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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"Blessings" encaustic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Blessing", 12 x 24" encaustic on cradled panel
not for sale

As this weekend is Easter, I thought I would show you a painting I made for a dear friend. The backdrop is the second day of creation when God separated the water from the sky. The Hebrew text is from Numbers 6:24-26

-“The Lord bless you

    and keep you;

25 

the Lord make his face shine on you

    and be gracious to you;

26 

the Lord turn his face toward you

    and give you peace."

This is my Easter prayer for each of you. 

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"Surge", encaustic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Surge", 12 x 12" encaustic on deep cradled panel, stained and varnished on edges
$475, click here to purchase

I have been back to playing in the wax, and am thoroughly enjoying the exploration. This painting was an exercise in controling the wax and in using metalic and irridescent pigments. The yellow part (sky) was fused using a flat tacking iron, which allows you to move the paint around, creating a layed effect. The violet section is irridescent violet pigment, which only shows violet when you look at it from a certain direction. The turquoise (water) was fused with a heat gun in multiple layers of colour and texture. It is too bad that encaustics don't photograph very well, and you can't see all the texture, both implied (by various combinations of colours) and actual (physical layers and holes in the surface). What looks brown in the photo is actually irredescent gold pigment, which shines as you look at the painting in different directions. Very cool -but I guess you'll have to take my word for it!!

Enjoy
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"Life's Events" mixed media collage demo by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Life's Events", 16 x 16" collage and acrylic
$475 -on gallery wrap canvas, no frame needed -click here to purchase

This is my latest collage painting, and I thought I would share the steps this one went through on its journey.

In the first step, I gathered together relatively neutral hand painted and altered papers, which had been coated on both sides with polymer medium. The illustration board that I used as my support also had several coats of gloss medium on it. Then I randomly arranged the papers, aiming for repetition of line throughout. Then I ironed them down with a tack iron set on high with a silicone sheet (from labels) between the work and the iron.

I continued to add more papers to get a colour theme going and to break up some of the larger shapes. I was going for composition at this stage -a way to guide the eye through out the painting.

I kept turning the painting around to see how it best worked. I then applied some titan buff fluid acrylic paint with a foam roller around the exterior of the painting to keep the interest in the centre, rubbing some of it back while wet.

Lots of time thinking, turning and painting was spent between the last 2 steps! In the end I decided to cut into the design with a solid yellow background, forcing the collage bits to become one unified shape against the background. I added some balck and white deli paper that I had painted through a stencil to get some bold contrast, and painted over a lot of the paer from the initial layer. Adding the stars (taken from some of the original papers) seemed to create a story for the painting. I began to think of life's events as stars, some big, some small, some that stand out and change the path of your life, while others are just small moments in the overall plan of a life. I just love it when the work speaks to me and guides me to the finish. The joy of pure creativity!

I will be teaching a Mixed Media Collage workshop at Swintons Art Supply in Calgary April 11-13. Please click here for the details and to register.

Enjoy!
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"Menagerie" Encaustic Mixed Media painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Dancing In Time", 6 x 6" encaustic mixed media on gallery wrap canvas
not for sale

I have been playing around with combining collage and encaustic painting lately. It is interesting to see how the encaustic reacts to the elements, and it is fun to be able to not have to wait for things to dry before progressing the painting.

Just a reminder that the 10% coupon for purchases on my website comes to a close on Monday, March 31st. Just enter 'celebrateslw' when checking out. You can chose between a digital download of my plein air painting book, 1 of 2 watercolour instruction dvd's, or even an original piece of art to hang in your home. If there is a painting you would like but it is not in the shop, please contact me to see if it still available.

Enjoy!
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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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Pen & Watercolour Sketches from Arizona & New Mexico by Sharon Lynn Williams

It has been over a month since I last posted, I am embarrassed to say! I have been very busy working on my NEW WEBSITE which is now live -check it out and let me know what you think. It has been a huge labour of love by my beautiful daughter who gave it to me for Christmas. I don't think either of us realized just how much time it would take us to get it up and rolling according to my vision for all that I wanted it to be.
Also, I was thrilled to go on a 9 day art viewing retreat to Arizona and New Mexico with some of my favourite art buddies. We visited a TON of art galleries and artist studios in Scottsdale, Santa Fe and Sedona. I came back with so much inspiration that I didn't know what to do with it all!
I made several pen and ink and watercolour quick sketches during our trip, which are presented in this post for your viewing pleasure.

 I haven't had much experience with cacti, and just had to capture their wonderful forms.

 I did this one from the car and painted it afterwards. We drove through some sleet on the way to Santa Fe.

I am really impressed with the building code in Santa Fe, that all homes etc must be done in the adobe style. It really adds to the wonderful ambiance of Santa Fe, which I love.

 We stayed in the wonderful (?) Wigwam Motel in Holbrook on Route 66 -a throwback to the 60's. There are a bunch of old cars in the parking lot, and I couldn't resist this one.

Our last stop was to visit Montezuma's Castle. It is incredible to me that those folks would climb the cliffs to farm and to get water, while everything is so easy in our lives today. Makes me appreciate all that I have!

Enjoy!
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"Waiting For Robin" encaustic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Waiting For Robin", 8x8" encaustic on 3/4" panel
$250 unframed, but painted with the green encaustic paint around the edges
Available at Fallen Leaf Gallery, Canmore, click here to purchase

More playing around with encaustic paint -just love the richness of the colour and the texture that is SO easy to get. I bought a tiny creme brûlée type torch so that I could make the eggs smooth without destroying the texture of the nest next to it -worked like a charm.

Enjoy!
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"Bird's Eye View" acrylic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Bird's Eye View", 16 x 16" acrylic on gallery wrap canvas
SOLD

More playing with layering acrylics using Golden's Open Acrylics to slow the drying time down.  I did the background and then painted a raven in flight on top using a stencil I cut. Then I decided to add the clouds as it looked like the bird is in the sky looking down on the earth from way above. Such fun!!! Not the greatest photo as it is 16x16" on gallery wrap canvas -had to take the photo against the window and it is not great sunlight this deep into the winter so you can see the texture of the canvas. I will take a better picture, which I am happy to send you if you are interested. Hope to get more time to paint tomorrow!


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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