The Irish Busker painting a day daily painting for ebay

"The Irish Busker" 8"x10" oil on canvas

I came across this delightfully eccentric looking Irish busker in Galway, Ireland in September. I just had to take a picture. I finished painting him in one sitting while attending my table at the above mentioned Arts and Crafts Fair.
Oh yeah, bye the way...I went to Europe...for a month...ahem:) I forgot to mention it. I guess I was worried if I started to write about that trip, I wouldn't be able to stop. I saw sooooo much! The Uffizzi, the "real" David, by Michelangelo...I climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I went for a Gondola ride in Venice, I saw Newgrange in Ireland, and Stonehenge in England...so much! If you want to see some Europe photos feel welcome to check out my Facebook album at: my facebook page.
Anyways, this painting is now for sale on ebay at a very special reduced starting bid, just for you christmas shoppers:) If you want to bid click on my ebay link in the scrolling gallery when the pic comes up. (My hubby is selling a whole bunch of music equipment too, if you're interested.) Happy Bidding!

Arts and Crafts Fairs

My table at the local Arts and Crafts fair

I'm fairly certain I've blogged about Arts and Crafts fairs before, probably last year around this time...but I'm doing it again. The reason is that it is one of the best ways to get local exposure for your art, and in these times of economic crappiness, make a few easy bucks. All I had to do was sit there and chat with the locals about my art, see my friends, along with spending a few hours cutting and pasting and printing to make greeting cards...tough work, eh? And I made an easy $20 an hour for my time...see? I also got a commission and two people so far wanting art lessons. In my opinion, getting you and your art out in the public, in whatever way possible, is the number one best way to sell yourself and your art, and it's fun!

Grizzly!

"Grizzly Summer" 9"x12" oil on canvas $225

Well, before my last few posts I was away for a long while, and not posting...I do have a good excuse, believe me! But I'm not telling:) Anyways, this is proof that I was still painting. I finished this one back in the fall. I was trying to prove to myself that I could still paint in the face of adversity! LOL! Well, I think I pulled it off.
Bella Coola, where I live, is one of the few places in the world, besides Alaska's Denali Park, where Grizzlies roam freely and in abundance. They come to the river in late summer and fall to feed on the salmon which fill our many creeks and rivers. Last summer I had the exciting experience of sharing our local swimming hole with a grizzly who was fishing for salmon. Well, I certainly didn't stay in the water for long! I snapped pictures from my perch on a bank overlooking the swimming hole, ready to bolt if he decided to get out of the water on my side!

Study of Sargent's "Street in Venice"

Sargent study "Street in Venice" 20" x 24" oil on canvas

I decided to test out Sargent's technique the other day, and I've always loved this painting. I usually resist the urge to paint from anyone else's photos or paintings, but since this was only for myself, I decided to give it a shot. It was very liberating to not have to think too much and just study this master's brushstrokes...He really was a genius, and his technique is much more difficult than it looks. That economy of brushstroke is extremely hard to pull off. You have to know exactly how your brush is loaded, and exactly where you want the stroke to be. I believe that each brushstroke he placed on the canvas was deliberate. I'm more of a "slam the paint around until it ends up where you want it" painter, but I'm getting better. I'm learning how to plan and see an end product in my head. It's all such a learning process.
Well, now I have a painting that I'm happy to hang on my wall. It's so strange hanging my own paintings...all I ever see is the mistakes...but I don't feel that way about this one.

My YouTube Slideshow

My goodness! I'm so excited...my brand-spanking new website is getting going and looking great already! And, my webmaster just posted this gorgeous slideshow of my art on youtube, with some beautiful music behind it...THANKS AMANDA! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2i5CYBmE6U
So...my website will be www.goffic.com...check it out and check back soon as it's still in progress.

Searching for Sand Dollars

Searching for Sand Dollars
12"x16" oil on canvas

Yay! Blogger finally let me upload another picture!
My internet connection has been so bad lately that it hasn't been working for the last three days. I can do simple stuff like google searches, but it doesn't like Blogger, Hotmail, or Facebook.
So, this is a fairly recent picture of my daughter, Rhiannon, playing in the sand at Long Beach in Tofino. I've wanted to go to Tofino for years and years, and have always heard how amazing it was. Finally this year, we decided to take a road-trip down the West Coast of B.C. We took the ferry out of Bella Coola, and drove from Port Hardy down to Victoria. It was so beautiful! But when we got to Tofino, the weather was horrible! It was cold, and raining...The supposed miles and miles of beach were obscured by fog and rain. You could hardly seen ten feet in front of you! But it made for some great, moody photos, and the kids had fun anyways, as kids always seem to do.

the Thunder Dance

Thunder
12" x 16" oil on canvas

The color companion to my previous post for Kunamokst:
this is from the same reference photo, but I wanted to see what it would look like without the blue color restriction. I'm really happy with the results! I painted it in about 4 hours, right over the top of an old painting that didn't work. No drawing, no prelim, nothing. The feeling of spontaneity and freedom was so liberating! I didn't have to plan and I felt like there was nothing to lose, since it was on an old ruined canvas anyways...If I could only have that with every painting. I have been doing a lot of painting lately, but I've really been struggling. Nothing has been working for so long. I started turning towards photography to fulfill the creative buzz, since so many bad paintings were bringing me down. This success was exactly the confidence injection I needed!