Stepping in to Lawren Harris

Stepping in
to Lawren Harris

With my Grandson Teague at the MFA, Boston on December 13, 2024, painted December 19, 2024, 5" x 7" (w x h) using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper.
NFS

The painting in the watercolor that Grandson Teague's stepping toward
at the MFA, Boston:

Northern Painting 25
Lawren Harris (1885-1970) Canadian
Oil on canvas, 36" x 32" (w x h), 1924
Gift of Steve Martin and his wife, Anne Stringfield,
in honor of Canada's 150th anniversary.
Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA

Snow Arriving Snow Leaving Beech Leaves Still

Snow Arriving Snow Leaving
Beech Leaves Still

beech leaves barely covered by snow on November 29, 2024, painted on December 12, 2024, 12" x 9" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$400

Art in Canadian Snow - Blue Orange

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Art in Canadian Snow
And note the Artist's use of blue with orange.

1
Snow Plow
Alex Colville (1920-2013), Canadian
Serigraph on wove paper, 21" x 32" (w x h), 1967
University of Lethbridge Art Collection, Alberta, Canada

David Alexander Colville, (1920-2013) was born in Toronto, Ontario and his family moved to Amherst, Nova Scotia, in 1929. He graduated from Mount Allison University a Bachelor of Fine Arts. In 1942, Colville enlisted in the Canadian Army and was made a War Artist in May 1944. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, elevated to Companion in 1982, the order's highest level. Colville exhibited extensively across Canada and internationally including at the Tate Gallery in London and the Beijing Exhibition Center in Beijing. In 1983 an internationally touring retrospective of his work was organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario. See more of his art HERE.

2
A Clear Winter
Arthur Lismer (1885-1969), English-Canadian
Oil on canvas, 30" x 36" (w x h), 1916
The Thomson Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada

The formation of the Group of Seven was still four years away when Arthur Lismer, one of its founders, painted this bold, lyrical oil of an Ontario hill and sky suffused by winter light. Arthur Lismer, CC RCA LL.D. (1885-1969), an English-Canadian painter, was known primarily as a landscape painter and for his paintings of ships in dazzle camouflage.

The English-born Mr. Lismer (1885-1969) had been in Canada only five years, but already was besotted with Ontario's wilderness and was friends with Tom Thomson and J.E.H. MacDonald, fellow employees of Toronto's Grip Engraving. With its sinuous forms, decorative flourishes and cobalt-blue shadows, this painting, A Clear Winter, clearly owes a debt to Art Nouveau and the contemporary Scandinavian landscape painting of the time. Also, Mr. Lismer's depiction of the tall, snow-laden white pine surmounting a thicket of conifers and random birches and aspens against a big sky has a forthrightness that anticipates the mature Group style.

Also winning: the orange hill, at once a warm complement and cannily positioned counterpoint to the dominant cool blues and whites. A boreal forest, quilt-like snow, sunlight brightening an aquamarine sky - it's hard to imagine a landscape more clearly, crisply Canadian than A Clear Winter.

3
Central Park Angel
Heather Horton (1974- ), Canadian
Oil on canvas, 36" x 36" (w x h),
Private collection

Heather Horton (1974- ), born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, attended McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She then went on to graduate from the well-respected Interpretive Illustration program at Sheridan College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is known for her colorful, realist paintings, which focus on internal states, contemplative narratives, and often draw from personal connections to her own life. Several of her paintings are in the Lionsgate film A Simple Favor, starring Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick (who graduated from Deering High School in Portland, Maine).

4
In Algonquin Park
Tom Thomson (1877-1917), Canadian
Oil on canvas, 32" x 25" (w x h), winter 1914-15
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada

Thomas John Thomson (August 5, 1877 - July 8, 1917) was a Canadian artist active in the early 20th century. During his short career, he produced roughly 400 oil sketches on small wood panels and approximately 50 larger works on canvas. His works consist almost entirely of landscapes, depicting trees, skies, lakes, and rivers. He used broad brush strokes and a liberal application of paint to capture the beauty and color of the Ontario landscape. Thomson is considered by many Canadians as the archetypal painter, and his later work has heavily influenced Canadian art. Although he died before the formal establishment of the Group of Seven, Thomson is often considered an unofficial member. His art is typically exhibited with the rest of the Group's.

5
Jeunes Filles, Rue Beaudry / Young Girls, Rue Beaudry
John Little (1928-2024), Canadian
Oil on canvas, 32" x 24" (w x h), 1970
Alan Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
For sale, $20,000 Canadian Dollars

This painting is a story about a neighborhood, the people, the neighbors and of course the built heritage. Since John Little painted this composition in 1970 of Rue Beaudry at avenue Brien, much has changed. In fact, avenue Brien, formerly a cul-de-sac with only a few doors, is gone, now parking for a low rise apartment building constructed on that open lot, which Little implies on the center-right-hand side of his painting.

While Little's painting places are limited primarily to Montreal and Quebec City, his story is a North American one, an observation that urban renewal and suburbanization were adversely changing and even obliterating the heritage of neighborhoods, the people and the built heritage. It was fully a generation after Little began to commemorate in paint these areas that were being adversely affected by social policies dictated by City Hall in Little's City of Montreal, municipal officials changed course, now looking to conserve some neighborhoods and repopulate the downtown core which they had previously dedicated to offices.

John Little (1928-2024) was a renowned Canadian artist, best known for his vibrant, Fauvist-style oil paintings of his hometown, Montreal. His art journey began at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and continued at the Art Students League of New York, where he met Ray Bailley. Together, they illustrated the Bruce Gentry comic strip. In 1949, Little joined his family's architectural firm as a draftsman, but his passion for painting never faltered. Following his marriage in 1953, he made painting his primary profession. His talent was recognized by the Royal Canadian Academy, which he joined in 1961 and earned full membership by 1973. His art is held in collections at the National Gallery of Canada, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery at Concordia University, and the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art.

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end

To the North

To the North

Painted November, 2024, 7" x 5" (w x h), using only Schmincke Horadam Payne's Gray Bluish, Cobalt Turquoise, Olive Green Yellowish watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Edge of the West Fjords Iceland

Edge of the West Fjords Iceland

a memory of the view I saw looking to the north west while living five-weeks solo on an island off the coast of Iceland, painted November 18, 2024, 7 x 5" (w x h), using only Schmincke Horadam Payne's Gray Bluish, Cobalt Turquoise, Olive Green Yellowish watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and wax resist on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper.
$150 + shipping / SOLD

West Fjords Iceland

 Schmincke Creative Contest Entry

West Fjords Iceland

 

a memory of the view I saw looking to the north west while living five-weeks solo on an island off the coast of Iceland, painted November 18, 2024, 16" x 7" (w x h), using Schmincke Horadam Payne's Gray Bluish, Cobalt Turquoise, Olive Green Yellowish watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, for the Schmincke Creative Contest and on the Schmincke website as #137 HERE

Schmincke Watercolor Creative Contest

Watercolor for metal painting set cover painted with only Schmincke watercolors. I used Payne's Gray Bluish, Cobalt Turquoise, Olive Green Yellowish, the only Schmincke brand watercolors in my palette. 

Sized proportionally at 12 x 5 (w x h).

The metal painting set has 4 mixing panels. with the Schmincke owl logo in black or white on the left-hand mixing panel.

The deadline is December 31, 2024 with the three winners of the notified not later than January 15, 2025.

The Schmincke contest page is HERE.

 

Field Shadows Fall into Autumn

Field Shadows Fall into Autumn
inspired after a Nov 15th walk
at Maine Audubon, Falmouth, Maine
and painted Nov 18, 2024, 7" x 5" (w x h).

How?
A Quick 14 Minute Sketch
Using a 1" flat brush on 5" x 7" Fabriano Artistico paper.

Wet sky solid color with a deeper blue color spread into the top. Violet painted quickly below with hard edge open with spaces, and edging the wet violet into the wet blue sky, holding the paper tilted so that the violet blooms as trees into the sky, the wonders of watercolor. With the sky still wet, brush out the clouds with a damp brush and a bit of paper towel, lifting the color, which works fabulous with Fabriano but not at all with Arches watercolor papers. When dry, add depth with deep Payne's Gray Blue, and finally add the fields in the white spaces with Naples Yellow, leaving some white edges for eye-catching contrast using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$200

Libby Becca Two Studies

Libby Becca Study 1

at our weekly drawing / painting group in Kennebunkport, Maine on Nov 8, 2024, 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Arches cold press fine grain 100% cotton watercolor paper, framed.
$300.

Libby Becca Study 2

at our weekly drawing / painting group in Kennebunkport, Maine on Nov 8, 2024, 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Arches cold press fine grain 100% cotton watercolor paper, framed.
$300.

Beech Leaves Leaving Study 1

Beech Leaves Leaving Study 1

as seen from my screened porch painted Nov 10, 2024, 12" x 9" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$400

Beech Leaves Leaving Study 2

Beech Leaves Leaving Study 2

as seen from my screened porch painted Nov 10, 2024, 12" x 9" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$400

Yellow Blue Nude Too

Yellow Blue Nude Too

at our weekly Kennebunkport, Maine drawing/painting group on Oct 11, 2024, 9" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and graphite on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

​A Ferry Peaks I

​A Ferry Peaks I

on Casco Bay, Portland, Maine, the Machigonne I, September 15, 2024, painted October 28, 2024, 12" x 9" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$400.

Art Essay - Casco Bay Ferries

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 Art Essay on the

Casco Bay Island Ferries

The Portland, Maine Harbor ferries have a distinctive visual color scheme with yellow and white, red trim, black hull, on the blue bay. This is an essay on how four artists see those ferries and four other artists simply focus in the abstract on those same colors, yellow, white, red, black, and blue.

1
Title unknown
The Machigonne II Peaks Island Ferry
Paul Brahms (1963- ), American
Oil on canvas, 20" 16" (w x h), 2024
B.F.A., Rhode Island School of Design, 1986
The artist's website HERE. More art HERE.

2
Seascape
Roy Lichtenstein, (1923-1997), American
Lithograph, woodcut, and screenprint, 53" x 27" (w x h), 1985
Edition 60, printed and published by Gemini G.E.L.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

3
Portland Ferry Reflection
Sarah Knock (1948- ), American
Oil on canvas, 20" x 28" (w x h), 2022
11th Portland Biennial Show,
Greenhut Galleries, Portland, ME
The artist's website is HERE.

4

Untitled (Geometric Abstraction)
John McLaughlin (1898-1976), American
Oil on composition board, 38" x 32" (w x h), 1953
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

5
Ferry Boat, Portland, Maine Harbor
George Anderson (1931- ) Canadian/American
Acrylic on canvas, 22" x 26" (w x h)
Anderson Gallery, Portland, ME
For sale: $ 2,500 USD
The artist's website is HERE.

6
Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Dutch
Oil on canvas, 22" x 24" (w x h), 1937-42
MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

7
Workers
Norma Johnsen (1939- ), American
Oil on canvas, 12" x 16" (w x h), 2020
The artist lives and paints on Peaks Island.

8
Composition of Red, Blue, Yellow and White: Nom III
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Dutch
Screenprint in colors, 17" x 17" (w x h), 1967
from A Portfolio of Ten Paintings, edition of 150
For sale: $5,800 USD

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A Ferry Peaks II

A Ferry Peaks II

On Casco Bay, Portland, Maine, the Machigonne II, September 15, 2024, painted October 28, 2024, 10" x 8" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Autumn on the Edge

Autumn on the Edge

in a field behind my home painted plein air on Oct 23, 2024, 14" x 11 (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$500

My Field Plein Air Setup View

My Plein Air Setup in the Fallen Leaves

Uplifting Fall

Uplifting Fall

in a field behind my home painted plein air on Oct 18, 2024, 14" x 10 (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$500

My Uplifting Plein Air Setup

Woods Hangs onto Autumn Barely

Woods Hangs onto
Autumn Barely

in my woods as seen from my home's window on Oct 27, 2024 painted Oct 28, 2024, 10" x 8 (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Warm Autumn Sky Fall

Warm Autumn Sky Fall

with foliage at a field's wood's edge behind my home painted Oct 15, 2024, 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Autumn Over There

Autumn Over There

with foliage at a field's wood's edge behind my home painted Oct 15, 2024, 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$200

Autumn Oaks Leaving

Autumn Oaks Leaving

at the edge of a back field behind my home painted on Oct 15, 2024, 10" x 8" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Goat Island Light Attitude

Goat Island Light Attitude

in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Kennebunkport, Maine on June 11, 2023, painted June 16-17, 2023, 10" x 8" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Puffin Pair Up There

Puffin Pair Up There

Painted October 10, 2024 from two photos of Icelandic puffins (Fratercula arctica) flying in the Icelandic Bay of Breidafjordur in the Bjarnareyjar Islands archipelago where I lived solo on one of the uninhabited islands, Budey, for five mid-summer weeks in 2005 rowing between the islands, 9" x 12" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $400

Our Model's Hair Peaks Studies

Our Model's

Hair Peaks Study 1

With model Shelly at our Kennebunkport Drawing Group, Sept 8, 2024, 8" x 10" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Our Model's
Hair Peaks Study 2

With model Shelly at our Kennebunkport Drawing Group, Sept 8, 2024, 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Our Model's
Hair Peaks Study 3

With model Shelly at our Kennebunkport Drawing Group, Sept 8, 2024, 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Our Model's
Hair Peaks Study 4

With model Shelly at our Kennebunkport Drawing Group, Sept 8, 2024, 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Our Model's
Hair Peaks Study 5

With model Shelly at our Kennebunkport Drawing Group, Sept 8, 2024, 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Our Model's
Hair Peaks Study 6

With model Shelly at our Kennebunkport Drawing Group, Sept 8, 2024, 9" x 12" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$350

Our Model's
Hair Peaks Study 7

With model Shelly at our Kennebunkport Drawing Group, Sept 8, 2024, 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

A Simple View Scene

A Simple View Scene

painted at our Kennebunkport figure art group with model Karen on Aug 23, 2024, 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150.

Wave at You Study 3

Wave at You Study 3

This was painted during the 2024 Ogunquit (Maine) Perkins Cove Plein Air Event on September 7th and completed in my studio when dry for wet lifting using Viva Signature paper towels and brushed layering. 12" x 9" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300