Faro Seniors Outdoor Painting Week 5

This week we painted small Landscapes of the Yukon River on Canvas using acrylic paint.  We had started in painting on the Interpretive Centre Deck and the rain came.  We moved inside and the sun came out.  It was a great turn-out this week with 12 people attending and their paintings are shown below.  We have so much fun, about half way through we have our break where we do our stretches and some exercise followed by a healthy snack which was nachos, salsa, avocado,fruit and strawberry whipped cream cake.

Katy was not quite finished but we asked her to put it in anyway

Five Paintings for the Yukon Gov't

Original Acrylic on Canvas

5x7

Gifts for the Minister's Conference held on July 9,10,11

Fireweed in the Yukon

Original Acrylic on Canvas

5x7

Painted this little piece from imagination, a summer day in the Yukon.

Hiking from the Robert Campbell

Original Acrylic on Canvas

16x20 

Thomas Creek Valley View

This is across the road from where I live on the Magundy River 

on the Robert Campbell Highway.  I went for a hike early last fall with my friend Nina Toeller and my husband Jeff.  There were storm clouds in the distance and the quivering Aspen looked so lovely in contrast.

Yukon Artists At Work, Come to my Show Opening, Tomorrow 5Pm

I will be at the Gallery on Friday Evening at 5Pm 

for the opening.

Wine & Cheese 

Refreshments & Appetizers

For All 

Thumbnail: Yukon River Sunset

Commission YTG

5x7 Acrylic on Canvas

Yukon River Sunset

Solo Show Works ... Mood of the Yukon Landscape July 5th to 30th, 2013

Pond on the Mitchell Road

Faro Yukon

Original Acrylic 

16x20

Alpine Lake on the South Canol

Lapie Lakes

Original Acrylic on Canvas

8x10

This is my favourite Camping spot in the Yukon.  The drive along the South Canol Highway affords some of the most spectacular scenery of mountains, valleys and beautiful alpine lakes. I have fond memories of camping here with my children when they were younger.

Summer Fun! Workshop: Outdoor Painting for Seniors

This is turning into a really busy summer for me!  I am in the midst of running a 12 week Outdoor Painting for Seniors  program which is funded by Recreation and Parks Yukon.  

I am also running a program for youth in our neighbouring community of Ross River for 12 weeks. So once a week on Mondays and Wednesdays I am busy painting with these groups.  I have been preparing for a solo show in Whitehorse which opens on July 5th and runs until July 30th.  Plus painting commissions and keeping my galleries happy in Faro.  I don't have time to stop!  

The seniors  just completed week 4 and it was 32 degrees celsius outside during our last session -  the week that we painted the wild roses that are blooming all around the local interpretive centre where we sit outdoors.

Watercolour Demo:  Wild Roses

Some samples of their works! 

Wild Roses

Faro Peak from the Pelly

Midnight Sun, Yukon

Original Acrylic

5x7

The Dempster, Yukon

Original Acrylic

 of the Blackstone River

5x7

Making  5 more paintings for the Yukon Government.  Feeling the pressure, running two workshops a week, getting ready for my show in 13 days and doing some work for my local gallery.  Whew!  

I am so grateful 

Mixed Media with Watercolour - Anvil Range, Yukon

One  of the most beautiful places on earth.... the Yukon Wilderness.  I am so grateful that I live in such a beautiful landscape.  It really inspires me.   

This little work is a Mixed Media Painting. It has watercolour, graphite, ink, conte, and coloured pencil on 300 lbs Arches Rough Watercolour paper. I break all the rules with my watercolours. I work them and work them and then work them some more!  I remember reading about Rembrandt once and how he did his watercolours and sketches, I felt so grateful for reading this little commentary on him, I felt not so alone. He would grab whatever was close at hand and rub and scratch until he got the desired effect he was looking for. Yes!  I do the same. 

Original Mixed Media on Arches Paper (300 lbs)

Anvil Range, Yukon

Yukon Aspen Forest

Original Acrylic on Canvas

Yukon Aspen Forest

24x36

I completed this piece last week for my upcoming solo show in Whitehorse at Yukon Artists at Work from July 5th to 30th. 

Commission Completed for MInister's Conference YTG

All nine of them

I really enjoyed painting these

Yukon River Near Carmacks

The Yukon River near Carmacks

Original 5x7 Acrylic on Canvas

A Yukon Burn with Fireweed

Original Acrylic on Canvas

5x7

A typical Yukon burn will have the standing dead trees and the official flower for the Yukon will bloom year after year after the fire is long gone.  

This is a typical summer day with blue sky and wispy clouds and a profusion of flowers.  The Fox Lake Burn between Carmacks and Whitehorse is the subject of this painting.  

In 1998 there was a huge fire in the Braeburn and Fox Lake area.

Thumbnail of Dragon Lake Yukon

Dragon Lake, Yukon

Original Acrylic on Canvas

5x7

Small Study of Tombstone Park Yukon

Tombstone, Yukon

5x7 Acrylic on Canvas

Thumbnail Study of Fireweed

#4 In the Yukon Government Commission

Original Acrylic on Canvas

5x7

I have nine small paintings to complete of Yukon Landscapes and fireweed is a must. This spot is near Faro at Blind Creek

3 Stages to Complete a Painting - Autumn Yukon Pond

Autumn Pond at Magundy

A Yukon Scene

20x20 Original Acrylic on Canvas

 Stage 2

Stage 1

I feel such a  sense of peace when I  walk to this pond which is across the Robert Campbell Highway (Yukon) from my home.  It is the time of year when the first snow comes and stays and the pond is not frozen yet.  There is a misty haze and it is very quiet, The refections on the pond are a deep dark colour and the air is cool. I think it is  very beautiful even though it is not a colourful time of year.  

The Dempster,

Fall Colours on the Dempster, Yukon Canada

Original Acrylic on Canvas

#2 In Commission for Yukon Government

8 more to go!

For those of you who do not live in this part of the world, yes! the colours are this intense and breathtaking.  One of the reasons why I say the Yukon is a constant inspiration for me.  The scenery is known to be world-class and as a landscape painter it does not get much better than this.

Bread and Butter Paintings

Anvil Range

Original 5x7 

Acrylic on Canvas

I am in the process of doing a commission for an upcoming Yukon Government Conference in Whitehorse in July.  I need to complete 10 small paintings that will be used as gifts for the Ministers attending.

Over the years I have painted many small paintings and they are what I call my bread and butter because I sell a lot of them and they actually do make me a fair bit of income - they sell very well and it adds up quickly. 

My hundred paintings in a 100 days were mostly 

6x8, 5x7 and a few 8x10's and there are under 10 left.  

Some artists feel that doing really small work is a waste of time but I really love these small paintings. When my children were little it was all I had time for and they kept me in practice and most importantly they kept me painting.  Another great use for small paintings is for reference for larger works.  The really nice small ones are thumbnails for these larger works and the composition is worked out for you.

Lastly they are small originals and very affordable for everyone.

A Yukon Sunset in the Fall

Faro Peak from the Pelly

Original 24x36 Acrylic on Canvas

Art and Depression

"Artistic temperament sometimes seems a battleground, a dark angel of destruction and a bright angel of creativity wrestling," said Madeleine L'Engle. "Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one," said Stella Adler. "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge," said Pablo Picasso. “Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity,” said T.S. Eliot. “One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star,” said Friedrich Nietzsche.

Rain over the Pelly Mountains

Original 24"x36" Acrylic on Canvas

It has been said that artists experience mood disorders, depression and anxiety and it is part of the reason why they are inspired to create.  I, for one,  am not thrilled about this.  For as long as I can remember I have suffered from bouts of depression.  I have been in one for about 5 weeks now.  I have made peace with this part of myself and know there are things that I must do when I am in this state, but it is hard.  

I feel flat, uninspired, negative, irritable, anxious and sad.  Physical Symptoms include poor sleep, poor concentration, lack of energy, and appetite changes. There is so much information out there on the subject of depression and anxiety but what I have discovered is that I have to do what works for me, self-knowledge is the key.  My depressions are usually triggered by the change of the seasons: spring and fall. So it is very powerful to know that it is not something I have done wrong when the black cloud descends on my life but... oh yes it is March and this is usually the time.  As a young woman I suffered terribly not knowing that what I suffered from, it really eroded my self-worth.

 Self-care is essential, being mindful... exercising, walking, eating right, reading positive and spiritual literature and talking with a trusted person in a constructive manner about what is happening usually help me to get through. It takes self-discipline.  Sometimes it leaves quickly, other times not. I have learned to accept it and do what I can, it is hard when you don't feel like doing anything.   I choose to take some St. John's Wort as well to help me along with the whole process.  

Then one day I wake up and I realize that the depression has passed.  This usually signals a great surge of creative energy. Maybe this is nature's way of balancing the energies.

"In his book Van Gogh Blues  Eric Maisel proclaims that virtually one hundred percent of creative people suffer from bouts of depression. What might explain this intimate connection between depression and artistic expression? Several reasons have been reported anecdotally. Some say that—like many therapists—artists and writers engage in their special line of work as a kind of self-therapy for depression. Others claim that the experience of depression provides a valuable subject matter for artistic creations, as witnessed by Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “There’s a Certain Slant of Light." Finally some claim that artists cannot truly understand and artistically express the human condition unless they have experienced "the lowest of emotional lows."

Quotes taken from:

Positives of Art and Creativity

Poor memory and deep sadness, yet superhuman creativity.

Published on November 21, 2012 by Berit Brogaard, D.M.Sci., Ph.D in The Superhuman Mind

Changing a Painting to Make it Better

Spring: Mount Mye Sheep Viewing Cabin

Faro Yukon

Original 16x20 Acrylic on Canvas

I posted this picture a few weeks ago and I have looked at it while drinking my morning coffee and was not satisfied with the finished product.  There are far too many browns in this composition for my liking but this it the scene I picked to initially challenge myself. The modified painting now has spring crocuses in the 

foreground and I have varied the middle ground and changed some of the colours.

The original piece

The Pelly from Rose Mountain

Looking to the Pelly from Rose Mountain

16x20 Original 

Acrylic on Canvas

When you are high up in the mountains you often see rain in the distance.  I love to put this in a painting, it creates a mood.  I am not a geologist but the Yukon has some incredible rock formations and they are interesting to look at and nice to paint, they have a lot of texture and light & shadow.  

Still Life Watercolour Demo for Grades 6,7,8

Still Life Demo 

8x10 Watercolour and Ink

At Del Van Gorder School

Student Samples of their Still Life

View from Mt.Mye Sheep Centre, Faro Yukon

Original 20x20 Acrylic on Canvas

Promise of Spring

View from Mt. Mye Sheep Centre

I did a Plein Air Demo during last year's Sheep and Crane Festival, I was not able to complete the painting because it was so windy outside that my canvas blew down the embankment and I had to run down and retrieve it!  I pulled it out of a stack of canvases and finished it today. 

Maritime Scene

In Memory of Sadie Young

4x4 inches

Original Acrylic on Canvas

My dear friend Marilyn Boyle's Mother passed away in Newfoundland a few weeks ago. She was 95 years old. I painted this little scene in her memory. I was born and raised in Nova Scotia, It brings back my youth and memories of the ocean. 

 Painted from imagination.

Sunset near Faro

 I took a series of photos last fall of sunsets. A subject that I love painting and am thinking of basing my next show on at Yukon Artists at Work in July.  I am a member of the Daily Painters. com site and when I look at the stats for how many views I receive, my sunsets win every time!  I love painting them .... they make me feel happy.

Orignal Acrylic

Sunset Near Faro

6x8 inches

Demo: Impasto Painting Northern Lights

Original Impasto Acrylic

Northern Light

8x8 inches

More Art in the Del Van Gorder School

Demonstration Using Oil Pastel and Tempera 

 for Grades 3,4,5

8x10 

Another morning session in the local school with the Grades 3,4,5 students produced these wonderful results.  My format for teaching young children is to do a very quick demo to give them the idea of what it is we are going to do/accomplish.  I do not spend a lot of time exacting details but quickly  show them so that they will approach their works with the same freedom. Spontaneity is the name of the day and I have found that youth/children never disappoint when it comes to being creative and spontaneous - they are naturals!

Heavy Bond Paper was used with a combination of oil pastel and tempura paints.  Each student was assisted in setting a a basic fall scene with trees and rocks, some had water and mountains. We literally blast in a quick pencil sketch.  I help them get started and we both draw in simple shapes.  The pastel is applied first loosely and thickly in areas, especially the fall trees and grasses and then the paint is applied on top. The pastel "resists" the paint and creates really pleasing textures and brilliant colour. 

Note to other art instructors, it is a very intense and busy time getting the initial set-up going but the results are so worth it!  See Below

Student's Works of Art