Art Advent Calendar 2024: Days 14 - 20

 

Can you believe that tomorrow is the winter solstice? From then on, the days are already getting longer again. I feel the evenings are so long at the moment. I found this week of grey days depressing. Luckily, I have my art to transport me in any season I want. Hopefully, my art cheers you up as well. Here is the third part of my Art Advent Calendar 2024. I try to post the images according to the calendar months. Days 14 to 20 contain summer and fall images. Therefore, you will see more landscapes because my Painting Buddies and I spent more time painting en plein air in September, October and November.




Day 14: Otto, the Happy Otter, 9" x 11.75", wool, custom-matted for a 12" x 16" frame, CAN $450 + shipping

My husband, our dog, and I observed the otter and its family during a canoe ride at the cottage. I love how the canoe glides through the water, allowing us to watch animals we would never see otherwise.

 

When I created the needle-felted painting, I thought at first the animal in the photo was a beaver. After I filled the background and added the animal, it looked like a small bear. When I studied the photo again to see how to change the animal, I realized the cute animal was an otter.
 

 

Day 15: Black-eyed Susans, watercolour and watercolour pencils,
8.3" x 5.8"

My friends and I hadn't gone plein air painting throughout the summer because it was either too hot or rainy. Therefore, I set myself up in our yard to paint my husband's Black-eyed Susans. I worked on the image on two consecutive afternoons.

Day 16: Wildflowers, 9" x 11.75", wool, custom-matted for a 12" x 16" frame, CAN $450 + shipping

I started this painting inspired by my trip to Germany in June. Between the vineyards of Mainz-Laubenheim was a field of beautiful wildflowers and grains. I love the colour combination of the salmon red and the purple-magenta flowers. I just finished the piece this evening. All the details in the flowers and leaves took much longer than I had anticipated.

Day 17 September: Zinnia Bouquet, watercolour, 11.7" x 8.3"

 

During the Arteast studio tour in September, Janis and I demonstrated painting a colourful bouquet of zinnias from Janis' garden. The single chrysanthemum is from a plant I bought to bring some brightness to the dreary time the weather provided for our event. While I always admire Janis' decisive strokes, I am a slow painter because I love the meditative process of adding layers to my paintings. I always find it fascinating how differently we approach our artworks.


I painted most of this piece during the studio tour but still had to complete some of the flowers and create a more pleasing transition between the green tablecloth and the background when I could paint without disruptions.

 

Day 18: Little Creek, Humanics Institute Sculpture Park, watercolour,
10" x 7"

This lovely fall scene is from a September outing to the Humanics Institute Sculpture Park with my friends Janis and Bob.


I finally finished the lush landscape this week. It was challenging to add all the green land without losing the creek among all the foliage. If you have never been to this little gem in Cumberland, I can highly recommend this relaxing and educational path through the woods. You will find many sculptures promoting understanding of the world religions and the circle of life.

Day 19: Catching the Last Fall Colours, 5.8" x 8.3", watercolour

My painting friends and I love Petrie Island because it offers plenty of inspiration at any season. The changing weather provides different views of the same spot. When Bob and I went to Petrie Island on October 31, we witnessed how the wind blew the leaves from the trees we were painting until the trees were almost bare.


Check out my video from the location here.

Day 20: Brilliant November Afternoon, 5.8" x 8.3", watercolour

 

On October 31, the weather was so beautiful that my friend Bob and I went painting at Petrie Island again. In the morning, clouds and cold wind blew the leaves around. However, in the afternoon, we sat in the warm sunlight with temperatures in the mid-twenties, painting the blue waters and brilliant red dogwood shrubs. I am usually a slow painter, building up my paintings layer by layer, but within 45 minutes, I created a lovely sketch.


Check out my video here.

Are you still looking for a gift idea for yourself or others? You can also make an appointment with me or visit my website. I offer gift certificates for paintings and workshops. Art will enrich your life, whether on your walls or by nurturing your creative skills.



Have a wonderful third weekend of Advent! I will publish one additional blog on Tuesday, December 24, the last blog for 2024. I will continue with monthly blogs on the last Friday of the month for 2025.

Bringing Art and Nature Together at the Humanics Sanctuary and Sculpture Park

Blog 26


Since I moved to Cumberland almost 15 years ago, I have a beautiful studio with lots of natural light. While I love my studio, I prefer to paint or draw on location, especially in the summer. Luckily, one of my favourite sites is only minutes away from my studio: The Humanics Sanctuary and Sculpture Park. The park is situated in a nine-acre wooded ravine with walking trails leading you along multi-cultural and multi-religious sculptures. The amazing sculptures represent themes of family, religion, and philosophic concepts from around the world. It is a peaceful place to relax, meditate, pray and appreciate both art and nature.


While I often come to the park to walk our dog, to paint and draw with fellow artists, I wanted to extend this joy of being inspired by the beautiful surroundings of the park. To encourage the community to experience the benefits of art in this beautiful natural setting, I prepared two drawing events as well as a painting party that were suitable for everyone.


The drawing events were held on August 5and August 19, 2019. Participants could venture out into the park and create individual sketches or colour some of the colouring pages that I had prepared of various sculptures. The goal was to make the event accessible and relaxing for everyone.

The next event was the outdoor painting party on August 10. The weather was rather temperamental: We experienced strong wind gusts, dark clouds in the sky, as well as the sudden change from heavy rain to brilliant sunshine. It was an interesting setting, but the group painted happily under my guidance and sheltered by the tent. I had picked a lotus flower for the occasion as the lotus is associated with eternity, purity and peace, self-awareness, love and compassion, the overcoming of suffering and spiritual development. It also symbolizes beauty, fertility, prosperity, and eternity. The participants had a lot of fun and left not only with their unique painting of a beautiful water lily, an appreciation for the beauty of the park, but also developed connections between each other.

If you would like to join me for another “Drawing Animals at the Humanics Sanctuary and Sculpture Park” event, please visit the park on Sunday, September 15, from 10:30 am to 12 pm. Come out to draw in the beautiful natural setting of the Humanics Sanctuary and Sculpture Park, 3468 Old Montreal Road in Cumberland, Ontario, K4C 1H9. You can either create drawings of one of the sculptures or colour some of the prepared colouring pages of the sculptures or related to the theme of harvest. The fee of $5 includes all materials. There is an additional admission fee to enter the park, but you are welcome to stay in the park for the whole day. Pre-registration at https://www.kerstinpeters.ca/product/drawing-animals-at-the-humanics-institute/ is recommended.

My July Projects

Blog 24

Another month has passed. Time was just flying as I went on my vacation with my family to the cottage for a week. Despite many visitors, I managed to make more time to be creative. As I teach less in the summer, I have been able to keep up a more regular creative schedule.

Summer at Mer Bleue, acrylic, 11" x 14"

On July 4, I went with the Ottawa Plein Adventurers and Arteast to the Mer Bleue Bog. It was already hot when I arrived at 9:30 am. Most of us had decided to give it an early start as temperatures were forecasted to reach the low 30s.

As I had painted the lake area of the bog a couple of times before, I set up at one of the wider areas of the boardwalk and painted the bog with its beautiful pink flowers.

At first, I was very comfortable under my umbrella and wondered about the warning of lots of bugs, but the warmer it got, the more horseflies started to attack me. It got so bad that they were sitting on my sunglasses not caring about all the repellent I had sprayed on myself. I surrendered when I was using my brush more to swat away the flies than to paint.

At the cottage, I was able to finish the artwork after a lot of time. I was struggling to have enough distinction in the hues and values of green to show different plants, and especially the transition from foreground to background.

An Oasis of Peace, acrylic, 8" x 10"

Next, I finished the painting of the pond from the Beechwood Cemetery that I had started on location last summer. If you look at my starting point, you can see that I changed the composition slightly to adapt it better to my canvas size. In reality, the posts of the bridge were taller, and there were more rocks to the left side. However, they were too dominant in the painting.

I like painting at the cottage because I can sit in the covered patio surrounded by nature. I am protected from bugs but have the advantage of natural light. As we had a lot of guests this time, I did not start any new works.

During our summer week, I usually find it too hot to go out for plein air painting, except for little watercolour sketches in the late afternoon and early evening. This time, I challenged myself with a watercolour pencil sketch of one of the kayaks that was lying on the beach. As I struggled a lot with the perspective, drawing the boat was hard.

Spring Along the Rideau Canal, acrylic, 11" x 14"

I also spent time in my studio and finished an Ottawa spring scene that I had started as a demo painting a couple of years ago. The place is a park area along the Rideau Canal. “Spring along the Rideau Canal” is an 11” x 14” acrylic painting. When a family member saw me working on the painting, she fell in love with the scene immediately. She bought it right at the spot. How exciting!

 I also continued my work on the landscape from our 1995 trip from Toronto to Vancouver. I will be able to tell you more about the location and show you the finished painting by the end of August.

During a recent visit to the play “Unnecessary Farce” at the Ottawa Little Theatre, I was able to create three quick sketches of the stage setting as well as of one of the characters. I also sketched at the Ottawa River Festival and the Humanics Sculpture Park.

A Bunch of Lilies, mixed fibres, 19" x 14"

The rest of the time, I enjoyed the lovely summer days and felted while sitting in the gazebo. I finished the 19” x 14” needle felted artwork of lilies. For the artwork, I used mainly wool with some synthetic fibres and some embroidery floss.

My two new pieces that I started will be of apple blossoms and lily pads on the river.

While I can work on my needle felted pieces while I am in a conversation or watching TV when I am blocking in the shapes and colours, I need a quiet place once I get to the details. Lately, I have discovered that I love listening to audiobooks while I felt. Do you listen to music, audiobooks, or podcasts while you are creative? Or do you prefer no distractions?

If you would like to create art in a peaceful setting, I would like to mention to you the three events that I am hosting in collaboration with the Humanics Institue at their beautiful sculpture park. For more information please go to my website www.KerstinPeters.ca.

Drawing at the Humanics Institute, August 5, 2019, 10:30am to 12pm
Outdoor Lotus Painting Party, August 10, 2019, 10:30am to12:30pm
Drawing Animals at the Humanics Institute, August 19, 2019, 10:30am to 12pm

A Tourist in Your Own Town

Spring in Ottawa, acrylic, 11" x 14"

Blog 21

At the end of May, I took a couple of days of vacation to spend time with four good friends from Germany. We had a great time together, and I enjoyed being a tourist in my own town.

Tulip Festival, acrylic, 14" x 11"

I am sure that I am not the only one who has all these plans to go sightseeing in my own town but never actually goes until company arrives. As my first two friends arrived just in time for the long Victoria Day weekend, we started our sightseeing programme with a trip to the Ottawa Tulip Festival at Commissioners Park. It had rained during the day and the temperatures were rather cool so that the park was not too overcrowded with people. We could see all the beautiful flower beds and later in the evening enjoyed the fireworks over Dow’s Lake without people blocking the view.

It was my friends’ first visit to Canada, and they wanted to try some typical Canadian food. We were at the right spot: First, we shared poutine, then the traditional BeaverTail. While we relished the food, I am glad that we shared the orders as I am not used to eating dishes that sit so heavily on the stomach.

The following day, we continued our exploration of the city with a stroll through the Byward Market area and Major Hill’s Park. From Nepean Point behind the National Gallery, we had a great view towards the Parliament buildings, the flooding of the Ottawa River, and the Canadian Museum of History.

While I had to go back to work, my friends spent some time discovering parts of Ontario by themselves on their way to Niagara Falls and Toronto.

Drawing of the sculpture "Friends"

Once they were back, we went to the serene Humanics Institute Sculpture Park in Cumberland where we enjoyed the peaceful surroundings only as long as we kept moving. Otherwise, the mosquitoes tried to get as much blood from us as possible, even though the warm clothing that we still needed due to the cold wind, gave us a certain amount of protection. Just in time for lunch, the sun came out and we enjoyed a lovely lunch outside on the patio at Cafe Latte Cino in Orleans. Reinvigorated, we walked on the boardwalk of the Mer Bleue Bog that was surprisingly busy for a weekday. Two young musicians had chosen the bog as the setting for a music video that they were filming that afternoon.

Once my other friends joined us, we spent another two days exploring downtown Ottawa with the help of the “Hop On – Hop Off” Double Decker buses. Warm clothing was still advisable but on the first day, temperatures rose sufficiently so that we could enjoy a lovely lunch on a patio in the Byward Market area while watching the big commotion of police presence and street closures when the convoy with U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence passed.

The second day, we headed out with the bus again but moved from the upper deck to the inside of the bus very quickly because it was so cold. We visited the grounds of Rideau Hall but were not able to go into the building due to an official event. Instead, we spent quite some time in the Byward Market area, looking at street art and the many small shops in the area.

During the time with my friends, I discovered some beautiful spots and can hardly wait to bring my sketching equipment to draw some exciting new sites. I also want to make more time to explore further local areas without postponing it until the next guests come for a visit. Do you enjoy being a visitor in your own town or do you only go sightseeing when you have company? I hope my blog is motivating you to go out and check out your beautiful neighbourhood. I am sure you will find little treasures that you never realized before.

Air Travel with Painting Equipment

Blog 31

My Creativity Challenge will take a three week break while I am in Germany with my daughter to spend time with family and friends. I have a full schedule and I am not sure how much sketching time I can squeeze in, even though I will have lots of beauty to capture. For this reason, I kept the art supplies I packed to a minimum. I took my watercolour pencils, a pocket watercolour set, pencils, and a drawing pad.

As none of the materials is considered a dangerous goods according to the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations, I can either put them in my check-in suitcase or in my carry-on luggage as long as I remember to empty my little water container.

If I was going on a painting trip, I would have to make more preparations. Tubes of oil-based and latex paint used by artists are accepted for air travel provided the paints are packaged in absorbent material and placed in a heavy, plastic leak-proof bag/container according to Air Canada. However, according to paint manufacturer Gamblin, it is best not to refer to artist oil paints as oil paints but rather as artists paints made from vegetable oil, as commercial oil paints are on the list of banned materials due to their solvent content. You want to avoid confusion.

Even as containers of 100 ml/ 100 g (3.4 oz.) or less are allowed as carry-on baggage at the security checkpoint, they have to fit in one clear, closed and re-sealable plastic bag no larger than 1 litre (1 quart). One re-sealable plastic bag per passenger is permitted. So if you have hand cream or medication with you, you might exceed the space of the bag and your paints might be confiscated.

It is also important to pack any sharp tools into your checked-in luggage as the will otherwise confiscated at the security check. All art materials should be in their original packaging with the original labels.

As solvents, painting mediums, fixatives, and varnishes are flammable and therefore banned from airlines, you have to get those at your destination. If you are worried that there will not be an art store in the vicinity, you can order the materials online and have them shipped to your destination.

For any art materials that might be questioned by the security personnel, it is best to have a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) from the paint manufacturer ready to show. The MSDS includes a section on fire and explosion data. Materials you can take onto a plane have to have a flash point that is higher than 60 C (140 F).

If you are looking for more information, Winsor & Newton has very detailed information about their products at http://www.winsornewton.com/na/discover/tips-and-techniques/other-tips-and-techniques/travelling-by-plane-with-winsor-newton-us or you can go to the Golden Artist Colors website and look at their air transport statement at https://www.goldenpaints.com/pdf_viewer?file=https://www.goldenpaints.com/admin/image/get_assets/air-transport-statement.pdf.

During the last couple of days before my trip, I went again to the Humanics Institute with my friends Janis Fulton and Hélène Martin. This time, we all drew different sculptures. I drew the untitled sculpture of a young woman as well as a quick sketch of a flower (see at the top of the blog).

I also finished a felted elephant for a friend of mine.

For the two upcoming weeks, I will post some of my favourite paintings. If you would like to contact me, please be aware that I will only have intermittent Internet service while I am away. Therefore, I might only get back to you during the last week of August.

Have a great long weekend! Whether you are working or going on vacation, I hope you make the most of your summer!

Creativity Challenge - Week 30

Blog 30

It has been a busy week for my as I prepare for my trip to Germany that is just a couple of days away.

I continued to created 15 minute art projects that I posted on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/KerstinPetersPaintings from Monday to Friday. This week, I picked one subject and painted it with watercolour, gouache, acrylic, and oil paints to give you a quick glimpse of the differences of the different media. I will continue my 15 minute projects until July 31.

As you probably have noticed, often I went past the 15 minute mark, usually because my project was too ambiguous. However, I always like to go with my feeling, and I really was drawn to create a certain image that day. If you are not inspired by what you see, it is really hard to bring excitement to your project. Instead, I love it when students do not want to stop at the end of the class because they are so involved in their creative process. They have fun. This is so much more important than to follow a timer. Some days, you might be restricted in time but if not, why not keep creating? In general, I recommend to take a break after about 90 minutes to move around and stretch. Creating art is lots of fun but it is also challenging for your eyes and hands. However, if you are in a flow just keep on going. Sometimes, you do not want to break a very productive streak. Set your own rules and routine, because we all have different needs.

Here are the other artworks that I created during the last week:

I finished both another felted butterfly and a felted elephant that I had started during my vacation. They were challenging but I am quite happy with the results.

unfinished acrylic painting, 8" x 10"

I also went out twice with two of my friends. Once to the Beechwood Cemetery where I painted the pond with the water lilies.This painting is still unfinished.

The other time to the Humanics Institute Sculpture Park in Cumberland, where we spent the morning drawing the sculpture “Motherly Love” of a hippopotamus holding her baby in her arms.

from left: Janis Fulton,

Hélène Martin, Kerstin Peters

I also felted a butterfly that I had started during my vacation at the cottage.


As I am putting together my schedule for the fall, are there any skills that you would like to learn, any projects that you always wanted to work on but always postponed? You can either send me an email to kpeters@domingoinformatics.ca or send me a message to my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KerstinPetersPaintings.

Creativity Challenge - Week 25

Blog 25

With company at our house and working part-time, it was more difficult to set aside time to be creative. While I was watching some of the World Cup soccer games with my family, I was able to continue knitting my temperature shawl and felting flowers on my table runner. I also felted a butterfly for my Creativity & Me: Felting Butterflies & Flowers workshop on Friday, July 27 at 1pm - 3pm.

Nevertheless, I spent last Friday morning with my friend Janis painting poppies in her yard. It was my first plein air painting time since our trip to Kamouraska in September of last year. It felt so great to be outside in the warm sun, and to be able to fully concentrate on painting without distractions.

Three Poppies, acrylic, unfinished

Anne Warburton and I also continued writing and editing our blogs about “Creating Art with Groups”. We complement each other very well. It is exciting to see everything come together. The blogs will be published together with the video clips on July 6 and 13, 2018.

On June 21, I went to the Humanics Institute Sanctuary and Sculpture Park with a couple of members of the Ottawa Plein Air Adventures Group. I knew many of the members already from Arteast as well as the Urban sketchers. While most participants stayed until the afternoon, I only had time to stay until noon to create one watercolour pencil sketch of the sculpture called “Friends”, one of my favourite sculptures of the park.

If you would like to try something new, I am holding one painting and one felting workshop in July:

July 20: The Energy of Vincent van Gogh

https://www.facebook.com/events/468943803544919/

July 27: Felting Butterflies and Flowers

https://www.facebook.com/events/246195382817954/

Here is also the link to the Painting Party in the Humanics Institute Sculpture Park on July 15, 2018: https://www.facebook.com/events/390719461442763/ .

For more information, please click on the links or go to my website www.KerstinPeters.ca.

In addition, I am offering a new promotion for you: if you register for 5 events at the regular rate and pay only half the price then when you register for your 6th event. There is no expiration date for this promotion. This promotion starts with my July events and is valid for both painting parties and workshops. Once you have registered for 5 events, I will send you the promotion code for the 6th event.

If you have any suggestions for materials or techniques you would like to have covered during my July projects that I will post from Monday to Friday on my business page https://www.facebook.com/KerstinPetersPaintings/ on Facebook, please send me an email to kpeters@domingoinformatics.ca.

Creativity Challenge - Week 23

Blog 23

Climax, acrylic, 10" x 10"

Last weekend, I finally made it back into my studio to paint. I finished the tulip painting that I had started at the beginning of April. It felt so good to be painting. I had hoped to paint a second time this week, as my friends and I had plans to paint at the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, but these plans fell through due to the days of rain.

Instead I met with one of my friends for a craft morning. She was knitting and I felted a blue lupin. Later, I also continued to work on the poppies that I had started last week.

During the “Cartooning and Comics” classes, I demonstrated scenes 3 and 4 for all three groups. All but my 5 - 7 year old students were able to finish their comics this week.

At the beginning of the week, I met with my artist friend Anne Warburton to collaborate on a blog post. We were both very excited about working together and had a lovely chat. However, it was quite out of our comfort zone to record the session, but we did it anyway. It is not perfect, but it shows us in an authentic way. I am sure we will get better with time. You will be able to see the video and read the blog in a couple of weeks.

If you would like try something new, I would like to inform you about my first outdoor painting party in the beautiful environment of the Humanics Sanctuary and Sculpture Park in the idyllic Cumberland Village.The painting party is open to everyone who enjoys the peacefulness and beauty of nature to get inspired to create their own artwork; it will be a lasting memory that will bring continuous joy to their home. This is an event to connect with others, relax and have fun. I will guide the participants in creating a beautiful lotus painting. No experience is necessary. All the materials are provided for you.

The fee of $ 42.50 includes all materials and the admission to the sculpture park for the day. Parking is free. If you would like more information please contact me by email to kpeters@domingoinformatics.ca. To reserve your spot please send an e-transfer to kpeters@domingoinformatics.ca. Don't forget to send a separate email with the security answer.