Thursday

Mixed Media workshop DAY FOUR

"Gabrielle", mixed media, 11 x 11"
SOLD

This was one of my demos today. We were working on textured grounds, and this one has Light Molding Paste, Garnet Gel and Glass Bead Gel under the colour (thanks to the nice Golden rep who gave me some free samples). I mounted the painting, which was done on archival mat board, onto a slab of 3/4" plywood which I had painted gloss black, in lieu of a frame -looks very nice. It is my contribution to the Series Scholarship fund and it will go up for silent auction tonight during our student show. We are going out for dinner after the show, so I will take photos and post them tomorrow.
PS: they offer several free scholarships to be used towards next years' Series, so check it out and get an application in -hardly anyone knows about it, so the chances are very good you might win one ; )

Enjoy!

Wednesday

Mixed Media workshop DAY 3

"How Do You Like Me So Far?", mixed media, 11 x 15"

This is NOT my work, but it is the very FIRST ever painting by one of my fabulous students, Michelle Ostrikoff. Michelle is a blast -can you tell (did you notice the horns on the figure?) We are having a great time creating 'masterpieces' here. Tomorrow is the student show so I will try to get some more photos to post then.

Series is an amazing collection of creative energy. I am rooming with Crys Harse, who is an amazing metal artist, and quite a riot on her own account. Other teachers this week include a felt artist from Montreal who makes crazy costumes for Cirque de Soleil, a ceramicist from Australia, a flamework bead maker, a bronze casting class (we get to see a pour tomorrow) and Jean Pederson is teaching figurative painting in the studio next to mine. Such fun -I wish I could take everyone's classes!

Tuesday

Mixed Media Workshop DAY TWO

"Flight Lesson", acrylic and collage, 10 x 10"
SOLD

This is one of my demos from today. We painted papers in the morning and then collaged them into 3 different compositions, then looked to see what they would be. This was a T composition (touches 3 sides leaving 3 differently shaped and sized negative shapes). I couldn't get over how much the side pieces looked like wings, so I gave the figure a head and a hand, and invited a couple of birds in to give him a lesson on taking flight.

Enjoy!

Monday

Series mixed media workshop DAY ONE

Today was my first day teaching my 5 day mixed media workshop at Series in Red Deer, Alberta. I have 10 eager students, many of whom have little art background -fresh fields!! The first thing we did was to play with fluid acrylics, using them transparently, translucently and opaquely. We began with transparent glazes and splatters -happy accidents -and then went back in with opaques to make shapes, keeping what we loved and painting out the rest in interesting shapes. We talked about making linkages between these shapes and how to deal with edges. We introduced line and pattern as well. Then we painted some translucent areas, played with darks and lights and generally got off to a good start. The nice thing about mixed media, is it's never over until it's over :) So you might just see where this one goes from here...

This is our second painting of the day, courtesy of an exercise I did in Bob Burridges' workshop. We began with play, splattering paint in transparent then opaques splatters all over our gesso covered paper. Then we worked with negative painting, which means painting out the background, thus leaving the flowers. (sort of like Michelangelo did when he chiseled away the stone from the block containing his amazing David, but not nearly so elegantly!) I decided to put a transparent glaze on the tabletop so that the pattern showed through, thus making a connection to the 'flowers'. A translucent white glaze over the vase allowed it to be separated from the flowers, a shadow was cast on the table, and a couple of flowers were defined in the focal point along with some suggestions of leaves, which makes all the other splatters look like flowers. Cool eh -all you need to do is to suggest what people are looking at, and voila, they see them.


These are 5 of my students at the absolutely FAB new painting studios at Red Deer College. There is a sound system built in along with computer technology and projection screens, remotely controlled blinds and air conditioning. And look at all this space! What a dream. I am one happy teacher!

Saturday

"Evening Marsh", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Evening Marsh", plein air oil painting, 9x9"
$495.00 framed, FREE S&H

It is now later in the day-by this time the weather has changed to spectacular, the evening sun shinning and the sky clear, so we decided to return to the marsh (see "Summer Respite") to see what it offered now. This view is just a 45 degree turn from the last painting. This went in very quickly and I was thrilled with the contrast of paint thickness in this piece. I have been inspired by Australian artist Herman Pekel DVD I bought, where he brushes in the underpainting in thin turpy paint with a huge fan brush. It really works to speed up the painting I'd say by half -now that IS an improvement.

I am off tomorrow to teach a weeklong Mixed Media workshop at Series in Red Deer, Alberta. That will require quite a mind shift from the plein air work I have been doing, but I look forward to it. I have 10 eager students awaiting me -this really turns me on! I will be taking my camera and laptop so I hope to blog from there to let you take a peek inside the workshop. Wish me luck.


Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Thursday

"Wildflower Trail", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Wildflower Trail", plein air oil painting, 8 x 10"
$495.00 framed, FREE S&H

This is the second painting from the Leighton Centre's grounds, and my third of the day, on our 'have all kinds of weather day'. It is interesting how many of my plein air landscapes are in the portrait or vertical orientation. I guess I really like how you lead up to the thing that is your focal point. Of course this gives the challenge of how to make the closer, foreground objects read closer without stealing the show from the star performer. As if painting plein air wasn't challenging enough...

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Wednesday

"Summer Respite", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Summer Respite", plein air oil painting, 9 x 12"
$595.00 framed, FREE S&H

This painting day with Liz and Bobbi began with a very cool, windy and overcast day. I have painted this marsh a number of times in the past (see "September Marsh"), and it seemed like a good subject matter for the morning. Spent a bunch of time putting the umbrellas up and down, and we finally had to bail when the hail hit -just pea sized and just for a few minutes, but the day gave us some of all possible summer weather patterns, with the notable exception of snow. Thank goodness :)

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Tuesday

"Peonies", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Peonies", plein air oil painting, 8 x 6"
$350.00 framed, FREE S&H

These beauties were blooming at the Leighton Centre when Bobbi, Liz and I went for a paintout. We only had about 3/4 hour to get this in before the light changed dramatically. Painting fast is great -when things are going well. It's like you don't have time to think, you only have time to respond to what your senses give you. It's the most fun possible to have, in my humble opinion!


Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Monday

"Summer Blues", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Summer Blues", plein air oil painting, 9 x 12"
$595.00 framed, FREE S&H

I did this painting while out on my own in the late afternoon, which is my favorite time to paint outside as the light is so lovely. There seemed to be a blue haze that saturated the scene in contrast with the sharp yellow greens of the grasses, and I am really happy that I was able to capture that. This is the view westward from beside the Leighton school houses. Unfortunately you can't paint on the grounds after 4pm anymore as people were abusing the property. Bummer.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Sunday

"Foothills Longing", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Foothills Longing", plein air oil painting, 9x12"
$595.00 framed, FREE S&H

This painting was done at the end of a long painting day, when the shadows were lengthening and the light was gorgeous. I have painted this same scene but from the other end of the road in "At The Crossroads" posted last summer. This summer seems to be a green challenge -so many different subtle shades and variations on the green keep it interesting, and difficult.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

"Natasha", oil painting from live model by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Natasha", oil painting from live model, 8x10"

This is my first ever oil painting done from live clothed model -I include it here, not because it is a stellar painting, far from it (but it isn't horrible either...), but to encourage you to step out of your comfort level from time to time and challenge yourself with new subject matter. Although I have drawn from the model a lot, working in oil on a face that is only 1 1/2 inches high is problematic -there just isn't room to model the face as I would have liked to. I am looking forward to trying this again soon.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Thursday

"Lot For Sale", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Lot For Sale", plein air oil painting, 9 x 12"
$595.00 framed, FREE S&H

While searching back roads in the foothills for good spots to set up, I came across this acreage that was for sale. The property overlooks the foothills and has a creek flowing through it in the back. Can't afford it, but at least I could capture it in paint. Lucky, lucky folks who are able to have it, but it is kind of too bad to stick up a big honking house in such a beautiful setting.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Wednesday

"The End of the Day", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"The End of the Day", plein air oil painting, 8x6"
$350.00 framed, FREE S&H

This was the last painting of the day on the day I painted with Liz and Bobbi. The light was changing so quickly, and we only had at most 30 minutes to catch this before the scene was completely different. Dusk is like that. But the good news is that you have probably done at least 2 up to this point and you are warmed up and ready. You can see Liz's version on her blog.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Tuesday

"Lilac Borders", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Lilac Borders", plein air oil painting, 9 x 12"
$595.00 framed, FREE S&H

Early in the evening I was driving around on a beautifully sunny day looking for good painting material when I came upon this farm that had blooming lilacs bordering their field. What a super idea I thought, and the colours just worked so well together. There were different crops in the two fields which accounts for the difference in colour. Such fun -I still can't believe I am so lucky as to do this for a living -happy, happy girl.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Monday

"Marsh Patterns", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Marsh Patterns", plein air oil painting, 9 x 12"
$595.00 framed, FREE S&H

This is another painting from Lloyd's Park. I was captivated by the patterns found in the reeds and other plant life in the marsh, and so decided to concentrate once again upon the abstract patterns rather than on what was literally in front of me. I am posting a photo of the scene so you can see what I mean.

In case you are wondering why I am trying to make my plein air work more abstract, I will try to explain it. The reason I began to paint plein air in oils in the first place was to teach myself how to handle the oil paint in order to be able to use it for abstracted paintings, as oils have the potential to do some really cool things. I want to be able to tie my oil work in with my mixed media work to make a more cohesive whole of my practice. For years I have rejected the notion that an artist has to pigeonhole oneself in terms of creative expression, and while I still believe that, I want to see how far I can take my plein air work. It is very difficult to not get taken in by all the plethora of detail that one is confronted by while staring at any given landscape, and that is what makes plein air painting really hard (besides bugs, changing light, wind, temperatures, alla prima, etc, etc). I am trying to paint the patterns first, as that is what usually strikes me in a scene anyway. So stay tuned, and you be the judge at how well I am doing.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Saturday

"Pond Patterns", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Pond Patterns", plein air oil painting, 6 x 8"
$350.00 framed, FREE S&H

This one was done at Lloyd's Park, a spot that I just love and have painted many times over the four years that I have been plein air painting in oils. It is a wetland marsh just outside Calgary that is home to billions of birds of all kinds. The noise when you get out of the car incredible. It really is a special place, and the patterns are very interesting and always changing. I really liked how the panel shows through in this one, and its simple, abstract nature.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Thursday

"Foothills Patterns", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Foothills Patterns", plein air oil painting, 9x9"
$495.00 framed, FREE S&H

This is the second painting I did on my paintout with Ingrid. This was another vast view, but I really like how the foreground turned out. I am really trying to get looser with my strokes and more creative with the colour and format. What a privilege to be able to spend my time doing what I love to do in this magnificent creation we have been given.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Wednesday

"Tree Daze", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Tree Daze", plein air oil painting, 7 x 12"

I had a wonderful day painting with buddy and artist extra-ordinaire Ingrid Christensen. This is the first place we 'had' to stop at. These lovely ladies were lazing in the shade when we set up, needless to say they were long gone by the time we were done. One rule of plein air painting -paint what is going to change or move first!

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Tuesday

"Sun Kissed", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Sun Kissed", plein air oil painting, 8x10"
$495.00 framed, FREE S&H

I went painting in Riley Park with friend Colleen O'Brien, and the poppies were fully in bloom and looking radiant in the sunshine. After I began this, the wind picked up a bit and the flower was tossed back and forth, making the painting process rather more difficult than usual. Couple that with changing light, and this was really an adventure. I am really pleased with how it came out, maybe because of all the challenges.

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Sunday

"Close To Home", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Close To Home", plein air oil painting, 9x12"
$595.00 framed, FREE S&H

This was a HUGE vista -the challenge was what to leave out (the animals grazing and the space between where the creek really was and the farm), or squish (the expanse of overlapping foothills), or modify (by manipulating colour to increase depth) to make a compelling composition. But brother, could I ever live on this ranch! And did I mention that summer greens are really difficult to make interesting, when they really seem so all alike?

By the way, I just watched the newest episode of the WONDERFUL new show Baxter (for kids, but it is fun for adults too!!) -that happens to star my terrifically talented son Evan (as Baxter himself). Check out the episode here! I'm a mighty proud Momma, can you tell??

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.

Friday

"Where The Ninth Hole Should Be". plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Where The Ninth Hole Should Be". plein air oil painting, 8 x 10"
$495.00 framed, FREE S&H

When my hubby saw this painting, he said "that is where the ninth hole should be". Right on, so that became the title. The sky is done with my newly discovered palette knife. I am having fun with it, but haven't really reconciled if using it in one area makes a cohesive painting if the rest of the painting has thinner paint. In this case, the clouds are the focus, so I think that here it is a no brainer. But what if the thick clouds aren't the focus??? Will have to work this one through -any opinions out there?

Enjoy!

To purchase this, or commission your own painting, please email me.