The Blueberry Forest - Part Two
My new painting is done! This magical forest is abundant with wild blueberries, deer and other little creatures... (perhaps you can see some in the painting?...)
The Blueberry Forest, 40" x 60", oil on canvas
My new painting is done! This magical forest is abundant with wild blueberries, deer and other little creatures... (perhaps you can see some in the painting?...) and so I'm calling it, The Blueberry Forest.
I made this painting shape by shape, colour by colour, working my way across the canvas and creating the complete image from the abstract.
The Blueberry Forest - details
“In every landscape should reside jewels of abstract art waiting to be discovered.”
Dream Catcher
A few years ago I lived in a little cottage in the woods. The cottage was surrounded by trees… Great, big grandfather trees. It was very dark in the winter evenings as I made my way home through the woods…
Dream Catcher, 48” x 60”, oil on canvas
A few years ago I lived in a little cottage in the woods. The cottage was surrounded by trees… Great, big grandfather trees. It was very dark in the winter evenings as I made my way home through the woods… Inside the cottage I felt safe though, nestled amongst the trees and listening to the rushing stream that ran past the cottage, and the occasional owl or chattering raccoons.
It was during this time that I began my forest series of paintings. My painting Dream Catcher is of the forest near my cottage in West Vancouver. While painting Dream Catcher, a little story began to form… and so I wrote it down. It’s called Dream Catcher, a Fairy Tale.
You can read along in my blog here, or flip through the shortened version I created on Steller.
Dream Catcher is the first in a series of paintings that explore the forest as a place of fairy-tales, myth and magic. In stories and legends trees are symbols of wisdom, strength, endurance, protection, secret knowledge, life and fertility. In fairy tales the forest symbolises the unconscious and is a place of initiation. Entering the dark forest and the unknown, one confronts hidden aspects of the self in order to experience a re-birth and gain a new understanding and knowledge of life...
Read Dream Catcher a Fairy Tale on Steller
Read the full story on my blog
"In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own."
Dream Catcher
• Wood canvas made from Birch wood sourced from sustainable Canadian forests
• UV set inks, meaning the print resists water
• Each wood print is made in Montreal, Canada
• Easy care, don’t touch the print if you don’t have to, but you can wipe it with a dry or damp cloth to remove dust
• Arrives ready to hang - 4 panel frame in back allows you to just pop the wood print on a small nail in the wall, no wires necessary
You can view all my wood prints in my online store here.
The Blueberry Forest - Part One
This past year has been a huge challenge in patience and perseverance (among other things), so why not (I asked myself) start another big, intricate painting?
I don’t know why I do this to myself… But obviously I like a challenge.
I like to set big goals and I don’t like to give up…
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”
This past year has been a huge challenge in patience and perseverance (among other things), so why not (I asked myself) start another big, intricate painting?
I don’t know why I do this to myself… But obviously I like a challenge.
I like to set big goals and I don’t like to give up.
(And big challenges create big rewards.)
The canvas I’m working on is 40” x 60” and I wanted to try something a little new… I wanted to make a painting in the same style as I did with Into the Mystic, but in full colour.
So, using one little abstract shape at a time, I'm slowly working my way up and across the canvas... to create the whole image of the forest.
It’s like doing a giant puzzle that I’m making up as I go along…
If you like to do puzzles, you can probably understand… It requires much patience but it’s also therapeutic.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
I put together a little video (speeded up!) on this work in progress…
Celebrating Forest Week
It’s a beautiful September day… The sun is shining and the air is clear with that crisp, autumn feeling… The leaves are changing colours and starting to fall… Change is in the air. I think this may be my favourite time of year! It’s also National Forest Week and I’m celebrating…
It’s a beautiful September day… The sun is shining and the air is clear with that crisp, autumn feeling… The leaves are changing colours and starting to fall… Change is in the air. I think this may be my favourite time of year!
The Magic Tree
It’s also National Forest Week and I’m celebrating the forest and my love of nature!
I live in a large city, but I’m fortunate to live close to the ocean and forest so that within a few minutes, I can be hiking in the forest or swimming in the sea… Nature is what fills me up, inspires and nurtures me!
And it’s the beauty of nature that inspires my art and creativity.
Both visually and symbolically, the forest provides a powerful and beautiful subject, stirring a deeply rooted connection with nature. My current work, Forest Tales, is a series of paintings with a story to tell, each painting taking the viewer on a fairytale journey into their imagination, and awakening their connection to spirit through the beauty of art and nature.
There are many different ways we can protect and support our environment. One way I decided to give back is to donate $1.00 for every product sold (that’s one tree planted!) and donate $100 for every large painting sold (that’s 100 trees planted!). It’s one small way I can contribute to protecting and nurturing nature.
“The earth is what we all have in common.”
In partnership with One Tree Planted
Dream Catcher, a Fairy Tale
A few years ago I lived in a little cottage in the woods. The cottage was surrounded by trees… Great, big grandfather trees. It was very dark in the winter evenings as I made my way home through the woods (with the help of the light shining from my cell phone!). Inside the cottage I felt safe though, nestled amongst the trees and listening to the rushing stream that ran past the cottage and the occasional owl or chattering raccoons…
A few years ago I lived in a little cottage in the woods. The cottage was surrounded by trees… Great, big grandfather trees. It was very dark in the winter evenings as I made my way home through the woods (with the help of the light shining from my cell phone!). Inside the cottage I felt safe though, nestled amongst the trees and listening to the rushing stream that ran past the cottage and the occasional owl or chattering raccoons.
It was during this time that I began my forest series of paintings. My painting Dream Catcher is of the forest near my cottage in West Vancouver. While painting Dream Catcher, a little story began to form… and so I wrote it down. It’s called Dream Catcher, a Fairy Tale.
You can read along in my blog here, or flip through the shortened version I created on Steller.
Dream Catcher is the first in a series of paintings that explore the forest as a place of fairy-tales, myth and magic. In stories and legends trees are symbols of wisdom, strength, endurance, protection, secret knowledge, life and fertility. In fairy tales the forest symbolises the unconscious and is a place of initiation. Entering the dark forest and the unknown, one confronts hidden aspects of the self in order to experience a re-birth and gain a new understanding and knowledge of life...
Read Dream Catcher a Fairy Tale on Steller
Read the full story on my blog
View the Dream Catcher Collection
A Labour of Love
Sometimes I'm asked why I paint on (mostly) large canvases. Because, the way I paint, it can take a long time to finish a painting.... So it requires a lot of patience.
And because they are so big, they aren't easy to move around. Sometimes I have to rent a large vehicle to transport them...
Sometimes I'm asked why I paint on (mostly) large canvases. Because, the way I paint, it can take a long time to finish a painting.... So it requires a lot of patience.
And because they are so big, they aren't easy to move around. Sometimes I have to rent a large vehicle to transport them.
They're not something you can hang over the sofa either, so they're not for everyone...
They are large, colourful statement pieces with a story to tell...
Sometimes I think it would be fun to whip off a painting or two in an afternoon...
And it would be!
But truth be told, I really enjoy my labours of love. I like a big project...
I think we paint the way we are (and I love big ideas and big visions!)
So I'll continue on with my large labours of love.
And... Since it's Labour Day this weekend, I thought I'd offer a flash sale on any print in my print store - (A smaller version of my labour of love).
But just until Monday, September 4th at midnight! Just enter LABOUROFLOVE at check out and receive 20% off all prints!
Thinking From The End
When I begin a painting, I've already created it in my mind. The painting is complete and hanging on my wall. This is what imagination is. It's tapping into the universal mind, or spirit, and visualising what already exists in essence, and then bringing it into the physical plane.
When I begin a painting, I've already created it in my mind. The painting is complete and hanging on my wall.
This is what imagination is. It's tapping into the universal mind, or spirit, and visualising what already exists in essence, and then bringing it into the physical plane.
It's easy to understand this when you think of making dinner. You first think of what you want to eat. Perhaps you picture the entire meal laid out beautifully on the table, with candles and wine... you imagine if you are sharing the meal with someone... you imagine what it looks like on the table and on the plates; the smell of the food, the taste...
All of this happens in a flash when you think, "What should I make for dinner?"
Once you know what you want to create, you get out your recipe book, head off to the store for the ingredients, and then you make dinner. Within a few hours you are enjoying your creation!
It's the same when I paint. I create an image in my mind, perhaps as an idea that I want to express...
I'll picture the size and shape of the canvas, the colours, shapes and images that will express this idea and feeling that I want to create on canvas.
I keep the finished painting in mind, but of course, there are little surprises along the way... I let go of the outcome and allow it to unfold and come to life as it is meant to.
Like giving birth - when the baby is born there is joy and surprise, yet you also feel that you knew this person all along.... everything is exactly as it is meant to be.
Right now I have a few paintings in mind. They are there, just hanging in my mind, until I'm ready to give birth. This is the joy of creating; having a vision and then experiencing the coming into being...
Enchanted, 60" x 36", SOLD
The Magic Tree
Every painting has a story. Sometimes the painting is painted with the story in mind; other times the story evolves as I’m painting…
When I was little I got lost in Stanley Park. (Stanley Park is a 400 hectare public park in Vancouver where I grew up). It has giant, rainforest trees, and is surrounded by the ocean and beautiful beaches. Most kids growing up in Vancouver have memories of the park…
Every painting has a story. Sometimes the painting is painted with the story in mind; other times the story evolves as I’m painting…
When I was little I got lost in Stanley Park. (Stanley Park is a 400 hectare public park in Vancouver where I grew up). It has giant, rainforest trees, and is surrounded by the ocean and beautiful beaches. Most kids growing up in Vancouver have memories of the park… From playing on the beach, to rolling down the grassy hills, to the children’s zoo and train, or theatre under the stars… We were always excited to go to the park!
One day, when I was about four years old, I went to the park with my sisters and some family friends. As usual I was in my day-dreamy world (only half aware of my surroundings) when I suddenly realised I didn't know where I was… My sisters and the family I was with, were nowhere to be found!
When I think back to it now, all I remember is feeling very alone and frightened. There were lots of people around, but I didn't dare go up to someone I didn't know… Instead I saw a great, big, magnificent, grandfather tree. I went straight over to it and, cuddling up next to the huge trunk, I started to cry. Somehow I felt the tree would protect me.
Well, I guess it did because it wasn't long before a nice family came along and rescued me (and took me to the “Lost and Found” where I was eventually returned to my rightful owners).
So that’s my little tree story… And if you look closely, maybe you can see a little girl nestled contentedly, high up in the branches of The Magic Tree...
Dream Catcher
Dream Catcher is the first in a series of paintings that explore the forest as a place of fairy-tales, myth and magic. In stories and legends trees are symbols of wisdom, strength, endurance, protection, secret knowledge, life and fertility...
A few years ago I lived in a little cottage in the woods. The cottage was surrounded by trees… Great, big grandfather trees... On winter evenings, it was very dark as I made my way home through the woods, (with the help of the light shining from my cell phone). Inside the cottage I felt safe though, nestled amongst the trees and listening to the rushing stream that ran past the cottage, and the occasional owl or chattering raccoons.
It was during this time that I began my forest series of paintings. My painting Dream Catcher is from the forest near my cottage in West Vancouver. While painting Dream Catcher, a little story began to form… and so I wrote it down. It’s called Dream Catcher, a Fairy Tale.
You can read along in my blog here, or flip through the shortened version I created on Steller.
Dream Catcher, 60" x 48", oil on canvas
Dream Catcher is the first in a series of paintings that explore the forest as a place of fairy-tales, myth and magic. In stories and legends trees are symbols of wisdom, strength, endurance, protection, secret knowledge, life and fertility. In fairy tales the forest symbolizes the unconscious and is a place of initiation. Entering the dark forest and the unknown, one confronts hidden aspects of the self in order to experience a re-birth and gain a new understanding and knowledge of life.
Now available ~ Fine Art Prints
These museum quality fine art prints are available in standard sizes and ready to frame with a one & a half inch border, or in larger print sizes with a smaller border and ready for to custom framing.
Midsummer Forest
One summer I spent a few weeks on a small island on the west coast of Norway. Every day I walked through the sunlit forests, along the same paths my ancestors walked on for generations. And in the evenings I’d watch as the sun slowly dipped into the sea… mesmerized by the beautiful, long, long sunsets...
One summer I spent a few weeks on a small island on the west coast of Norway. Every day I walked through the sunlit forests, along the same paths my ancestors walked on for generations. And in the evenings I’d watch as the sun slowly dipped into the sea… mesmerized by the beautiful, long, long sunsets.
There’s something special about the northern light on a midsummer’s evening. The vivid colours make everything come alive. It made me feel more alive… Connected to nature, my history, to my soul. I wanted to drink it all in…
Midsummer Forest is a painting of light, colour and fairy-tale magic. The forest comes alive with a vibrant palette of colours and explores the beautiful northern light in summer. In Midsummer Forest the painting itself becomes a story to enter, taking the viewer on a fairy tale journey into the forest...
“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
Now available ~ Fine Art Prints!
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