Mayne Island en plein air painting morning

/ Terrill Welch / 9 Comments

August is my favourite month of the year and the weather is finally spectacular – feels like summer at last. However, I am not good at beach-sitting but rather prefer to be beach-doing with either my camera or french box easel or both. Such is the case on this fine morning down on Reef Bay, Mayne Island…

I am feeling fairly pleased with myself. I have the 12 x 16 inch canvas blocked in and the sea is singing away as I work away for about 45 minutes. But after awhile I take and good look. It seems nothing is quite right.

The parts in the painting are separate and seem unrelated to each other. I frown and I stall by signing the work. I look out at the scene before me. I walk around eating a golden plum I had brought with me for a snack.  After awhile I acknowledge that I am still undecided and unsure about what to do next. But who can fuss on such a find day? I shrug and I set the canvas aside. I picked up my second blank canvas, slightly smaller at 9 x 12 inches and turn to the view just to my left.

This time I set to painting looking quickly and briefly at the scene as waves roll softly over and over again onto side of the reef. We seem as one – the sandstone, sea and me.

Swish, swish, swish. My brush responds with ease, leaving out the freighter and the driftwood as it focused on the relationship between the sandstone, the sea and the sky. After awhile, my bare arms begin to tingle from the heat of the sun and I am thankful I had decided to put a hat on my head. Stopping to take a long sip of cool water I squint at the painting.

It is done. Complete. Finished – and so am I 🙂

I pack up and head home. My en plein air morning is no longer morning.

Of course, you know, there is that other painting right? Well I sleep on it and get up in the morning to see what I can do with in the studio. Hum! I am not sure this helped much.

Though it is starting to come together, the overall painting is muted and lacks strength and conviction. Now what? I go back to my some reference images  I had taken and look closely at the first photograph that I showed you here. I walk away and do a few chores. Then I take another run at it – or rather brush at it. I am determined though unattached to the outcome.

Now let’s see – yes, there! Now I think we have it.

The day is shot. It is well after six o’clock. I missed lunch and am not up to cooking us dinner. We decide to slip out to the Green House Bar and Grill. I ask David if I had any paint on my face. He said “no darling you look fine.” Off we go.

The first thing the owner says to us as he hands out the menus is “hey Terrill, you have paint on your nose.”

Not only that, some how I had managed to get three different splashes of colour on the front of my t-shirt as well. But they let us in anyway 🙂
Once these two oil paintings are dry and I am satisfied that no further adjusting is needed they will be available in the  Artsy Home online gallery along with my other paintings that are currently available. However, if you are interested in having one of these hanging on your wall and you email me at tawelch@shaw.ca no later than 6:00 am PDST tomorrow, Friday August 17, 2012 I will cover the shipping for you to anywhere in North America. The 9 x 12 by 3/4 inch “Late morning in August by the sea” is currently $430. The 12 x 16 by 3/4 inch “August morning Reef Bay” is currently $675.

SPROUT: What keeps you coming back to  something until you get it the way you want it?

© 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

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Mayne Island Backyard Bandit Capers

/ Terrill Welch / 8 Comments

 

 

Mayne Island is a quite rather bucolic southern Gulf Island off the west coast of Canada. But this island has also been known to have its share of mischief. There are roving masked bandits during the night that frequently get up to no good. It is worth keeping an eye out for them just to be on the safe side. Let’s see if I can assist you in knowing what you are looking for. Ah yes, here comes one now…

“Who me?” she says.

Yes you! We are talking about you Miss Curious Cat.

“Well how interesting” she softly growls.

But then she thinks “what else could I possibly expect with such frequent trips through their property?”

“Lovely evening isn’t it?” and she almost smiles before looking farther up the tree to make sure the children safe.

Three of these are hers and one is the baby of a good friend of hers who is guarding the bottom of the tree and too hidden by the underbrush to get an identifying mugshot. The tree is like a raccoon hotel at the moment with the guests swinging from the rafters.

I suspect that they stopped at the compost fruit and salad bar before coming up because they sure know how to be entertaining and silly. Raccoon tail hat anyone?

 

If you do see any of this masked bandits do keep your distance. These photographs were taken with a telephoto lens so you can get good look at them. They may look cute but are fierce and can be aggressive if cornered. If you note those powerful back legs it is easy to see why they can spring a good distance to attach if they feel threatened or their young are in danger.

SPROUT: Who have you recently caught roaming around your yard at night?

 

© 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

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Sold! Art and other adventures

/ Terrill Welch / 15 Comments

March 17, 2010 was the beginning of my  full-time painting and photography adventure. Starting with oils in my early teen years, I had been working in water colours for years and now decided to return to oils. These were not just any oils but water miscible oil paints. I always liked oil paints but not the toxic odor issues. About the same time, I purchased a good quality camera and began some serious shooting. In between painting and photographing I showed my work in both physical and online venues. To my humble surprise work sold and continues to sell. About 50 paintings and photographs are mostly with collectors in Canada and the U.S.A. But some have found their way to England, Switzerland and Australia. One of these is KEEPING WATCH a 36 x 24 inch of an almost iconic Mayne Island view.


I have now set up a specific SOLD! page at Terrill Welch Artist that has a few of these displayed together – not all as it would be too many – just a few. More of the photography and painting prints that are that have sold can be found in my redbubble storefront gallery where you will also see a gallery with 45 new painting details that have been specifically selected for greeting cards.  My personal favourite in this series is the detail of “Red Romance by the Sea” card.

But then there is the card from “The Sea to Me”

Or how about this one from “Pears by the Sea” ?

If you have an order of more than 16 cards there is a 30% discount which makes if an affordable option to gather a collection to have available for any occasion. With 45 different cards of painting details to choose from I am hoping you will find it easy to find at least 16 that will meet your needs and fill your heart with painting impressions.
It has been a good couple of years and a bit. But what now? A very good question. As midsummer leaves me with a lots of room to contemplate.

I am off on a bit of a solitary painting adventure which I hope shall lead me through to a new understanding and way of expression with paint. But one never knows. Sometimes these explorations just reaffirm and clarify the path we are already on.

However, it is not the paintings themselves that are at issue – rather it is my intention as I create them. When I am working things out like this the paintings are not usually keepers. They remain records and works in progress. Hence, for the most part I am more comfortable sharing bits of them – just so you know I am at work 😉

Thank you all for your patience and here is a detail from one of four painting studies I did over the last couple of days.

Happy Monday to you!

SPROUT: What is your personal practice when engaging on a new creative learning curve?

© 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

 

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An Evening on Brown Ridge Saturna Island

/ Terrill Welch / 15 Comments

Oh it seems like forever since I have checked in! Paintings and photography prints have sold. I am part of a new project for an online One Day Only – Artist Studio Floor Show, August 31, 2012. New paintings are completed and the summer is flying by. But, before I update you on these aspects over the next few days, lets just settle in and enjoy the end of a fine day on Brown Ridge Saturna Island.

Nice deep breath and long exhale. Okay, now we are ready….

Pull up a seat on the grass with us while the light is getting low in the western sky.

Yes, pajamas and house coat are just fine. Bring your blanket too as the air cools quickly with this vast open view. Look at the container ship picking up steam on its way through the islands to the open sea. I wonder where it is going?

What is that munching and grunting noise? Do you hear it? I wonder, could it be the feral goats that live on the ridge? Well we will have to get now and walk over the edge of the steep grassy slop and have a look. Yes there they are! Right below us with the sea in the background.

And look at this smelly little cutie. The mammas and babies were farther off. These fellows were obviously having a bachelor party.

Well here is a bit of pink showing up in the sky but it won’t be much of a sunset tonight.

The birds are getting quiet and the air is still – not even a summer breeze coming up the cliffside. Such a view! Darkness starts to seep into the corners.

Lights from the distant cities come into view and the July half-moon get brighter in the night sky.

We make a wish on the first stars that we see. We find the big dipper and we sit in the quiet of night high up on Brown Ridge, Saturna Island. We think about what it would be like to sleep out under the stars all night. But finally it is time to head back to Saturna Lodge and our comfortable beds next to the garden.

There! Wasn’t this the finest of evenings in nature? For us it was one of the highlights of our trip, right up there with Siglinde’s amazing breakfast at the lodge 😉

Sprout: When was the last time you were deep in the wilderness when night came over the day?

© 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

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Sketching by the Sea – 7 tips for sketching with children

/ Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

My grandson, Arrow, and I are on vacation over on Saturna Island this week. Yesterday was an overcast. No rain but the light was dull and lacked luster.  Photography and painting en plein air just didn’t seem to be the most appealing activities to undertake. So we did a midday hike at Narvaez Bay for lunch and then went to Winter Cove for some sketching by the sea.

 

Here are our tips for enjoying outdoor sketching:

1. Do physical exercise first – it is much easier to sit or stand for an hour to focus on sketching after a hike. The eyes seem to be able to see better when the body can comfortably be still.

2. Use good quality materials because they are easier and the results are more satisfying.

3. Find a place that offers some privacy where people are not able to walk up behind you. If they come up beside you or in front of you, they are more likely to ask to see your work than stand lurking in the background.

4. Situate yourself at the level or in the perspective that you want to capture your subject. In the photograph above we are almost at water level and in the same relationship to the scene as I would be to photograph.

5. Sit or stand  in such a position that you can see each other sketching without moving. This is extremely effective for easy conversation and learning by observation without interruption.

6. Keep the session short. When interest wanes, take a break. For example, wander around and maybe skip some rocks. Then come back to the sketching.

7. Relax and enjoy. 🙂 Don’t worry about the results or giving more than very basic instruction. Children  will observe and ask questions about what they need to know at that time.

Today, with a bit of luck, we shall have a chance to do some en plein air painting with oils on canvas.

 

SPROUT: What tip would you offer if introducing your favourite creative activity to children?

 

© 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

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Does anyone read blogs and does it matter that you write?

/ Terrill Welch / 29 Comments

Short answer: Yes they do and yes it does!

Sold – photography print on canvas  of  Building with a View #2  in series of five by Terrill Welch

(available for purchase HERE)

There is a wonderful story that goes with this sale. Yesterday, as I was standing on top of a bench-seat in order to hang a small painting in the Green House Bar and Grill here on Mayne Island,  I hear a woman say

“Are you Terrill Welch?”

I turn, raising my eyebrows slightly at the smiling stranger and reply “yes I am”

The woman came bounding forward.

“OMG! I read your blog all the time! I am from Edmonton and whenever it is miserable there I go to your blog. I love your work! It is such a pleasure to meet you!”

Her husband is more nonchalantly and says – before saying hello to me –

“Is this the blog you always send me links to at work and tell me I just have to see it?” and as his wife is nodding he then smiles at me and says hello.

She is laughing and says “oh I send your blog posts everywhere – to my husband, my dad, all my friends”

Teasing she adds “you are famous in Edmonton you know.”

(For those not familiar with Edmonton – population 752,412 in 2007 and it is in Alberta, Canada – right next to British Columbia and about a two-day drive away from Mayne Island. Many make this trip at least once a year and sometimes several times. Anonymity intact!)

Before the couple even get their lunch ordered, this piece is selected and set aside for purchasing when they were ready to leave. She was able to ask for it by name and fortunately it was one of the photography prints I had selected to show this time.

I tell this story because if, as an artist, photographer or writer, you ever doubt the impact of your blogging efforts and all the time you put into posting your work – think again. It does matter. It does make a difference in connecting your work to those who will and do enjoy it.

I had never met this delightful woman before. I did not know this reader as one of my regular readers who comments here on Creative Potager.  And the post with this photograph was made on February 19, 2010

https://creativepotager.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/simplicity

I allow those who have a subscription to my blog to receive the whole post so they can read it and share it – the consequence of this is the views do not show up in my viewing statistics. But none-the-less, she is a regular reader and was able to comment on past and recent posts with great joy.

A fine moment for any artist, photographer or writer.
Thank you, thank you to my dear reader who has quietly enjoyed these posts and shared them with her family and friends. Thank you to all those readers I have yet to meet. And thank you to those readers I know well and who comment and share my work regularly. You are wonderful! You are a joy! You make my heart glad to be alive!

 

SPROUT Question: __________________ (you decide:)

 

P.S. This wasn’t the only sale yesterday as I was putting up the new show – but that is another story! 😉

 

© 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

 

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How long did it take you to paint that painting?

/ Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

 

 

I’m still working on getting that show ready to hang. With a bit of luck I should have it up by this afternoon. This morning I am putting the hanging gear on the last six paintings. Then it is just a matter of pulling the venue consignment sheet together and loading everything up in the vehicle. So while I am sipping on that second cup of coffee I thought I would check in and let you know how things were going.

Art Studio Still Life photograph by Terrill Welch

This brings me to one of the hardest questions I find I ever have to answer as an artist. Can you guess what it is?

How long did it take you to paint that?

The question brings up this jumble of activity that goes into each painting. I know if I start to articulate that list it will either sound like justification or a whine.

Who wants to hear about the years of exploration of one colour – such as blue which I got just right between the sky and the water in this particular painting. Further, it seems unnecessary to explain how it can take several paintings to figure out a particular problem that has been satisfied in this particular painting. Or the days, weeks and months I spent meandering around until I found this particular composition which pleased me enough to pick up my brushes. Of course the trips to town by ferry to buy supplies, no point in mention that either. Then there is the photographing of the finished piece, painting the edges, getting it in the inventory program, posting it on the web and sharing in social media. The actual standing there painting the darn thing was the shortest length of time in the whole process. So I don’t say. Instead I have these rather vague answers that go something like this….

Oh, it took me a couple of months to get it this far – easy shrug.

I have been working on this particular challenge of getting the light to reflect for a while now… seems it worked well here.

If pushed –

The painting itself is actually the fastest part of the process. It is all the background work, preparation and finishing work that takes the time. Not unlike repainting the walls in your kitchen. Then there is the work of getting out there so people know that it exists. That is a whole other story. – big grin.

So there you have it! Thanks for hanging out in my loft studio with me this morning while I do up the last bit of work for the next show at the Green House Bar and Grill right here on Mayne Island.

Well that coffee cup is empty and I really must get to work. Have a nice day all!

SPROUT:  What creative process do you have difficulty explaining?

© 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

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HAYING original oil painting by Terrill Welch

/ Terrill Welch / 6 Comments

Recently, I have been photographing the haying process at one of our local farms. It brought back many memories from when I was still living at home in farming country. One of the images I captured really resonated with me and so I pulled out a canvas and set to work. The painting pretty much painted itself so I am going to give you just the end result this time.

A 14 x 18 inch oil on canvas  – available for purchase HERE

I was particularly pleased with how my star in the painting came together – the tractor! Here is a close look so you can see that it is just blobs of paint giving you a suggestion of a person on the tractor pulling a hay rake.

Haying time signifies summer in most farming areas in North America. This impressionist style painting holds the desire for coolness in the deep shade of the big tree yet directs our gaze to the heat in the bright sunlight in the fields.

 

SPROUT:  What summer activity sets your creativity to the sundial?

 

© 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

 

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/ Terrill Welch / 9 Comments

ALWAYS ROSES is a 24 x 36 inch oil on canvas still life painting

Terrill Welch's avatarTerrill Welch

ALWAYS ROSES is a 24 x 36 inch oil on canvas still life painting

Here are a couple of images of details as well.

and the second one…

I will be finishing the edges on this painting in a few days and then it will be available for purchase. I will update this post when the painting is posted. This is a sneak preview for those who follow and love my work. If you are interested in buying this painting and you do not want to wait that long, please feel free to contact me directly.

I haven’t painted flowers in the past few years but I have done so on other occasions. It seems I paint whatever I am involved in during my daily living. For example, this week I painted a scene from the local haying I had been asked to photograph for a client (that painting…

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