The importance of grief.

"Sorrow"
Acrylics and mixed media on canvas
12" X 14"
SOLD


I have been working with trees for a while now.

As most of you know my love affair with trees started a lifetime ago 

and

now I am portraying them in ways that are special to me.
Trees are life.
And what about death?
How do trees signify that?
What role do they play into our sorrow?

Many plant a tree in honour of a deceased loved one.
The symbolism of these trees

has served us well as we watch them grow tall and strong.
I see a tree as a place where one can collect thoughts.

Under which we can cry and vent our frustration at the brutal

finality of
Death.

A place of calm where we can try to sort out a troubled soul.

Recently I have had two friends that have lost 

to death

younger members of their families.
One to an accident

and

another to illness.
I say to them;

If you have a young member in your family, or a young child that is near to you,
Hug them and tell you that you love them.

Look at the parents and thank them for allowing their children to be a part of your life.


Life is to be treasured 

and`

 we, (as we age) understand how precious youth is.

How wonderful it is that  children make our world.


For you that will not hear the laughter again I weep.


But I tell you now, that the time your family and friends had with them
while they were alive helped make this world a beautiful place, 

and

 we will be forever grateful.
They will always light up our hearts with beautiful memories.


Rest in Peace

(Apologies,
My camera is broken, so until it is replaced, I am using my IPad as a camera.  Not the best choice, but for now
it will have to suffice)
~~Kathleen

My Love affair with trees.

I have long had a strong love affair with trees. I love looking at them, I love walking anywhere near them.

I love their shapes and colours.

To me they are so representational of all life.

When I began painting I was not so aware of this love, but eventually I realized that it goes way back many years.

The very first painting that I thought of as "Professional" quality was of a stand of Lodgepole Pines.

Personally it is probably my favorite painting of all time because it was my "First" that was, in my mind perfect.

Over the years since this painting I have painted trees in many shapes/styles and forms.

Needless to say trees are never the same,

the light in an hour can change the appearance of a tree.

so I present to you a few of the trees I have painted over the years......

"Lodgepole Pines"

12" x 18"
Acrylics on canvas board

This painting is unique in that one of these pined has a curved base.

Lodge pole Pines are quite unique to the Prairie areas of Canada
They (for the most part)
Grow straight and very tall.
For centuries the original Native Canadians,

and later settlers used them as the center beam for their homes.



 ~~

"Willow Bay"
12" x 18"

acrylics on canvas.
SOLD

Birch and Poplar trees by Lake Manitoba




~~
"A study in Blue"
Acrylics on Masonite
18" x 24"

 

A challenge from a friend that I could not paint a realistic painting using only blue/white and black.

~~

"Manitoba Morning"

12" x 18"

Acrylics on Canvas
SOLD

Sunrise from a friends Kitchen window.

(Commissioned)

~~

"The Way to the Lake"

12" x 12"

Acrylics on canvas

Again near Willow Bay in Manitoba, Canada

~~

"After the fire"

12" x 18"
Acrylics, Gold leaf and Mixed media
on canvas

A few years back a beautiful and very old 

stand of Spruce trees were destroyed by a forest fire

 alongside Highway # 6 in Manitoba, Canadas  North.

Amazingly after 15 years they are almost back to where they stood  years.

~~

 "The Old Railway"
12" x 18"
Acrylics/metal leaf & mixed media"
on Canvas
SOLD

A grown over escarpment where a CNR
spur line once existed
(near Moosehorn and Spearhhill Manitoba)

~~
"Miyajima Island Hot Springs"
24" x 24"
Acrylics  and mixed media
on Masonite.

painted from a wonderful photograph  taken by a friend when he visited Japan

~~

"Fourteen Trees on a  River Walk"
12" x 18"
Acrylics on Canvas
SOLD

Over Wintering,  a stand of newly planted trees.
Along Nosecreek park walk way
Airdrie, Alberta, Canada.


~~
"Moonlight in Manitoba"
 12" x 12"
Acrylics on canvas.
SOLD

The old road that my Dog Ben and I would walk in the evenings.

Just outside McCreary, Manitoba.

~~

As you can see I have represented trees in my art, in many ways.

I have used Acrylics and Molding paste, and Metal leaf
Every painting is very unique from the others, and usually they stand alone as a work of art.
The latest two Paintings I have done are actually a complimentary set.
I will not go into great detail about them as they are highlighted in the post just
before this one.

Later all
~~Kathleen

"Summer Sunrise"

"Summer Sunrise"

12" x12"

Metal leaf &

 Acrylics on canvas
SOLD

Well, not easy, but I think I captured this one in the manner I wanted.
Photographing any work with Metal leaf is so hard.
(Actually the colour is represented much better in the second Photo below.)
In reality this is a painting that gleams and changes with the passing of time daily,
making it quite unique.
The molding paste on this one was much thicker in the Leaves.

This presented a real challenge.

getting the edges painted in and the "Variegated Leaf"
on top took a long time.
Over all I am quite pleased with how it ended up.

As it is it is a very nice companion work to
My last work.

Both works are seasonal, and compliment each other and the Seasons they represent.

Comments and critiques on these paintings

(as well as any here in my blog)

are welcomed.
Please say hello after you are finished reading here.
I would so like that
~~Kathleen

"Sunset on Autumn Leaves"

"Sunset on Autumn Leaves"
12" X 12"

Acrylics and Metal leaf on Canvas.

SOLD

Hi all, I am beside myself with happiness.
starting yesterday, I began to create once more.
I have eyes that see clearly and I am so pleased.
It was very hard to get back into painting & creating Art.
I had moved since I painted last, 

and as well,

I experienced a bit of insecurity about my abilities to pick up,  paint and create again.

So, I dove in.
I love working with Gold/Silver & Copper leaf.
Hey, if your gonna do it, do it in style .

So here we go, a good step by step documentation of this work;

The first thing I did was add Gold and Copper leaf to the top 3/4 of the canvas.

At this stage I was not sure where I was going with this

so I painted the bottom in using white up to and just above the leaf.

I got a good stiff brush and scrubbed the white paint off the leaf in the middle of the canvas and softened that area.

I then scrumbled a mixture of "Goldens Green/Gold Liquid acrylic" and  "Goldens Yellow Oxide liquid Acrylic."

over the white to bring the leaf and the bottom 1/2 of the painting together

Once the paint was dry

 I used a smaller Tree stencil
from "Cutting Edge" and added the tree.

 I added the tree with "Goldens Light Molding Paste "

And sat around for it to dry.

 

(Yes, drying time took longer than creating this whole work)

 I started applying size to the tree & and branches

Once the size was ready, I started adding " Mona Lisa Variegated Blue"

metal leaf to the tree and branches.

 I was at the "Hurry up and Wait" stage LOL

(Took me about 3 hours to do this)

And then I waited for that to dry!

Once dry I brushed off the excess leaf, and fine tuned the leaf application.

My final stage was to add the "Falling leaves"

using Metal dust.

Metal dust is the very  fine bits I collect from the leaf when I brush the excess  off my paintings.

So I got out my trusty old toothbrush and splattered sizing on the canvas in the areas where I wanted the "leaves" to fall.

 That had to dry!

When dry I almost covered the whole painting with the metal dust and lightly tamped it down using the separator pages that are  between the original metal leaf  pages.

My final step was to do the

leaves piled up below the tree and on the ground.

For this I used dust and larger bits from all four types of leaf so as to give the work a nice base.

 

Final painting is at the top of this post.
I am thrilled at how well this work turned out.
Please let me know how you like it.
Until the next time
~~Kathleen
(Who is thrilled to be back)