Yellow Bearded Iris

A nice flower that also makes a nice painting. I added the bud from another picture and I think it compliments and makes the painting more interesting. This painting is a watercolour and is painted on Arches water colour board, a relatively new offering from Arches. It is watercolour paper with a type of matt board backing. The size is 16 by 20 and doesn't need to be stretched.

Iris: 8x 10

I've been working on changing, not so much the way I paint but what I paint.

My wife nagged me for years to paint flowers so to prove that I do listen from time to time here is an Iris on water colour paper using watercolour, acrylic gouache and gold and copper metal leaf. I'm fairly satisfied with this one.

The Richness of Nature

Something new and out of the ordinary. This watercolour is 5 x 7" and the background is gilded with metal that is made from a silver colour and a gold colour, it is not precious metal but silver-made of aluminum and a variety of gold coloured metals-although it doesn't show on this scan the metal also has blue and copper colours in it as well. It was painted on a piece 200# Fabriano watercolour paper. The metal is glued to the paper. And although I don't normally leave the pencil marks on a painting, I like the look of this one. One thing, it takes a lot of patience and care to work with this metal because it is extremely fragile.

Iris 2

Another attempt of mixed media watercolour, acrylic Gouache and Metal leaf. The drawing is somewhat exaggerated I'll probably redo it or one like it. It has possibilities.

Early Spring

A site that was crying to be painted. Painted with watercolour during a moderate winter, I thought it was a nice barn worth remembering. It's gone now, replaced by rows and rows and rows of new houses that all look the same. Most people who live there now will never know or imagine what was there before them. Well this is what you replaced but then nothing lasts forever and at some point the homes you live in will also be replaced.

All Stones Canyon, Alberta

This is a canyon in the Rockey Mountains near the Big Horn Dam. As you can see, the rock formations in this canyon are really unusual. They seem to have been twisted and pulled like toffee. Although the rock was red I did exaggerate the colour somewhat, near the base there are small veins of coal. Traveling in this area one has to be aware of and on the lookout for grizzlies. In a small box canyon, not a good place to meet one.

The medium is watercolour and pencil crayon. Watercolour was used in the sky and as a base for the pencil crayons.

Preparing for the next ride

This particular drawing is of a rodeo cowboy preparing his saddle and visualizing his next ride on a wild, red eyed bronc. This was from a photo I took at Swan River in Northern Manitoba.