Midlands

Scotland, really, but neither highlands nor lowlands. I wanted to catch the sparseness of the growth, limited to brilliantly coloured scrub and gorse, and that there is water laying everywhere, This is an oil on stretched canvas. 5 x 7.

In the Moment

I am trying to stay focussed at this very moment. It is hard because I have the TV on in the background and some big fashion event is on and it is SO ODD, that I find it distracting. I am wondering if I am unusually plain....hmmm? This little number is 6 x 6 and when I look at it I think "Sparkle".

Symphonic

I was thinking of music while I painted this little study. It is 6 x 6, oil on canvas panel. Like a happy tune. We could use a lot more of these during our grey, wet, Vancouver winter. ($20 + shipping, on Daily Paintworks).

Far Away

A warm wall, a few stalks of irises...memories of France from earlier this year. I was so fortunate to make two trips overseas this year (thank you, air miles!), and now have many HUNDREDS of new reference photos. I do plan to post more regularly...well, almost anything is more regularly than what I  have been (not) doing for the past few months.

Enchanted

'nuff said. Enchanted. 12 x 24, oil

Come Hither

This larger piece will be on display (and for sale) during Vancouver's Eastside Culture Crawl in November. It is 24 x 26, acrylic on canvas.

Cherished

A juicy little painting of a lake where the forest grows right to the edge. This is common in many lakes in British Columbia. The mountains seem to rise directly out of the water due to the fact that the lakes are simply the mountain's valleys filled with water. No beach areas, just straight to deep water. Makes for beautiful reflections.

Triple Two Poppies

A second 10 x 10 oil painting of the red poppies common in southern France. The third panel needed a bit more work and so it is still wet. Maybe next week?

West Highland Way 2

Another small acrylic piece on textured wood cradle. 6 x 6 and the painting wraps around the edges so no frame is required.

West Highland Way I

The West Highland Way is a long distance walk in Scotland (about 100 miles) and it hits the lowlands to the highlands. Despite days of grey skies and copious amounts of rain, there is an abundance of local colour. I prepared and textured a 6 x 6 wood cradle and did this piece in acrylic. The painting wraps around the sides.

Triple One

The title reflects that this is one of three paintings done from a single wide angle photo. Poppies are so striking, and yet single varieties have few individual petals. This variety is a common roadside wildflower in southern France. I've been somewhat distracted from my blog but have been painting and will be posting more for the coming week. This piece (10 x 10) is oil on deep canvas and the painting wraps around the sides.

Bonaguil, France

Bonaguil is actually a large fortress and this is but a piece of the whole. From a distance Bonaguil looks like a fairy tale castle. Walt Disney must have seen it at some point. I have been using my extensive collection of photos taken in France for subject matter lately. Could take awhile - there are literally hundreds.. 11 x 14, oil on stretched canvas.

Sunshine On My Window Sill

Another scene from Pujols, France. Beauty everywhere!

Rambling Rose, Pujols France

I have been visiting France for each of the past few years, usually in late spring/early summer, and I have some great photos of roses and flowering gardens, and (my favourites), doors and windows. Each year I see different 'bastille' villages and they are all full of lovely colours and ancient structures. This year Pujols was one of the most picturesque places I saw. There were a good many photographs taken that day!

Sennen Roundhouse

This was painted from a number of photos I took last fall in Sennen, Cornwall, England.  The earliest part of the structure is inside - it was a wheel-winch used to haul boats up the beach. The building, still with the wheel at its core, is now a lovely gallery full of regional art works, with working boats still out front on the beach.

Yes, ANOTHER Sunflower

The title of this piece was prompted by the proliferation of sunflower paintings on the art sites I follow, and, really, who can complain? Sunflowers just keep on giving, from initial bloom, through the spectacular changes they go through as they wither and dry, to the seeds they leave behind...to say nothing of the great variety of colours and types. Good enough for Van Gogh...good enough for me! I have a few plants in the garden this year and if it ever warms up (and dries up a bit!) there may be fodder for new works in the fall.

One, Two, Three...

It has been awhile since my last posting (I hang my head...ohhh) . In that time I have been to France and back (loads of photos for future paintings!), and have been working to get a dozen or so paintings ready for a showing in the public areas of a local law firm. That will finally get hung tomorrow (yay!). In between I have been going through the equivalent of jet lag...i.e. 'studio lag'. That is where I've been away from the studio for a few weeks and have to 'adjust' myself to get back to painting regularly. I have completed a few works, mostly in the 16 x 20 range. This 6 x 6 effort was a fun way to 'adjust' back to a Daily Paintworks posting. The second work (The Fish) is 12 x 12 on a stretched canvas.

Stanley Park Seawall in Fall

Stanley Park is often described as the 'jewel' of Vancouver, and that it is. Here is a view looking west towards the Lions Gate Bridge from the north side of the Seawall. This painting is 8 x 10, oil on canvas, the sides are painted so it is ready to hang, or to be framed, and it is available for just $65.00 plus shipping from my Daily Paintworks Gallery (www.dailypaintworks.com). Click here: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/ceci-lam/5bf0f159-b6ef-4579-b1de-58bb65a88715 It can be shipped before May 1 or after May 14.

In The Portugal Sun

This jug was about four feet in height and overflowed with planted flowers. It stood against the back wall of the villa I stayed in while visiting Portugal. One of those 'this will make a painting' shots. I loved the light and colours there. The hot earth colours of the American southwest, with the clarity and shimmer of a sun drenched sea...on the coast, that is.

Zinnias

Spring is definitely here (yay!!) and I have my zinnia seeds in the ground. Of course they don't look like much right now...okay, they look a lot like dirt...but come summer they should be a mass of colour. Yummy. Meanwhile, a bit of imagination and inspiration will have to tide me over. This 8 x 10 painting is, like others posted on my blog, offered for sale at dailypaintworks.com.

Pop-Pop-Poppies!

I have been a painting fool for the past two weeks...not quite ready to post many, though. Trying to be very thoughtful, rather than very 'postie'. I thoroughly enjoyed a five day workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry at the Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio (www.whidbeyislandfas.com) on beautiful Whidbey Island, WA. Dreama is a genuine and generous teacher, on so many different levels. The organization of the workshop and the facilities provided by WIFAS were excellent, and the painters at the workshop were all a pleasure. Attend a workshop with Dreama if you love using colour (yay!) and get the opportunity, and definitely check out the excellent workshops offered at WIFAS. While not one of the workshop projects, "Pop-Pop-Poppies!" was painted while there, using a photo I had taken some time ago.

Looking Up

I pick up rocks when I travel (really), and I am a lover of close-up, even macro, photography. That means I have missed a lot of beautiful sights because I have spent a lot of time looking down at the ground, scanning, or taking close-up photographs, too often missing the 'big picture', and also missing what might be 'up'. So, a few years back I decided to leave the Nikon at home more often and really be more aware and present where ever I was. Boy! What a difference! Now I see so much more. AND I look UP!

The Garden Shed Door

At 83, my friend's mother, Betty, is a wild-woman in the garden. She can make anything grow and from early spring right through to late fall her yard is full of colour and flowers. There is a lot of inspiration at her place! This represents the door to her garden shed. Apparently the door is now painted green...sigh... it's hard to keep up.

Flamecrest (Birdie-num-num!)

My friend, Rita, is a long-time avid birder and sometimes sends me photos of rare, or unusual, or simply pretty birds. This one, a 'Flamecrest', caught my eye and almost immediately demanded to be painted. That's quite the 'hood ornament' for a small bird!

The Dragonfly Vase

Last summer I attended my second workshop with Carol Marine in Benalto, Alberta (yes, I had never heard of it before, either), and my table-sharing-mate had brought her daughter's vase to paint. I took a few photos and here, finally, is an 8 x 8 version of it.

Horizon 2, Red Sky at Night...

It was a real challenge to photograph this one. I had pre-textured the board with an underpainting, giving me the surface I was after, but when trying to photograph it I kept getting reflected glare. This is not visible when viewing the painting 'live'. Digital can be unforgiving unless you do some manipulation afterward. Sometimes I simply miss film. Sigh...

Horizon 1, The Deep Blue Sea

This small study is of a common theme when you live on a coast. Here in the Pacific Northwest the sea is greener...and the sky is more grey...day after day, after day...but it is still February (well, for another hour or so). Truthfully, I don't complain about the weather too often, except on the rare occasions that it gets too hot. I plan to do a couple more ocean horizons, and then some landlocked ones.

Chick-chick-chickadee

Birds are simply amazing creatures. I've been lucky enough to have had chickadees, and others, in the garden all winter. Lately my little, scrappy, super-dog dog, Cooper, has spent most of his spare time chasing them around the trees. If he could climb, he would. This painting is for sale on Daily Paintworks.

Summer Balcony

This is an apt painting to post after spending the last three days with a non-functioning furnace. My indoor temperature has hovered between 51 and 54 F...(last night it was -3C outside)...I can't do the math. After almost $900 (!!!) my furnace has a new blower, and I have heat. I'm sure I will feel that it was worth it after my stomach settles down. The 'plus' side is that I have a small home studio which it is the only room equipped with electric baseboard heaters, and it has gotten a lot of tidying in the past two days!

The Blue Barn

There are a surprising number of blue accents in the countryside in France. Blue shutters, blue delphiniums, blue doors, and, occasionally, a blue barn. It makes me look forward even more to my nearly annual trip to France coming up in a couple of months. A couple of days in Paris visiting the museums and galleries...and eating wickedly good food, and then a week or so in the south with my cousin and her husband who kindly invite me to stay in their converted 'piggery', which is sooo lovely I could live there all year.

Valentine Tulips

This is a small version of another painting I completed this year. (It is 20 x 16 and for a local show in May). I love tulips and have pots of them flowering in my house right now.

Hollyhocks 2012 2

I simply love hollyhocks and used to grow them, but the fungal rust that they get in our climate was just too ugly to bear. Still, I always stop to look and photograph them whenever I see them. They grow quite beautifully in southern France. I'll be painting more as they are quite fun, but they will be from photos. Old seed packets are great for illustration, when you can find them.

Flying Solo

Well, that's what this little guy looks like he's doing. I've been having some fun in the studio the past few days, playing with colour and other stuff. One of the most liberating things is to take some of those paintings that did not sell and that don't move me anymore and rework them. Keeping the 'fat over lean' principle and re-energizing the oils and working the canvas. Lots of fun and quite freeing.

Across the Sound

January is almost over and, while anticipating spring, I have started working on some florals...pretty soon the tulips will be out for real. Meanwhile, here is a small landscape adapted from a photo I took last summer. I am looking forward to a full year of painting with a workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry in March, travel to France in the spring, and then Italy in the fall, and my last week in Italy will be a workshop with Jerry Fresia on the shores of Lake Como. I am making choices that will compliment my living a full life. And, so, life is good, and I am very grateful.

Me and Mom

Zoom - there goes January! Okay, not quite, but it is quickly coming to a close, and that makes me so aware of the importance to be present and attentive to 'right now'. The cold and wet of January in Vancouver is perfect for sorting and clearing. This past week I have purged a mountain of doll making and quilting supplies, reducing the stash to somewhere in between a foothill and a mountain. Next time around I'll get it to between a foothill and a mole hill. Four bins of quilting fabrics and cotton battings are off to the Fraser Valley Quilters Guild for use in making preemie quilts. The doll making supplies, together with a huge bag of yarn, was donated to the Salvation Army Thrift Store. So, others will have some fun with all that stuff, and I feel good getting it out of the house. Think in terms of 7 big Rubbermaid bins, stuffed full. I think I will make this a regular January project...after all, I didn't get rid of EVERYTHING! A girl has to keep some of her 'stuff'...for awhile. This is my first 2012 painting - 36" x 48"...let's start everything bigger.