"Almost Round", 7 x9" acrylic on canvas panel

Daily Paintworks has a new painting challenge every week, and this week’s is “The Value Challenge”.  This painting of a cup of tea is my submission.  Thankfully this was not the “Perspective Challenge”, as I clearly would have failed miserably!  My photography was also a little challenged by some side-lighting, so apologies for the glare on the right side — if I get a chance I’ll retake this under better conditions to fix that.  The wonky shapes of the cup and saucer are all me, though.  Perhaps they lend a certain charm to the painting?  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it….

In any case, it was a fun painting to do, which is always the main thing, isn’t it?

"Winter Sunrise", acrylic painting on textured canvas panel, 5 x 7"

This painting was done from a memory of Ontario winters and how the sun touches off all sorts of colours on the snow.  I’m back on the west coast now, and this winter I found myself missing those sharp, clear days when the snow crunches underfoot and the occasional birdsong slices keenly through the still air.

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ~ Anne Bradstreet

This snowy landscape painting has been SOLD.

"The House Lion", acrylic on 6 x 8" canvas panel

In my opinion, nothing completes a home like a cat.  I don’t *mind* dogs, but (in general) they seem a lot less calm and civilized than the average cat. Cats are perfectly-brewed Souchong tea and classical music; dogs are beer and campfire sing-a-longs. The cat in my painting looks a lot like one that adopted my family when I still lived with my parents and sisters, many years ago now.

“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.”  ~Terry Pratchett

“The House Lion” is available on eBay.  Please click on the title in the sidebar to the right, or contact me (link is above under the blog banner) if you’re interested in purchasing it.

"The Road Home", acrylic on textured canvas panel, 5x7"

This painting is about the feeling you get when you’re coming home from a long journey and things start looking more and more comforting and familiar.  You know you’ll be there soon.

“Why I travel: to learn and grow, to challenge myself, stretch my limits and foster an appreciation of both the world at large and the chair waiting in front of the woodstove back home.”  ~ Tim Patterson

This painting is available in my Etsy shop for 25.00 USD plus shipping; please check the sidebar to the right, or contact me (there’s a contact link under the banner above) if you’re interested in purchasing it.

"Hydrangeas", 2.5 x 3.5" acrylic on watercolour paper

Another of my favourites, the hydrangea.  I love how the flowerheads look so solid and substantial from a distance, but as you get closer they become a complex of little blossoms all working together to make a big, beautiful bloom.

“The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.”  ~ Hanna Rion

This floral painting ACEO has been SOLD and is off to its new home.

"The Mustard Field", acrylic and graphite on canvas panel, 8 x 10"

Sometimes when you’re driving down a rural road, a sudden wild burst of yellow happens — that’s a field of mustard, or canola plants.  It always catches me by surprise and pulls me out of my private thoughts right into the here and now.

“How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh

“What a horrible thing yellow is.” ~ Edgar Degas

“The Mustard Field” is available in my Etsy shop (please see the sidebar on the right) for 35.00 USD, plus shipping.

"Wings of Mercury", mixed media, 6 x 8"

This painting was a bit of a bear to photograph, but I think it shows up okay.  It is my entry into the Tapestry of Art Through Time challenge, where Sherry  is taking us from ancient into modern times via art.  Quite a lot of fun, and I’m learning things, too.

“Wings of Mercury” was painted over a page from a phone book glued to a canvas board support, and uses metallic as well as regular acrylic paints, and some watercolour pencils.  It actually comes pretty close to the idea I had in my head when I imagined it, so I consider it a success.  :)

“Wings of Mercury” has been SOLD.

“I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore…. I hear it in the deep heart’s core.”  ~ William Butler Yeats

This little gem of a landscape is currently available on eBay with bidding starting at 6.99 USD — please check the sidebar on the right to go to the auction.

"By The Sea", acrylic on 4 x 6" cardstock matted to fit an 8 x 10" frame

Another seaside scene from our time at the beach.  I love the peaceful calm of the grassy dunes and could walk among them for hours.  (In fact, I have!)  With this painting I tried to capture some of the serenity of those times.

“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.”  ~ Arthur C. Clarke

This postcard-sized painting is available on eBay (please check in the sidebar on the right to go to the listing) with a starting price of 20.00 USD.  It’s ready to pop into a standard 8 x 10″ frame.

"Afternoon Fields", 8 x 10" acrylic on textured canvas

Last year on a trip through California we saw miles and miles of fields like this, with rolling hills in the background. It was a mainly cloudy day when we drove though, but occasionally the sun would break through and light up a portion of the landscape in the most wonderful way.

”Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and river, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.”  ~ John Lubbock