Teamwork~ 10" x 10" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

I finished these guys a few days ago, but I kept forgetting to photograph them until it got dark!

So...now it's done.

This gorgeous pair of draught horses are the hardest workers in Barkerville, an old restored mining town that operates as a park in the summer. I've talked about it in previous posts, and done many paintings from there. It's one of my favorite places. It is a  place that has roused my imagination and created a passion for our history in my soul from the time I was a young child, running through the streets, shooting at imaginary gunfighters with my pop gun from the Mason and Daly general store.

Barkerville Blacksmith

Barkerville Blacksmith 20" x 24" oil on canvas  $1400.00

I've been working on this painting on and off for ages, and I finally put the finishing touches (i think) on it a few minutes ago. I was so anxious to share, I photographed it right away, and came down to the studio to upload it for y'all! If there's anything that totally bugs you, or needs to be fixed...I appreciate and welcome constructive criticism, but for now, to me, I don't see any doozies. That might change in a few hours, though, lol!

Work Buddies painting a day

"Work Buddies" 6" x 6" oil on canvas

A new painting I did today. I've been working on a large one for the last week, and it's giving me some trouble, (as usual...sigh...) so I decided to turn it to face the wall for a week or so, and do some tiny little one-off's to make myself feel better!

This one will be active on ebay on Sunday at 6 or so...

Cheers! G'night:)

The "Old-Time Hat"

The Old-Time Hat -- 8"x10" oil on canvas NFS

This was my son's favorite hat for a while. We got it at Barkerville, an historic gold-mining village in Northern B.C. where they re-enact the history. He loves it there, and he calls this hat his "Old-Time Hat".

This is another painting I finished yesterday in a few hours. I'm really focusing on being loose and painterly, and not thinking to much. It seems like if I can mostly keep my head out of my art and use my intuition, it turns out better. I still try to keep "the rules" in mind, but in the back somewhere...:)

"The Long Road" 12" x 16" oil on canvas

Another image from my Barkerville series. This one is adapted from a very cool old black and white postcard taken of one of the men who spent days hiking overland on foot to the gold fields in Barkerville. This guy seems to have just collapsed with exhaustion and layed down on the ground for a nap. I loved the image, and it worked well in color.

"Miss Wendle~Barkerville" 16 x 20" oil on canvas

Here's another of the previously "undercover" Barkerville paintings. I really liked the challenge with this one. The wrinkles in her shirt, the lace of the curtains, and the wallpaper patterning all gave me quite the hassle, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the result, although the paint took on a weird sheen in the far left where the glare is. The photo has quite a glare on the left hand side from the sheen that's not really there, though. I have to re-take all of my art photos now that I have the use of a good camera.

Mr. Grimsby

"Mr. Grimsby" 8"x 10" oil on canvas

This is one of the most memorable Barkerville characters, Mr. Grimsby. He does a great comedy skit at the waterwheel, as a miner selling his claim. I've had many laughs watching it. Dave, the guy who portrays Mr. Grimsby has been there since I was a child, and has one of the greatest, character-filled faces. I just had to paint him.

John "Cariboo" Cameron

John "Cariboo" Cameron 18" x 24" oil on canvas

This is a portrait of the actor in Barkerville portraying the character of John Cameron, the first man to strike it big-time rich there. He discovered gold on December 22, 1862, but his wife had recently died, and he decided to return to Victoria in February to grant his wife her last wish, a decent burial at home, for she despised the cold, miserable north where her husband had his claim on Williams Creek. This is an amazing story in itself, and you can read more about it at
http://www.cariboo-net.com/sentinel/vol2/cameron1.htm. This particular image is at a time in the performance when he is reminiscing about his dead wife and child.

Anyways, after his return, he mined vigorously from April until October of 1863, and the gold was so abundant that it was being mined not by the ounce but by the pan. By October, Cameron had taken out the equivalent of $5 million in today's dollars and Cameron Co. became the richest claim in the colony.

New ACEO Black Cat Original Oil Painting for Halloween

"I SEE YOU" 2.5" x 3.5" oil on watercolor paper

Here's another little ACEO. I've been having fun with these kitties this week. My first one, Baby Blue Eyes comes up for auction on Ebay tomorrow at about 7pm, pacific standard time, so check it out. I think next week I'll do horses, or maybe musicians...hmmm. I also finished three other ACEO's and a top secret Barkerville watercolor this week, so I've been busy. I'm a very tired mommy tonight, so I don't have much to say. Oh, I know, you other artists out there, I have a question for you...What is your favorite type of watercolor paint? I need to upgrade, and I'm wondering if anyone has any opinions.
Okay, that's it. Goodnight, all.

The Candy Man -- Mason & Daly, Barkerville, B.C.

The Candy Man -- Mason & Daly, Barkerville, B.C.
18" x 24" oil on canvas

I did it, I think. I overcame my struggle with this one all by myself. Thank you, viewers, but not a single one of you here, or on Flickr, had any words of wisdom, so I was forced to use my own brain, however dysfunctional it may be at the moment.
Can you believe I am still nursing a 2+ year old, and she wakes up at least 5 times a night? No, I don't expect too much sympathy, yes, it's my own fault! But it does explain some of my psychoses these past months, LOL! I also have been too exhausted to paint much, so this one took a long time. For every two and a half hour painting session, I got about two of those jars painted. (The only time I get to paint is after the kids go to bed, and that's how long I last before I fall from exhaustion.)

Anyways, I think I've explained Barkerville before, it's one of British Columbia's most interesting historical sites. It is an old mining town, which has been lovingly restored, and has period actors that carry out the actual services of the town. You can eat at restaurants with menus from the 1800's, but old-fashioned fudge (YUUUUMM!!!) and candy from the Mason & Daly, fresh baked goods, you name it...there's even a China Town. It's a definite must-see for anyone traveling in B.C. It's about 1 hour northeast of Quesnel, in Central B.C.
This is my friend, Rick Galbraith, an historical writer and singer in the town who is my partner on a publication about Barkerville to be released hopefully in 2009. He does a wonderful job of doling out fudge and cheer to the many visitors of the store. You can check out the Barkerville site at http://www.barkerville.bc.ca/.

Well, I hope to start on another Barkerville painting tonight, so that's all until next time.

Music Festival Poster AND New painting--HELP!

I know I said I'd post the poster the next day, but I thought I'd better get it okayed from the festival committee first, and it did. They love it, so now you get to see it. It doesn't have all of the text on it yet, but the design part is finished.



I'm also posting this painting that I've been working on for a few weeks. I really need some help, so please, please comment! I hate the background color. I did thumbnails, and it worked on a small scale, but this big, it just looks so...yellow...YUK! It isn't finished, obviously, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time on painting the candy jugs before I decided on the new background color...but, I can't figure out what color would work. I have no artists to consult in this teeny tiny town of mine, so I'm depending on you fellow artists to help get me unstuck! So do you think it should be darker or lighter? There is fairly strong light coming from a window on the right hand side...The front part of the painting won't be yellow, it has little glass inserts with coffee beans and candy behind them. I want the light effect to be pretty dramatic, but right now, all of the values are too similair.
Any suggestions, anybody?

Barkerville Series in the Works

Frank at the King George 4"x 5" value and color study

Well, I've decided I better come up with a "body of work". I finally feel like my work is up to gallery standards, but so far I've been all over the map when it comes to style and subject matter. An important part of becoming professional is to develop a style, and a body of work to show to potential collectors and galleries, and so far I don't have enough pieces that are related.

Last summer I was in Barkerville, this incredible old historical town near where I grew up that has been re-built to look like it originally was. My sister and I took a gazillion photos, and a few really nice people on Flickr gave me permission to use some of theirs for reference as well. It has great actors in period costumes that remain in character throughout the day. I want to pay tribute to this remarkable place, and the remarkable people who keep it going, by doing a series of paintings showing the people and the place. Sooooooo.......this will be my first "body of work".

The King George Hotel is a great old building in Barkerville where you can actually spend the night in the historical townsite. This is the cat, Frank, who lives there.

Oh yeah...I almost forgot. We're down to our last few days in Maui, and I have to pack up really soon. I won't be able to post for a while, as it's too late to start the new painting because the paint won't be dry to pack it, and I'll be en-route. I'll be back in a week or two, as long as we still have some semblance of internet service when I get back to Bella Coola...sob...snow, rain, clouds, YUK!!