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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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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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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"Fall Remnants", encaustic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Fall Remnants", 12 x 24" encaustic on panel
$895 beautifully presented in a hand crafted frame

This is my latest encaustic painting, which captures the scene on one of my daily walks. Here, the weaselhead area of the Elbow River is seen through the large aspen trees growing on the cliff above. 

I am planning some encaustic classes for this spring to be held at Swinton's Art Supply here in Calgary. I will let you know the details as they are finalized.

Enjoy! 
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New Encaustic Paintings by Sharon Lynn Williams

 "A Walk In The Park", 12x24" encaustic
$895 beautifully presented in a hand crafted frame

I have been in the encaustic studio a lot lately and have found a method that really works for me. I saw this scene on one of my daily walks, and came right home and painted it. In this painting, I made an underpainting in complementary colours using gouache on the raw panel. So under the burgundy trees, there is green and under the green trees there is red. Bits of that underpainting shine through in spots and gives a nice sparkle to the painting. Gouache is compatible with putting wax on top, unlike acrylic or oil paint, and isn't affected by the heat used to fuse the wax.

"Montana Gold", 18x24" encaustic
$1225 beautifully presented in a hand crafted frame

I did this painting at a friend's cabin in January. On our drive to Montana, we passed this scene and I knew right away I had to paint it. I began without an underpainting, but put the first layers of colour right on the raw board without putting several clear layers of wax first, as is the 'normal' technique. I find this makes the colours float around less when fused -a definite aid when trying to paint representationally, albeit impressionistically. There is a good amount of texture in this piece. The only problem with encaustic is trying to capture the colour and luminosity with a camera! You really need to see this work in person to appreciate it.

These two paintings will be in the upcoming FCA show this Saturday, as well as the previously posted "First Snow II", which I am thrilled to say, won an honourable mention. I will also have 2 plein air oil paintings at the show. I am doing an oil demo from 1-3pm, so please stop by and say hi if you can.

Enjoy!
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new encasutics First Snow i & ii

"First Snow i", 12 x 24" encaustic on cradled panel
$895 beautifully framed

So now that it is winter and it is too cold to paint outside, I am back in my studio working with the wax. I painted this in my friend, Tracy Proctor's beautiful encaustic studio. When I brought it home my hubby said "I REALLY like this -wish it was bigger!" He immediately went out to the lumber store and bought me a 24x48" piece of baltic birch and made a cradle for it so it wouldn't warp while painting. It took me 16 hours, but I just completed it, the largest encaustic painting I have done to date!

"First Snow ii", 24x48" encaustic on cradled panel
$2895 beautifully framed

It is really different working this large. I found I needed to make small containers of a bunch of colour variations so I had enough of each colour to cover a large space. My usual practice is to have one griddle with large containers of a few key colours that I use to mix other colour variations from, as well as a large pot of clear medium and a container of soy wax to clean my brushes in. I use the other griddle as a mixing palette, where I put out small amounts of colours from manufactured or home made wax pigments and then add small amounts of other colours to get a huge range of colour options. In my work I love to have a range of lights, mids and darks of equal value so that I can get colour variation =life. If you click on the large painting image, you can hopefully see what I mean. For example in the snow shadow area there are 5 different values (light to dark) of blue grey. I bought some small stainless steal condiment cups at a local restaurant supplier, so I could have a container of each of those values. Add to those multiple cups of lights including creamy whites, yellows, greens and blues that appear in the sky behind the trees, as well as multiple mid-value cups containing yellows, oranges, reds, blues, greens and violets. But I think all those colour variations is what brings pop and life to the painting, so it is well worth the work. I was thrilled to find some silicone mini-muffin cups at the store, so now I can put the colours that are left over into those, allow them to cool and add the blocks to my collection of colours, rather than having to throw them away.
My son commented that I need to do a series of these, so I think I will take him up on that idea -stay tuned to see more .

Enjoy!
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"Creekside Winter" encaustic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Winter Colour", 10x14" encaustic on cradled panel

$450.00 framed 

I have been on a real roll with my encaustic painting. I have been working from old paintings, and this one came from a really old watercolour that I loved -so glad that over the years I have always taken the time to document all of my work! I made a large version of this painting because I was so pleased with how the smaller one turned out, and it is posted below. 

"Creekside Winter", 18x24" encaustic on cradled panel, sides stained
$1050.00

I am happy to announce that this painting was one of 5 accepted into the next Federation of Canadian Artists' show coming up (please see invitation below)

Hope to see you there!

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"More Colours of Winter" encaustic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"More Colours Of Winter", 24x24" encaustic on cradled panel
SOLD

I have not been very good at keeping my blog up to date this year, and I am trying to rectify that situation. I have been trying to balance not sending you too much email (for those who have generously subscribed to my blog) with keeping you up to date on what I have been up to in my art career. I have just cancelled my membership in the two online art galleries that I have been in for the past 3 years, as they just weren't worth the expense -it seems that there are way too many folks out there who want to pay so little for original works of art, and I just can't and don't wish to compete. I work hard in my career, and it deserves to be compensated -if I don't respect my own value, then how can I expect others to?

I have been spending time almost daily in my studio working in encaustic -inside winter work -it is a fascinating medium. Basically I make my own paint (beeswax, damar resin for hardening and powder pigments). The paint is then kept molten on a griddle at about 200 degrees. You apply the paint with natural hair brushes, and the paint cools and hardens as soon as the heat source is removed. Each layer of wax must be fused with the previous ones (I use a heat gun or butane torch) so that the layers will not delaminate -here is where the tricky part lies -if you heat too much the bottom layers become molten and rise up through the new layers (an effect which leaves very cool effect, but control is totally lacking). I love the way the molten wax flows, a lot like watercolour, my first love. The advantage is that you can can continue to work on a piece because the layers cool so quickly, there is no drying time involved, unlike oils. The colours are incredibly vibrant and the luminosity of all those layers is something that is totally unique to the medium. Many people work in abstract fashion in encaustics, I believe because of the limitations of control -also many come to encaustics without a full understanding of art -anyone can do it, but not everyone can make 'art' with it! I have been spending hours and hours learning the ins and outs of the medium, seeing what I can do with what I already know about creating a painting. It is tremendously exciting now that I am getting the results I want to achieve. My goal is to use the medium to create paintings that bridge all of my other interests -my plein air oil landscapes, watercolour 'puddling of colour' effects and my work in collage (encaustic is a wonderful medium for collage as the wax acts like a glue). I have also begun to work larger, which brings its own challenges.

Todays post is based on a watercolour painting that I did a number of years ago that I just loved. At this point, I am recreating some of my most favorite paintings done in other mediums. It is enough for now to concentrate on the medium rather than adding all the other challenges involved in making a good composition with solid colour harmony! Here is the original watercolour FYI:

"The Colours Of Winter", 19x19" watercolour, SOLD

So the artistic journey continues -please stay tuned for more!!
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"Winter Splendour" first painitng of 2015, by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Winter Splendour", 12 x 12" oil on board
$575 framed
click here to purchase

When I was out for a walk the other day the sun was going down, and I must say I was simply blown away by the spectacular sunset. This time of year, it seems every evening presents a show, almost as an appology for the snow and cold. I was trying to capture the transparency of the sky underlying the magnificently coloured clouds. What fun!

Enjoy!
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"God's Palette", oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"God's Palette", 12 x 12" oil painting on Arches oil paper
SOLD

This is a 'studio' painting that I did while at our cottage in Ontario this July. We get the most amazing sunsets there, a wonderful ending to beautiful sun filled days.

I thought I should comment on the supports I have been painting on while travelling. I have 2 that I love: one is Multimedia Artboard and the other is Arches Oil Paper. I gesso both of them as I find them too absorbant on their own. The Artboard is brittle, it as it is easy to crack off a corner if you aren't careful. I tape both of the supports to a hardboard of the same size. If the painting works out, then I mount them onto sealed hardboard with soft gel medium and weight them with books until dry. Perfectly archival, they are wonderfully light supports for travel when weight is an issue. Plus the cost is way lower than any other support, so there is no pressure to creative expression.

Enjoy!
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"Across The Valley -Frayssinet", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Across The Valley-Frayssinet", 9x12" plein air oil on multimedia artboard
SOLD

On my recent France workshop with the wonderful Dreama Tolle Perry, we spent a lot of days touring tiny medevil villages getting reference material to use in the studio. However, on our first day to stay home at Le Vieux Couvent, a bunch of us went out in search of a wonderful place to paint en plein air. We came across this view and it was unanimous -we HAD to paint this! I was able to use Dreama's technique of a wet underpainting, and found it went surprisingly well.

Enjoy!
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"Waiting for Dinner", oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Waiting For Dinner", 12 x 12" oil on gesso end Arches oil paper

$300 unframed 

I painted this from a photo in the studio at Le Vieux Couvent in France. I must say right now that I am not very good at painting from photos, but much prefer to paint from life. But I figure that living where I do, I had better figure it out! I have SO many fabulous photos that I have never painted from, because of this hindrance. That is one of the reasons I decided to come to France with Dreama. She works exclusively from photos, except for her watercolour journaling, which is done from life. I was hoping to pick up a few tricks, but I have concluded that, as in everything, practice makes perfect ( or at least as close as I can get to it!) I really struggled with the colour balance in the making of this painting, but after many changes and iterations, I think I can call it finished. I really should try it again from scratch you know....

Enjoy!

"Le Pigeonnier", plein air oil by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Le Pigeonnier"' 9 x 12" plein air oil done in Frayssinet, France June 27,2014

$250 unframed 

I was delighted to get some time to go exploring with my oils during my workshop with Dreama. This was done on the most perfect of days, after the extreme heat and humidity had been rained off in a tremendous storm the night before. This little silo is actually not a grain silo at all. I was told that back in Medieval times, pigeons were raised for food, and these buildings, which dot the Provence countryside, were created to entice the pigeons to roost there. It sounds funny now, as the last thing most people these days is to encourage pigeons to roost on their property!

Everywhere you look at Le Vieux Couvent, you will find treasures -either provided by nature or by the loving hands of our host Corinne. 

This is our studio space which is assessible 24/7, but not used much by me (except for attending Dreama's amazing demos) as I was far too bushed to paint much after an incredible multi-course dinner, which didn't end until 9:30pm. If it was nice outside, that's where you'd find me.

We have our huge goodbye party/feast/show & tell tonight, and then we leave first thing in the morning. I will be sad to leave this little slice of heaven, but the next journey awaits!

Au Revoir and as always, Enjoy!

Painting France With Dreama, by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Breakfast Light", 9 x 12" plein air oil in Arches Huile Paper

$250 unframed 

This is my first oil painting from France. I am here with 17 other wonderful blissful women, doing our thing in the south west of France. We are staying at Le Vieux Couvent in the Lot Valley, with the fabulous Dreama Tolle Perry (if you don't know her work you definitely should check out her website). We have been to a different tiny medieval village each day, doing watercolour sketching and taking way too many photos. The highlight of today was our visit to a lavender farm followed by an amazing chocolate eclair from the boulangerie. I will try to post some of my sketches in the days to come, but the internet is extremely slow here, I can't promise anything.

In the meantime, enjoy!

"Peaceful Imaginings", acrylic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Peaceful Imaginings", 14x14" acrylic 

SOLD

I have been sitting at Art & Soul Gallery for the past 3 days, and I did this painting  between visits with people. It is done on a piece of canvas that I textured with gesso to give the surface a bit of life. I have to admit that I made the whole thing up, hence the title. Fun to let the imagination have full reign over the possibilities!

Enjoy!

Pen & Ink & Watercolour Sketching Workshop by Sharon Lynn Williams

I have arranged to teach a pen & ink & watercolour quick sketching workshop at beautiful Lloyd Park (just outside Calgary) on Sunday June 8, 2014 from 10am to 4:30pm. These little sketches are done in 20-30 minutes, and are a great way to capture the form (by the pen) and the colour of the scene in front of you.
Please click HERE for more information about the workshop and to register.

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Celebrate With Me! Discount Coupon by Sharon Lynn Williams

"On the Banks Of Fish Creek" 24 x 30" oil on canvas
SOLD

My beautiful daughter Rebecca gave me a wonderful gift this Christmas: a new online presence. I am very proud of the look of the new site, and the only thing I regret is how much time and effort it has cost her to bring all my online dreams to reality (instead of working on her PhD!). This beautiful piece of work is found here. To help me celebrate, I am offering a special discount for all items in the new shop at a 10% discount. Simply navigate to the 'Shop', select what you might like - from a digital download of my book (new), one of 2 watercolour DVD's, or even a painting, and when you go to check out, enter the coupon code celebrateslw in the coupon box. Please note: The coupon expires on March 31st, so don't delay! The discount will be calculated and you will be able to pay with a credit card using the extremely secure 'Stripe' platform. All very professional if I say so myself!  Please let me know what you think of the website, especially if you have any problems viewing or navigating it - it may still be a work in progress...

Enjoy!

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"January's Colours", encaustic by Sharon Lynn Williams

"January's Colours", 12 x 12" encaustic on cradled panel
$475 unframed with wood stained edges

I have been playing around with encaustic painting again, this time trying to work more in the style of my plein air oil paintings, to see where that would go. It is quite a different medium and it always surprises you as you cannot totally control things!

On a personal note, I just had an amazing time at Breakforth in Edmonton with my new friend Margaret. I have heard from the Lord and now will be taking my art in perhaps new directions, certainly with a renewed focus of working for His glory and fame. Risky, I know, after a decade of trying to get where I am in my career, but I am excited to see what He will do! It is all in His hands and I am trusting Him with the results.

My wonderful artist friend Crystal Marie Neubauer posted this on her blog for the new year, and she has nailed my sentiments exactly:

"My word for this year is HOPE. Hope for a future. Hope for my own life's purpose and a plan to help get me there. Hope that I have redeemed value and worth, that I have a voice and can be used by and for a cause much greater then myself. Hope in promises given to me years ago and the desire to instill and pass on this hope to others. Hope that brings freedom, and new life and purpose, that strengthens identities, binds up and heals old wounds, restores, redeems, and brings about long lasting change.

This kind of hope has nothing to do with empty wishing, or white knuckled determination or resolve. It is the kind of hope that knows it is not all up to me, and that there is a God who sees me and is taking my flaws and turning them into one of His treasured works.

No this year I don't want the shaky ground of resolutions, I want to stand on the promises of hope.

"He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners."

Thank you Crystal for your beautifully expressed words!

Enjoy!

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Tuscany Workshop -day 8

Today there was a huge market at nearby Castel Del Piano, so we thought we would take it in, even though it was supposed to be our day of rest. There is an awesome piazza there with a 1st world war memorial, surrounded by these incredible pine trees. They grow to incredible heights with no lower branches - if you know the name of them, please let us know!

Here is a decoration on a meat vendor booth at the market;

I thought you'd get a kick out of that, but I wouldn't want a slice on my panini!

Thanks to you, I now am the proud user of Snapseed -just the program I needed for my phone to do some great photo editing, and its free to boot. Try it out -simple to use with tons of ways to make your photos really sing. To thank you I will close with tonight's sunset, made to look just like I saw it with Snapseed!

Enjoy!

"Vermillion Lakes Fall #2", oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

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"Vermillion Lakes Fall #2", 15 x 30" oil painting on gallery wrap canvas

$1295.00, click here to purchase!

As promised, here is the large studio version of my last post's plein air painting. You will have to click on the photo to see the painting better. It is amazing to me how you get no idea of the scale of a painting on the internet, it just lacks the presence that the real painting has!

I am off in the morning to take a workshop with the fabulous Dreama Tolle Perry on Whitbey Island. You just HAVE to Google her to see her amazing work! I have tried to take a workshop from Dreama for several years now, but as soon as she offers her workshops, they fill up right away. So when she announced them last May, I signed up on the spot, and luckily got in. I hope to learn how she uses her transparent under-paintings and then her sumptuous opaque brushwork on top. She seems to never use more than one stroke of any given colour mixture. I am fortunate enough to have THREE of her original paintings, and the dance of colour and exuberant brushwork just makes me smile! (You can see her influence in the painting above, just by studying her work online). The painting below is one of the ones I bought online from her. Amazing eh?? (You should really see it in person -WAY better!!!)

After Dreama's workshop, Dave and I are heading up to do a 10 day kayak trip in the Queen Charlotte Islands. We are going with 6 good friends on an unguided trip. This is the most rugged camping/trekking I have ever done, so would appreciate your prayers!! I can't wait to see Haida Gwaii, and commune with the ghost of Emily Carr. I am taking my pen and ink and watercolours, so hope to do a bunch of sketches -no room in a small kayak for plein air gear unfortunately. We are to kayak about 120km in total, weather permitting, so I should have great arms when I get back :)

Until June then, enjoy!

To purchase this painting, commission your own painting or contact me to do a workshop in your area, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)