. I can hardly wait to spend time with my friends again. Every one of us was so busy this year that we will have lots to talk about, which should keep us awake long enough to reach a regular bedtime, as the days of painting outside in the fresh air make you very, very tired. Even I go to bed earlier than usual.


I will start the review of my August art projects with a look at the three paintings that I finished in the days after the blog of my July projects.


For a plein air painting event organized by the art organization Arteast, we went to an amazing garden of one of the members in Cumberland. It was another hot day, but I was sitting in the shade and had a great time until the sun reached my hiding spot. Rather than setting up at a different location, I decided to retreat to my cool studio to finish the 8” x 8” painting called “Beebalms and Globe Thistle” (see image at the top of this blog).

Heading Heading Towards Mount Robson Park, acrylic, 18" x 24"

“Heading Heading Towards Mount Robson Park” is based on a photo from the trip from Toronto to Vancouver, that my husband and I took in the spring of 1995. It is the first painting from my series of paintings, that I plan to create from photos of the trip. While I made great progress at the beginning, I was struggling in the final stage of the painting. I changed the clouds and mountains a couple of times before I was satisfied with the result. I was so absorbed in my creative process, that I completely lost track of time when I felt that I was close to the finish. Luckily, I checked the time when it was close to 1:30 am. Otherwise, I would probably have kept going.

Bouquet of Joy, acrylic, 20" x 16"

The last painting I finished in July was the 20” x 16” tulip painting “Bouquet of Joy" that I had neglected for other projects that caught my attention.

Pickerel Weed, acrylic, 8" x 10"

On August 1, I took full advantage of the lighter workload and joined the Ottawa Plein Air Adventurers for an outing to Petrie Island. I love this little peninsula and would go there a lot more often if dogs were not prohibited. Walking around the trails, I found members of the group hidden in the spots that were in the shadow. To my surprise, I also ran into a woman whom I usually only meet in the gym at Zumba. We have gone for years to the same classes and never knew that we were both painters. After scouting out the area, I decided to join her at a spot overlooking the calm water and little islands of purple water flowers. They became the focus of my painting. It was lovely to listen to the concert of the bullfrog and to watch turtles sunbathing. Families of Canadian geese were swimming noiselessly through the water. My little 8” x 10” acrylic painting “Pickerel Weed” is slightly more abstract than most of my works. At first, I was rather disappointed with it, but when I looked from a distance, I liked it. Therefore, I only added my initials in the studio.

I also started painting on glass. As I always take the glass out of my frames when I frame my acrylic and oil paintings, I have boxes full of clear glass. I did not want to throw it out and even tried to give it away, but nobody was interested. When I talked about it with Wendy Canci from Da Artisti Studio & Gallery last year, she suggested painting on it. My first trial painting needs another layer of paint to make the colours more vibrant. It was fun to paint on the four different sides of the two glass panels. Right now, I am still in the learning phase, but it is a lot of fun, even though the process is quite slow. I am excited to create more painted glass art. I will keep you posted about my progress.

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I worked many hours on my felted version of our dog Alex. It had been a while since I worked on my dog that is very popular with our cat Miko. Even though I am hiding Alex underneath a piece of cloth and poster board, Miko still snuggles closely to the dog. It is rather sweet, but I have to make sure that he does not pull everything apart with his kneading, as he did before.

I continued felting my image of apple blossoms, but it still needs more work. Felting takes patience, but it is so relaxing!

 

I created a couple of drawings this month: of a friend of mine on the bus, of a rose, and of party guests, including the Cabbage Patch Kid that my three-year-old niece wanted me to draw. I find the doll really creepy, but my niece was happy. Two of the three drawings of sculptures at the Humanics Sanctuary and Sculpture Park were created during my August drawing events at the park. The last one is from a walk with our dog on the trail. Alex is fourteen years old. I like to spend as much time with him as possible because I am aware that our time is limited and so much more precious these days. This was a test to see if I could take him with me while sketching. When he was younger, it would have been impossible, but now he lies down and gives me time to sketch. I will try a more difficult subject next time.

If you would like to join me for the next drawing event at the Humanics Institute, I invite you to sign up for the event that happens the day after the Harvest Moon, on September 15, 2019, from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm. For more information, please go to https://www.kerstinpeters.ca/product/drawing-at-the-humanics-institute/.

If you are interested in other art events for the fall, please go to https://www.kerstinpeters.ca/teaching/. You will be able to register for the events that I organize directly on my website.

I am heading to the yearly painting trip to Kamouraska tomorrow with my friends. I am sure that I will have lots to share with you after the trip.