HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are keeping warm and happy wherever you live. In so many areas of Canada and the U.S. it is bitterly cold, with lots of snow and ice right now, which is an unusual experience for many of you. As for me, I am experiencing a different winter as well, here in our new location. I am finally settled into my studio in our home on Vancouver Island, and we are loving the area we are in. Most of the time the temperature is above zero degrees Celsius, and we have had only a few days of rain. Lots of times, there will be rain overnight, or the clouds will break around noon with the sun shining in the afternoon, as it is right now. Being close to the ocean and smelling salt air is filling my creative soul. I am so excited to get back to painting after almost six months without a studio and without my art supplies!

At least once a week, my husband and I walk on one of the many. many beaches which are close to our home. I have been taking photos of the sun, water and trees of the beaches, but also close up photos of the rocks, shells and sands which make up each different beach. My son and his family visited us over the holidays, and when we were beach walking, my grandsons, son and daughter-in-law all helped me pick up some unique and colorful rocks to paint. Many of them are very smooth as they have been tumbled and tossed by the ocean. Many have seams or are pitted with color. Each is unique and beautiful.

My first painting of 2014 is a test piece of some of those rocks and sand which we gathered. It is also the beginning of a new series that I will be doing in various sizes, and perhaps in various mediums. For now, I am going to proceed in watercolor, which is what this little piece is. I am really pleased with this first one, and can hardly wait to begin a larger piece with more of the rocks we gathered. Perhaps I will also add in some of the shells I now have in a container in my studio, waiting to be painted. 

I wish each one of you a happy, creative and healthy 2014. I look forward to sharing new work and some painting techniques and tips with you throughout this year. 

7.5" x 10" watercolor
Beach Rocks