PROGRESS BEING MADE

Juniper berries in progress

Wow! October has flown past, and I can hardly believe how busy it has been! 
Our property is up for sale, and it has been "interesting" to see the creatures in our Jeep as we crate them up and take them with us each time there is a showing of the house.   One of the cats yowls the entire time which is really annoying after one or two hours. The other cat only speaks a few times an hour, and when he yowls, I kid you not, it sounds exactly like a person saying "No way!" in a high pitched cat like voice. Really funny-weird. Then there is the lovely happy Border Collie who jumps into the back of the Jeep and lays down, but pants the entire time we are away...which means fogged up windows now that it is cold weather. I don't know about you, but it kind of freaks me out, when I think too deeply, that I am breathing the air that the dog is panting into. 
 With many meetings of various kinds in October, creating a "show home" of our house, leaving for hours on end when someone wants a viewing, and the normal everyday types of things like laundry, cooking, eating, sleeping...it all tends to makes for reduced studio time. I am getting further on this watercolor of juniper berries, but it is slow going. Do you realize how many needles there are on just one branch of a juniper bush? Yes - it is TOO many! But, since this painting is for my own pleasure, I try to just enjoy the process of painting needle after needle, varying the color and value of each one...a real test of patience for someone like me! 
Time to get back to the easel...have a great week!

Rhino - a watercolor work in progress

Rhino

22" x 30" watercolor

140 lb Arches paper

Rhino is coming along - but he also has a long ways to go. Part of the challenge with this particular beast is that he has such interesting and unique skin and plates. To try to achieve something that even approximates his texture is quite a long process. I will be adding the background next, looking to create blooms and splotches to suggest the rock behind him, but nothing that will complete with the texture I plan on adding to his body.

I started this painting with the pouring technique, masking off areas I wanted to remain white. I then poured a second and third layer, lifting the masking fluid for some parts of the second pour, and other areas for the third pour. If you click on the photo, you can see that I have already done a layer of texture by adding salt when I painted certain areas and the watercolors were still wet enough to accept the salt and move. 

Back to painting!

Watercolor Elephant - still a work in progress

Although it may not look like much has been accomplished on my elephant, let me assure you that it has taken hours and hours to put the detail in his long trunk - 24" long, and every inch needing to show the texture of his skin as you see above.  Ears and eyes are just about done, the head is half done, and then I have to tackle the skin of the legs and chest. In spite of the tediousness of all this detail, I still really like this painting, and my husband says he "loves" it. That is a very high compliment from him!!! None of the above pictures have the color altered in Photoshop, so I hope your monitor shows how beautiful the colors are in this painting. Next time I post him, I hope to have him either completed or very close to completion.

Merry Christmas 2008

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!  

This is one of the first Christmases in a long time that will be white! I am hoping that it will warm up enough to actually be outside for sledding and walking though - it has been minus 30 degrees or so over the last week, and the long range forecast is for more of the same. It makes shopping a bit of a challenge... walking from the Jeep into the mall seems like a very long way. 

I am looking forward to having family stay here with us for a few days. The tree is up and almost fully decorated, the shopping is almost complete, the house has been decked out for the holidays, and the turkey is in the freezer.  Christmas baking is being done for me as a gift from my daughter-in-law, so it will come just in time to be consumed when we are all together! (That is a good thing - I HAVE to share that way!)

I hope that each of you will have a fabulous holiday season, and that the joy of Christmas fills your homes and your relationships, not only in late December, but also throughout all of the New Year. 

See you in 2009.

If you are interested in commissioning a portrait picture, please e-mail me at jogiesbrecht@gmail.com

Albino Bird???

No - not really, just a not-yet-painted bird. I'm taking guesses as to what kind of bird this is going to be... and the winner gets a link from my blog! (hahaha)

Another few days and this one will be done. As usual, my problem is finding the time to paint. Does anyone else who works full time and paints in the evenings come home too tired to do much? Maybe more vitamins would help!

Have a great weekend everyone!

On the Easel

I have just returned from almost a week away in one of the most beautiful areas of the world -the town of Banff in Banff National Park, Alberta. After leaving the hotel on Thursday, I drove about 10 kilometres where there were 3 separate lakes to take photos of. One of the pictures turned out fantastically! You might see it here in a few weeks....  The conference was a relaxing and inspiring one which has me thinking about my future... always a good thing to think and create goals for the future - especially with the New Year only 7 weeks or so away!

Just to prove that I am indeed painting, I thought I would show you one which is currently "under construction". This is one of our bird feeders in our backyard. We get so many birds, both summer and winter - I LOVE to see them enjoying the sunflower seeds! When my husband fills the feeders, the birds are just about on his head and hands, anxious to be the first to eat the fresh seed! They chatter at and scold him for taking so long to fill up the feeders! :-)

We get a wide variety of birds, different ones in summer than winter, but there are some like the Chickadee which are here all year round. American goldfinches, Cassin's finches, juncos, woodpeckers, redpolls, bluejays, red winged blackbirds and many more eat their fill and serenade us with song. How blessed I feel to live in the country and experience nature first hand!

This painting should be done soon and I will post the finished result right away. Have a great weekend!

Oh Canada

Today is Canada Day. There are celebrations and parades in most every city and town in the country. A short distance from my home, there is a farm which has this very old and weathered mail box at the end of their drive. I thought it would be appropriate to paint and post for Canada Day. This is a little study I did - and I have not gotten to the next stage of painting it larger and better. I am thinking that at the rate I am going, it may be next year's Canada Day when the larger edition is completed. 

I am almost finished with the Spanish lady - just a few details and she will be posted. I have decided that full sheet watercolor paintings are not good for quickly finishing and posting on a blog - for me they take a great deal of time.

As well, I have learned a good lesson... Sunflowers did not sell in the charity auction for Empty Bowls - nor did other artists' work which was also on a larger scale. I guess one has to account for the fact that smaller might sell more readily than larger. Next time, I will enter something much smaller.

So... if there are any people who would like to purchase Sunflowers out there, here is the picture of it again. It is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, and is 30 inches by 30 inches. The edges are painted black so that it is ready to hang as is. You do not need a frame for it.

 

 

If you wish to purchase this painting, or commission one similar to it, please contact me at jogiesbrecht@gmail.com

Happy Canada Day to all Canadians. And in 3 days, Happy Independence Day to all Americans!