Africa: Elephants Galore

Ha ha...this photo I must admit is not mine...someone emailed it to me, and I think it really shows the scale of these huge, beautiful mammals. We saw many, many elephants of all sizes in herds, and of course the babies were really cute and very funny.

Often we would see broken tusks, whether that is a result of age, I'm not sure. Elephants with the huge tusks that one would see in photos of the past have unfortunately been virtually bred out of existence due to the greedy demand for large ivories.

Africa: Lions

The first thing people ask is if we saw lions. Yes, we saw lots of lions. Yes, we were very close to them. Was I scared? I'm not sure that is how I would describe my reaction...I think I was in awe. I could feel my jaw drop, and my hands shook as I was trying to steady the camera.

We were always in the landrovers...you don't go for game walks, you go for game drives, at dawn and dusk. The most memorable time was a morning drive. Dan is a good spotter and with his binoculars he saw a small pride of 4 lions approaching us, a male, 2 females and a teenager. The amazing thing was, that they continued to approach at a very leisurely pace and simply walked past our vehicle as if it wasn't even there and carried on. I was told that lions in the wild are not particularily interested in humans as food...but still we were holding our breaths from their sheer proximity, especially Karen, who was on the roof of the landrover.

Africa: A Trip of a Lifetime

South Africa is a country of magnificent coastline, majestic mountains, endless grass plains, and is populated by numerous races and colours of people, that speak 11 official languages. And then there are the animals: huge numbers of carnivores, grazers, reptiles, birds and many, many more. I would describe it as sensually spectacular and I felt constantly astonished by what I saw and experienced.

My partner Dan and I, and 2 dear friends, Karen and Pete, travelled for a month, and during that time went on a 2 week safari into the wilderness of S Africa and Botswana with the expertise of another couple, Bess and Chip. They provided us with our camping gear and on-going identification and information as well as careful warnings about everything we saw.

There are many styles of safaris: swanky lodges with guides, fenced compounds (to keep animals out, and people in) or outback camping in the bush with few facilities and very few people nearby, and of course being fiends for adventure, that is what we did!

It is my intention to post, over the next 10 days or so, a humble summary of our fantastic journey, so please tune in...I hope you enjoy the photos.

S Africa

Hello from S Africa...I was hoping to keep up my blog with photos, but it will have to wait till I get home and I get back on my laptop, so in the meantime...Here everything is more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. The coast around Capetown was breathtaking. We had a car and went to several beaches over a few days and then a bunch of wineries for tasting SA wines which are delicious. Now we are at a dairy farm "estate" in the Drokensburg mountains at about 6000 ft. We can see for miles, mountain range after range after range. Tremendous thunder and lightening storms in the afternoons. Soon we pack up the 2 jeeps and go on safari for 2 weeks in Bortswana. I feel so fortunate to have this time with our friends here who are avid birders and all around naturalists. No electricity and camping in tents for the whole time. We are not in fenced compounds! We are with the animals and can't imagine what it's going to be like, but they do this all the time. First stop the Central Kalahari Game Park, then 3 more: Chobe, Linyanti and Rhaha...I won't be able to keep in touch for that time... till next time I can post...

The Glass Vase

Oils on stretched canvas 20" x 24"

C.$850.

Of all the paintings I have done in the last two months, this is my favorite. It was like the glass vase painted itself and totally wanted to be on the canvas. Sometimes it is like that...those painting moments are so precious. They come to me more often after a prolonged period of creativity and concentration. I think the key word is SIMPLIFY...and it is one of the hardest concepts to actualize. Pare everything down to what is most important. Let go of the details...relax and follow the brush.

Heron

Oils on stretched canvas 10" x 12"

C.$200.

Of course there were many herons where I was in Florida. In fact I got quite used to them walking by my windows and fishing when the tide was low. I took many photos and then had my laptop set up near my easel, so I could use what was on my monitor for reference.

Seagull at the Beach

Oils on stretched canvas 16" x 20"

C.$450.

Haven't been on line for a number of days...travelling back to Ontario...I loved the beach in Florida, and so of course did a number of paintings of birds. Even common birds like gulls have incredible grace and majesty. This painting took me a long time to do, and wasn't easy. I was trying to make it light in weight. Like air.

Willets and Feather

Oils on stretched canvas 16" x 20"

C.$450. unframed

I do love painting birds. This one is very different from my usual approach. I think these shore birds have such personalities, and group dynamics. Just like us!

Tulips and Callas

Oil on stretched canvas 16" x 20"

C.$ 450 framed/$350. unframed

Those three glasses really captivated me! Now I must move on...

White and Yellow Tulips

Oil on stretched canvas 16" x 20"

C.$550. framed/$450. unframed

I had so much fun with these glasses and again veridian for the highlights.

Tulips in Glasses

Oil on stretched canvas 16" x 20"

C. $550./$450. unframed

This is a continuation of the glass series...now to three glasses. And deep pink tulips...almost red but not. This is the painting where I started using veridian again. Very pale veridian...lots of white...for the highlights in the background.

Clam Bayou

On location oil on stretched canvas 10' x 12"

C.$ 225. unframed

I posted this painting previously and said it wasn't finished...well, now it's finished with only a slight change.

One Tomato

Back to basics...amazing what one can learn in a little painting of a tomatoe: reds, there are lots of them and a large range in temperature, and yellow ochre as a very sweet back-up colour.

Back soon...

aaaarrrgh...having computer problems, just when I'm on a roll...I should have it back tommorrow....so I'll be back and running soon. Thanks for continuing with me and my painting process...and all the comments are great feedback! J

3rd Clam Bayou, Florida

It's good to photograph paintings and look at them on a monitor...having done that with this one, I think it's not finished. Maybe it's kind of like looking at your paintings in a mirror to see where the design flaws are. It really can be shocking...should a good composition work in reverse?? Hmmmm...I will try to post a different version soon.

2nd Clam Bayou, Florida

On location oil on stretched canvas

$C. 225. unframed

The Bayou changes dramatically and often because of the tides. Sometimes there is several feet of water, sometimes there isn't, and everything in between. And so many birds of numerous varieties, shapes, colours and sizes. This painting is of the eastern sky in the evening. I've discovered a new pink I like (oils), it's called Brilliant Pink by Holbein...this photo doesn't really do it justice.

Clam Bayou

On location oil on stretched canvas 10" x 12"

C.225. unframed

This is what it looks like where I am in Gulfport, Florida. I feel so lucky to be right by the water watching the tide go in and out, and had great fun doing this painting. My only problem is that it's sunny every day (!) and so doesn't make for good lighting for taking photos of paintings. I like to take them outside on a cloudy day.

Wilno Garden Gallery

This is me in my gallery. As you can see my work is available in many sizes, styles, subjects and mediums. I try to have something for everyone...and I also enjoy changing my work a lot. I think I would feel stale otherwise...and I'm not so sure about being told that an artist should develope a unique style (I agree with that part!) and then stick to it like glue (don't know about that part!).

Three Hibiscus

Oil on stretched canvas 16" x 20"

C.$450. unframed SOLD

The third in a series of totally red hibiscus flowers. They are growing right outside my door here in Florida. Again, the glass fascinates me...all the lights and darks...I would highly recommend it as a painting excersize. I'm in Gulfport.

Two Hibiscus

Still painting glass...really the flowers are just an excuse...

Red Hibiscus

Oil on stretched canvas 10" x 12"

C.$ 225. unframed

It took me several trys to get to a point where I am satisfied with this painting...it's occuring to me lately how challenging painting really is. A painter has an image, in reality and then in his or her imagination. I usually visualize the end result that I want on the canvas...along the way I "follow my brush"...I try to let the painting and my inner voice guide me to create what is an interpretation of my subject. I leave things out, and put others in, and constantly check and rearrange my values and colours. Does this always result in a fabulous work of art? Unfortunately no, and why that is...remains a mystery to me.

Azaleas

I'm becoming totally fascinated by glass...forget landscapes and wildlife, I just want to paint glass.

Evening Shore

Oil on stretched canvas 10" x 12"

C$250. framed

I have always loved the luminous colours the surface of the water reflects at sunset. I have tried with other paintings to get that effect, and I think I was successful here, finally. Maybe it was the dark ground I generally paint on these days, so there is lots of contast. I simlpy negative painted the birds.

Willets - final

Oil on canvas 10" x 12"

C$250 framed

I've been so busy painting the last few days I couldn't get to all the computer work...but here is the final version of the Willet painting with numerous changes, not all even visible. Again...changes can be subtle or dramatic, and can be made at any time during the process of painting, in order that the statement of the painting be made more clear to the viewer.

Willets

After gushing about feathers, and including them in a bunch of larger paintings, I then painted them out and thought they were contrite. This painting of Willets, shore birds I have been watching, I changed yet again after photographing it, and so my goal is to show you all the next version when I next post. I guess I could say that paintings can be changed any number of times to get it "feeling" right.

Tomatoes

Oil on board 8" x 8"

C.$95. framed SOLD

This was a great journey in the world of reds. What fun...

As Light as a Feather

Oil on board 8" x 8"

C.$95 framed

It never occured to me before to paint a feather...now I can't paint enough of them. I just finished a series of Shore Birds, that I will soon photograph and post. I put a feather in each one of them, and that is my favorite part.

Not a Masterpiece

ok, ok, one has to learn somehow right? One of my goals this year is to teach myself how to paint glass...so this seemed like a good place to start.

More Oranges

Oil on board 8" x 10"

C. $95. framed

These little still lifes are wonderful warm-ups and pactice, and are fun to do.

Feather: a series

Oil on board 8" x 8"

C.$95. framed

Light as a feather...what a lovely image...interesting working fairly "dry", no medium, just paint. It seems good for the look of texture.

Bowl: a series

Oil on board 8" x 8"

C.$ 95. framed

Of course I love the little brush painting on the bowl and will continue to use this as a theme for a series. I have done a number of series of paintings, for example Northern Lights was one of my favs for many years. It can be a wonderful way to explore all the ususal principals...shapes, values, colours etc.

Shiney Plate

Oil on board 8" x 8"

C.$95. framed

Hey I'm back, after not posting for a while. And I'm painting again, which is like breathing again.

Yellow Cottage

Oil on board 20" x 24"

C.$850. framed SOLD

Back again...been travelling and off-line for about a week! This is a painting I sometimes use for workshops...it seems students respond well to the shapes and colours, especially when using a fairly dark coloured ground.

Red Maples

Oil on stretched canvas 16" x 20"

C.$450. unframed/C.$550. framed

I was fortunate to do a fair amount of outdoor painting this fall with my painting buddies. This day began as a cold, grey, drizzling day in the boat, and then completely changed to dazzling sun and broiling temperatures...the transformation was quite astonishing.

Red Barn

On location oil on stretched canvas 20" x 24"

C.$850. framed SOLD

Just sold this one...it took me two years to complete...one location in Quebec where the barn was, and then a year later in Ontario with the fabulous red sumacs. I always felt it was incomplete untill I added the sumacs...there was too much focus on the barn.

Detail of Rock Lake Road

I'm very excited about negative painting these days...so here is an example: I painted the shape of the sky around the trees on the ridge...the trees are simply the underpainting (which was dry and done first). There is not doubt in my mind that it forces me to paint different shapes, more animated, perhaps more abstact, and certainly with more personality...and is very challenging. The best approach I find is to just DO IT! Don't think about it, just follow the brush, and lots of practice helps. Anyone else out there using this approach with oils...?

Rock Lake Road

On location oil on stretched canvas 18" x 24"

C.$950. framed/C.$850. unframed

An award winning painting! Every year I participate in an exhibition in Algonquin Park, primarily for paintings of the park done on location. There are 3 prizes and I won one for this painting. My next posting will show a detail and I will point out my current fascination with "negative painting".

Pond Lily

Acrylic on stretched canvas 15" x 30"

C.$950. framed /C. $850. unframed

White Pond Lillies are one of my favorite subjects. I am fascinated by what goes on under the water...the softly flowing stems and buds rising to the surface.

The Beach

On location oil on stretched canvas 16" x 20"

C.$650. framed/C.$550. unframed

Another fabulous day painting outdoors. My favorite beach in the area...we hiked in with all our painting stuff and had a wonderful day.

View of Fall Grasses

On location oil on stretched canvas 20" x 24"

C.$850. unframed

Another painting from a fabulous fall painting trip in Algonquin Park. I loved the intense blue reflected on the water.

Sunflowers in December

Oil on stretched 2" canvas 10" x 12"

C.$200. unframed

Just so you don't think I only do landscapes...I find flowers very exciting too! I think it's the challenge of making them look alive.

Photo: October Painting Workshop

One of my fall workshops takes place at an immaculate farm near Wilno with a view for miles. A large hand-built log studio is available for indoor painting, but we had such fabulous weather that most of us painted outdoors. A student sent me this: "Looking forward meeting up with you again. It is incredible the confidence I got from your last workshop in oil and hope to enjoy any workshops you might have in the future."

Fall Woods

On location oil on stretched canvas 18" x 18"

C.$550. unframed

Another painting from the same trip as my previous posting, in beautiful Algonquin Park.