The Guardian

The Guardian 20"x24" acrylic on canvas

This painting is somewhat of a companion piece to an older painting of mine, called "The Sentinel". I'd envisioned it after seeing an eagle on a piling at the wharf, and I liked the vertical, powerful, format. It certainly seemed to give the eagle some authority. The village where I live is predominantly native, and it seemed fitting to insert a totem pole, and the mist is a common feature of our coastal rainforest.

I hope you like it!

Cheers

Team Work- Draft Horses

"Teamwork" 9"x12" oil on canvas SOLD

This is a painting I whipped off in about a day, a week or so ago for the ArtWalk in Williams Lake. It had only been hanging for two days when they called to let me know that it had sold. Yay!! Gotta love that!:)

But, I have to admit...I'm still having a creative crisis. This selling thing is wonderful, and it's great to have shows and get some recognition...but somehow it all seems like a bit of a sellout.

I don't know...I'm painting, I should be happy. But nearly every painting is wrenched out of the abyss of self-doubt. (Except this little gem above! Why can't I feel like that about painting every day?) I'm not painting what I want, but if I paint what I want it won't sell, and I want it to sell, because if it doesn't, then I have to get a "real" job, and if I get a "real" job, then I won't have time to paint, and then I won't be happy either, and the wheel goes round and round...I suppose it's the age old dilemma of the artist. Do I paint for the people or do I paint for myself?

Uncle Ron

Uncle Ron 16"x20" oil on canvas SOLD

This is my latest commission, for my Uncle. I loved the pose, the clothes, and the kick-butt (with slight sly humor) expression on his face. It was from an old sienna photo and I colorized it, with the help of the authentic hat and jacket, and a 'not-so-willing' little brother.

Nuxalk, Native American Art, Regalia, original oil painting

"Light Dancer" 9"x12" oil on canvas $225.00

This is my newest painting in the Potlatch Series. I'm not sure of the original name of the dance, but the original painting shows some great backlight coming in behind her head, hence the title. The photo is a bit dark, I'll try to upload a better picture soon. I usually don't like painting red. I doesn't work well alla prima...the method of direct painting without glazing. It's hard to lighten red without it becoming pink, but I liked painting the contrast of the red and black in this one. I used cad yellow light to lighten the highlights to an orange, which seemed to work with the warm light source. I found the end result to be striking. I also enjoyed the abstract quality of the robes of the other dancer that are visible in the background.

Orcas in the Inlet

Orcas in the Inlet 8"x10" oil on canvas $150.00

Another quick painting the other day. I thought I'd experiment a bit with heightening some of the colors to exaggerate the sense of atmosphere. Kind of fun!

Nuxalk Dancer

"Nuxalk Dancer" 9"x12" oil on canvas SOLD

A painting I finished a week or so ago. This is a scene from last year's Children's Potlatch...a native american ceremony of the Nuxalk people which are the local native tribe in Bella Coola, where I live. It is an area rich in Native Culture, and the people are warm and friendly, and I love their colorful and unique regalia. I was given permission from the chief to photograph and paint as many of the dances are not usually allowed to be photographed.

Work in Progress, Demo Stage 2

In Progress "Installation #2"

Still unfinished...it will be for a while I think. I've come up against a block called "lack of education"! Well, it's not so bad, but I'm stalled in the mid ground. I painted for about 6 hours the other day, on the right side, mid ground buildings and made a huge mess! I need to figure out how to convincingly paint impressionist buildings at sunset from a high perspective. If anyone has any good links I would totally be interested in seeing them. So for now, back to the drawing board. I'm letting this one sit for a while to see if I can learn some more before I go back and screw it all up. I want this one to be good!
I've been painting quite a bit for the local market since I last posted, as I've been given an exhibition space at the Bella Coola Valley Inn. So I'm painting a few smaller, less expensive works with a local theme. I'll show one of them off in my next post.
Bye for now!