Friday

I have a brand, spanking new WEBSITE!!

I have been working hard on this NEW WEBSITE, and I would love for you to check it out!  I would love to hear what you think about it. 

I have also decided that it was once again time to get this blog back into action. I would love to hear any topics that you would like me to talk about -this can be about anything to do about painting, or art business or anything else you would like to talk about! 

Did you know that I have a new online art workshop? You can find out all about it HERE. Enrolment is now open, but only until Nov 30, so get on it fast. Give the gift of creativity to yourself or a loved one this Christmas!

I will be seeing you again soon! Stay safe.





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Monday

Cast is off, so now it is time to PAINT!


           


Hello all! I hope this finds you happy, healthy, and enjoying summer! I can hardly understand where the last months have gone, it is all sort of 'in a fog'! But Q3 is on our doorstep and it is time to get back down to 'brass tacks' as my dear Mom would have said (what does that even mean anyway??)

So, in case I forgot to tell you, I had surgery on May 11 to remove a bone in my hand, as severe arthritis was causing me a LOT of trouble. Apparently, removing the bone that my thumb was having trouble moving against, is the permanent fix for this type of thing. And I am right in the majority who need it: female over 65 who uses her hands for her livelihood. After 5 weeks in a cast, I am now castless, and no doubt overusing my hand! But it is gardening season (my garden has never looked better!), and I have SO many paintings inside me to come out!

I did get to do a few paintings in the last while, learning how to do things with my left, very uncooperative hand. I did the above painting ("Wild Beauty", 12x12" acrylic and collage) with one brush in my left (non-dominant) hand, and another in my right, stuck into my cast, using both hands at once -kind of fun, as long as I wasn't expecting anything to turn out. But I am pleasantly surprised how this one turned out. It will be available at the newly opened Leighton Art Centre, as part of their Summer Salon. In the meantime, I have the 5 paintings below in the Clothesline Sale -click HERE to see the show.

Blessings!
Sharon

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Friday

New oil and cold wax demonstration -"Mountainside"


Hello all -hope you are all well and happy! I wanted you to know that I just published a new video with another demonstration of my oil and cold wax painting. I am posting it in this post, but if it will not play from here, then you will have to go to my Youtube channel to watch it (link is https://youtu.be/-fSYGnqqLTc)  I would love to hear from you with comments and questions, and would like to know if you are enjoying these free teachings. Any suggestions you have for content would be most helpful, and will help direct my future videos. Thanks!


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Monday

Mountain Painting Demonstration Part 2


Here is part 2 of my Mountain Painting demonstration in oil and cold wax. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions?
Enjoy!


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Friday

Mountain Painting Demo -Video #1 -Preparation & Planning







Mountain Painting in Oil and Cold Wax -video number 1


Hello friends: I shot 3 videos live on Instagram that I am now posting here for posterity, so if you didn't catch them there, you can now see them here! You will notice that the video won't play from this email, but if you click the title, it will take you to Youtube and play the video. I will post part 2 and 3 in this next week.

I really enjoyed doing this video, although the learning curve was very STEEP. In the end, I had to learn how to go live on IGTV, how to edit movies in iMovie, how to set up a Youtube channel, and how to post video to my blog. That is a lot of learning in a short space of time, but I must tell you, I wasn't sitting around worrying about the state of our world, which was a very good thing.

I would be very interested to know how many of you are keen to follow some of this online learning with me, so please feel free to shoot me a note. As this blog is now part of my website, http://sharonlynnwilliams.com, you will notice that there is an opt-on page there. This is to give you the opportunity to sign up for my quarterly newsletter, where I tell you about what is coming up with shows and classes, some thoughts about life as an artist and my inspiration, as well as some of my new work. As a thank you for signing up, I will give you a beautiful painting to put as the wallpaper on your phone screen with each instalment. How is that for a good deal!!

Stay safe
Sharon

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Wednesday

Harmonious Palette Creation







How to create a harmonious painting with a limited palette.


I am really enjoying creating videos to help artists with fundamentals of painting, and I seem to be getting good feedback, so I am going to continue here. In this video, I will show you how to make a harmonious painting from a limited palette, from a reference that you love! I chose this lovely abstract "Black Tangerine", oil on canvas, 2014, by Rose Marie Kossowan.




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Tuesday

Online Art Instruction FREE!



I have begun to do some free online teaching via my Instagram Page (@sharonlynnwilliamsartist), and am going to store the video here on my blog, so that everyone can see it. Now I must warn you, I am strictly a novice when it comes to such thing. But I am a quick study, so over the past weeks I have had to learn how to do a IG live, then take that video and edit it in iMovie and then export it here -that is a lot of technical stuff for me, so I hope you will let me know if you enjoy it!

I began the series with a few tips and tricks to use with oil and cold wax, a medium that I am exploring further. Enjoy!


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Oil and cold wax tips and techniques







Sunday

Back in the saddle!


Hello friends, I realize I haven't been here for 3 years -wow that went by really fast! I have decided that in this time of Covid sheltering at home, I would like to connect with you all again. I hope that you and all those you love are well, and are finding your way through this strange time. My hubby Dave and I have been healthy, physically and mostly emotionally, although I personally feel like I am on a bit of a roller coaster, tossing between sorrow for those less fortunate than I am (think single mothers with little kids, women in abusive relationships, etc, etc...) and elation at how beautiful the weather is becoming and that I am SO grateful to be alive and have all of my needs met, and then feeling a bit guilty for that, rinse and repeat!

So I decided that perhaps I can bring a little colour and joy into your inbox. That was my answer to the question "What do you have in your hand that could help others?" So I hope you will receive it in the spirit that it is being sent!

I am not going to try to fill in what has taken place over the last 3 years artistically, but I will share my recent work. Over the last 2 years I have been on a search to find a more contemporary expression for the landscapes that I love painting so much, searching for a unique and authentic voice that I loved and also captured the hearts of people. So below is some of that new work.
This painting is a sort of summary of my new work.  "The Red Makes It", now in its forever home, captures my new approach to the landscape. Over the past 7 years of painting in oils 'en plein air' (outside in front of the scene) I have grasped an appreciation of how the sun illuminates all the objects it falls on, giving each part its own individual identity, as if each one has a solo part in a choir full of beauty. Words fail me, that is not my gift. So I take my brush and paint how I feel about the things I see. My adjectives are radiant, intense colours, my nouns the form that are devised to play and dance with the other shapes on the canvas. This is not the world you might see with your eyes, but hopefully it expresses what you might feel if you were standing in my painting.

I did "Embrace Of Nature" purely from my imagination this winter. I began with a ton of colour and texture, having the idea of wanting to paint a forest, and eager to see what would reveal itself. The yellow and blue bands felt like arms to me and as I 'painted away the parts that weren't trees',  I began to see the importance of Nature, enfolding everything in its arms, giving order to the seemingly wild and untamed.

And this last piece, "Rundle's Song" was an attempt to put my new philosophy into practice with landscapes that I have painted many times in somewhat more representational, 'realistic' ways. I think it expresses the joy I feel standing at the side of Vermillion Lakes, gazing up at the power that is Mt Rundle.

I hope that you enjoy these images -please let me know if you do!

Blessings
Sharon
(You can see more of my new work on my website at http://sharonlynnwilliams.com)


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