About Me

My photo
Quispamsis, NB, Canada
As long as I can remember I have been drawing and painting. Although my subject matter may have changed with time, what has not changed it my attraction to nature. Being drawn in by sunlight, shadows textures and details all with rich colors. I know I am best challenged when the work has a high element of complexity. I spend much time and effort exploring my subjects - striving to gather as much information as possible before I begin working. My first love is working with water mediums - from watercolors, through acrylics and most recently water soluble oils. Often I may explore the same or similar subject in different mediums.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Feeding Time Yet?


This painting was an experiment with some of the new tools available for watercolors. I admit I am a watercolor purist - and so this was also an exercise in bravery. I purchased a number of clayboard panels while visiting my daughter in Vancouver last year.
It has taken me exactly a year to decide to experiment with them.
The texture of the clayboard is quite different from paper - at first I was unsure if I liked it or not. After painting for a few minute - i started to get the feel for the material - bottom line. If you have time to play, this is a fun product. I sealed the finished painting with three coats of Krylon spray varnish. I have not decided yet if I am going to apply Golden Polymer Varnish over top or not. I know it will owrk well as I used it on teh Eastern Tiger Swallowtail in my last blog.
These goldfish and Koi are family pets - they summer in our pond and winter in a large aquarium in our basement.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail


This beauty was a frequent visitor to our Siberian Pea Shrub earlier this summer. I could not resist painting it - after chasing it around with my long lens to "capture" an image. I completed this work to experiment with sealing and varnishing a watercolor on paper in order to frame without using glass. I have to admit, I purchased the recommended products and am nervous to use them.