Advent Calendar Days 1 - 5

 

It is time for the annual Art Advent Calendar. For the next four weeks, I will publish a summary of the paintings here. 

 

Since December 1, I have posted a new painting every day on my Facebook and Instagram pages, where the painting of the day will be on special for the day. 

 

If you like one from this blog, you can still take advantage of the Christmas promotion. 

Christmas Promotion until December 20, 2025 (midnight ET) 

 

The more paintings you buy, the more you save:

1st painting: 10%
2nd painting: 15%
3rd painting: 20%
Each painting after that: +5%

I will apply the highest rebate to the painting with the lowest price. 

These discounts also apply to gift certificates of $100 or $250 toward artwork purchases or workshop registrations.

 Please contact me at info@KerstinPeters.ca for more information.

 

This year, I have finished many watercolour paintings but didn't felt as much as in the previous year due to my travel schedule and the two felted dog portrait commissions I created. Both of them took me a long time.I strive to deliver images that capture details only the owners are likely to recognize. They make all the difference when capturing the personality of a loved pet, and not a generic dog painting.

 

Looking back, I captured flowers in the majority of my paintings, which I love as a subject because of their vibrant colours and diversity. 

 

While I didn't see my painting buddies in person for most of the year, my friend Janis and I painted again at the Tulip Festival, in my garden, several times at Petrie Island and Mer Bleue. As we all have busy lives, I am grateful for our weekly virtual Zoom meetings that most of our small group attends regularly.

 

I hope you enjoy my review of 24 paintings from this year. I would love to hear which one is your favourite. As always, I post them by season.

  

Day 1: Icy Creek, watercolour and white ink, 7.5" x 5.8", CAN $100, unframed

 

This painting shows Broome Creek in the Whitewater Region on a crisp winter day. There is something magical about standing beside a frozen creek on a quiet winter day. However, it would have been too cold to paint outdoors. I struggled a lot with the water and the shadows on the snow. As a final touch, I added some white ink.

Day 2: Golden Sunset in the Country, watercolour, 8.25" x 11", SOLD

I started the painting last year and finally finished this brilliant sunset in the country. Janis Fulton provided the reference photo for this peaceful scene. It is one of the paintings I sold immediately after posting it in my newsletter.

 

Day 3: Frozen Ottawa River Sunset, metallic watercolour, 8,25" x 11",  CAN $180 unframed

 

When I went through my watercolour pads, I came upon this painting and decided I didn't want to change anything. I always tell my students to set a painting aside for a few hours before making further adjustments. When painting, we become so immersed in the process that we need some time to view the artwork with fresh eyes. The painting shows the frozen Ottawa River near Petrie Island, with the sunset reflecting on the ice. My use of metallic watercolours creates a glimmering surface that is not visible in the photo of the artwork.

 
 

Day 4: End of the Season, watercolour and watercolour pencil, 6" x 12,  
CAN $180, unframed
 

I almost finished this painting of the cheerful fishing huts on location at Petrie Island. However, when we packed our things to go home, I noticed that I had forgotten the details of the trees. I quickly added some colour to remind me. Back at home, I finished the painting while the memory was fresh. I added more darkness to the ice, shrubs and trees in the background.

 

Day 5: Peaceful Retreat, watercolour and metallic watercolour, 8.25" x 11", 
CAN $180 unframed

The reference photo for this Nova Scotia scene is from Hélène Martin. I used metallic watercolours when I started the painting in April 2023 to capture the glimmer of the light on the water. I learned in the process that you must be cautious when adding the metallic paint because the glitter will remain, even if you add further layers of regular watercolour paint.

Next Friday, I will post the next seven images of my Art Advent Calendar. If you want to see them daily and take advantage of the promotions, follow my Facebook or Instagram page, where I will post the images at 10 AM (ET) daily.

 

2023 Advent Calendar Days 9 - 15

 

There are only ten days until Christmas Day. Are you ready for the holidays? Or are you still shopping for gifts and stressing to make it the perfect Christmas? While I cannot help you prepare your home and feasts for the holidays, I offer gift certificates for artworks and workshops that make gifting easier. Your loved ones can decide to bring a nature painting for continuous enjoyment to their home or register for a needle felting course. You can even register together for even more fun and lasting memories. Please contact me to order a gift certificate.

The images of my Art Advent Calendar might intrigue you to take a felting course. If you want to purchase any of the paintings, please email me.

 

Day 10: Cardinal in Spring, wool, 6" x 8"

I created this artwork during the felting workshop, where I am always more concerned about my students project than my own. After the first class, I was therefore unhappy with the composition. It looked like the bird was growing out of the tree trunk. I added another branch, more leaves and blooms. I also adjusted the bird's body before sending my cardinal into the world.

Day 11: Three Poppies, wool, 8.75" x 12",
custom-matted to fit a 12" x 16" frame, CAN $450 + shipping

Some years ago, I painted the scene in my friend's backyard in acrylic.

In the spring of 2022, I started a needle-felted version of the three poppies in front of blue irises. I usually don't use a lot of red in my artworks, but these bright flowers framed by the blue irises captured my attention.

I put the artwork aside during the summer and winter and finally finished it on January 1, 2023.

 

Day 12: Thatched-Roof Houses, Sylt, wool and mixed fibres, 9" x 11.5",
custom-matted to fit a 12" x 16" frame, $450 + shipping

Sometimes, when I get homesick, I think of German destinations I still want to visit with my children. I love Sylt, the island in Northern Germany, and the happy memories of family vacations that included my beloved grandmother. The thatched roof houses are so beautifully rustic and blend into the landscape. Many people who have visited Sylt fall in love with the island and become regular visitors.

Day 13: Wild White Roses, watercolour and watercolour pencil,
5.8" x 8.3"

This watercolour painting is another from one of our Painting Buddies one-hour Zoom meetings. I love wild rose bushes and have painted them often during our painting trips to Kamouraska. This piece is my first watercolour painting of a white rose. It is fascinating to see how many colours you see observing a white flower or any other white object. Nothing in nature is as white as the colour from your tube or pan. Check out the white snow lit by the sunset and see for yourself.

Day 14: Morning Chores, Venice, 18" x 24",
custom-matted to fit a 24" x 30" frame, CAN 800 + shipping

This image is the first artwork inspired by my travel to Italy this year. It is the largest needle-felted painting I have created so far. For the first time, I drew the rough areas of my composition onto the fabric.
Working on the large piece was challenging because it took a long time to see progress. Keeping the shingles more or less parallel took some patience.

My excitement rose when I started creating the woman tending to her plants. I considered felting a person in the left window but decided against it. Instead, I added laundry and flower boxes under both windows for additional colour. Creating the battered walls of the house, with the plaster crumbling and exposed stones, took a long time. Most of the time, my needle-felted paintings progress fast in the early stages, but the details take a lot of time. I enjoy seeing the pieces come together and take my time until I am satisfied with the result. Therefore, I had to postpone publishing the image a couple of days ago because I just finished the artwork in time for today's post.

I love that the image captures the beauty of the crumbling old house and the ordinary household chores, which we often see as necessary evil. Although seen from the outside, there is beauty in someone putting up the laundry and the clothes flying in the wind. Many artists have been inspired to capture everyday activities in genre paintings, often romanticizing household activities. 

Day 15: Hay Fields, wool, 8.75" x 11.75",
custom-matted to fit a 12" x 16" frame, CAN $450 + shipping

I painted the scene a couple of years ago with acrylic paints and sold the painting almost instantly. When I painted the image, I struggled to capture the impression of the fields for a long time. I was curious to find out how I would succeed with the details of the wool image. Again, creating the hay bales was a struggle.

 

The artwork reminds me of the smell of late summer and my home town where I took the reference photo.

 

Have a wonderful third weekend of Advent!

Advent Calendar Days 10 - 16

 

Advent Calendar Day 10 

 

For the Love of van Gogh’s Irises, wool, mixed fibre, 9” x 12”, CAN $400


As I was not be able to go outside until the spring, I felt drawn to the image of irises and wildflowers at the end of winter. The felted painting is a recreation of my acrylic painting For the Love of van Gogh’s Irises.


The process of creating this piece flowed without obstacles, but the details took a lot of time. I enjoyed the inspiration of van Gogh’s technique of outlining his shapes.

 

After I finished the artwork, I changed the working title from Thinking of van Gogh's Irises to For the Love of van Gogh’s Irises because irises are one of my favourite flowers.

Advent Calendar Day 11

Mildred, The Hedgehog, wool, 9” x 12”, CAN $400

This cute guy visited my parents every night during the summer to eat the food my father left for him in a little hedgehog house. Most of my photos were taken from the inside and showed glass reflections. However, on the last day of my trip, two hedgehogs were in the garden in the early morning hours and let me take pictures of them.


It took me a long time to finish this artwork because I used several layers of short pieces of wool roving to create the spikes. The leaves were also time-intensive. It seems that everything green is especially challenging for me. It definitely was worth the effort!

 

 

 

Advent Calendar Day 12

 

 

Water Lily, watercolour and watercolour pencil, 5.8” x 8.3” 

 

 

Delicate Water Lily, wool and mixed fibre, 9” x 12”, CAN $400

 

I saw this water lily on my visit to the Palmengarten, the botanical garden in Frankfurt. First, we painted the flower during one of the July Zoom meetings with my Painting Buddies. I was so pleased with the result that I immediately a felted version. 

I spent a lot of time on the water lily. It was my first attempt at creating water bubbles on leaves and petals, which was fun. The needle-felted painting was very time-intensive because of the many layers on the flower and the lily pads.

Advent Calendar Day 13

Peaceful Petrie Island Sunset, wool and mixed fibres, 9” x 12”, CAN $400

 

This is the needle-felted recreation of the acrylic painting Peacefulness from my 2020 landscape calendar. Petrie Island is a natural oasis on the Ottawa River in the east end of Ottawa. It has several nature trails, beaches and lots of wildlife. On a sunny day, it is a busy place for walkers, photographers and painters (in the summer also for swimmers). It is one of my favourite locations because there is so much to paint at different times of the year, and the sunsets are spectacular.  

 

 

 

Advent Calendar Day 14

 At the River Bank, watercolour, 5.8” x 8.3”


I created this painting at the end of July on the bank of the Ottawa River in the Parc du Moulin in Rockland. It was a last-minute decision to go painting en plein air, so I had no time to pack my acrylic paints.


While it is not one of my favourite paintings, I added it to the Advent Calendar because it was my first painting outing after my accident and, therefore, another milestone. I loved being outside and the peacefulness of the moving water of the river.

Advent Calendar Day 15

Rounds of Fruits, wool, 8.75” x 11.5” , CAN $400
 

Needle felting allows you to create two-dimensional artworks (needle-felted paintings) and three-dimensional figures.

In this piece, I took advantage of the versatility of needle felting and created fruits that are so three-dimensional that you feel you can take them out of the image and bite right into them.

 

While my needle-felted paintings usually fit in regular frames, this artwork is quite thick and will require a shadow box frame.

Advent Calendar Day 16

Grey Heron Hiding, wool, 11.75" x 9", CAN $400

 

I saw this beautiful grey heron during a plein air painting session with my friends at Petrie Island in September. The animals on the island seem to be used to the photographers who regularly take pictures of the wildlife. He almost seemed to pose for us. I had started another scene but switched to capturing the heron when he stayed in the grasses right in front of me despite a photographer approaching him with a canoe.


Once I finished the watercolour painting, I started the felted image of the felted bird. The progress was fluid, possibly because I had already studied it while I created the watercolour painting.

If you are interested in purchasing any artworks that show a price, please contact me at info@KerstinPeters.ca for more details.