Hush!

One of my latest paintings, Hush! A Cougar looks on from its' resting place on top of a rock. This kind of image is only something you would have the opportunity to see off the main road.

A fast and beautiful member of the cat family. The cougar also known as the mountain lion or puma. The cougar is closely related to smaller cats, including the domestic cat, than it is to any of the subspecies of lion. The cougar prefers the dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but can and will also live in open areas.

As I have said in the past I love to paint images of Canada, images that are seen on a drive out of the city, into the country and onto the road far less traveled. Canada's beauty is, in my opinion best seen on a hike, a canoe trip down a river or around a lake
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As a kid I went for many a bike ride into an undeveloped area of the town I lived in, went for hikes up the Niagara Escarpment. Love to sail the waters around Vancouver Island when I was older and deeply appreciated our cottage near Perth Ontario that had a road like a goat path that lead into it.

I have never been in favor life in big cities and have always liked a more country style life, that is only part of the reason Julie and I live in the Kawartha Lakes region with our children and dogs.

Wilkie Fine Art Calendar

Waiting for me in my email this morning was a request from a U.K. Publishing company asking me to come up with images for a calendar of my art work. It would be available world wide. They would make sure that the images I submit would be of high enough quality to produce a good quality calendar. 

Every artist wants to be able to sell their artwork and have seen by many people. I have been honoured in the past with requests from national organizations to participate in charitable auctions. I have no idea how many calendars with my art work displayed on its pages would sell. It is an honour to be asked.

Here is the image they mentioned in the email as one they would like included. 

A New Work In Progress

I have a new piece that I have been working on. A cougar on top of a rock watching, waiting. A pice may take a week, a month the time varies depending on the subject and he size of the canvas. I may set it aside when it is partially done so that I can decide what is the best way to proceed and with which brushes. I rarely throw an old brush out because the old brush ay be good in its worn out state to be used for creating different parts of landscape, rocks, leaves on a tree etc. 

This painting has been two weeks in the making so far. It will be another week or so before I finish. It won't be done until I have looked at the image in its near finished form and decide on any areas needing more attention. 

This next painting is at the point I am looking at it for finishing touches, details needing attention. Once I have completed these I will post them here and on a few other websites, like Fine Art America, Artfinder and on our website that I am working on updating, A Frame Studios.

Watch my blog for more.

Why I Paint.

I started painting as a hobby when I was a teen, living at home in Grimsby Ontario. I was surrounded by artistic people. My mom Shirley painted and was very good at her craft, sadly it was short lived as she passed away too early in life. My brother Ron is also an artrist and still paints today, he shares our website www.aframestudios.ca Ron is an excellent artist he paints in both oils and watercolours. Most of his work today is in watercolours.

I have used painting as a form of stress relief and as a way to relax. I find painting totally relaxing. I love to paint images of my country, Canada. There is so much to be seen in Canada, we have a wide and varied landscape. The best way to see it is to travel the country and not just the highways. I recommend to get off the highways and take the back roads, the dirt roads, rivers and many lakes there are in this big beautiful country. Go for a hike, walk he pathways, ride a bike down the Terry Fox Trail that follows a lot of old railway trails.

I want my art to be seen by many people, and hope it inspires people to look at Canada in a different way. Canada is my inspiration. Part of my art work has been on canoe paddles. The canoe was used to explore the country before Canada was Canada, what better way to display the beauty of Canada than on a canoe paddle. I have painted well over 500 paddles, most were custom created for collectors across Canada. All of these paddles were scenes from across Canada, parks, farms, town halls, train stations and more/

I challenge everyone to look at this country, the beauty of it, the awesome lakes and mountains, the beauty of the wildlife.

Here are a couple of  my paintings of Canada.

One is Mystic Beach on Vancouver Island.

Stormy Sheringham - Sheringham Lighthouse, Vancouver Island

A great way to see this country, in a canoe. While paddling around you can set the paddle down, hang your feet over the side and start "Relaxing".

My Canada, an awesome country waiting to be explored and discovered.

Old Favourites Still Gain Attention

In my last post I displayed an older painting of mine, "At The Cottage". I painted this piece back in 2010, I posted it on my web site and Fine Art America. The original was sold to a collector in Vancouver, prints of the painting are still available. This has been one of my most popular pieces, the number of times it has been viewed on my website and other sites continues to grow. 

This is the first of my paintings to have received so much attention. A number of comments had been made about how welcoming and inviting the painting seemed.

Another piece that has gained almost the same attention is "Mystic Beach" which is based on an image of Mystic Beach on Vancouver Island. It was painted in 2011,  when I posted it I had a number of comments made about how it seemed like you could almost walk into the painting. The original was sold to a collector in Ottawa, and yes prints are available. 

Both of these paintings were painted a few years ago, but remain popular today. They are among some of my earlier works that I can see a change in my style. I keep working at every painting, feeling I learn something new with every piece I paint. Every artist works at their craft, every artist develops with every new piece they work on. This is true whether it is a piece that has been; sewn, written, painted, carved or another style of art.

As an encourage for other look at your personal choice of craft, look at your early works, look at others as well. You will see development over time. Some people will encourage you, others will point out flaws, some may be totally discouraging about your work. Don't allow comments by others to take your focus off what you are doing whether they are positive or negative. Allow yourself time to develop, become more creative in your style. Keep working your craft.