Category Archives: landscapes

Paintings of mostly Quebec, Eastern Township, Charlevoix, Kamouraska and frontier of Ontario/Quebec.

February 2019

This month I have donated a painting for the silent auction at the Annual Valentine’s Charity Ball a fundraiser by the Freemasons of Ottawa to take place on February 9th, 2019 at Centurion Conference and Event Centre, Ottawa. There is a wide selection of articles up for grabs. The super grand prize is an African Safari. All proceeds of this auction will be split equally among – the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health- Do it for Daron Initative, Bruyère Foundation and Roger Neilson House. More info at valentines.ottawamasons.ca

Below is my oil painting, gallery sized cotton canvas, 30 inches by 30 inches completed in 2019. To be part of this silent auction on February 9, 2019.

Row boats for Rent, oil, 30×30, 2018

When I am on the road and not in my studio my choice of art tools are a quarter sheet of  watercolour paper, 3 brushes, small metal palette filled with pigments and a collapsible waterproof sac from Hachem art supplies in Quebec.

Here are a few watercolour sketches completed in the last week

Sunflowers, watercolour, 1/4 sheet, 2019

Juice Bar, Mercado, watercolour, 1/4 sheet, 2019

Pork Stall, Mercado, watercolour, 1/4 sheet, 2019

Summer 2018- July

 

Linda Denis, Autour du Marais, oil on canvas, 30×30, 2018

This summmer I will be the artist in residence at the Galerie 2 Barn Owls, Aug.24 – Sept 2, hours Fri-Sat 10-5 and Sun 11-4, at 420 Main, Hudson, Qc. Vernissage August 24, 5-7pm. Please come and enjoy my art. There will be mostly Quebec landscapes paintings, on a scale of 36×24 or 30×30 completed on canvas with oil or acrylics.

Invitation 2 Barn Owls 2018

This past week I renewed my acquaintance with artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) with a book among many given by my friend and artist Nasco. What I appreciated from this book was the journey of an artist. The Black Bull,(1900-01, oil on canvas, private collection), then the sophisticated decorative portraits like Danäe (1907-08, oil on canvas, private collection) and his mesmerizing landscapes of dense parallel horizontal and vertical colours.

A few years ago, Carole Segal would open her studio and provide a model dressed in the character of well known icons by famous artists. One of these was a model dressed in the fashion of Klimt portraiture. As an aside, I appreciated her kind words “we just started “ when I arrived late and tried to find my spot among many. Montreal morning traffic has not improved. Here is my version found in my studio.

Study, Carole’s studio model in the image of Klimt, oil on canvas, 36×24, 2002

 

July 2017

Plein Air, Greenwood House, Hudson, Quebec, 2017

“When clouds appear like towers the earth is refreshed with showers”. Throughout Quebec this summer we know this saying; we have daily downpours, showers and thunderstorms but regardless we find dry time to sketch outdoors.

Linda Drewry continues her Tuesday plein air outing  This past Tuesday we sketched at Greenwood House, Hudson, Quebec. Most of us have tried several times to paint this house and we always manage to miss or misplace a dormer, forget about aligning roofs, doors and chimneys.  A quote from their website helps explain this source of our problem with the origin and the house’s many roles and additions. Perhaps, we have a partial excuse for our faulty work.

“Jean-Baptiste Sabourin first settled the Greenwood property in 1732. The original Sabourin homestead still stands and forms part of the house. The property remained in Sabourin hands until 1820. At that time, John Mark Crank Delesderniers purchased it. He intended it to be both a residence for his son, Peter Francis Christian, and a general store and trading post. In the 1840’s, it served as the first post office in the area. Greenwood was extended eastward on two occasions, in the 1820’s and again after 1860″.

Now the property and house belongs to the public when the last owner Phoebe Nobbs Hyde left it in her will to the Canadian Heritage of Quebec. For opening hours and events visit their website.

Below are my sketches from the south side of the house.

House and gardens, late morning, watercolour, 2017

 

House and garden in afternoon after four gardeners gave a weed and trim, watercolour, 2017

Charlevoix, Qc, 2017

The region of Charlevoix is a destination for outdoor painters. Canadian landscape painters, Charles Gagnon (1881-1942), James Wilson Morrice (1865- 1924), A.Y. Jackson(1882-1974), Bruno Côte (1940-2010) to name only a few, have painted here.

For us this year, no snow storm, freezing rain or bone chilling winds to hinder us. The morning is warm and sunny, we stop to visit at “Le Forgeron ” which is located half way up the hillside overlooking the village of  Saint-Irénée. We are welcomed with an offer of coffee, parking for the day and a panoramic view of the village and St. Lawrence River. Kindness of this sort is greatly appreciated.

St.Irénée, watercolour, 2017

By the afternoon the weather is holding with sun and a clear vista. I decided to drive to the village of Saint-Joseph-de-Rive and then sketched the row of houses on the northside of the railway tracks.

Houses on the north side of the tracks, watercolour, 2017

However, the following day rain and fog are threatening but hold off for the morning. Just enough sketching time in the village of Baie Saint Paul.

Ice Jam in the Bay, watercolour, 2017

Western Skyline, Baie Saint Paul, watercolour

On our final day we travelled north to Saint-Hilarion and Le Pied-des-Mont. We settled on the hill looking down on Ferme Caprivoix. We see the snow showers in the distance moving slowly in our direction, so time to paint.

Ferme Caprivoix, watercolour, 2017

My friend and wholesale supplier of Caran d’arch water brushes presented me with a new tool for sketching. This water brush pen has a 15ml fibre brush and a 20ml reservoir. It is a practical tool with the reservoir providing enough water from the pump to pool on the paper before adding pigments or alternatively squeezing the tip and then dipping in pigment to draw fine lines. Another good addition for minimal equipment when you need to travel light.

Village House, Les Eboulements, watercolour, 2017

If you visit the area ” a must see “is Les Jardins de Quatre-Vents, Malbaie ( tickets sold out for summer 2017). A documentary, The Gardener, 2016  by Sebastien Chabot is available for viewing this summer throughout Quebec and Canada.  A wonderful film about a world class garden, right in our back yard.

 

You can follow  Sebastien Chabot on Facebook for up to date information on the film.

Sculpt in Charlevoix , August 27, 2017  from noon, Domaine Forget, Saint Irénée, Sculpture Garden, Free, families welcome.

Show up and try this art form.

Merry Christmas 2016

Winter is here with days of cold winds and snow squalls. This being said, the train was a good option for a trip to Toronto to see Mystical Landscapes; Monet, van Gogh and More at the Ontario Art Gallery. Toronto is just as cold as Montreal but we decided the 20 minute walk from the train station was just what we needed. As we approached the gallery we enjoy the sweeping glass facade by Canadian born architect Frank Gehry and a huge outdoor sculpture by British Henry Moore. The gallery has over 900 sculptures and works of Henry Moore.

 

OAG, Toronto, photo by Mary Anne Sullivan

Mystical Landscapes has a wide selection of paintings by artists from 15 countries covering the period from 1880 to 1930. The eye catching names of Monet and van Gogh are the show stoppers.

There is a wide interpretation of mystical and spiritual landscapes in the exhibit. For example, Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele Landscape with Ravens, 1911 is dark and raw. Juxtaposition is the French painter Maurice Denis, La solitude de Christ, 1918. Here, the bright warm colour choice for the landscape reinforces the sole figure’s passive position and offers safety to mankind outside the sanctuary of the church. At this time, Europe was experiencing the first war from 1914-1918. Maurice Denis was a Symbolist and theoretican of the Nabis movement. In the same space we look at Post Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin, Vision of the Sermon -Jacob wrestling with the Angels, 1888. The choice of colours and complex religious story made it Gauguin’s first masterpiece. Bought in 1925 for 1,150 pounds by the National Gallery of Scotland it is now one of their finest purchases – Gauguin had offered to give it to the Church of Pont-Aven but “naturally they don’t want it”. The rooms are filled with paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, Piet Mondrian, Edward Munich, James McNeil Whistler, Paul Gaugin and many other lesser known artists.

The Canadian painters; Tom Thomson ( 1877-1917). Lawren Harris (1885-1970), Federick Varley ( 1881-1969) and Emily Carr ( 1871-1945) are well represented and it will be nice to hear the comments from Paris when this show opens on March 13 at the Musee d’Orsay, Paris.

As Christmas nears we celebrated the life of Cleo on our farm. She was a dog of unknown breed found at the SPCA over sixteen years ago.

 

Kleo. pencil sketch of dog

 

Merry Christmas and thanks for your support throughout  2016, Linda