Category Archives: Watercolour

Roberta’s Roses

07 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Art, Still Life, Watercolour

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Back in the summer you may remember that four of us went up north to a small town named Wilberforce, Ontario to attend a Plein Air event called Brush with the Highlands. We stayed a quaint old motel called the Bostonian. It was perfect for our needs. The proprietor, Roberta, is loved by many, and we soon found out why. While we were there a family needed a place for an out of town relative who was there for a funeral. Roberta opened her arms and gave a room to these people gratis. She received this lovely bouquet of roses as a thank you. The story does not end there. Last year Roberta had a fire. The townspeople of Wilberforce got together and helped her rebuild her motel. So not only is Roberta a gem, but the towns folk are as well.

Margaret and I spent a few hours painting this beautiful vase of flowers en Plein Air. We set up the scene on the picnic table in front of the motel, and enjoyed the northern afternoon sun.

Elephant Ear Leaf Nature Print

09 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Art, Monoprinting, Printmaking, Watercolour

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Last spring I visited a friends home. If I lived at their home I would never need to go on vacation. Their yard is a tropical paradise in the north. One plant in particular caught my eye. The common name for this large leafed plant is Elephant Ear for obvious reasons. She had just thrown out one of the beautiful leaves, and I begged her to save me the next one she had to prune. So this last Friday she called me. I was ecstatic! By Sunday I was in the studio preparing and inking up this lovely leaf for printing. It almost was too big for my Arches oversize BFK paper. Not to mention it hardly fit the press bed. I used the shop camera to document printing this beautiful plant. I can hardly believe that I was able to put the leaf through the press 12 times!

Please go here to see the slide show on Flickr. If you open the original photo’s you will see an explanation of what I am doing.

Help! I’m Having Too Much FUN!

27 Thursday Oct 2011

Posted by in Art, Landscape, Plein Air, Sketch, Watercolour

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Autumn garden, originally uploaded by photographerpainterprintmaker.

What an incredible summer, and fall looks like it’s going to be great as well. I’ve been painting every week, and I tell you it feels very good. Invitations to demonstrate Plein Air Painting have come to us all summer. We were invited to participate in Explore the Shore, The Lost Arts, and the Migration Festival. We were rained out for Canada Culture Days which was a disappointment. Hopefully next year the weather will co-operate. Next week our city is having an all day cultural think tank for the arts. I’m going to post a few of my works from the summer, so you can catch up with my whirlwind life.

This is Killing Us

27 Thursday Oct 2011

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An ominous red-brown cloud hovered over the area this day. Zug Island in Detroit, Michigan was spewing toxins into the air without care. The factories in that area send an incredible amount of pollution across the river into Windsor Ontario Canada. No-one seems to be able to stop this. I can find stats on almost all of the US and Canada on Cancer rates, but not Ontario. Why? On the maps that I did find, Michigan is among the worst for cancer rates. We are down wind of them, so if a conclusion can be drawn, I would think we would at least equal Detroit in environmentally induced cancers. We went to paint a lovely picture that day. I could not.

Brush with the Highlands

08 Monday Aug 2011

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The civic holiday weekend saw four members of the “Windsor & Essex County Plein Air Society” making a 9 hour trek (7 1/2 if you’ve a lead foot, and don’t stop to pee) to Wilberforce, Ontario for the third anniversary of the “Brush with the Highlands Plein Air Festival.”

What an incredible journey! This tiny town opened its arms wide to 47 wonderful Plein Air Artists. Tracey Lee Green, a young woman with vision, masterminded this brilliant festival.

Tracey worked tirelessly finding sponsors for prizes that totaled $1,500. She offered the grounds of her beautiful rolling wooded estate to campers. She also provided a list of accommodations for those who were not campers.

Margaret, Mary and I stayed at the Bostonian Motel. This quaint motel was a bit older, but the units had full kitchens, which suited our needs perfectly. We especially liked the fact that the price fit into our budget, and it was very close to town. The owner, Roberta, was a lovely lady, who’s kindness and generosity won our hearts. We’ve already booked this motel for our return next year.

On Thursday they had workshops for children and adults. We arrived just in time to register and hand in our paintings for the Dry competition.

I’m told by Patrick, the fourth member of our team, that we missed a great evening. The campers brought their guitars, and voices together for a fun time. We plan on arriving at least day earlier next year. In fact we may just come a week early, or stay an extra week so we can take advantage of more painting days.

Friday night, we had a great time getting acquainted with our fellow artists, at Tracey’s home. One of her friends provided her P.A. system, and extensive Karaoke collection. It’s been a long time since I sang, but I braved it and took up the mic. Luckily no one had any rotten tomatoes to toss my way!

Saturday night was the grand finale. Tracey’s friends cooked us the best bar-b-q ever, and they even had Portobello mushrooms, and a whole salmon for the vegetarians among us.

The evening finished up with the best bonfire ever! The judge and his wife were also very talented folk singers. Their jaunty ditties had our feet a tapping. I almost ran my battery out taking photo’s of the bonfire.

Sunday morning we had to be up early to hand in our wet paintings, to be judged. After we dropped them off we went to “The Algonquin Cookhouse” for breakfast. Many people we met highly recommended the place so we had to check it out. What a pleasant surprise. They offered high quality food, and drink at very reasonable prices. We dined here twice during our stay.

All in all, we had a wonderful time. The painting that accompanies this article was my first painting of the weekend, and I think it is one of my best ever. I will be posting more photo’s of the event soon, so keep an eye on this site for updates.

Via Flickr:
Marsh on the Barnes Farm, Wiberforce, On. First painting I did during the festival, Brush With The Highlands.

Explore the Shore

24 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by in Art, Landscape, Plein Air, Watercolour

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What a busy busy time! This weekend our Plein Air group painted at the John R. Park Homestead for the Explore the Shore annual event. This was our first year, but not the first year that the event was held. The John R. Park Homestead is a historical site managed by the Essex Regional Conservation Authority, or ERCA. They have always been very accommodating to our club. The grounds are a Plein Air Painters dream come true.

Even though it was incredibly hot this weekend we had a good breeze coming off the lake to keep us cool. Well, as cool as possible in the extreme heat and humidity that we’ve been experiencing this summer.

Saturday’s painting is ready for the paper making machine. I was not at all pleased with it. Although, I may try to salvage it as part of it turned out acceptable.

Sunday’s painting however turned out quite nice. We had a great spot under the chestnut trees in front of the blacksmith barn. I used my Arches Watercolour block that I bought in San Diego. I’m happy with the results.

Now… to sleep, perchance to dream… zzzz

Painting of the House and pump.

Mill Street Windmill Replica

04 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by in Art, cityscape, Landscape, Moleskine, Plein Air, Watercolour

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The spring may have been wet, but we have been blessed with some very wonderful days this summer, and this one was one of them. Monday July 4th found us on a historic site for both the US and Canada. This replica of a 19th century grist mill is located across the street from the Duff Baby House.

The Duff Baby house is listed on Canada’s Historic Places web site. They say:

“As a colonel of the militia during the War of 1812, Baby was one of 600 soldiers captured by American troops. The house survived attack, occupation, and looting by the Americans, but required numerous repairs following the war’s end. ”

What a place to be on July 4th! A place steeped in historic events between the US and Canada.

You can read the entire article here:

http://tinyurl.com/Duff-Baby-House

Plein Air at Lakeside Park Kingsville June 13th.

02 Saturday Jul 2011

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It was a beautiful day to paint in this lovely park. Teachers from different grades brought their students for a picnic. Rambunctious boys ran in and out of the gazebo. Seniors strolled with their dogs, a pole walking class exercised with their instructor, and seven Plein Air Artists from the Windsor & Essex County Plein Air Society enjoyed many different views. Days like this don’t get any better.

Plein Air at Lakeshide Park Kingsville June 13th.

02 Saturday Jul 2011

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It was a beautiful day to paint in this lovely park. Teachers from different grades brought their students for a picnic. Rambunctious boys ran in and out of the gazebo. Seniors strolled with their dogs, a pole walking class exercised with their instructor, and seven Plein Air Artists from the Windsor & Essex County Plein Air Society enjoyed many different views. Days like this don’t get any better.

The Kiss

11 Saturday Jun 2011

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The Kiss, originally uploaded by photographerpainterprintmaker.

The Leamington Marina was our original destination on Monday, June 6th, 2011. The Marina is a very pretty location, but sometimes pretty locations are not suitable for a painting. After about 1/2 hour searching for suitable subject matter, we decided to move on to Point Pelee, which is a few miles further down the road. It turned out to be a very good decision. We had the opposite dilemma at the point. There were so many great compositions that is was difficult to decide which one to paint.

I decided on the canoe’s. This turned out to be a great composition, but the canoe’s had a mind of their own. The staff have their orders and there is to be no fraternizing between canoes. One of them noticed that the green one had cut loose of its bindings, and was making out with the red one. So, she set about to lash it up to the other dock. “WAIT!” I exclaimed. She stopped dead and through my pleas she tied it up with the red canoe. The rest of the day they did the bump and grind to the slow ebb and flow of the marsh.

Now these lovely boats are for rent, but who knew someone would actually want to break up this lovely couple? Don’t ask me how, but within the blink of an eye I looked up and the red one was GONE! I swear I didn’t even see anyone near it, it just vanished! Fortunately, the staff were wonderful, and they put a new red one in the water for me. That fickle green guy didn’t even notice the difference! There were others who tried to break up the duo, but I kept a vigilant watch on the pair. I plead their case every time someone tried to break them up. While a few people looked at me a bit strange, I managed to keep them together the remainder of the day. I think we may see a few new brown canoe’s next summer. *wink!*

Via Flickr:
Watercolour Plein Air at Point Pelee National Park Marsh Boardwalk