Ablaze
Ablaze captures the eye with the intense sunset reflecting in the clouds, the water and rocks, appearing in some ways to be setting them on fire.
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Ablaze captures the eye with the intense sunset reflecting in the clouds, the water and rocks, appearing in some ways to be setting them on fire.
Embracing the beauty of moments that come after storms—when everything feels renewed, yet hushed.
🏆 Honourable Mention (Green)
The inspiration image was taken by KJ in the Fall of 2021 as a late afternoon storm approached. The fading sunlight highlighted the wheat stems. The painting is on an old stretcher frame that is 4” deep.
Some autumn-coloured trees on a foggy day in the mountains above Boulder inspired this triptych, loosely painted to suggest the changing season. Tryptich
More than just a depiction of a forest at sunset, this piece captures a moment of quiet transformation and enduring strength.
This is a view from the top balcony of a spacious year-round vacation home on the banks of this man-made lake in the Madawaska region of the Ottawa Valley. The light cast by the setting winter sun on the ice caught my eye.
Serene and contemplative, emphasizing color and texture over distinct forms.
I wanted the clouds and colours of this sky to speak of strength and potential danger, creating awe and even some fear of a coming storm. The painting was inspired by a photo I took of a fabulous sky just after arriving by plane in Cairns on the east cost of Australia.
🏆 Crystal Award (Gallery Ring :Land Sky Water" 🌐)
Blue Horizon #1 is, as named the first in a series of paintings of Lake Huron looking west from the beach in Southampton. The sky and water on a sunny day are magical and can be captured in a variety of styles. I used rough stokes to capture the energy of the clouds and water and kept the shape of Chantry Island purposely blurred.
The big, big skies of Alberta are a perfect background to the yellow and green fields of canola.
Inspired by a tiny side street in Chefchaouen, the “blue town” of Morocco.
🏆 Winner (Blue Art 🌐)
I have featured dynamic reds and pinks with textured brushstrokes and added subtle lines and varied hues to create depth and movement.
Shaking it up a bit and letting my imagination flow
The late afternoon south-facing view from friends’ balcony on St. Clair Avenue in Toronto highlights the busy city but I chose to show how viewers on this treetop aerie can appreciate the human creations amidst nature.
A symphony of lively reds, purples, and cheerful hints of orange come together in an abstract, vibrant tapestry with whimsical depth and spirited movement
Vertical accents of maroon, deep blue, and black suggest an abstracted skyline, grounding the piece while enhancing its sense of movement and mystery.
I focused on the vibrant energy of magenta, adding invigorating yellows and greens to make it come alive. Each layer and brushstroke is a spontaneous expression, encouraging you to find your own story within.
Although not part of my August 2020 show, Namibia Moments at Propeller Gallery I continue to paint from images of my trip. The seemingly endless sand and sky are always a fascination for me.
🏆 Finalist (OPEN 🌐)
The image, courtesy of Graeme Marney is of an old railway bridge and tracks at the head of Baie Verte in northern Nova Scotia that carried trains to the PEI ferry at Cape Tormentine.
A dance of fire and depth, a glimpse into something both fierce and elusive.
This painting reminds me of the relationship between fire and water during the forest fires of 2023. Both can destroy, and both can refresh. Water can smother fire even while fire tries to move around and over it.
🏆 Winner (Blue Art 🌐) • Bronze Award (Abstracts)
This painting’s name came into my head and would not go away. The subject is the view at dusk in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Galehead Hut is the most remote in the Appalachian Mountain Club hut system, with views that are well worth the day’s climb to reach it.
Deep, deep in a sunset there are glimmers of the day's light.
🏆 Participant (You Do You)
The original has been played with to add a more nuanced sky and stronger forest shapes and colours.
Exploring the Madawaska region of Renfrew County in eastern Ontario on a perfect autumn day we drove through this tunnel of golden magic on the Kennelly Mountain Road.
Dusk in Cairns Australia after a storm and the beginning of a lovely evening.
What I imagine the inside of a rainbow would be.
🏆 Honourable Mention (Abstract Art 🌐)
The acacia tree is everywhere in Namibia and is often the only shape to be seen in the desert.
Imagine a vibrant green landscape nestled under a playful pink sky, with a mysterious pink tint in the water replacing the usual blues and greens.
Daylight is fading as night falls, and the first star makes itself known.
Lush Sanctuary‘s blending of colours and textures evokes a moody, atmospheric scene, with an ambiguous light source in the centre. Towering trees stand proudly on both sides like guardians of a secret woodland path or river
The full-sized painting based on the study Marsh Morning, both inspired by a photograph by @GilbertScottHaldane
Mirage speaks of dreams made and lost, futures bright and indeterminate and love’s known and unknown potential.
🏆 Finalist (OPEN 🌐)
I like how a slender streak of cool blue cuts across the warmth, offering a quiet contrast that feels almost like a breath of fresh air.
Inspired by the same sunset cruise as for Okavango Mellow, I kept this small painting very simple with suggestions of light and shadow.
Floating on the Okavango River watching as the light of the setting sun put everything into shadow. I chose to paint it with a very smooth surface and a focus on the light and its reflection in the river.
On Fire reminds us of the heat and light of the fire. While devastating fire is also mesmerizing and awe inspiring. It refreshes and cleanses, warms and comforts us.
Red sky in evening #1 is one of three paintings I made inspired by a photograph taken at Calgary airport. This version focuses on the brightness of the sky.
A vibrant explosion of textured red hues dances like a forest ablaze, setting the scene aglow with an irresistible warmth.
Picture autumn leaves shimmering like they've bathed in a rainbow, dancing on water.
🏆 Finalist (Waters)
An east facing view in early morning when the mist is burning off the as the day warms. Rosedale is home to some of Canada’s wealthiest, and even though Rosedale is located in the middle of Toronto, virtually no vehicular traffic can be heard with the abundance of trees and foliage that surround the community.
Although the colour of the sky is not red it appears somewhat ominous.
I loved the stunning colours in a part of the salty marsh near Swakopmund; almost unbelievable!
The colours are not a figment of my imagination. They originate from variable algae combinations that produce water colours ranging from pale green to bright pink and red, depending on the salinity of the waters. These pans are a seafood smorgasbord for all manner of birdlife.
🏆 Finalist (Fusion Arts "Women Artists" 🌐)
This version is from a slightly different angle and a slightly different size but with deeper colours and a rougher texture in the sky.
I love the lines and shadows of the dock and the reflection of the red ramp in the water on a December day. As with View from the Dock, I carefully blended the paint onto the slightly pebbled surface of the paneled board.
The shadows and shapes of the Namibian sand dunes are so awesome, and ominous
A moment of wilderness that feels both powerful and peaceful
Our painting community kept occupied with weekly challenges during the first year of the Covid lockdowns. The subject for this sketch reminded me of the barns that both sets of my grandparents had on their properties. I wanted to show this one still standing tall while the vegetation slowly overtakes it.
Another painting on paper created in our weekly challenges during the first year of the Covid lockdowns. I loved using a palette knife to create the sharp outline of the barn and the softness of the trees and fields and the energy of the sky.
Using the same source photo as Susquehannock Forest #3, I used a cooler lighter sky, and more green was applied with palette knives to add texture.
This quick study was another of my painting community’s weekly challenges and based on a photo of a fire that was set every night in our room to take away the evening chill in the Sierra Norte mountains of Oaxaca state in Mexico. I spent a wonderful week hiking the mountain trails linking the villages of the Pueblos Mancomunados.
I created this as an experiment in combining colours that remained on my palette, leftovers from other paintings. It developed over a couple of sessions until I saw the flames, reminding me of the Arenal volcano exhausting flames into a cloudy sky.
A vibrant forest of greens and yellows whispers secrets below a sky shifting from bold blues to warm sunset hues.
🏆 Finalist (Artist International 11 🌐)
A vibrant sky inspired by northern sunsets.
This painting speaks of the colours and expansiveness of the terrain and of the big bright skies.
🏆 Juror's Choice Award (OPEN 🌐)
This is a companion piece to the painting, Saltspring Dock but is the view from the end of dock. I enjoyed applying the paint to the slightly pebbled surface of the panelled board and carefully blending the varying shades and tones of a post Christmas day on the island.
I loved the brightly coloured posts marking the stairway to the beach against the sand, the ocean, and the brilliant sky.
🏆 Finalist (Fusion Arts "Waterscapes" 🌐)
Where There’s Hope was inspired by a photo taken as the sun set in Hope, BC. I made the clouds and mountains softer and enhanced the pinks and purples. The title of the painting is a reference to its locale and to a thought of finding inspiration in the colours and shapes of the sky and land.
For Northerners, the winter escape is epitomized by bright blue water, sunshine and a beach. Picture yourself here.