private studio visit and art sales at la ca de inspiracion on Mayne Island

Artists often do open studio days but the real gem for art collectors and artists is the private and personalized studio visit. I do a few of these each year and I treasure every one. How it works is an interested art buyer or small group of collectors emails or phones me to set up a private studio visit to our home and my studio space. I ask a few questions about what they are interested in viewing and set up our space to accentuate these interests. This weekend my visitor was interested in my paintings and in particular in finding one for a new art space that was created as part of a recent renovation of her home.

In a moment of clarity I thought that readers and collectors from afar may also enjoy coming by as part of this private and personalized studio visit. So after everything was ready I took the time to do this home-style youtube art studio visit with my iPad. Here it is if you care to join me…

As a result of this visit, a painting that was released just last week will be going to live with this new collector in British Columbia, Canada.

WINTER SUN II  –  18 x 24 inch oil on canvas

Winter Sun II 18 x 24 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2013_05_28 279

This painting is going to go to a place where it will be loved and appreciated for many years into the future. The new owner tells me how she can see already how much this painting will change as the light changes. She is imagining how her family will watch the painting and notice different aspects at different times of day – a practice that is not really any different that watching the sea itself.

Feeling a sense of peace and being in alignment with my purpose in the world, my husband and I went out for a late lunch to celebrate at the Bennett Bay Bistro. The deck overlooking the bay is divine mid-afternoon.

Upon returning home the phone rang. A breathless request zipped through the lines from a collector in Alberta, Canada. She wanting to know if the painting ISLAND WITH THE LIGHTHOUSE was still available and if so,  could she to buy it. I had just posted the painting for sale the previous day in the Artsy Home gallery and I hadn’t even had a chance to put it up on my  Terrill Welch Artist website.

ISLAND WITH THE LIGHTHOUSE 8 x 10 inch oil on canvas.

Island with the Lighthouse 8 x 10 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2013_05_28 272

I said it was and yes she could buy it. Full of emotion she explains how every Sunday she goes to the Artsy Home online gallery to see what new work I have posted. When she saw this small painting of the Mayne Island lighthouse as it is seen from the ferry, the experience brought tears to her eyes. Her husband noticing her reaction and said he would buy the painting for her for her birthday. At this point I had a lump in MY throat and tears in my eyes. To think that such a small painting could have such a significant impact on others!

My inspiration for this painting comes from describing where we live to others. The southern gulf islands are not always easy to name individually if you are unfamiliar with how they relate to one another. Mayne Island is often described as the island with the lighthouse as it is viewed from the ferry traveling from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. This small window to the sea is what you might view on a fine day from that ferry as you near the entrance to Active Pass.

What is YOUR most treasured way to share your creative results with others?

Thank you dear readers as always for your ongoing support and comments here on Creative Potager. It is an honour and a pleasure to visit with you from my art studio and home on Mayne Island on the southwest coast of Canada.

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

By the sea for no reason inspires west coast oil painting

Sometimes we go down by the sea for no reason. There is no intention of capturing the perfect photograph. There is no intention of a meditative walk. There is nothing planned at all. We just go down by the sea at Reef Bay on Mayne Island for no reason at all…

By the Sea by Terrill Welch 2013_05_06 006

I mean, if you had a choice to join us on a day like this, even or maybe especially for no reason,  wouldn’t you?

As we watch, the sea seems to fold into the seagull-decorated landscape.

Sea Folds  by Terrill Welch 2013_05_06 147

I sit for a long while just enjoying. Then there is this portrait view that eventually surfaces in my conscious awareness. I know it will be translated into a painting even before I pick up the camera to frame the scene. I debated with myself about whether to show you the photograph that became my main painting reference as it is just that – a reference which anchored my experience long enough to get to my paints, brushes and canvas. But I know how much you like to see these glimpses of inspiration, so here it is…

No reason referrence by Terrill Welch 2013_05_06 032

The painting has been released over on Terrill Welch Artist in today’s post

“NO REASON Canadian west coast oil painting by Terrill Welch“

However, here it is again for your viewing pleasure: Canadian west coast 12 x 10 inch oil on canvas oil painting study – NO REASON.

No Reason 12 x 10 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2013_05_20 008

UPDATE May 24, 2013: This painting has SOLD.

What have you done lately for no reason?

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Working on THE EDGE can offer some interesting possibilities

There is a sandstone bluff, battered by the wind and sea but also hosts a familiar arbutus tree on its top most tip. THE EDGE, a rare large, long-lean 48 X 24 inch oil on canvas painting to out of my studio. In fact, I almost couldn’t reach the top when it was on the easel and had to squat yoga style to paint the bottom quarter of the canvas. Further more, it was not possible to paint it upstairs on my French Box easel. This canvas called for taking over the great room with my large portable easel which I have had since graduating from high school.  Shall we have look at how it all came about?

The Edge work in progress 1

As usual I am not all that keen on sketching in my compositions and prefer either a loose underpainting or just a few paint lines to guide me. In this case, I chose a few paint lines to get started before starting to added in some blues for the sky and other patches on the canvas.

The Edge work in progress 2

It most certainly doesn’t look like much yet. But I am hopeful and the day is young.

The Edge work in progress 3

The deliberate addition of red in these specific areas of the canvas will serve two purposes. The first is to pull out the red pigment that is already part of the stones and the bottom of the trunk of the arbutus tree. The second is to gradual in a very subtle way bring in the warmth of the evening light over the whole of the scene. It is now time to start building up some colour blocks and just get that paint on the canvas!

The Edge work in progress 4

This particular stage in any painting is the most demanding. The paint catches on the dry canvas and seems to drag the paint off the brush. On a canvas this size it seems to take forever to build up the bulk of the painting so it can be completed alla prima or wet-in-wet.

The Edge work in progress 5

My body starts to physically tire from the long stretches of painting and reaching to move across the whole canvas as I work. The day moves on hour after hour. I break for lunch. I move the canvas around a bit to keep it out of the direct sun coming through the skylight. I then keep going until finally – it comes alive. Shiny and wet I can now leave it to rest.

The Edge work in progress 6

In the morning I make a few more adjustments and remove it from the great room downstairs and place it on a chair to lean against the wall in the loft studio.

The Edge 48 x 24 chilling back in loft studio E7C16EC0-1691-4E3C-82E0-32502C2CD411

I look at it for a few more days and decide it is done!

One of the hard things about a painting this size is to give it enough context that a viewer can imagine what kind of space it will take up once it is hung. So I took one last photograph before calling the work-in-progess on THE EDGE painting complete.

The Edge in the cob courtyard by Terrill Welch 2013_05_08 006

(Updated December 13, 2015 following a reworking of this painting)

After my confidence that this work was completed, done, finished, I came back to it for another painting session. Here it is in the great room following its most recent transformation.

The Edge still on the easel in the studio of Canadian Artist Ter

The Edge still on the easel in the studio of Canadian Artist Terrill Welch

The final image along with links to a detailed view and purchase information are available at Terrill Welch Artist in the post “The Edge and At The Beach Another Time – Canadian landscape paintings”

The post includes the release of a second painting and a quick nod to two more that are now safely in their new homes.

 

What Edges have you contemplated recently?

 

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

 

Magnolias and the Galloping Art Work

Magnolias how varied and lovely are your blooms. Some as white as white

white as white by Terrill Welch 2013_04_07 130

and others so pink as to be purple.

Deep in the Pink magnolia by Terrill Welch 2013_04_07 063

Small shrubs or large trees and star or plump petals you are always special to me.

Plump Magnolia Petals by Terrill Welch 2013_04_07 087

 

Magnolias, may you give me courage to share the predicament of the art work which is galloping out of the studio as shown in today’s Terrill Welch Artist website post “More Canadian Landscape Paintings by Terrill Welch SOLD!” Four more oil paintings and a medium-size fine art photography print to be exact. This brings the total to eight paintings and three photography prints sold since the middle of January. It may not sound like much but it represents several thousands of dollars of art work going off to new homes.

I was asked by a dinner guest on the weekend how it felt to have my work meet with such success. I replied with a raised eyebrow and a soft shrug. You see, it is really not particularly comfortable to be in the lime light of my selling art work. Rather than being a comfort, I instead, feel a sense of panic and almost anxiety. Over the years, I haven’t been able to nail what this is about but definitely recognized the repeating result of the experience. I finally replied to my guest that it must be like other artistic expressions. Once a song is released or a book published or a painting sold it often feels like an ending rather than a beginning for the creator. There is an irrational fear that it is the last “good” one and that there will be no more. Silly I know. However, I can attest to the actuality of this emotion. Since I have been selling my art work from the time I was fourteen years old, I wish I could say it is getting easier over time but this is not so. Thankfully, the feeling only lasts until the next painting is off the easel or the next photography print is made available for purchase. Balance and clarity is then restored until the next sale. Odd isn’t it?

Well, let’s get started with balance…

Study in White Star Magnolia

study in wihite star magnolia by Terrill Welch 2013_04_07 191

(Image available for detailed viewing and purchase HERE)

 

If you are comfortable sharing, what quirky anxiety accompanies your creative success?

 

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

 

The Story of the Swamp Lantern

Swamp lantern is a beautiful name for our wild western skunk cabbage or Lysichiton americanus. My first experience with this smelly beauty was when I was five years old and I was walking with my mother in the early evening along a logging skid trail.

Swamp Lantern by Terrill Welch 2013_03_23 408

We were living in our small portable bunk house right on the edge of the logging landing where the cats skidded the logs in and the loaders loaded them up on the logging trucks for their long trip from the middle-of-no-where in Cariboo country British Columbia to the sawmill in Williams Lake. The close proximity to the working logging area meant that we had to stay inside the small two room cabin on skids during working hours. How my mother did this with two young children and a baby I can’t even begin to image.

Skunk Cabbage by Terrill Welch 2013_03_23 392

My mother loved to be outside as much as we did so when the whistle blew and the last machine shut down we were out the door and walking the nearest skid trail that went through the swamp area behind the landing and then beyond. In the low light of the heavily treed forest, infused with dank freshly turned earth, next to the pungent swamp, is where I encountered my first swamp lantern. Gorgeous!

skunk cabbage early spring by Terrill Welch 2013_03_23 386

The blossom petals are an unbelievably bright, almost opaque yellow accompanied by cabbage-like exotic tropical foliage. Each plant also has a distinctively phallic stamen that is somehow unavoidable more pronounced in any compositional photograph than when in the presence of  the plant itself. However, all in all, this is a most beautiful native announcement of early spring. But after these beauties have been blooming for a while – the smell! Once it has traveled up your nasal passages, you will never, ever forget – skunk cabbage!

swamp beauty by Terrill Welch 2013_03_23 357

Our western variety is not good to eat because as it contains calcium oxalate crystals which would be much like eating crushed glass. This caution does not apply if you are a bear. The swamp lantern or skunk cabbage is an important part of bear’s spring laxative tonic when it come out of hibernation.

The plants large, waxy leaves were important to indigenous people for food preparation and storage. They were commonly used to line berry baskets and to wrap around whole salmon and other foods when baked under a fire. It is also used to cure sores and swelling.

reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysichiton_americanus

 

What wild spring flowers are powerful connections to one of your childhood memories?

 

P.S. Three more paintings have sold over the weekend but I will tell you more about this in another post soon. All the best of Easter Monday to you!

 

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Finding the Rhythm of the Sea in oil on canvas in the art studio

Painting en plein air is wonderful and the easiest way to feel your landscape through the paintbrush and onto the canvas. However, weather and the size of the a work does not always make this the most practical approach. So I photograph my subjects from various perspectives. Then using sometimes years of memory about a subject along with a series of reference images, I am then prepared to work on a specific landscape in my small studio. This canvas is a good size at 20 x 40 inches. Finished paintings and blank canvases are going to have to squeeze in their edges and squish together to make room for this fellow.

ipad studio shot by Terrill Welch March 12  2013

While I am getting the set up and the painting roughed in I thought I would answer a question for you. I am often asked about how I get my ideas for my photographs and paintings. The most honest answer is that the ideas find me as I observe my everyday life. I capture and paint what I notice, what I see, feel, smell and hear. I am influenced by events that are happening in my life. If I am mournful, excited or weary it will show up in what I notice. What is most relevant is my daily practice of noticing. The ideas are always there. My primary task is to notice and to act on what I notice. Today’s work comes from a moment in September a few years ago when the sea rolled itself with eloquent expression onto the shore at Edith Point. Let’s rough it in and see what we have.

in progress Rhythm of the Sea by Terrill Welch ipad studio shot March 12 2013

You may notice that I do not sketch my work onto the canvas. This is something I have never done as I prefer to make some basic marks with paint and then paint up an underpainting to guide me. Sometimes this underpainting is a complementary colour. Other times, such as this one, I stay close to the palette that will become the finished painting.

Much of the scene is in a late afternoon shadow, and the haze is heavy from the smoke of forest fires. The rhythm of the sea and the simplicity of the moment is so strong that my brush seems to know the path by heart. Hours pass with nothing but my humming and the sound of the palette knife mixing paint and the brush applying it to the canvas. The light is past its prime in the studio. I need some distance. Shall we carefully take the wet thing outside and have a look?

Rhythm of the Sea 20 x 40 inch work  in progress oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2013_03_13 009

It is coming I think, but will have to sit until tomorrow now. My body is stiff and a bit tired from standing and reaching most of the day, but it feels good. I have intimately noticed the rhythm of the sea.

I want to continue to work wet-on-wet or alla prima on this canvas so I begin again the next afternoon and work with the studio lights until very late into the evening. Finally, the painting comes to rest.

Rhythm of the Sea Edith Point resting 20 x 40 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2013_03_14 015

Resting is an observable and intuitive state of a painting’s development. It is when the elements of the painting have found their place on the canvas in relationship to each other. Yet, they are still alive with energy and vitality. In this case, the sea is still rolling forward onto the shore. The trees are still tingling from the days sun. The rocks are releasing their summer heat as the water charges across their surface. I am there. You are there. The salt spray is moist on our skin and the rhythm of the sea matches our breath, our heartbeat, and answers a call to all that is knowable.

The resting period is also a time to critically view the painting with fresh eyes. Is there anything odd or irritating that can be corrected? Is there anything that can  strengthen the expression of the piece? Does the painting work? Is it finished? This process of evaluation can happen in a minute or it may take weeks. For this painting I left it for seven days while I was away. I came home and looked at it and decided it is done, finished. A final photograph is required and then it will be released over at Terrill Welch Artist later in the week.

First, I must get a new show ready to hang at the Green House Restaurant here on Mayne Island. Here is a short video from my home studio sharing sneak preview of the 18 paintings that will be shown…

Well, that is it for a week in the life of this artist.

What does a week in the life of your creativity include?

I so much look forward to hearing from you.

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

West Coast Blues in photography and painting

Yes, my yes! We do have sun! I am always fascinated how our west coast blues means a bright sunny day to me and yet often other will comment that it looks rather cold 🙂

West Coast Blues rolling waves Oyster Bay Mayne Island by Terrill Welch 2013_03_03 094

Of course it is a bit brisk for sure but not cold. I am wearing only a sweater as I press myself as close to the water as possible…

West Coast Blues Oyster Bay Mayne Island by Terrill Welch 2013_03_03 229

(Image is available in my Redbubble storefront HERE)

Ah the Salish Sea and our west coast blues. Oyster Bay on Mayne Island has never been more compelling. I love how these moments so easily connect land, sea and sky as one. What a morning!

Of course the very next day… I just had to take out my brushes. It was something that just must be done!

WEST COAST BLUES study 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas

West Coast Blues study resting 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch SOLD 2013_03_04 020

In less than 24 hours after this painting study was completed it has been sold. It never made it to being posted in its work-in-progress   “resting” state on my Creative Potager blog. Nor did it make it to being posted as “released” on my Terrill Welch Artist website. The buyer scooped it up from its post on Facebook yesterday. Still to wet to move, its new home is waiting for its eventual arrival. This kind of early sale of a still-wet oil painting seems to be happening more frequently than one might expect.

What do these early sales of wet paintings mean for buyers and collectors watching and waiting for “their painting” to come off of my easel?

My advice would be to make an offer as soon as you are sure about a painting. But even if a painting disappears before you get the chance to make an offer, have faith that, in time, I shall paint another you will find suitable. Or a buyer can commission a size and subject matter for a painting that they would like. Because of my painting style and my general character, I do not do specific commissions where the end result is predetermined by the buyer. Canvas size and subject are about as far as I can commit.

The other stickler that sometimes keeps buyers waiting until after the painting they would like has sold is of course  – money. Even my smaller studies are pricy and are due to increase in price again by the end of the month. However, for buyers where there is some level of  mutual trust, I can do a lay-away purchase option where the painting is purchased in three equal payments (or by some other agreeable payment plan)  and is then delivered to the buyer when the last payment has been received. As a full-time artist and photographer, this option has always been a win-win for both me and the purchaser. If I have a few sales being made by this method, then there is always the known expectation of funds coming in and the paintings are more accessible for purchase by the buyer.

Well, enough about all that! Many thanks to all who enjoy and support my paintings and photography that are mostly of the west coast of Canada.

What creative Blues do you find most inspiring?

P.S. New Featured Oil Paintings are up at Terrill Welch Artists.

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Wanted alive not perfect – still life painting with Paul Cézanne

There is an immediacy to painting still life that is even more evident than when painting landscapes. The subjects are closer to the painter and therefore the light moves even quicker when painting alla prima or wet-on-wet then when painting the sea or the forest using the same method. But it is my favourite way to paint and with the west coast being so perpetually grey this winter, I wanted some colour. So colour we shall have!

I grab some available subjects and pulled them together on the kitchen counter and then I snug my old easel up to it. After roughing it a view lines with paint, I am ready to begin.

defining the canvas space for Wine vase pears lemons and blood oranges  by Terrill Welch 2013_02_09 041

The newsprint is intended to help keep the subject close to us and to provide additional reflected light and lightness to the composition. In the end, as you will see, I let go of some of this in favor of more depth and warmth. With an afternoon of painting large loose brush strokes of delicate colour, we come to about here.

set for wine vase with pears lemons and blood oranges by Terrill Welch 2013_02_09 052

There is something about a still life for the impressionist painter that brings home the need to render it alive rather than perfect. If in doubt follow the light and colour. This is what I tell myself anyway – render the light and get it alive.  It is not my idea but the wise perspective of Paul Cézanne. I set it aside to “rest” and at bedtime it looked something like this.

Wine vase pears lemons and blood oranges resting 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2013_02_09 072

I mean “something like “because every time I looked at the painting I made an adjustment. While the painting was “resting” I cleanup the still life set up, eat one of the pears and set a blood orange aside for morning. I am not completely happy with the painting yet. There is a lost space on the left that leaves the composition more centered than I would like. I wonder what would Paul Cézanne have to say?

Let’s ask the Web Museum in Paris:

Paul Cézanne, one of the creators of modern art, was called the “solidifier of Impressionism”. And indeed he does not draw his picture before painting it: instead, he creates space and depth of perspective by means of planes of color, which are freely associated and at the same time contrasted and compared. The facets which are thus produced create not just one but many perspectives, and in this way volume comes once again to dominate the composition, no longer a product of the line but rather of the color itself. His still-lifes, in their simplicity and delicate tonal harmony, are a typical work and thus ideal for an understanding of Cézanne’s art.

Most of his pictures are still lifes. These were done in the studio, with simple props; a cloth, some apples, a vase or bowl and, later in his career, plaster sculptures. Cézanne’s still lifes are both traditional and modern. The fruits and objects are readily identifiable, but they have no aroma, no sensual or tactile appeal and no other function other than as passive decorative objects coexisting in the same flat space. They bear no relation to the colorful vegetables of Provence — gorgeous red tomatoes, purple aubergines, and bright green courgettes. In his pursuit of the essence of art, Cézanne had to suppress earthly delights.

(reference: Web Museum Paris at http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/sl which includes several images of his still life paintings)

Well, I am not sure I agree that his paintings “have no aroma, sensual or tactile appeal and no other function other than as passive decorative objects coexisting on the same flat  space.” However, he did focus on using planes of colour and small brushstrokes that build up to form complex fields of viewer recognition. This is what I am after in this painting. But I want to be sure the viewer experiences the life and sustenance of the subject. These bosc pears, sweet lemons and blood oranges are ready for eating. Delicious in fact. How do I get past the idea of decorative? How do I create more weight on the left side of the composition? Ah yes, questions to sleep on.

It is morning. I cut up the blood orange. I look at it. My mind goes into a long pause. I pick up the cutting board with the orange slices still on it and climb the stairs to the studio.

Rightly or wrongly, there are now slices of blood orange slid in beside the rest of the fruit in the painting. Of course, as always, when one things changes in a painting there is the need to change a dozen others. So here it is. Finished. Not perfect but still alive I think.

WINE VASE, PEARS, LEMONS AND BLOOD ORANGES 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas

Wine vase pears lemons and blood oranges resting 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2013_02_10 015

The still live painting’s softness and colour harmony in this morning’s light pleases me. And do have a slice of blood orange. They are delicious! The painting will be released over at Terrill Welch Artist at some point in the future.

What might you be wanting to render alive not perfect?

All the best of Sunday to you and wishing you a marvelous week ahead!

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

Artist Studio in real time

Today my art studio is feeling and looking like a real mess.

Artist's studio table by Terrill Welch 2013_02_03 005

I can see I have paint that has now dried onto my enamel table top. Not very pleasing at all. Nor is the unfinished applications for our expired passport renewals and neither are the stacks of receipts to be sorted for my 2012 tax returns either. However, there are ten completed paintings in my 2013 folder with six still to release. Three paintings have sold already this year and there are enough supplies in the studio to keep going for another few months.

But darn! Every time I think about those pesky administrative tasks, well I just squeeze more paint onto the palette, put another canvas on the easel and turn my back on it for another day. So this week I have made myself a promise. I either do passport applications, sort receipts for the bookkeeper or paint the edges on my big paintings. It is a toss-up which of these three tasks I dislike the most. The outcome is sure to be the ideal result because completing any three of these tasks this week will be a win.

Now, how might I set up the last of my large 60 x 36 inch canvases to do that fir tree painting I have been thinking about? Oh! Yeah. Hum. Must wait until edges, passport and tax files are completed….

The artist’s  slumps a few inches closer to the studio floor her face longer than the gray winter day outside the window.  Then, squaring her shoulders, she begins cleaning the studio. It is Sunday after all. No one does paper work or painting of edges on Sunday. Do they?

What is your least favourite “must do” task and how do you get it done?

And an ever so slightly more cheerful note, here is one of the newest paintings that is yet to be released.

At Dusk 10 x 12 oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2013_02_03 019

AT DUSK 10 x 12 inch oil on canvas will be released over at Terrill Welch Artist later this week along with at least a couple more that are also in the completed folder. All paintings that are currently available can be viewed in the Artsy Home online gallery HERE.

© 2013 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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

Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com

New painting Released

New Painting released today.

Terrill Welch's avatarTerrill Welch

I remember the sea, and the soft rush of water as it comes ashore. I remember the heaviness of the rocks and the salty dampness of winter seaweed. I feel the coolness of the air and the cry of the gulls.

REEF BAY MORNING EXPERIENCED  is an 14 x 18 inch alla prima or wet-on-wet seascape painting with the quiet strength that is part of any peaceful west coast day.

Reef Bay morning experienced 11 x 14 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch 2012_12_20 016

(Detailed viewing and purchase information is available HERE)

A Sunday seems like a perfect release day for this new work that was completed late in 2012 and right in the heart of the gray that prevails during the short wet winter days. Yet is somehow a hopeful painting, one that fills me with resilience and inner strength against mounting melancholy. This is the kind of creative environment that feeds my creative muse and stills self-doubt with swift observation and…

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