The Shrimp Fleet

I had photos of the shrimp fleet in Ft. Myers Beach, from last year, so when I needed something to paint,  this was the logical choice. I found the boats challenging with their nets and fishing winches, but against the dark background they seemed to stand out nicely. The waters of Back Bay in the foreground, were fun to do and I enjoyed the whole creation. This is painted on a 12x24 inch canvas.

                                

The Heavenly Biscuit

This really is the name of this wonderful, tiny little cafe on Ft. Myers Beach. It is also the name of the most popular thing on the menu, of course, the heavenly biscuit. It is a flaky, very tasty biscuit. Wonderful!!! I wanted to paint this on the road outside of the cafe but the weather here just did not cooperate. It has been in the low fifties, with strong winds and cloudy. Not the best weather for painting outside, so I took photos and worked inside. The 11x14 board was covered with an orange under painting and I like the way it shows through the finished painting. The sun was just sparkling on the two buildings and I think I captured that. I hope so, because I like the finished painting. Hope you do too.

                                

A Cozy farmhouse

This oil painting on a 11x14 board was done with a photo reference. For the past few weeks the temperatures in this part of Canada have been below freezing and there is no way I am going painting outside!! Because of this fact of life, If I stay in Ontario for the winter, I paint from photos. But there is some good news in this painting story. Soon we are going to Florida, Fort Myers Beach in particular, and plein air painting is a fact of life again. I am so lucky!!! Our weekly paint out group will be traveling all over to paint and I will have some wonderful painting opportunities, on the beach, by myself, as well. If you follow my blog you will see the change in the paintings, as the weather changes.

 This is a cozy farmhouse on Amherst Is. and reminds me of wonderful paint out locations to come.

                                    

The Spirit of Sir John A.

                                   

Does this painting look familiar? It should, because a painting much like this one, is on this blog. Did you find it? That previous painting was sold. I know the passage with the older painting says it was for my son, BUT, I entered it in a show and it sold. So, obviously I had to redo it. This is a task I was not especially looking forward to. The passage with the previous painting says it all. I started the new painting on a 22x28" canvas. I had the initial sketch done with the brush and was thinking about how to start the next step. A fellow artist said to start with darks and just stroke them in, even do it with my eyes closed. Well I did. Once I'd scribbled them in and messed up the sketch, my whole attitude changed and I just tackled it, with speed and abandon. As usual I blocked in the major shapes with diluted paint and stood back and looked at it. It had promise. I put in some details and decided that the City Hall was done. I liked the result there, so I just tackled the rest of it in the same way. It seemed to paint itself after that. No frustration and I learned a good lesson. When you start a painting remember what you have been taught on how to paint. AGAIN!! and. AGAIN!!!! How many times  do I have to be told.

                                

                              

A Winding Street in Whitby UK

Another of the wonderful days I had in England, was at Whitby, on the North Sea. This is a small quaint, fishing village that clings to the cliff side and has the Eyre River providing a sheltered Harbour. Many tourists and people living in the area visit for a day and wander the winding streets and prowl on the beach, where you can have a donkey ride. The old demolished Roman Catholic Church ruins sit at the top of the cliff and make interesting photos. Along the fishing pier there are many tourist shops and some wonderful restaurants. We stopped in one for lunch, that specialized in seafood, and I had the fish pie. So delicious and fresh. In one of these winding cobblestone streets we found a Tea Shop and ordered Cream Tea. This means you get tea, and scones with coddled cream. It sounded wonderful but since it was the end of the day they were sold out. This was the Sherlock Holmes Tea Shop decorated in Holmes memorabilia and small little rooms with tea tables crammed inside, among the antiques. I am so glad my cousin decided to go for a drive, across the moors, with all the heather and visit Whitby. This oil painting is 11x14.

                               

An Orpington Village cottage

                                  

                    

                               

This was so much fun to paint. A small cottage that we passed on our way to a coach tour of Three Villages in Essex, in the UK., was so quaint and picturesque, and I missed the photo as the coach sped by. On our way home I was prepared and got a wonderful photo of the home. This was one of my many photos that I just had to paint......so here it is. 

An oil painting on 16x20 canvas.

Chimney pots in Whitby, UK

During my trip to England, one of the things that I found fascinating were all the different sizes and shapes of chimney pots.........on the same chimney!! In C ananda we have chimneys of course, but usually one or two plain pots, where the smoke comes out. In England their chimney pots are amazing.All shapes,  very different colours and all kinds of things attached to the chimney. There are antennae and wires and satellite dishes. Hopefully my painting does justice to the chimney pots, but also a wonderful little village, Whitby, on the North Sea. Such interesting, winding streets going up and down the cliff face on the River Eyre

                           

                               

This oil painting is 12x24".