Summer makes one a believer in better things ahead of us. The stage is set, nature unfolds all it has to offer. No doubt, we have to enjoy everything from short walks to distant trips, from simple garden chores to breathtaking adventures. My choices are not that many at the moment, but I make my garden a place where everything is as it should be in the real world: healthy, relaxing, soothing and rewarding.
I don’t mind having flowers between vegetables, roses next to zucchinis, green peas and marigolds friendly sharing their spot under the sun: they all make my place look more magic. I have to intentionally find time for painting because it’s always so much to do in the summer if you have a garden. July 1st is the first day of World watercolor month. I’m very sure I cannot get done a painting a day since my paintings usually take more like a week or two weeks each, but I will try to present more of my most recent watercolor paintings.
Drawing for garden rose
The garden rose sort of asked to be painted. After rain, every bloom was covered with shiny water pearls and I cut a few small branches and took inside. As I was sitting there and looking at the well-defined and artistic shapes of petals, I started to draw what I saw. For watercolor painting, I actually would need only outlines, but pencil just kept moving and I got a value drawing on my transfer paper.
I placed drawing and painting side by side
Next day, I transferred outline drawing onto watercolor paper which happened to be quite large in size: 24 x 18 inches, or 61 x 46 cm. If you have read my art blog, you probably know that whenever possible, I paint and draw large.
Painting steps of garden rose
This painting organically developed itself while my model flower stayed fresh and lovely. It changed shape slightly, but for adjustment, I could use my drawing.
Close-up and detail of pink garden rose
If you could ever see this watercolor painting of garden rose in person, you most likely would find that water drops feel like you can touch them and the size is such that the rose bloom literally takes one’s full attention not only with its colors, but also size and composition.
My pretty garden rose with rain drops
As soon as get the second dose of vaccine and 2 weeks pass, I could restart the live art classes. However, for materials and demo paintings, I will create more garden paintings. Subjects are right here, and they are all kinds of! Summer days are long, but, nevertheless, they simply disappear. I can say my garden provides me with everything: models for my art, opportunity to recharge, colorful dreams and it also is a rewarding experience for my soul. Small place with everything which my universe consists of.
Garden rose with rain drops, full size
For now, please, love, share and enjoy the pink garden rose painting! I wish you a happy and adventurous summer!!
Acrylic paint is extremely versatile and it can be applied in numerous ways and using countless techniques. It’s water-soluble, has hardly any smell. It consists of pigment particles dispersed in an acrylic polymer emulsion. When it dries, it becomes hard and changes color. Paints which contain more fillers and binders, but less pigments, become darker. However, properties of this paint make it possible to use many layers and it could be used as a glue. All these features are perfect for creating very textured art, sometimes, it can be described even as sculpted.
Textured art
I created the first textured paintings around 2007. Since then, there have been so many from very large 6 feet by 4 feet to small ones, just 12 x 10 in. They sometimes sold very swiftly. I do not have any pictures of some. I didn’t try to showcase very textured paintings on my website, too, because pictures never looked right. As you could imagine: the highest areas of textured surface capture light more and camera creates a total disbalance of colors and contrast, therefore, these pictures are always off. In reality, however, they are extremely attractive and impressive works of art.
The old tree, 14 x 11 in or 36 x 28 cm
Vintage frames for impressive art
I went through my inventory recently since I have more time before live art classes resume. I added a new protective layer, so they are as bright and neat as brand new, not to mention removing some dust from corners and frames. The vintage frames which will be visible in some pictures are really old, but they make any art look like real art. I didn’t restore them to the extent they’d lose the feel of being old. The imperfections help them look more authentic.
Pears still life, 12 x 10 in or 30.5 x 20.5 cm
Textured poppies, 12 x 10 in or 30.5 x 20.5 cm
Distinctive creative periods
As I go through all my collections and create new products for sale pages, I cannot help but notice how each creative period is distinct with the use of specific color palette or subject. I’ve had the warm, earthy color period, the many shades of grey painting chapter, vivid blue and green landscape phase, as well as passion period for white, pink and red floral art, and then there are series of still life, birches and snow scenes. Reflecting on creative path from a distance of almost 20 recent years clearly reveals how I liked or disliked some colors and subjects over time.
Welcoming change
I wouldn’t say that paintings from 2010 are better than the ones from 2015, or the recent ones are the best. They are different, and each period of my creative journey emphases the dominant vision of that particular time span. We as humans change, and imagine the boredom if we as artists wouldn’t step off the beaten path! In fact, the greater the challenge, the more I love my new creations whether that refers to techniques, materials, subject or color palette. The pictures show art created around 2008 and up to 2015.
Time-consuming, yet, gorgeous
I used to paint everything as pairs of the same subject, quite frequently. I still continue that way, not with every single artwork, but there are many “twins” in my collections. The nicest feature is they work as series right away and look extraordinary great on the wall. Textured paintings are usually abstract by nature. While I am creating the texture layer, there is no outline, color or value. These are added later with layers of paint. Colors of textured art change depending on light and its placement. Photos capture some moments in time in a light which was present, and it might be that these images are able to convey the context and thought within the actual painting.
I hope this post inspires you to paint and create, as well as there might be somebody who loves the current featured paintings. I’d like to mention, that this is the first time images of these particular paintings are published. I will add them to art deals page soon, as well:
It is a local Greater Toronto Area event, and, therefore, a fantastic opportunity for local artists, artisans and writers to show off their creations. In normal years, we would head out to the Esplanade park in Pickering and see in person what artists have created, what musicians and writers would like us to hear, but this year the event is virtual again.
The virtual arts market website gives a brief introduction about each participant, and one can follow a link if they are interested. I hope they are! My personal website is extensive, however, the theme I am using does not support good Home pages, therefore, my Blog page and this new article will have to do that.
My art can be attributed to a few main categories.
and a page which offers art related to current season or which suits the current trends: Shop special offers
While all nature subjects appeal to me, I have always paid special attention to seasons, therefore, I can certainly say that I have plenty of spring, summer, fall and winter paintings.
Finally, my website has excellent search option and if you type a name which best describes the subject in the Search box, all posts which include this entry will come up.
Available acrylic paintings
As you will notice, all available paintings are originals. I think it’s best to allow companies which specialize in making prints to allow doing that. The smallest acrylic paintings are 12 x 12 in or 30.5 x 30.5 cm. Many are 20 x 16 in or 51 x 41 cm, 18 x 24 in or 46 x 51 cm, as well as 20 x 24 in or 51 x 61 cm. I haven’t published the largest acrylic paintings yet.
I always paint around the edge; therefore, painting can be displayed without a frame. Painting continues around the sides of canvas and looks great.
Available watercolors
Available watercolors are also only originals painted on watercolor paper, frequently, heavy and very firm Arches, Saunders-Waterford paper or bright white archival quality paper in case of pen and watercolor art. On sale pages displayed watercolor paintings are sold without a frame or mat. The framed watercolors are available in person only, many of them have glass and I cannot take any new photos, and they have beautiful oak wood frames, therefore, I wouldn’t be able to ship them anywhere. The smaller size framed watercolors are in 11 x 14 in or 28 x 36 cm standard frames with mats and one can also purchase them in person from studio, but not from website.
How to purchase available art
If you like a painting, just click on View product label and continue as directed. For purpose of this particular local event, you can pick up the painting practically any day between 11 am and 8 pm. I’m located in Ajax, almost downtown.
To ask any questions and to find out more, please, use this page:
I will be happy to assist. My website does not process any payments; therefore, you are submitting your info to Shopify or PayPal and they process the payment. Paintings are sold without tax and prices are in Canadian dollars. If you pick up your painting, that’s the final price. I can exchange any painting to a similar one, but I won’t take it back once it has been in possession of somebody.
Thank you kindly for reading and I hope you like some painting so much, you’d love to own it!
Representational art and my transition to personalized realism
To me personally, creating art means observing and creating it without help of any devices, and where possible, using the real things as references. It also means drawing and painting the subject in a recognizable way, but not necessary sticking to life-likeness so tightly that I cannot implement my own adjustments which are not present in reality. Representational art is pretty much neglected and not recognized in Canada. The modernism and contemporary traditions run here deep, and, certainly, artists who engage in abstract and contemporary abstract art, are way better off.
Flooding spring water, watercolor, 42 x 18 in or 61 x 46 cm.
So, how come I prefer realism in art?
First of all, my background is very different from Canada-born artist’s background. I moved over here when I was close to 50. By that age, the local Canadian artists have established their niche, gotten decent visibility and have participated in numerous juried and other shows. Well, I had with me 2 brushes and a travel set of watercolor paints, and that’s it. No portfolio, no previous paintings because you just don’t have space in one suitcase. I hadn’t even ever had a camera before I arrived here, therefore, I had no images also. So, I started from scratch. I’ve been very successful and productive comparatively, but I certainly couldn’t catch up in a few years with what others had done during quite many decades.
Country barn in spring landscape, size of this painting is 22 x 16 in or 56 x 41 cm
Talent and practice
I had some features which lots of artists do not have when they start out, even if it is at quite old age. I was drawing since early childhood, all on my own. Unlike in North America where somebody would immediately get a private tutor for talented kid or send this kid to a specialized school, nobody gave anything about my well-done drawings. I didn’t have any artists around, moreover, I had never seen any real art. We didn’t have TV those times, nobody had even dreamt about internet back then. It was a countryside out of a small picturesque Latvian town where we lived, but there were no museums, no exhibitions. I had the feeling that I can draw, and my goal was to create drawings so that the things on them looked real.
Country barn, spring, pen and watercolor, 16 x 12 in or 41 x 30.5 cm
Self-criticism
I was very critical and paid attention to every flaw in my drawings since there was nobody else to provide with critique, explanation or suggestion. I practiced for numerous hours until my drawings looked good to me. The paper I had wasn’t a drawing paper, nothing like it. It could be wrapping paper, white pages in front of a book, some paper for notes and later notebooks for school. I was certainly not selective when it came to art supplies, I simply didn’t have them, but pencils were around. I didn’t have eraser, therefore, I learned to draw without necessity to use an eraser.
Old countryside house in pen and watercolor, 18 x 12 in or 46 x 30.5 cm
Rocks and water, size of painting is 22 x 15 in or 56 x 38 cm.
Big works for me
I always loved drawing big or as big as I could depending on paper size. In high school, I was drawing life-size figures, huge posters. Well, Latvia was still in the Soviet Union, you couldn’t just go out and get a photo of a musician or modern poster because there weren’t any. I filled this gap and my paintings and drawings were very popular. I added to my stipendium during the University years (government paid students who had excellent results) income from drawing portraits of fellow students. It was a decent extra income which I immediately spent in old and rare book store. That explains why I do not draw and paint portraits while in Canada: I always did it from a real person, not photography.
Peaceful, lake view, watercolor, size is 20 x 16 in or 51 x 41 cm
My favorite subjects
We always had a garden and orchard ever since I can remember me. After helping my parents with most urgent work (we always had to work as soon as we were able to, like 5 or 6, and it was due to necessity of life, not my parents’ dictatorship), I sat down in front of some building, in a park or next to a flower or plant in the garden and just drew and drew for countless hours. When the drawing had all decent values, contrast and proportions, I was genuinely happy. I called my lines “completed lines”. If there was something not fitting in or sticking out, I started over. I developed my own style eventually since I had zero outside influence. Zero, and it’s a good thing. Although, I couldn’t study at art academy, I never gave up art and always kept it close to me.
While anemone forest, spring painting, 24 x 18″
Canada got me going on watercolors
The first paintings I did upon my arrival to Canada were all full sheet watercolor paintings: 30 x 23 in or 76 x 58 cm. This was the first time I ever had a real watercolor paper. It was Arches, 300 lb or 640 gsm. It felt like wood, and I loved it. Its cost was about 10 times less what it is now, and, yes, I used it for everything, even color tests. I was wondering how could the American and some Canadian artists get so much detail in their paintings because, realistically, what I cannot see, I cannot paint. This was the first time also when I discovered that artists were repainting photos, too. That was new since I was always told that repainting a photo is the worst of artistic sins.
Early spring, rural hills watercolor, size of this painting is 24 x 18 in or 61 x 45 cm.
I chose personalized realism
I never went that direction myself, though. There was no need. I can draw effortlessly anything assuming I want to or that subject seems interesting. It also shortens the number of steps: there’s no need for taking, downloading and editing photos or getting printouts. Yet, I need the subject to be present. That’s not always possible, like in winter and so forth, therefore, I added memory images to my reference sources. Indeed, due to drawing so much I developed photographic memory over time. I have numerous large drawings in a few huge folders. They include plenty of landscapes and most often flowers, still life and birds, as well as buildings. When I go through these drawings, I can usually find something I want to paint, or I just look for a new subject outdoors or indoors.
Uphill, rural house, size of this painting is 21.5 x 16.5 in or 54.5 x 42 cm
I hope it looks good
I have scattered my watercolor paintings from previous years all around this post. Many of them were posted before, but image quality had decreased, so, these are new images. I noticed on the phone that an article with too much text doesn’t look good. These paintings include black pen and watercolor wash and only transparent watercolor paintings. I do paint very loose actually. Students who have attended my classes know that. When demonstrating a feature or a particular subject, one simply doesn’t have too much time. I use targeted brushstroke, generous amount of water and paint, as well as excellent quality, pure-pigment-containing watercolor paints.
Early spring in rural village. Size of this painting is 18 x 24 in or 46 x 61 cm.
Realism it is, although, not strictly
I am not interested in abstract art, although, I can create it if somebody asks, for instance, for a commissioned painting. Completely abstract art doesn’t present me with enough challenge. The driving force for me is the subject, especially the challenging aspects of it, ability to create more complex and deeper paintings. I don’t care whether they look exactly like the real things. I want the viewer to get my message, the idea behind the visible lines and colors. That’s however, a theme for another post because these are aspects which internet display doesn’t bring to expression.
All paintings deserve being featured since my early posts get very little or no attention. I placed some on page for watercolor sales:
Birch path paintings did not have any reference. I’ve done many paintings without any references, just having some imagined concept and adding to it as I paint. Paintings with birches inspire many established artists and beginners, and birch path in early or late fall is such an inviting landscape since the viewer can walk into it. As you may know, I come originally from Latvia, and birch path and birch grove is a very characteristic view over there.
Simple composition
The composition is usually simple and leads to the focal point which might not always be very accentuated. However, some other of my paintings are just plainly depictions of colorful abstract leaves. My students always asked for birch path and birch tree paintings; therefore, I have many of them. I always paint along with students. After a while, when acrylic paint has reached its complete drying and settling moment, I’d evaluate the painting and add or remove some parts of it as required.
Stepwise approach
My process is usually simple, too. I start with application of texture by randomly creating leaf and grass patterns. After that, I prime and paint canvas. I don’t use any special acrylic primers any longer. I find that using acrylic paint which can be just leftover paint is much more beneficial to the final colors and impact. I use sometimes fairly dark grey, lighter grey, mix of burnt umber, burnt sienna and yellow ocher or cardboard color. These underpainting colors work the best with my art.
Defining the landscape
The next step is pretty much blocking in large areas on which I follow up with sponge and fan brush. When the background is set, I paint in main tree trunks. Using fan brush, I apply more layers. Any of my paintings has numerous layers, as well as switches from cool to warm colors. Camera cannot capture that, and it is painful seeing that photo can never show the fine-tuned colors I’ve used. Camera tends adding too much blue, too much yellow or green while sometimes omitting red completely. These particular paintings contain no blue color, but it might look as if they do on photos.
Birch path 1, it has the most detail, 16 x 20 in or 41 x 51 cm, acrylic on canvas
Just as always, all edges are painted and painting continues beyond the front part, Birch path 2, 16 x 20 in or 41 x 51 cm
Achieving balance with finishing touches
My painting is finished when the flow of colors and lines is balanced and I am satisfied with the most part of a painting. Balance in my art means quite a lot, and I’m aiming for it intentionally. The birch path originals are certainly very impressive and abstract parts compliment the detailed areas. It’s such a pleasure to look at these paintings when they’re next to each other. They are similar, but also have distinctive features.
Steps of autumn, 16 x 20 in or 41 x 51 cm, acrylic painting on canvas. This has the strongest colors, at least in pictures and on my screen
Plenty of inspiration on birch path
I found my inspiration on the birch path and colors came to life. One can paint realistically imaginative landscape, or abstract trees from reality – it doesn’t matter what approach we use – to me personally, painting becomes art when it tells us something. I mean, it tells something without lengthy description. I hope you can feel the leaves under your feet, as well as more trees in the distance. Enjoy! Prints are available from Fine Art America site.
