"A Good Day In The Mountains", oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"A Good Day In The Mountains", 12x12" oil on board
$575 beautifully framed

I did this studio painting this fall from a photo I took at Lake O'Hara. The guy hiking happens to be my dear hubby, who generously helps me carry my stuff up the sides of mountains so that I can paint in the most incredible places. Then he goes off for a hike 'up something' and returns to help me home again. Have I said how incredibly blessed I am?

I am so pleased to announce that I will be on Artists Helping Artists (AHA) Blog Talk Radio on Thursday with my painting buddy that I met in France . We will be sharing about our adventure after Dreama's workshop as we hit the road for some plein air bliss. You don't want to miss it, but if you do, the show is archived on the site so you can catch it at a later time.

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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"Winter Reflections", encaustic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Winter Reflections", 24 x 24" encaustic on cradled panel
SOLD

I was so excited by the last encaustic painting I posted, "More Colours of Winter", I felt it deserved a mate, so I made this one to line up exactly with the first one. I found out the other day that "Winter Reflections" was sold by the lovely Janet Armstrong at Just Imajan Gallery in Cochrane, AB.  To top that off,  I just found out that the owners came back today to purchase the other painting, so now they have a matching set! I am over the moon and SO encouraged to continue in the hot wax. Luckily we have a long winter before the plein air season begins, so I have lots of time to explore.
Enjoy!
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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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Catching Up!

"December's Colours", 8x10" plein air oil on board
$395 beautifully framed,
click here to purchase

First off, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the very best in 2015! I have not posted lately with the birth of our new (and first) grandson plus the business of the holidays. Plus I have been inundated with email trying to sell me things I don't need or want, so thought you wouldn't want more email either (although I do hope you like my paintings!). We have not had much snow here so far this winter, so I thought I would post some earlier unshared paintings that feature snow as their subject.
Last year we had a ton of snow in December, and since the fall folliage was still remaining on some of the trees and bushes, I was happy to get out and capture some of that colour and contrast.

"Elbow River Winter Colour", 9 x 12" plein air oil
$495 beautifully framed
click here to purchase

I painted this in 2012 before the big flood which changed everything! Now the banks are yards and yards of gravel and downed trees.

"K-Country", 12x16" oil on board
SOLD

I did this one from memory when we got home from cross country skiing in Kananaskis country. It is the view from the bridge leading into the Kananaskis Lodge.

"Winter Fields", 8 x 10" plein air oil
$395 beautifully framed
click here to purchase

I find winter trees a real challenge to paint, but felt I got really close with this one.

"Winter Road", 6 x 8" oil on board
$295 beautifully framed
click here to purchase

You have got to love the winter skies here in Alberta!

"Winter's Textures", 8 x 10" plein air oil on board
SOLD

This is an impasto palette knife painting that I did right away after experiencing the scene on a walk. As I have had so much experience plein air painting, I find that I can take a mental snapshot and complete it at home, as long as I do it while it is fresh in my mind.

Enjoy!
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Lake O'Hara Paint-out by Sharon Lynn Williams

 "Lake O'Hara Splendor", 12x 12" plein air oil on board
SOLD

This September saw my plein air buddies and I painting once again at the magnificent Lake O'Hara in BC. This was my effort on our first day -the sun was out and it was GLORIOUS! I have painted from this place before, but never in such wonderful light. See previous year's efforts in the snow here,  here, and here. This was the first painting to sell at my current show at Fallen Leaf Gallery in Canmore.

"Opabin Lake", 9 x 12" plein air oil on board
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Opabin plateau holds the most number of mind blowing painting locations that I have ever seen. This is my first try at this scene, but it won't be my last!

"Larch And Odaray", 12 x 12" plein air oil on board
$575.00 beautifully framed
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This was my last painting of the trip as the rain blew in for the next 2 days, and it was just too cold and wet to paint outside, and too dark in the Elizabeth Parker hut. Seems to be the story of our paintouts - half the time it is glorious, and the other half, not so much!
I was really taken by this scene. It seemed to be a battle of beauty between the larch showing off its fall glory and the majestic Mt Odaray in the background.

The las two paintings are still available at Fallen Leaf Gallery in Canmore, and should be there until the end of December -unless one of you grabs it!

Enjoy

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Bow Valley Provincial Park Paintout by Sharon Lynn Williams

 "Autumn Middle Lake" 12 x 12" plein air oil on board
$575.00 beautifully framed
Click here to purchase

I was happy to meet my Canmore painting buddy at Bow Valley Provincial park this fall on a glorious but windy day. Both of these paintings were painted within 20 feet of each other, just pointing in a different direction.

"Yamnuska Autumn", 12 x 12" plein air oil on board
$575.00 beautifully framed
Click here to purchase

The time came for the second painting and the morning haze had burned off leaving a glowing blue sky, but the wind had also picked up quite a bit. I was practically standing in the water for this one, trying to find a spot out of the breeze.

Both of these paintings are currently at Fallen Leaf Gallery in Canmore until the end of the month.

Enjoy!

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Painting Trip To Mt Assiniboine by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Mt Assiniboine", 12 x 12" plein air oil
$575 beautifully framed
click here to purchase

I was fortuntate to return this summer to Mt Assiniboine for a 4 day painting trip. I love this area as the views are easily accessible and extremely beautiful. This peak is the tallest in the area. Normally one would hike 20km in to get here, but we cheated and took a helicopter in!

"Meadow Lark", 9x12" plein air oil
$495 beautifully framed
click here to purchase

The evening light on our first day at Mt Assiniboine National Park really lit up the colour on this meandering creek.

"Wonder Peak". 6x8" plein air oil UNFRAMED
On auction at DPW beginning at $150
click here to bid

More evening light, this on our second day. You can hike over Wonder Pass for more beautiful views, but I chose to paint rather than hike.

"Mountain Meadow", 9x9" plein air oil
SOLD

Another quick one as the sun was reaching the horizon, setting the landscape ablaze with colour.

These paintings are in my new show in Canmore at Fallen Leaf Gallery. My good friend and painting buddy Patti Dyment and I are having a show of our plein air paintings, most of which we did together this summer. Hope you can drop in to see it!

Enjoy!

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Painting in the Purcells -by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Mt. Sir Donald", 12 x 12" plein air oil
SOLD

This summer Dave and I splurged and took a hellicopter trip into the Purcell Mountain Lodge, just outside of Golden BC. I say splurged because the lodge is a 5 star resort in all manner of ways. The food was magnificent and plentiful, the accomodations luxurious (complete with hot showers and a sauna -unheard of in our usual back country trips) and the views were to die for. There were knowledgeable guides to take hikers far and wide, but for me, the best part was that BC painter Charlie Easton was doing an artist residency there at the same time, so I had someone super to paint with. Because of Charlie, I was allowed to go off and paint to my hearts content, with a radio in case I spotted the resident grizzly bear.

This first painting is my favorite from the trip. It features the famous peak of Mt Sir Donald, the tallest peak in the Purcells. While we were there we were treated to an avalanche spotting coming off the top -no where close to where we were. There is a huge valley just past the trees in the painting (the lodge sits on a plateau), but it makes the view look like the mountains are just coming out of nowhere.

"High Alpine Evening", 9 x 12" plein air oil
$495.00 beautifully framed
click here to purchase

I painted this on our first evening at the lodge. I just loved how the colours just popped in the low angled light.

"The Burn", 9 x 12" plein air oil
SOLD

One of our hikes let to this beautiful area that is recovering from a forest fire. I thought the twisted branches of the dead trees played with the silhouettes of the range behind, the burned evergreens that didn't drop their now red needles and the everpresent Fireweed which pops up after such an event.

"Changing Weather", 9 x 12" plein air oil
$200 unframed
click here to purchase

Our third day was rainy, but I was able to paint this from the deck of the lodge as the clouds were breaking up and the sun was returning.

"Wonder Falls", 12 x 12" plein air oil
$575.00 beautifully framed
click here to purchase

On our last day at the lodge, my hubby joined me for a big hike/paint session. Can you see the tiny line of white at the bottom of the previous painting? That is this waterfall, so you can tell how far a walk it was. What you can't tell is that you have to hike 300m down to the valley floor and 300m up the side of the next mountain to get here (and back again of course!) I was thankful for a chance to rest paint here.The colours of the rock and the moss were electric.

This was a very expensive holiday, but I think it was totally worth every penny.

Enjoy!


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