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Friday 22 December 2017

Advent Calendar Day 16 - 22

Blog 52

Christmas is almost here. I hope you are ready for the festivities and can enjoy a quiet day tomorrow. 
Today, I am publishing the images of my advent calendar days 16 to 22. As my blog is only published every Friday, I was debating what to do about the last two days of my advent calendar.  If you would like to see these two images before Christmas, please go to my Facebook page CXX, where they will be published on December 23 and 24 at 7:30am. I will also include them next Friday in my last post of the year 2017.



Day 16:


I created this 12” x 24” acrylic sunflower painting of one of the two sunflowers that we had in our garden. This is the first painting of a triptych that I have in mind. It shows the flower past its prime but still standing strong.



Day 17:



The 12” x 48” acrylic painting “Turtle Family” shows my love for water turtles. I have had turtles for years and find watching them entertaining. Unfortunately, they are a lot messier than the turtle family in my painting.
The photos show you the progress of my work. I had the long canvas for many years. Some years ago, I wanted to paint a tropical fish scene. I even prepared the gallery canvas with some areas of glass beads for the fish painting, but then I lost interest and put the canvas aside. When I picked up the canvas this spring to work with the glass beads again, I felt more like painting turtles. I quickly realized that I had to be careful not to push down the brush and painting knife too strongly, because some of the beads got loose and fell of the canvas. However, I was able to create a nice texture due to the beads.
Later in the painting process, when I had finished my painting, I spread another layer of glass bead gel on top of most areas of the artwork to create the bubble effect.


Day 18:


“Fall at Petrie Island” is a felted version of the painting with the same name which I sold a couple of years ago. The felted piece looks like an abstract version of the original painting. It was difficult to create the foliage and reflections they way I envisioned them.







  

Day 19:

The 8” x 10” acrylic painting “View towards Île aux Corneilles at Low Tide” was painted from a picnic table at the Avenue Le Blanc in Kamouraska during this year's painting trip. It was my most productive painting day of the year, as I worked on five paintings. So far, I finished four of them.


Day 20:


This year, I was very attracted to sunflowers. This painting is called “Stages of Life”, an 11” x 14” acrylic painting that I started during our Kamouraska trip sitting in the school’s flower and vegetable garden in St-Denis.


Day 21:

The 10” x 12“ felted artwork “Cardinal” was a gift for my mother who loves birds. It was my first attempt at felting a bird. Even though I love watching birds, especially during winter when they come to our feeders, it has been decades since I painted a bird. The painting of chickadees hanging on a feeder also ended up at my parents house. I do not even have a picture it.


Day 22:

“Nature's Mirror” is a 12” x 16” acrylic painting of a beautiful quiet fall scene that I started as a demo piece in the landscape painting course I taught at Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex. I took the reference photo at a spot close to our cottage in the Whitewater region.
When I start a painting as a demo, I like to show the participants how I start my painting process and how to continue from there. During a class, it is not my focus to paint my painting, but to help the students to create their best work.
To finish my painting, I need the quietness of my studio to concentrate on my work.



I wish you all a Merry Christmas! I hope some of you will receive an art related gift, whether it is an artwork, art materials, or a certificate for a workshop or course. Art brightens our lives every day and not just in the Christmas season.


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