Pen and Ink drawing, Van Gogh Grey, by Kim Blair

Van Gogh Grey
6x9 pen and ink

Creating pen and ink studies helps to keep my drawing muscles limber while freeing up my thought process.  The process of working with ink is immediate and permanent, which seems the opposite of freeing... but, in a strange way it is liberating to create a variety of marks that magically morph into an image you are trying to interpret.  Just think about the freedom of doodling...
  
Van Gogh Grey was created using an image I photographed of dried sunflowers... yet this image of sunflower heads that Vincent painted kept popping into my head... what can I say... the man inspires me!

Gloxinia, by Kim Blair



Another painting shipped off to a good home... what more can a painter ask for?  I know she will be well cared for and loved.

Gloxinias were discovered in Columbia and Venezuela in 1739.

A relative of the African Violet family it prefers similar growing conditions, so when your gloxinia plant stops flowering, just be patient, it will soon be flowering again.  If you have a green thumb with violets, you probably will have good luck with  a gloxinia.  Velvety bell shaped flowers with scalloped edges, and broad fuzzy green foliage add up to the unique characteristics of this luxurious plant.  The blooms are gorgeous... I found myself compelled to touch them... they feel like a swatch of fine velvet fabric.

SOLD
12x12 oil on canvas.

Three Fruits, by Kim Blair




These 3 fruit paintings sold today, and are on their way to hang together in a beautiful kitchen!

Foiled Cherries, Green Lights, and Blood Oranges... all in a row.

Each painting was created by placing the fruit on tin foil to capture the vibrant abstracted color reflections and then I painted them in oils on stretched canvas, all are 10x10 squares and will probably be hung as you see them here.
Hanging paintings of the same size in groupings creates lots of display possibilities, because you have the option of changing the order... or not.

Sort of like re-arranging your furniture for fun, and then wait to see if anyone notices.  In my experience people often think you have purchased something new, when really all you did was switch the location of something.




Pen and Ink Drawing, Shades of Grey, Kim Blair

Shades of Grey
6x9 pen and ink on wc paper


Sunflowers have many lives.  From summer buds, to sunny golden edged blooms, to dried seed heads... each stage has its own beauty, and it is the dried seed heads that intrigue me the most.

Sure, I love bright colors, but the nuances of grey in this pen and ink piece speak volumes about the life this flower has led.  Her back and neck are bent from months of working hard to support the weight of her magnificent seed head, and the frail crisp leaves dangling from her stalk offer hints of their past glory.  

The Japanese term, 'Wabi Sabi' comes to mind... the beauty in imperfection.
You can find it everywhere you look...

Made in Canada, Two Oil Paintings, by Kim Blair




Original art makes a lovely gift... especially when it is 'made in Canada!'
(I am happy to say that both are sold and going to a good home)


Art is often one of the first subjects to but dropped from a school's curriculum when the budget needs trimming, and I am concerned that this shortsighted practice may dull the creative potential and problem solving skills of future generations.  Isn't education about expanding the use of our whole brain... both the left and the right side?
Otherwise we could become 'lopsided' thinkers, which may lead to 'lopsided' decisions...


*I wrote an art manifesto, the link is posted at the top of my blog... it's easy to find since it is labelled 'My Art Manifesto.'





Pen and Ink Drawing of a Sunflower, Gothic Sun, Kim Blair



Gothic Sun
6x9 pen & ink on watercolor paper

Can't you just imagine a bat or two swooping past this sunflower on a moonlight night?  If you click on the image your imagination can run wild with the thoughts of a few spiderwebs dangling from the leaves...  and the spiky jagged points on the petals and edges of the leaves could resemble the ragged hem of a ghoulish frock.

(It was a full moon last night... or was I the only one up at 3:00 in the morning?)

A little bit of Goth anyone?  

Orange Lilies, Orange Asiatics (Section),Kim Blair

Orange Asiatics (Section)
oil on canvas


I have a fondness for orange... and when I painted this (previously) 24 x18 oil painting of orange asiatic lilies I was especially fond of the way the lilies turned out.  But the rest of the painting haunted me... it never felt right, so I tucked it away in a storage room.  Last Saturday I revisited the painting and took the artistic liberty of 'downsizing' the canvas to the section that really appealed to me... the orange lilies.  Now I will either re-stretch this section onto new stretcher bars, or have it framed, and hang it in our home... they will look so cheery on one of our cream dinning room walls!  Sometimes we can find little treasure tucked away in closets...

It feels good to recycle!