Taking Time

'A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.'

(WH Davies)

I finished the painting this morning. One of the things I most enjoyed creating was the contrast between the background and the child but playing with light is always such a joy when working in transparent watercolour too. I wanted to create the backlighting to add to the dreamy feel of the finished piece.

Ona

WIP 3

I started working on the child's clothes today. I still have a lot to do but thought I would share my progress.

I chose orange and a warm cream for his clothes because I want to make us feel as if he is really close to us in contrast to the blues of the background which recede away from us. I hope that this will help us stop and connect with the child and his curiosity.

Thank you for all your title suggestions. I am still open to more ideas if you have any

Ona

Progress made

I have really enjoyed bringing this face to life on the paper. I will have some minor adjustments to do once I have painted his hair and clothes but the face is broadly done. I wonder what he is looking at.

I used the same colours for his eyes as I had used in the background and have kept and will continue to keep the edges slightly soft focus as I felt it would enhance the dreamy feel to the painting.

I think I will work on his clothes next and leave his hair till last.

Any ideas for a title? the last two lines of the poem 'Poor is life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare' sums up what I am trying to convey in this painting but its probably a little long as a title.

Ona

Work In Progress

Life is still pretty crazy here. I am still making multiple trips to the hospital to see dr's and to Emerg to help keep my PICC line open so I can continue getting the IV antibiotics to beat this infection. I am still painting when I am able though.

 I was recently inspired by the poem Leisure by W.H Davies and a photo that I came across of my son when he was small. I love how, unlike so many adults, children often just stop and stare at things around them when they are interested so I wanted to capture the contrast between the constant hurrying motion of life and the child like curiosity that makes children stop and stare. Over the last week or so I have been working on the background blurring it to suggest the movement of people. I wanted to leave a lot to the imagination though letting the viewer interpret the movement and the location in the way they wished.

I am looking forward to developing the sense of curiosity in the child. I am unsure yet what to call this painting so please let me know if you have any title ideas.

For those of you that do not know the poem by WH Davies I mentioned above, here it is:

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

Ona

Watercolor Art Society Houston Acceptance

I was very pleased to receive an e mail yesterday to inform me that my painting 'Honouring the Past, Shaping the Future' has been selected by Juror Laurin McCracken  to be part of their 37th International Exhibition

 The exhibition will open March 11 and run until April 3.

Ona

Impressions of the Heart Exhibition Opens

I have three paintings that will be on display for the next month at the Richmond Hill Centre for the performing Arts. I hope if you live in the area you will go and take a look.

My painting 'Craft-Ted with Love' won the Framing Depot Gold Award for Best in Show (Middle painting in the photo below)

My other two paintings that are on display are 'Baby on Board' and 'Re Unite-Ted'.

The Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts is situated on Yonge Street. parking is available behind the theatre on Wright Street.

Ona

IWS Juror

I am honoured to be selected to represent Canada as a juror in the International Watercolour Society Youth Contest along with Jean Pederson and the founder of IWS Atanur Dougan.

The contest is open to all watercolour artists worldwide from the ages of 16-35 and the jurying will take place next month.

Copyright-Ted

I had to go back into hospital for a while because I contrated an infection during the procedure a week or so ago and it was getting worse. While there I couldn't resist painting this little Ted painting to take my mind off things.

I thought it would be fun to have it instead of a plain copyright symbol in the Ted book I am going to be creating later this year. What do you think?

All too often people use an artists work without their permission because they are just not aware that an image, even though it has been put on the web or in a magazine, still belongs to the artist. I have encountered this many times, especially with my Ted paintings so I thought I would create a Ted painting to help raise awareness. Ted says

' Please enjoy looking at the artwork. Share it with your friends if you would like but always ask first and give credit to the artist because we are Copyright-Ted'

Ona

Paws for Thought

 I have been trying to get the pen and ink drawing of Harry my Labrador when he was a small pup finished over the last few days. It has been a good way to take my mind off not feeling well and my operation tomorrow. 

 I love Harry's dreamy expression. I wonder what he was thinking. I have just added a touch of watercolour in his eyes. I felt it gave him a much more far away feel.

Honouring the past, Shaping the Future

I am really happy to have finished this painting before next week when I have to go back into hospital for an operation. 

The title just seemed fitting for not only this painting but my life right now. Not only is this my first painting of the new year but I remember when I won my first ever international award in 2011 John Salminen telling me that he measured his progress and success in art in blocks of 5 years not individual awards. With the end of 2013 and the start of 2014, I have now just finished my first 5 years of painting in watercolour (It's been a great ride! ) Now I am just beginning my second block of 5 years. This painting therefore not only represents the blacksmith honouring tradition while forging a new creation but me honouring what I have learnt so far about watercolour and trying my best to put it into practice while looking ahead as I begin my next set of 5 years wondering where those years will take me not only in art but life. I wonder what I will be creating in the next 5 years? This is a good question to think about over the next few weeks when I know things are going to be tough.

Ona

The Framing Depot Gold Award for Best in Show

I am very pleased to have won The Framing Depot Gold Award for Best in Show  in the BWS Impressions of the Heart Juried Exhibition for my painting 'Craft-Ted with Love'. 

The exhibition will take place at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts from February 3rd to March 2nd 2014. Thank you to the Juror Karin Isenburg for selecting my painting as Best in Show and to Steve Morkotinis from The Framing Depot for kindly donating the award. Congratulations to the other artists who have also won awards. I hope that if you live around the Greater Toronto Area you can stop by and view the exhibition next month.

Happy New Year

I have had a great start to 2014. One of the miniature Ted paintings 'Mist-Ted' sold yesterday and will be on its way to his new family on Monday morning.

I have been working away at both the drawing and the painting over the last few days. Neither are finished yet but with the painting I am getting close. I am still really enjoying developing the feeling of light. Tight curly hair takes an AGE to paint though which is slowing me down at the moment.

For those of you that thought I would finish the drawing first I am sorry but developing the really dark areas in pen takes a long time. The nose was also quite challenging to create. One benefit to doing a watercolour and a pen at the same time is that it makes me seem quite quick at the watercolour.  Working in pen is just slow. I have lost count of the number of hours I have been working on this already. Its very relaxing though and fun to see a puppy emerge out of the white paper as you work.

Talking of Puppies. I thought you would all enjoy some New Years Resolutions from my faithful furry friends Ella and Harry. Do any of these remind you of things your pets do?

1. We will try our best to NEVER interrupt our artist’s creative flow ….UNLESS…..…she has become so absorbed in her work that she has forgotten to eat. Interrupting her is then our duty as her furry companions, isn’t it? After all a healthy creative spirit must be fed … and we are healthy and very creative if allowed to be… and if we don’t remind her to feed herself then we don’t get fed either.

2. We have noticed that our artist sometimes likes to paint in the company of others... So if a tube of paint comes within reach, we will try harder to grab it and use it. Our artist companion can keep the brushes, as she seems to be very attached to these furry ended sticks, sometimes putting them in her mouth and even occasionally stroking it against her cheek but they are small and puny not like the big ones we find when out and about. Of course our tails and paws and mouths work much, much better at covering a large surface area very quickly but we won’t let on just how effective they are or we might become her latest art tools and not just her companions!

3. If we see our 2 legged mom place her painting or drawing on the mantelpiece… We have learnt that this means she needs to walk away from it and think about it for a while. If she stays nearby there seems to be a huge temptation to fiddle. As faithful hounds we will therefore try harder to distract her. We will fetch our leads or balls and take her outside and let her breathe in some fresh air.

4. When out and about… We will be more alert to her observations especially when she has that thing called a camera with her because these seem to be the times she finds things really interesting. We both struggle at the moment to understand what exactly it is that’s so intriguing even though we look very hard too. Maybe with some extra effort and practice this year we will ‘see’ better. It’s obviously something transient that our mom sees because she seems to ‘move to somewhere else’ and look there shortly after we have arrived at the first place.

Any other ideas would be very gratefully received by Ella and Harry

Happy New Year from us all

Ona

Forging ahead and other news

Only just over 5 hours left of 2013. Its been a great year for me art wise but now its time to look forward to 2014. The painting I am working on seems very appropriate in this respect as the blacksmith busily creates new from old.

I am really enjoying painting this piece now. The ref photo I am working from is taken with a flash in a dark area so the light in it is very flat and uninteresting. The joy of painting though is that I can change this to make it whatever I want.  I am loving developing the contrast between the warm light of the fire/ the heated iron he is working on and the cool light shining in from outside. I love the focus and intense concentration on the blackmiths face too. Painting it was a good distraction from the chaotic last 24 hours.


A couple of other artists sent me a message yesterday lunch time to say they had got a phone call from the director at Fallbrook (Signature American Watermedia exhibition hosts) to say there had been a big mistake and those who were accepted were actually rejected so to expect a phone call. I waited and waited but nothing. Several other people posted on facebook the same news or that their accepted and rejected paintings had been switched. Several people sent me messages to say sorry because they guessed that I too had had the phone call but I hadn't. I had to say that I had no idea what was happening.

After a sleepless night wondering if i was still in the exhibition or not and how on earth if the other painting had been accepted, which had happened with a few of my friends, I was going to get it framed and shipped in 3 days, I phoned the director.  She was not working today but luckily they phoned her and she phoned me back from her home. Thank you Mary

Apparently I wasnt contacted because my accepted painting Content-Ted is still the same. I'm still in the show and I dont need to get another one framed so it will be packed up in its box tomorrow ready to be shipped the next day.

  
I feel so bad for my friends who thought they were accepted but got the phone call to say they were not. Being an artist is not for the faint hearted. All we can all do really is to try to continue Forging Ahead.

May 2014 be a good year for us all. ((((hugs))))

Ona

A sneak peak at some new works in progress

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. I have been having a lovely time watching the snow falling while curling up on the sofa in front of a lovely warm fire.

I have been painting a little but my progress is very slow. I started this painting back at the end of November and have only managed to finish the background so far. Still, I'm thinking positively...at least I have my first painting of the new year well on its way  :) Can you guess what my subject is going to be doing?

 I know many people like to read a book to relax, but I enjoy curling up or lying on the sofa and drawing with my pens. I can happily spend several hours a day drawing with my faithful furry friends beside me or at my feet. I just love the way Harry plops himself down sometimes watching me with his chin between his paws and back legs sprawled out behind him.  I couldn't resist using him as my subject again.

Drawing in pen really forces you to think so much about values and use them to build shape and form. Its such a fabulous way of developing an eye for value. Harry's fur is black but in some lighting conditions you can get wonderful contrasts in value as the sun, moon or other strong lighting source creates highlights and casts shadows on his shiny fur. I had great fun developing the shape and form of his velvety ear and the coarse hair on his paw this way. As you can see I still have a fair way to go on this drawing but I am really looking forward to developing Harry's facial features next... that cold wet nose and those oh so longing eyes.

So which do you think I will finish first, drawing or painting?

Ona

Winsor & Newton Award CWA 44th National Exhibition

I was very excited to get a phone call from Ruth Miller, show chair for The California Watercolor Association's 44th National Exhibition today to inform me that their juror Elaine Daily-Birnbaum, who is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, the California Watercolor Association, and an AWS Dolphin Fellow  awarded my painting 'Spinning a Tale'  the Winsor & Newton Award. I feel honored to have my painting selected for this award when the quality of work in the whole exhibiton is so high with so many well known artists exhibiting.

The exhibition runs from February 14, 2014 to March 15, 2014.  The Artists’ Reception and Awards will be held February 21, 7-9 pm. I would love to be able to attend but it depends on when my surgery will be scheduled and if I am well enough.

Ona