Houses & Communities

“Oak Bay Cottage”
10″x12″ Acrylic on Canvas, $750.00

This painting is the first in a small series that will form a book based on houses and communities near my home.

Each painting will be accompanied by a description of my days out and about in the different seasons around the Victoria area.

I have always wondered who lived in this little house and as I sat in the warm sunshine of spring, at the side of the road, the fellow came across the street and we had a little chat. Clearly he puts a ton of effort into his garden and house. The roof is one of those rippled and wavy designs that curve and bend and it allows us to enter a different world of gentleness and joy

A lot of my work deals with issues of peace and war and it provides me with great pleasure to spend some time where I can simply enjoy my community.

Keeping a balance is important for many reasons.

“Betsy’s Studio”

10″x12″ Acrylic on Canvas, $750

I am enjoying working on this little series of paintings for a book about houses in Victoria. This painting shows Elizabeth Symons’ house and studio on the left. She is a member of our Collective Works Gallery in Victoria. I didn’t plan to pick this spot other than to be out and about one day and wondered where the little trail on the side of the road led to. So I thought I would climb up to the higher vantage point and see what kind of view was presented. I found a little place I had never known existed before……. higher up on the rocks……….. and so I sat down to do this painting.
Everyone talks about “plein air” these days …….I always get a giggle out of the expression because it has been around for ever and it is nothing new to appreciate the difference between studio painting and working outdoors. There really is something wonderful when you work outdoors. You can include things that are out of the scene behind you. The painting takes on a different quality depending on the dampness of the weather or the heat of the sun. Deer come up close to you sometimes because they don’t see you as a threat. You learn that apples make a loud thump when they fall to the ground in an orchard. Sometimes impending storms on the horizon make you speed up and this gives a certain vigor in ones work. So there are lots of reasons just to be outside and talking to people as you work away.