"It is Just a Matter of Time"

Acrylics and Mixed media

On

Birch Panel

24" X 24"

(These photos are not enhanced/Photoshopped in any way)

Many times I have posted photos of my Art and followed the picture up with the comment 
"It really gleams".
Of course we all realize that shine and gloss do not show up in a photo without looking like glare.
Because of this, photographs never depict what a painting really looks like in person.
And that is a shame.
I worked on this piece for almost three weeks
 Laying down the silver leaf, over-painting that, and buffing the paint down to a thin film that allows the shine of the Silver leaf below to push through the colour.
Using many many layers of greens and blues. each buffed to a beautiful finish. 
Paint reacts on Leaf in a very different way. While you can buff off the greater part of it,
in itself, a hint of colour is always left to shine with the Silver leaf  underlay lifting it upwards.
I have posted two photos of this painting that were taken at different times of the day to show how interactive

 using Silver (or Gold) leaf is and how it reacts to different levels of sun.
Hopefully this will help you understand my often commented....
"This painting just gleams."
Thanks all
~~Kathleen

"And Then Came Fall"

"And Then Came Fall"
Acrylics and Mixed media
Birch Panel
24" X 24"

The Seasons change and life goes on.
There are beginnings and endings amongst these times.
We have new things to look forward to and old things, now to be remembered.

Time passes and each day has many wonderful and sad things to offer us.
How we deal with these things is up to us.
I am a positive thinker, I always have been.
I look forward to the seasonal changes.

Fall has always been my favorite season of the year.
It is crisp, warm, colder and fresh.
There are less bugs/insects, and the air is always refreshing.
And the Joy of colour it offers us.
Nothing can beat the beauty of Fall.
I hope you like this one.
A simple reflection of how I feel about September this year.
~~Kathleen.

"The Sun Rose Behind The Trees"

"The Sun Rose Behind The Trees"

Acrylics and Tar Gel
Birch Panel
24" X 24"

The Sun rises Behind the trees, and the whole scene lights up like they were illuminated with Gold.
In Northern Manitoba along the lakeshore, for the most part, the trees are Poplar and Birch.
They are never so thick that they cannot be walked through but in all tend to be pretty dense.
When looking East one often can see patches of the sky behind them, and the trees while fully grown,

 often have very tall trunks before the branches spread outwards.
The tops of these trees reach for the Sun.
Those that don't get that high die off.
When the Morning Sun appears it casts a glow and enhances the green leaves on the canopy, and highlights the trunks.
It is almost magical.
I hope you can see what I was trying to express in this painting.

"...And then there were Flowers."

"SOLD"

..."And Then there Were Flowers."
Acrylics and Mixed-media on Birch Panel
24" X 24"

I have always loved the muted colours of the Impressionists.
I love abstract works that have wonderful colour.
That being said, I love Art-Deco.
With this painting I have tried to combine all three.

This is a

 multi-media work that took a very long time to complete because there were so many stages to it.

Initially I saw the woman on an Art-Deco site that I frequent.
She was a pen Line drawing in black on white.

 I knew that I wanted to do something with her so I printed her off in order to make a gel 

overlay of her.
(With permission)
Once the overlay dried and I removed the paper backing, I painted in the background of the gel and then

re-applied a few more coats of gel so as to give the image some depth.
The gel of the woman took four days to dry in all before it was workable and able to be removed from the glass substrade.

I then cut her out on the edges, lifted her carefully from the glass,
and rolled her in Parchment paper so it would not stick to itself.

I began working on the panel for a background.
Initially I painted the background all silver.

Paint does not readily adhere to any  metallic background.

My intention was to create a background of soft muted colours that ran together and pooled in some areas.

so after I poured washes  on the panel, and dropped Blue and Ochre spots,
i waited for them to dry a bit.

 I leaned the panel on a block so one edge was much higher than the other and sprayed it all with a fine heavy mist of water so it would drip down taking the colour with it.

When I had the background as I wanted it, I lay it flat and

let it dry.
Then I coated the whole background with an Acrylic Glazing Liquid  (satin)

 and waited for that to dry......

I then added strings of coloured Tar-gel to represent stems and flowers.

and let that dry.

I then over-painted the flowers and adjusted the Ochre tar gel.

I let that dry.

Finally I added the woman to the painting.

I find the end result of this work very pleasing.
There was an enormous amount of time spent waiting for the mediums to dry between each step.
It is a larger work and shows beautifully.


I hope you like it.
~~Kathleen

"And Then Comes Spring"

"And Then Comes Spring"

Acrylics and Mixed media on Canvas
16" X 20"

Living in Southern Alberta, Canada poses some problems with the Weather.

The Winters can be unpredictable and  oftentimes they tend to drag on.
But when Spring finally arrives,

 what a joy.

I celebrate our diverse weather
We have been known to have

Snow in September, Sun tanning days in the middle of December

snowflakes on a hot day in August 

and

nothing, no matter how unusual

tends to surprise us.

Spring brings green.

Fresh breathable air without frost

sunshine and a sense of well-being.

I created this work in honour of
The Season of re-birth.

 I base-painted the canvas with a deep blue and affixed 

Silver metal leaf squares.

I then colour washed over the silver another wash of blue.

the blue was applied in splotches, 

let sit and then gently buffed off 

so as to leave a hint of the colour and tone down the silver.

All colours are "Golden Fluids"

Once the blue dried, I did the same thing with Green Gold.

creating a fabulous contrast.

when everything dried fully, I then scumbled over the whole canvas

distressing some of the paint down to the silver and through that at times.
then I washed over the whole thing with random Blues & Green gold.

the base was finished.

I used a template and Molding Paste to add the vines

let them dry and over painted the plaster a few times to get

a not too perfect colour.


Detail:

 I had fun creating this work.
I do hope you see the joy in it.
~~Kathleen