Posts Tagged ‘painting’
Watercolour lessons #3
If you are staying at home more than usual in the coming weeks, I hope you have an interest to pursue, one to relax and involve you.
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I have been taking watercolour painting lessons. As part of our recent practice of self-isolation, the lessons themselves have been postponed. But, with what I have learned, I can practice and enjoy what I find very relaxing. There is something calming about watching the colour flow from the brush to the paper, especially when using the wet on wet technique (paper is wetted prior to adding colour).
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This afternoon I painted two studies of the Teton mountains which we visited in 2001 (totally from memory). I thought the first painting could use improvement, especially with respect to the trees on the right side and the water in the lower half of the painting. Actually, I don’t think painting 2 is an improvement. Copying watercolour is more difficult since the paint has a mind of its own. Also, the second painting lacks the spontaneity of the first.
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As a result of this post, I give you two possible activities to help you during isolation:
1. have a look at the two and tell me which you think is best and in what respects.
2. pick up the tools for an activity you love and spend some time doing.
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We are a social species. Although social-distancing and self-isolation are different for us, we are also a thinking species. We can understand that success against the coronavirus requires a community response. I have faith that we will soon be able to return to our normal activities.
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All my best,
Jane
Tea berries
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Teaberry
Gaultheria procumbens
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leaves shiny, thick
capsules waxy, red
aromatic oil
methyl salicylate
mint and wintergreen
tea soothing, blood thinning
creeping wintergreen
spice berry, drunkards
staggering over
the forest floor
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Copyright Jane Tims 2019
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All my best
Jane
Raspberries
It’s a great year for berries. Our blueberry bushes are loaded with the biggest, sweetest berries I have ever tasted. The raspberries are full and sweet. The blackberries are still mostly unripe but the canes are heavy with future berries.
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raspberry ramble
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every berry
a sweet cup
detached
from its cosy seat
deep in brambles
juice pressed
between teeth
seeds and briars
handfuls of sun
rain clouds
warm winds
gravel soil
eager fingers
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Copyright Jane Tims 2019
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All my best
Jane
getting ready for fall – rose hips
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Rose hips ripening … another painting towards my fall sale of books and paintings.
Along the road at our cabin is a small bush. Pink flowers in spring and plump rose hips in fall. Anyone who does cutting or roadwork at our cabin gets strict instructions not to disturb the rose bush!
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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims
remembering spring – wild strawberries
I have completed one of the paintings I am preparing for my fall sale of books and paintings. This painting is of the wild strawberries growing at our cabin property.
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July 31, 2016 ‘wild strawberries’ (acrylic, gallery edges, 10″ X 8″) Jane Tims
I hope when you see these paintings, they will remind you of the berry-picking seasons to come!
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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims
art auction – new painting
September 17, 2015 ‘Outside-In #3 – Far from the Sea’ Jane Tims
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I have submitted another painting to Isaac’s Way Restaurant, for their 25th Art Auction and Sale. This event will run from September 27, 2015 to late January, 2016. The proceeds from the auction go to sponsor kids-in-need. My latest painting is titled ‘Outside-In #3 – Far from the Sea’.
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The painting is the third in a series of still life paintings I have done about the many elements of nature we bring into our homes. This includes items collected on walks, motifs on fabrics and metals, small statuary and so on. My first painting in the series was ‘Outside-In’, a Chinese dragon hiding behind a glass cloche. The second painting was ‘Outside-In #2’ , a still life of a potpourri jar.
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February 12, 2015 ‘Outside-In’ Jane Tims
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May 2015 ‘Outside-In #2’ Jane Tims
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For the new painting, I used Chromium Oxide Green, Burnt Umber, Titanium White, Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Quinacridone Magenta and Cadmium Red.
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If you are in the Fredericton area, please drop in to Isaac’s Way. Their food is delicious and over fifty artists have their paintings on display. Bid and you could take home a piece of original art!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2015
heart of darkness
I love to read. Certain scenes in the books I read stick in my head. Sometimes they inspire me to try to capture the author’s words on canvas.
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I thought I would share a few of my paintings over my next few posts. If you have read these books, perhaps my paintings will remind you of the words and scenes they try to portray. If you have not read them, perhaps the paintings will inspire you to add them to your reading list.
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Jane Tims 2002 ‘Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness’ acrylic on canvas, 20 X 16
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‘ … Only the barbarous and superb woman did not so much as flinch, and stretched tragically her bare arms after us over the somber and glittering river …’ – Joseph Conrad, 1902, Heart of Darkness
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I first read Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ in school. First published in 1902, the book is set against a background of British colonialism and the ivory trade. The novella takes us on a dark journey along the Congo River as the narrator travels to meet Kurtz, the chief of the Inner Station of a Belgian Trade Company. The book is a study of what happens to humans when corruption and greed become the drivers for life, and when they are left to operate outside the norms of society.
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The painting tries to capture the moment in the story when the steamboat is about to leave the Inner Station with the gravely ill Kurtz. The natives he has been living with come to the shore. Kurtz’ ‘mistress’, a ‘superb woman’, reaches her arms towards the leaving steamer. A moment later the men on the boat use the people on the shore for target practice.
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My battered and dog-eared copy of Heart of Darkness. Leonard F. Dead (ed.) (1960) ‘Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – Backgrounds and Criticisms’, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
an iron gate in Cornwall
Yesterday, I delivered another painting, entitled ‘iron gate in Cornwall’, to Isaac’s Way restaurant, for their upcoming auction. Isaac’s way will be displaying the work of more than 50 artists from May 26, 2014 throughout the summer in their 21st art auction for charity.
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I had intended to display the watercolour ‘gate on Old Church Road’ for the auction (8″ x 10″, unframed). However, Isaac’s Way had space for a larger painting, so I have done another version of the gate in acrylic (24″ x 20″, unframed). I had not worked in acrylic for more than a year, so it was interesting to use the different medium for this new painting.
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Here is the watercolour, ‘gate on Old Church Road’ …
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October 24, 2013 ‘ gate on Old Church Road’ Jane Tims
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and the new painting, in acrylic, ‘iron gate in Cornwall’
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May 13, 2014 ‘iron gate in Cornwall’ Jane Tims
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Although they are of the same place, there are lots of differences, mostly in the colour and shadow …
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
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