DSFDF Portrait Challenge

Submitted this to the DSFDF just under the deadline wire. I wasn't able to participate in the portrait challenge last year, so I was really pleased to be able to this year. Looks like there were 180 artists to participate this year!! Check it out:Different Strokes From Different Folks hosted by artist Karin Jurick.

New Year's resolution: to double the number of blog paintings in 2010!

All the best in 2010!

Back in the Saddle

I thought that I would do piles of paintings while recovering from my fracture. No where near! Recovery meant no weight on the leg for 6 weeks, so I was on crutches. The first few weeks, I only wanted to sleep, and getting around on crutches takes an enormous amount of energy. It takes about 8 times as long to do the simplest of things - make breakfast, get dressed etc. Impossible to carry anything like a cup of coffee while on crutches!

But with the help of many wonderful people picking up the reins and helping me out, I am pretty functional again. It's 8 weeks today, and I am going to start dog walking again next week (Yikes!!). I will have some help, and will be wearing my icers. I did a trial run last weekend, and it was not too bad, and my dog Jade was overjoyed to be romping in the park again.

I did a couple of commissioned paintings, however. Here is the cat, Luna.

9x12" Oil on canvas

A Bit of a Tumble

I am hoping to start painting again on the weekend.

Last week while walking dogs, I got knocked over by a couple of rambunctious young dogs (one of them I was walking). They were coming at me full tilt, and I thought that they would go around me but no, they (collectively 125 lbs.) ran straight into my left leg. I have a fractured tibia. Luckily there were lots of people around, one of them a man who is a fireman, and knows how to deal with emergencies. A couple of the other dog walkers acted as crutches for me, and I hobbled closer to the parking lot. We were still quite far from it, (of course, we were at the far end of the 25 acre field when I wiped out!), and Scott the fireman went to get my car to drive into the field to get me. He put the dogs in the back of my SUV, delivered them to their respective houses and gave them each a cookie. Then he drove me home, parked my car in the garage and called an ambulance. Caroline, another dog walker came to my place to take Scott back to his truck.

The bottom line is that I have to be off my feet for 6 weeks. I will start doing some painting over the weekend, after I have had a few more days to get used to being on crutches, and have had a chance to reorganize my studio to accommodate my leg which needs to be elevated. Hopefully I will be able to take advantage of this time to paint!
CG

Palace Motel

This is from a photo that I took in the 80's before there was a lot of condo development on the Toronto waterfront. This motel looks like it's from the 30's or 40's - kind of art deco style. I could have corrected the distortion that makes the telephone wires and the sign to lean to the right, but I thought it added some interest to the composition. You wouldn't believe how I struggled with the clouds, and in fact this painting took me a lot longer than normal.

9x12" Oil on Raymar cotton panel

Golden

Summer is just a memory now, but I will reach into my vacation photos as the weather becomes more inclement.

6x8" oil on Raymar cotton panel
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Contemplation

A couple contemplates Lake Ontario.

6x8" Oil on Raymar cotton panel

Back Door Sunrise

Every once in a while, as I am letting my dog out early (6am or thereabouts), there is a miracle in progress, and I am lucky enough to witness it. Even though I live in a large city, nature is still very much in evidence. I dashed in the house to get my camera, and thankfully it the battery was charged up, and there was space on my memory card. There was no time to fiddle around, and this beautiful sky had changed within 3 or 4 minutes!

6x6" Oil on gessoed masonite
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