Studies & Painted Furniture

Forelli Pear Study
9 x 9 Oil on Canvas


Detail

The dog days of summer are here and they’ve brought both exciting wild weather and beautiful weather. I love those words, dog days of summer, they bring thoughts of hot, still and slow moving summer days. This summer I’ve been trying to do field studies as much as my schedule will permit, either in paint or with pencil to better understand the various colours, textures and patterns of nature. It’s a practice that makes the eye keener and the hand faster and better able to quickly capture fleeting moments. Studies are done to learn or as preparation for a larger studio painting, it’s basically information gathering. Forelli Pear Study was done for a larger studio painting.


Canada Geese

The Canada Geese are regular visitors to our pond in spring and early summer, coming and going but usually coming when I was busy with a deadline and unable to take the time to draw them. One day they stayed for a whole morning giving me the opportunity to draw them while they fed at our pond in the back yard. They moved a lot, one feeding while the other kept watch and then switching. I plan to use these sketches for the basis of a painting one day.


Cosmic Terrestrius
Grandfather Clock, Acrylic on Wood
7' tall x 18" square

This Grandfather clock commissioned by Lime Design has been in the works for a while as I juggled illustration assignments, other commissions, classes and outdoor painting. The theme is the rhythm of life, symbolized by the tree of life which links the cosmos (the top of the clock) and the earth (the base with earth dwelling creatures). The flora and fauna all have symbolic meanings taken from various cultures, luck, love, beginnings, knowledge, imagination, awakening, growth, the seasons of life, constancy etc. Painting something like this is quite different from working on a canvas. When I'm in the designing stage I have to consider how it will look from all angles. Later on when it's time to paint I stand on a stool to reach the top spending a lot of time with my arm up in the air, later on as I move to the very bottom I lay on my side to paint the decoration at the feet. Anyone who came into the studio would think I was napping.