A Brush with Life - Issue #82 Mayne Island Summer

Our summer art shows are up and everything is ready to welcome visitors - just in time! The gallery had both rooms open Saturday between 11-2 with over 35 walk-in guests. We haven’t spoken to this many people at one time since the summer of 2019. Pheewwwf!

The big work this past couple of weeks has been painting. So let’s see what we have…

The weather is cool enough again that I worked in the studio last week. A light breeze up the valley was its usual sea-breeze-freshness rather than a blast of hot air. Most pleasant! What I was working on was a small painting sketch of a scented rose that one of my art collectors (who is also an island parks commissioner) admires. 

How this came about was, I had been out plein air painting with a teacher and two young students in Cotton Park a few weeks earlier and the art collector called me over to look at one of her favourite roses. Then she asked if I might be able to paint it for her. It was an interesting project and I was under the spell of the elegant rose’s heady fragrance, so I said yes. We talked about size and such. Then I was on my way. During the next couple of days, I went down and gathered references of just the perfect bloom. 

Here is what happened in the studio…

It is hard to tell what is happening here but I just wanted some quick marks to give me a sense of the space. The cool grey ground should help with balancing the warmth of the rose.

It is still not easy to see yet for anyone but the painter. I keep adding more paint.

Now you can see something is happening but this is the last hint because at this point I stopped recording the process and just painted until it was done, or almost done.

There it is with only a couple of tiny adjustments to make. I kept the painting loose and flowing right through to the end as my way of bringing it alive as the breeze off of Active Pass waves the scented rose blossoms like gorgeous string puppets.

I kept thinking about the person who puts so much care and attention into the rose’s wellbeing and how much the rose gives back, not just to the gardener but to everyone who comes passed. I sent a photo off to the art collector of the work. I heard back almost immediately- she loves it!

While the art collector and I were in the garden, we checked the list of plants kept in the garden shed for Bette Cotton’s garden. This is a Tropicana cv Tanorstar rose.

Remember how I mentioned that I would have enough time for a couple more plein air painting session before starting on the large 36 x 72 inch canvas? Well, so far at least, this has not happened. We managed a late evening hike as a group of five to watch the strawberry full moonrise.

Then Glenda King hung her stunning painting of “The People’s Log” in its reserved place in the Arbutus Room where it now is singing in harmony with the other paintings by Jody Waldie, Jennifer Peers, myself and several more by Glenda.

And I set the large canvas up on the opposite side of the room in front of the windows.

It is the morning view I am after! Here is one of about a handful of the references that will be used alongside the earlier painting sketch…

With a few lines for guidance, we have a start.

By the end of last Sunday, the rough underpainting is completed and ready to be left to dry.

This past Wednesday, the underpainting is dry enough to start blocking in the subject. This is a great stage in the painting process because everything still seems possible. The wind had come up and gust off of Active Pass shake the trees outside the window and leaves are blown in and rustle across the gallery floor while I work.

I have Vania Williams with the Dragonfly next door to chat with every now and then while the brush moves from palette to canvas and back again. It was a good painting session and will continue live in the gallery until it is finished. More on this project next time.

Please do drop by and browse our two current shows. Here are the direct links to the show in the Arbutus Room…

And in the Garden Room…

If it is possible, visit these shows both online and in person. The online viewing provides much more background and the in-person gives you the textured sensation of each work. One way is not better than the other for viewing these paintings but together, online and in-person, offer an exquisite art experience.

There is something extremely intriguing that happens when painters choose the same subject and we see how their perspectives and renderings are uniquely expressed. The log that drifted up on our Mayne Island shores at the lighthouse is one of these happenings!

Here is the first of three by Glenda King.

If you click on the link and read her “Artist notes” they will provide context for the next two paintings.

This next work is by Jennifer Peers of the same log.

And the final painting of the same log is by Terrill Welch and, as many of you will likely remember, is now in a private collection.

And there you have it! Three very different paintings of the same log. Don’t you just love it!?

If you would like a Terrill Welch postcard-size original oil on paper painting and you would like to support a good cause, this work might be something you are interested in considering. Now into its 12th year (I have donated postcard paintings to 10 of these events), TAE21 is curated by Cat Salter Smith and is hosted in Cheltenham, United Kingdom. This year, #TwitterArtExhibit’s chosen charity to benefit from this global art exhibition is The Leukaemia and Intensive Chemotherapy Fund – LINC, located in Cheltenham, UK. LINC is a local charity that supports patients and families fighting blood cancer.

I can’t promise it will still be available by the time you receive this issue of “A Brush With Life” but it might be. Try the link below…

The writing on the top of the postcard is just on the image and not on the postcard itself, I promise. 😉

I have a particular appreciation for a good story and if it is a good art story, all the better. To be a painter, or at least to be this painter, is to learn where one is located in the context and history of art. This is something that I continue to explore like a rock hound hunting agates. Sometimes, I find nothing but an over abundance of sugar agates that offer not much new or of value at all. Other times I find an article that is a real gem. This particular article leans towards the gem category and is a great read on lazy summer day when you have lots of time for musing and gazing at the the sketches that are included. Here is the link for you to this interesting review “The Cézanne We Have Forgotten How to See” by Jason Farago published on June 27th in the New York Times…

Our summer time on Mayne Island is definitely in full swing and we shall be keeping our brushes moving to complete new works for the fall. We wish you all the best of fresh garden produce, long walks on trails and beaches and time with your family and friends.

Take good care and I look forward to your private notes and observations and any questions or inquiries about paintings.

Terrill 👩‍🎨🎨❤️