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December 30, 2022April 5, 2025

Art studio highlights of 2022

My art studio experienced numerous changes in 2022. First of all: the move which started with packing already in February. By the middle of March, I started adapting and adjusting the available space for art studio needs. By any means, it wasn’t easy. It’s needless to say that neither painting, nor art classes couldn’t start until May, I believe. If you have ever packed up and then unpacked a large art studio with numerous artworks and countless tools, brushes, paint tubes and paint sets, papers of all kinds and so forth, you probably know that it is a very complex undertaking.

Art studio, spring painting by artist Inese Poga

I paint spring during winter months, and 2022 was no exception. It is very inspiring and self-explanatory for me to go with the change of seasons, except, I am trying to be always ahead. The adjusted and new spring paintings were published in February. Trillium blooms are fantastic subject, and white color on its own makes painting alive.

The first painting I painted in the new studio was a fairly large early spring landscape (above) with lots of trees. I do love trees, I watch them, observe and to me they feel like live beings. I frequently use textures on canvas for more impact and strong statement. The horizontal Apple tree landscape was also finished soon.

I moved to garden and abstracted landscape paintings afterwards. That was done because of art classes and since every class needs a demo, I bring to finished stage some of them. That is how Colors of garden and Colors of summer came to life.

Summer flew by swiftly, working in the garden and giving numerous private classes in drawing. Teaching drawing isn’t easy also since regardless of what I explain and how much I show, it is the student who moves their hand with pencil. I haven’t taken photos of all drawings and sketches, but there were numerous, and we do large drawings in order to reveal all important aspects.

I took new photos of previous paintings, and some have never been published before. I find that only featured image on WordPress is sharp and correct while the images contained within the post look somewhat off. Anyway, numerous pictures were taken and lots of hours spent on making them look like the real painting.

Then came preparations for my 5-week long solo art show at Ajax Community Centre. Any show means work and feeling not good sort of interfered with that. Anyway, some art required touch-up and more layers of protective medium and some art was painted specifically for the fall show. Two times this year, my step-by-step demonstrations ran in the magazine which is devoted to art in the Greater Toronto Area. My art studio is doing fine, but not enough.

This year was complicated in many regards. It’s impossible to say whether good or bad. I still need to do better next year. While I have created many new paintings in acrylic watercolor, ink and graphite, I will try to incorporate myself more into the local community, gain more attention and be more present on the art scene. My art studio is set up now, and everything has found its place. Well, all it takes is more work, more motivation and simply – more luck and opportunity.

Wishing everybody a successful and pleasant New Year! I hope it won’t disappoint.

November 30, 2022October 18, 2024

Bright and passionate colors of poinsettia

Bright colors of red poinsettia painting

Bright colors for dark days

When days turn grey and light diminishes to almost none, we turn to warmth and strong colors which brighten up not only our walls, but also mood. I’ve always loved strong and clean colors. I want color sometimes to be the main statement. It is infrequently that color is all one will notice, but there’s so much more in a vibrant flower painting.

Poinsettia, favorite winter bloom

Poinsettias are not only my favorite for this dreary and dark period which includes end of November and almost all of December. I grow a few of them, and poinsettias survive quite well even the heat of July. My model plants are still alive. Some years they have more blooms, some – less.

Composition and flow of lines

I try to keep my lines flowing and, thus, recreate the flawless perfection of the natural plant. It is easy to draw poinsettias, not always that easy to capture the balance between the shape of leaves and petals and the vibrant color. Color transitions are soft, yet, difficult to photograph. It always surprises me how impossible it is to take photos of red on painting. In my opinion, red is the most difficult color to capture on a photo.

Recurrent theme

Poinsettias are one of flowers I have painted numerous times. Sometimes, that’s due to art classes since almost everybody would love to have such painting. Sometimes, when the poinsettia plant is around, I simply cannot resist painting it. The most recent painting is done with watercolor on Saunders-Waterford archival grade cotton paper. It isn’t my most favorite paper since it’s greyish and rather too absorbing, but I had started this painting a year ago, and so I just added to it and I assume it’s done.

Red poinsettia painting in watercolor, art for sale

Time to restart promotions

Or rather, it is too late already. I don’t take anything too close to my heart. Therefore, I get through bad times and through good times unscathed. Better or worse, but somehow. The main motivation for me is the personal challenge. That means, to envision something in my own way and see how I can put it on a blank sheet of paper or white canvas. I hope you noticed not only color, but also everything else which makes art – art. This poinsettia painting will be soon available as an art print also.

I hope the next post won’t take that long. Meanwhile, all the best to you and enjoy!

Paint your own: Private art lessons

Have a look at my art prints and greeting cards at Fine Art America:

Art collections by Inese Poga

February 21, 2022January 13, 2025

Spring edition, moving art studio

My art studio is moving again, indeed, it has happened so many times during the recent years. I’ve moved three times since 2018 and now I have to do that again. While it sounds quite simple, it actually isn’t. The toughest part is finding a place and qualify for it. That requires mountains of paperwork, numerous hours of printing, scanning, signing, sending documents and so forth. That is the reason I hardly looked at the internet, any social media or blog sites. There wasn’t enough time in a day to cope with all that, and nothing was left for painting, unfortunately.

The Amsterdam paint tubes are added for color balance in photos, I use Liquitex for painting.

I did try to catch up with the artistic side, I sure did. However, that mostly resulted in wasted paint and a bit of frustration. As soon as I squeezed out acrylic paint and got in the mood for painting, the phone rang or I received a message, we have to go: to see a place, to meet somebody, to do whatever, and there was no other way around it. As you know, acrylic paint dries very fast, and even when preserving some in a tight container, it doesn’t work quite well as the fresh one.

Trillium forest, original acrylic painting

I’m really hooked on the moment when nature awakes. The most fantastic view for me can be a tiny sprout breaking through the soil and greeting the sunshine. The first wild flowers are such a welcome sight! Strength to overcome the freeze and courage to break through impossible obstacles: that is what grasses and wild flowers have. I cannot resist, I return to wildflowers in spring settings every year.

One of my most favorite color combinations involves earthy tones, many shades of green as in sprouts, young leaves and grasses, blue patches of sky, as well as bright white, blue and pink of the wildflowers. According to such palette, I paint some knew dreamscape which I most often have seen only in imagination or which is stored in my memory chambers.

White anemones,art studio paintings by Inese Poga

My art studio in this big house had to be adjusted and the actual painting space was sparse. As you might know from my previous posts, I usually paint only by daylight. There have been times when I have to add evenings, but I try to avoid painting at night when artificial light is required. It could be my eyesight which dictates that, but I am very sure that for true color match we need the daylight.

So, the art studio is on the move again, and I have started to pack up a few things. Very large and small paintings will be moved first, as well as part of my countless brushes and art supplies. I would love to sell a few more paintings, but I don’t have much time for advertising at the moment. We will be moving 9 large rooms into 5 rooms, only one of which is large. My art studio is going to be arranged there, in the largest room. Daylight will be much better in the new place, however. It’s an older building with large windows, lots of character and huge backyard. That is such a luxury nowadays!

My best guess is everything will be ready around April 15, and that’s when I can start with my own paintings and art classes. Until then, – I go through moving troubles, packing and unpackaging, sorting, cleaning and being busy with all kinds of things which are not necessarily art related. There will be moment when we won’t have internet yet, and when I am all set up, I will come up with my newest discoveries in painting. You can still scroll through my blog which documents all art studio moves, gives lots of advice for new and established artists and offers excellent quality art at great prices. Stay well! I’d love to hear from you!

Special art offers

Original watercolor paintings for sale

Shop original acrylic paintings

Art gifts and art prints on FAA:

Art collections by Inese Poga

December 12, 2020October 17, 2024

With love and embellishments of frost

Bright winter day

After the snowfall and storms, the day comes to greet you with a bright and sunny smile. Every worry is buried under the healing cover of white snow blanket, and you just walk by wondering how overwhelmingly beautiful a simple tree can be. We can love or hate winter, but sometimes, days happen when love shines through millions of ice crystals on tree branches embellished by frost. It is an understatement to call such landscape beautiful because it consumes one entirely and echoes in the heart and resonates with the soul.

All is white

The best feature of winter snow is to beautify all ugly and awkward-looking fall remains. The view is undisturbed and travels far away, and everything we see is endless path of light, topped with the purity of transparent sky. I delved into such winter landscape and transferred it onto canvas. It took me a while. The view is not complicated, but acrylic paint is quite stubborn. It requires five to eight layers to reflect the deep whiteness of snow and the strong shadows of trees. Every tiniest spot on a painting requires attention and work.

Extremely limited palette

This particular painting is created using extremely limited palette: black, white, brilliant blue and burnt sienna. The green color is a mix of burnt sienna, blue and white. Only four colors will create a great winter painting because we can adjust all proportions of the above-mentioned colors, thus, getting numerous shades of grey, blue, green and white.

Screen settings

Now, what you will see on the screen depends on your device and its settings. I looked myself at pictures on the iPhone, and they have extremely strong contrast. On the large monitor of my big computer, everything is more balanced and not that exaggerated. Regardless of your device, you will still have an idea of what the painting is like.

Long history

Just like many other of my 20 x 16 in or 40.5 x 50.5 cm paintings, I started this one last year at a full day workshop. Therefore, this painting has a very long history and processing time. I didn’t get it done and adjusted completely last winter, so it was left in a pile of paintings waiting to be either painted over and changed (subjects I have lost interest in), or finished (subjects which look promising).

Three versions

After I took 3 sets of about 30 pictures each, I finally got some with acceptable color balance. Accidentally, having taken a picture of only half painting, suggested me I could use this painting for 3 prints: vertical with the front trees only, square with the main portion of painting and the horizontal which is the entire painting. Each one looks interesting, indeed. I know other artists do that, but It’s the first time I will be offering 3 prints of the same image.

Winter birch acrylic painting by Inese Poga — Vertical version of White birch trees, bright day

Shop some art, make my day

I have decided to ship only paintings which somebody requests to be shipped. The main reason is that my art looks much more attractive in reality when the actual size makes extra impact on the viewer. I am well aware that not everybody is ever be in Canada, Ontario. Yet, many people live here and have no problem stopping by at Inese’s Art Studio. They are my main customer and thanks to people , who live here, I can paint and purchase new art materials and paint more. It’s not a whole lot of money, but it is a support. If you feel you like some painting, don’t hesitate, let me know! We can always arrange something.

Link to my store on this website: Shop special offers

I hope to be in touch a few more times this year. With love, Inese

October 28, 2020October 17, 2024

No-rush life mode and energetic value of art

Distractions

These days, there are many distractions which do not allow working peacefully and devotedly on whatever we’d like to accomplish. I never give up painting, unless it’s so that I cannot get physically to my easel or painting desk. That is rare. I am working on additional paintings which will be included in the fall/winter sale event. It was supposed to take place in reality, but it’s safer to do this event remotely in the current situation.

Things which depend on me

I get done efficiently everything which directly depends on me. I wish everything depended directly on my own abilities and decisions! Just as always, iPhone gives me hard times. Especially when painting is large, it seems impossible to just snap a realistically looking picture of it. iPhone tries to enhance everything and I just don’t need that: contrast in excess, all blue or all yellow image, too light or too dark parts. These pictures look good on the phone screen, and that’s about it. Once I upload them on computer, it feels like disaster. It feels like that’s not the same painting.

Energetic value of original art

I post only original art on my website. That means I have created every single drawing and painting from scratch. There is no other one exactly like the ones I have painted. Original art is unique, one-of-a-kind and it displays features which are not visible or not present on a print or digitally multiplied image. Original painting has energy, and this energy vibrates in the space and captures the viewer.

Original art feels alive

Original painting upon completion starts living on its own. It’s a new energetic entity, and it has become a part of the universal energetic exchange. Art prints are copies, and they carry only the energy of materials and machines applied in the printing process, there’s nothing alive about a print. Yet, it is a good solution for decorating some certain spaces.

Texture plus multilayer paint

Many of my paintings have texture under multiple layers of paint. Textured spots enhance the image and usually look very attractive. It is more difficult to paint on a textured surface than on a smooth one. However, when used correctly, texture adds to volume and interestingness of art. I always use many layers of paint allowing them to dry between painting sessions. That also adds color play to painting and works towards an impressive impact. Photo cannot react to every tiniest nuance on canvas, and therefore, it goes almost unnoticed online.

Display and photo features

To be honest, if you haven’t seen art in person and with your own eyes, you pretty much haven’t seen it. Online is ok, and it can be anything: much better or much worse in real settings. If this pandemic had happened 50 years ago, we couldn’t even dream about connecting online and being present where we cannot be physically. Just keep in mind that no image can be like the original from which picture was taken. Every device, every screen will change it.

No-rush life mode

I’m living in a no-rush mode and moving ahead at my own pace. That also means putting no extra pressure on myself. Days are getting shorter swiftly, and I can do only what’s possible. That doesn’t involve lowering my personal standards, however. Every single one of my paintings involves a lot of work, many hours, numerous tubes of paint, countless decisions and millions of brushstrokes. It shows in the finished product. I actually wouldn’t change a thing when it comes to my art. It deserves attention and it deserves love. Slowly, but surely: art sales will take place.

As always, for art prints you go to FAA:

Art collections by Inese Poga

Category: art for sale

Art studio highlights of 2022

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Bright and passionate colors of poinsettia

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Spring edition, moving art studio

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With love and embellishments of frost

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No-rush life mode and energetic value of art

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