STORM COMING THROUGH original painting by Terrill Welch

Winds howl as the rain slaps driving mist across the landscape. It takes fortitude, girt and a bit of foolishness to be out on a day like this. With shoulders hunched I yell against the beastly day with no effect. The sounds are carried away, across the water, through the trees – gone, like the day that will end in nothing more than a short, perpetual early dawn. Such is a winter storm in January off the southwest coast of Canada.

I’m not ready to make this painting available for purchase just yet. The painting and I are still discussing its current state of completion. If you want to know more about how this conversation is going you can read my account of the dialogue HERE on one of my  G+ posts.  When we have reached a mutually agreeable conclusion,  the painting  will be posted at the Artsy Home online Gallery with my other paintings that are currently available.

This a 24 x 36 inch oil on canvas and is my second attempt to capture one of these storms on canvas. Here is the first smaller study I did of just a section of this scene

(available for purchase HERE

Pssst! May is just about upon us and you know what happens to me between May and September – even October right? I am less frequently online and in front of the computer. It is just the way it is. I wish you the best for the summer and will post as the opportunity presents itself. May you be digging your toes in the sand, tossing your hair in the breeze and enjoying the few short months of fine weather.

Good morning and the best of Wednesday to you!

SPROUT: If you could do any creative project you wanted this summer what and where would it be? 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

RAINY DAY OUT ON THE POINT original oil painting by Terrill Welch

Sometimes the light reflected through a rainy day has the sweet bitter melancholy which reflects a sense of inner peace like no other day. The bright colours of wet rocks balanced the soft hues of the day with the houses and gentle seaside cityscape in the background reminding us we are part of this view.

This is a painting of Cattle Point in Victoria British Columbia, Canada

A 16 x 20 inch oil on gessobord with a 2 inch wood cradle. No framing required. The painting is available at the Artsy Home online gallery at http://www.artsyhome.com/product/rainy-day-out-on-the-point and a couple of detail images are included for closure viewing.

SPROUT: Where were you the last time you realized that you were part of the view?

P.S. The related links provide easy access to other posts related to the process for this painting.

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

A distant detail of painting in progress

It is Tuesday and my larger painting of  “Rainy Day by the Sea” has been “resting” since last Thursday. The long Easter weekend has come to an end and I have a long list of petty tasks to do. But first one must paint don’t you think?

Here is a 3 x 5 inch distant detail from the 16 x 20 inch painting I am working on. It was never intended to be viewed with such up-close scrutiny but I like doing this sometimes. The marks of paint only lightly suggest their subjects leaving lots of room for our imaginations.

SPROUT: What do you see or think you see in these fleeting strokes of paint?

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Looking Over My Shoulder in the Studio

There isn’t too much to see yet but I thought you might like to peer over my shoulder this morning and see what is happening. I have started on the larger 16 x 20 inch gessobord  following yesterday’s study.

I do not expect to end up with many process shots for this painting just because of how absorbed I become when working on it. There is no ground or underpainting as I felt this would interfere with the flat heavily filtered light on this rainy day. Also, unlike most of my paintings I have built up areas near the top more than usual before getting the whole painting roughed in. I may regret this meddling in my own approach but it felt right and the paint was the right consistency for working when I applied it last night so I didn’t interrupt my intuition.

The blank areas are the rocks in the foreground which have a much deeper value than the repeating of the same colours in the background. The dabs you see there are what I call “markers” for future reference and to guide my work in the background. Once the whole painting is rough in, this one is going to require repeated building of paint to get to the end result I am seeking. This is what the study was mostly about yesterday.

SEED: Alfred Sisley ((October 30, 1839 – January 29, 1899) and English Impressionist Painter born in Paris to English parents may be of help with this particular painting. Though he has been overshadowed by Monet his work is really quite stunning and much more attuned the the same sensibilities as Camille Pissarro – who I feel more akin to than Monet even though I am sometimes called the Monet of Mayne Island. If you look at the link I provided you will see many paintings where he has created depth and interest with little value change on a gray or winter day. This is what I am after – depth with only subtle difference in values in the picture plane. This is not a new exercise but with this scene it is a complex study of light, time and spacial relationships. We shall see what happens!

Today I must also go out on a photo shoot for a client. So the work on this painting will need to happen in the next couple of hours and then we will be into Easter weekend. All the best of the holiday weekend to you and may you enjoy a renewed sense of resilience with the arrival of spring.

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

RAINY DAY BY THE SEA oil on canvas study by Terrill Welch

Do you remember my recent photograph of “In the Rain at Cattle Point Victoria B.C.“? Well, I have been musing about painting it.

I don’t often do a study before tackling a larger painting but I was painting and repainting a particular idea over and over in my head so I knew there were painting challenges I was having trouble working out. So this morning, I decided to do this greeting card size palette knife study on a 5 x 7 inch gallery wrapped 1.5 deep canvas.

(to purchase contact me via email:  $150.00 – once it dries 😉

One of my aims is always to let paint be paint when I am working on a canvas. Nothing helps with this more than a palette knife. I have the most gorgeous, small and springy knife that was a gift from my parents when I was fourteen years old. I have a newer one but it just doesn’t have the same flexibility and the same balance as my first. Kinda like a good saddle, once you find one that fits you and your horse, or this case me and my canvas, a person doesn’t desire another.

I didn’t work out all of my painting challenges but I did find an answer to some and enough so to continue on to a larger canvas.

And none of you caught me in my error yesterday but the Studio Spring Sale Event doesn’t end until tonight. Sorry about that. Me and dates often have a rather fluid relationship 🙂 I have it corrected now.

SPROUT: What is your creative “study” practice in preparation for larger works?

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Say Yes Whenever Possible

I love YES! YES is the best way to open up and free energy in the most synergistic way both personally and with others. Take for example a sunny Sunday morning on April 1st in Victoria B.C. The morning ferry arrived 1.5 hours before our primary stop to pick up two chairs opened. What possibly could a nature, land and seascape photographer say YES to at this time of day and week? How about a walk on Dallas Road? Of course, yes, I do have my camera. Shall we?

Oh it is a most glorious day don’t you think?

(image is available for purchase HERE

And finally the sea!

Before we leave to go pick up those chairs, a reminder that today is the second to last day of my

Spring Studio Sale – Art is not ART until it is SOLD

event. The sale ends at midnight P.D.T. Wednesday April 4th for the five oil paintings and they will return to their regular price and be included in an increase to all of my original paintings as of May 1, 2012. There will be a large showing of my paintings and photography  for the Mayne Island Home and Garden Tour this year followed by an Open Studio day July 1, 2012. I will combine these opportunities with another online showing so stay tuned if you have your eye on collecting one of my original paintings. In the meantime current work is available on the Artsy Home online gallery – just scroll down a little the paintings are just below the my bio.

I hope you have enjoyed this latest event as much as I have and thank you to everyone who shared my work with others, who showed their interest in specific paintings and who offered words of support and encouragement. Thank you!

SPROUT: How are you going to say  “YES”  today?

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

The Story of the Nightgown and the Paintbrush

The nightgown sighed heavily on the sales rack. Will she ever make up her mind? Calculating, calculating – I am a nightgown for heavens sake! How difficult can it be? I look like the other two she bought more than three years ago. I am white. I am cotton. I have no itchy lace. I am the right size. I am ON SALE. I am perfect! Still she feels and rubs me raw between her painterly fingers and hesitates. Ah finally. She is lifting me up and taking me carefully to the counter – still frowning mind you. But the decision has been made. There, $40.32, that wasn’t so painful, was it? If only I could get her to smile now instead of muttering that she really doesn’t need me.

The large bristle paintbrush laughed and shouted to all the other brushes on the art store shelf. Stand back boys. She is coming for me! I can see that glint in her eyes. I will put money on it. She will have me in her hand before the store door closes itself behind her. Yep! Here she comes. The paintbrush puffs himself extra bristly and tall.

The little brushes rolled their eyes and want to slap him silly. They have seen this before. An artist walks in and doesn’t even check the price tag on this boastful beast. They just pick up the big bushy brute and head for the counter.

They can hear the clerk heard saying “that will be $41.45 please.” The artist laughs lightly, hands over the cash. No, no a bag won’t be necessary. She puts the new brush in with her nightgown and is already thinking about the first painting she is going to paint with this sashaying dandy.

SPROUT: What buying habits are influenced by your creativity?

P.S. If you haven’t already, do dropped by and mused over or shared the link for the Spring Studio Sale  as this artist has her eye on another dandy brush or two 😉

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Spring Studio Sale – Art is not ART until it is SOLD

Today five original oil paintings have returned to my studio from the venue where they were being shown. This event reminds me of a quote that was supposedly said by one artist to another…

Art isn’t art until it’s soldUntil then it’s an obsession and a storage problem.” ~Anonymous

I am not sure I necessary agree. Art in my mind has little to do with sales – though those are always appreciated. However, I do believe that a spring cleaning sale is in order or else we may have to move out just to make room for my paintings.

With this in mind, the following FIVE 18 X 24 inch oil on archival quality gallery wrapped cotton canvas with roughly finished edges have been reduced from $1,200 to $900 plus shipping for the next week beginning today, Wednesday March 28, 2012 until Wednesday April 4, 2012 midnight P.D.T.

These paintings are all available for immediate purchase in the Artsy Home online gallery and include:

WINTER SUN

CLICK –> BUY to reach the “Buy it Now” button on the right at Artsy Home.

OWL’S VIEW

CLICK –> BUY to reach the “Buy it Now” button on the right at Artsy Home.

CABIN ON SHORE

CLICK –> BUY to reach the “Buy it Now” button on the right at Artsy Home.

EAST POINT CLIFFS

CLICK –> BUY to reach the “Buy it Now” button on the right at Artsy Home.

FAR SHORE

CLICK –> BUY to reach the “Buy it Now” button on the right at Artsy Home.

 

If you already own one or more of my original paintings or if you purchase more than one of these paintings I will give you an additional $100 collectors discount on each painting purchased.

Paintings are SOLD with my usual Artist’s Satisfaction Guarantee:

Unharmed and safe return of the purchased painting to the Artist, at the cost of the buyer, within 30 days of receiving the purchase will result in a full refund of the purchase price by artist Terrill Welch.

If you have any further questions or would like to make your purchase arrangements directly with me please email me at tawelch@shaw.ca

In addition, with each purchase I will include a signed copy of PRECIOUS SECONDS – Mayne Island in paintings and photographs, volume one.

Of course, if the paintings do not sell, they will be returned to new increase over the original price at the close of this sale and will be shown in another venue beginning in May. Yes, you read correctly – the price of all of my work is going up on May 1, 2012.

So this is rare an opportunity indeed. But no harm will be done if the paintings remain in my gallery collection awhile longer. After all, most of the work is less than two years old. In the past eighteen months, there have been eighteen paintings finding new homes across the globe. It is all good and makes this artist smile.

I look forward to wrapping your painting for you and putting it in the mail.

Please share with others that you think might be interested.

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

ROMANCING SUMMER BY THE SEA original oil painting by Terrill Welch

Some paintings seem to guide the brush from the first stroke of the underpainting. The canvas, the brush and the artist move across the surface as if choreographed by a grand mistress of creativity.

Such was the case for this 30 x 30 inch oil on canvas painting ROMANCING SUMMER BY THE SEA. With a simple palette choice…

the painting slid onto the canvas and was simply there!

Oh it still needed to be built up and refined and brought to life but there was no question about the form, structure, tone or composition. Did this painting come out of some illusive muse? Possibly but it was highly influenced by several known influences. The first being my experience on Saturna Island last summer in August which provided the reference image and essence of a particularly spectacular summer morning on East Point. Secondly, I was reading THE SWAN THIEVES by Elizabeth Kostova which had been recommended to me by Patricia from Patricia’s Wisdom. If you have read the book you will know how deeply the sea, romance and painting are part of its gift to the reader. Finally, just before beginning this painting I was in an art gallery in Sidney B.C. and admiring an artist hand-embellished reproduction of “Evening thoughts” by Italian artist Pino Daeni. I have seen even an original Pino painting several times and reproductions many times. But this time I was admiring how he might accomplish that sensual mystery in his work. Then I asked myself, could I possibly capture this in a landscape, particularly one I loved and already could sense its sensual presence. Well, what do you think? Can I?

  (ROMANCING SUMMER BY THE SEA is available for purchase HERE

Of course my figure does not have flowing dresses. She is a strong muscular modern woman with little to give her gender away until you see her smile that touches her lightly around her eyes. But this won’t happen today. Today, we admire her enjoying the summer morning mist in August by the sea. There are also two detailed images of both the figure and the reflections on the water posted along with the painting at the “HERE” link above.

SPROUT: What has recently wooed your creativity? 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

New paintings by Terrill Welch in the Artsy Home online Gallery

Getting on with the painting of being an artist never seems to be an issue. But getting them out and available for you to purchase is as inspiring as sweeping cobwebs off the sealing. It is not that I don’t want them to be available for purchase. It is the tediousness of filling in all the boxes for posting that often has me saying to self “maybe I will just paint one more and then post them all together.” And we both know how that goes – one more becomes five more before I settle in to a quiet Sunday like today and start adding new work.

So just in case you have one of my original paintings on your “wishlist,” I now have a few more of my new paintings available on the Artsy Home online Gallery including this 30 x 40 inch oil on canvas –

REACHING THE SEA (Note: this painting is no longer available)

The full gallery of my original oil paintings currently available can be viewed at http://www.artsyhome.com/author/terrillwelch

Yes, there are still a few more to add. I am in the process of editing the photographs right after I post this for you. But there is one new one that will not be released until Wednesday. I promised to keep you posted 🙂

SPROUT: What is your very most favourite Sunday creative family rated activity? 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com