Red Horse at Lando Gallery

Carmine Reverie, 30x30, Oil on Canvas

Carmine Reverie is part of a series of horse paintings that started last year when my husband and I saw some gorgeous appaloosa horses in a pasture. I knew I would paint them at some point but what I would do with them wasn't immediately apparent. That's inspiration for you, sometimes it's there, only partly formed until one day bits and pieces of ideas start falling into place. This is #5 in the series with more to come. You can see the rest at www.cindyrevell.com. And you can see Carmine Reverie at Lando Gallery in Edmonton, AB. 

The Neighbour's Peacock

A Little Something, 30x24, Oil on Canvas

My neighbour has a couple of peacocks. They like to perch on the roof of the house or her deck railing and they like to stand right in the middle of the road. I have some of their lovely feathers which eventually inspired this painting. Sometimes it takes a long while for an idea to come together.

And is often the case in my work there is a hint of mystery in the painting - is he getting or giving something?

An Orange Frog, A Wild Cat And Inspiration

Jeremiah, 12x12, Oil on Canvas

Tangerine Reverie, 18x18, Oil on Canvas

Inspiration. It's everywhere and is filtered through other things that resonate with us. Jeremiah, the orange frog was an idea that came to me after a trip to the greenhouse where I saw a huge 4 foot tall green resin frog nestled among the water plants. Ok, so Jeremiah is not green but I'd just painted the orange wild cat/cheetah/leopard hybrid Tangerine Reverie which was partly inspired by my petunias and was still in the mood to paint orange. And more spots, stripes, flowers and pillows, motifs that I explore again and again in various ways. When I paint realism my subject matter is usually still life and here it appears as the setting for Tangerine Reverie. You'll see piles of pillows in Maybe Later and The Art of Resting about 6 posts down from January 2015 and March 2013 which also show up in Jeremiah. It's a lovely organic melding of past ideas that I'm not finished exploring. 

Series

Imposter
Personal Collection


Impersonator
9 x 12
Oil on Canvas
$475.00
Sold

The inspiration for Imposter came to me one day when I was shopping and came across a fake lemon which reminded me of my Grandmother. She had the greatest green thumb and could grow anything - except a lemon tree which just wouldn't survive the winters of Saskatchewan no matter how green the thumb. Still, she wanted a lemon tree and after saving up her fake, plastic lemons, tied them to a tree outside and had an instant lemon tree. Imposter is in honour of my Grandmother.

Of course one lemon painting just leads to another. I recently painted Impersonator after seeing the curiously shaped plastic lemon in the grocery store. Great shape, fun subject matter, not so good in the flavour category. I've painted numerous lemons and can't get enough of them. There is much to be gained by taking a subject and painting it in a variety of ways. It's both a learning experiment as well as pure pleasure as you intimately explore your chosen subject matter. It becomes a series of it's own accord in which you travel through idea after idea, explore and examine and ultimately create some very satisfying art. It's quite a journey, and like a journey there will be good trails and bad but the end results are always worth the trip.

Jerry Lebo talks about the value in doing a series. Look him up, he's got some great paintings happening.