Georgian Bay Landscape Painting

Well, I dug out my acrylics and started painting again, by request. I have to admit, I quite like it. I am, however, working on several things at once and that can lead to small mishaps. Today I was working on both my Landscape Quilt and my painting at the same time. I started out painting and then when I hit a roadblock, I turned to my quilt. A totally different activity. As I worked on the quilt, I would observe the painting and try to work out some of the colours and values. Suddenly, I would feel that I needed to change something on the painting and with fabric in hand I picked up my paint brush and added the detail the painting needed and without even thinking cleaned the paint brush off on the quilt fabric I was holding. Not good. Other times, I've often dipped my paint brush into my coffee cup if it was standing too close to my water bucket. These are little things that make me chuckle at my passion for art.

Well, back to the painting. I chose to do a landscape from the Georgian Bay area with its colourful rocks, expressive skies, cool water and dark moody trees. First of all I had to decide if this painting was going to be about rocks, sky or trees. So I did a couple of sketches to determine that. In the end, I decided to make it about the rocks with a little of the other stuff to compliment them. Below are the sketches and a couple of detail photos. It's nearing completion but it's not quite there yet. I'll have to set it aside to observe for a while and eventually it will let me know what it needs.


The top left sketch is about the trees, the top right is
about the rocks, and the bottom is about the sky.



Landscape Quilt 5

I'm making headway on my Spring Landscape Quilt. It seems odd to be planning a Spring quilt in the Fall, however, the early planning will ensure that it will be ready to hang in the Spring. I have completed the bottom and one side and now am working on the top section. You will see more variety in colours and textures as I work on bringing bushes and other spring flowers to life. The top of the quilt is quite dark and I'm hoping it will set off the red and pink tulips I have placed there. Another thing I have to think of as I'm working is changing my thread colour with the changes in fabric colours. In piecing I use either white or black thread and so when I move from light coloured fabrics to dark fabrics I change my thread to black so the thread will not be evident in the finished product. If I am piecing a light fabric to a dark fabric, I'll use white thread and if it is visible in the finished quilt, I'll just use a dark marker and colour the offending parts.