Inese's blog

January 8, 2021October 17, 2024

Good addition to my watercolor flower collection

Watercolor flower collection, flower paintings

My watercolor flower collection grew noticeably

Previous year, while it was not good in many health- and business-related aspects, was a very good year for creating art. I added to my watercolor flower collection quite many paintings. I cannot share all in just one post. I also painted quite a few watercolor roses and still life art. Some of these painting have been published in previous posts, and some I will publish when time is right. I have a habit of painting flowers and spring landscapes from January to approximately end of May. Then, I move to still life, and I get to fall paintings in July and August. Painting flowers and spring in winter is a good habit because it shortens cold and chilly winter days during the dark months.

Addition to my watercolor flower collection: white trillium blossoms on dark background

Missing giving art classes

I was missing the live art classes and interaction with my students. While everything is available online, I think live art classes are the most beneficial. Just ask school kids and teachers, -everybody will tell you that serious and decent learning happens only in person. Art is an easy subject to put online, but there are very many things which you need to touch, to see close-up, to check with your own eyes. I don’t want to make large investments in equipment at the moment, but that’s what I would need to teach online. Space is one more issue. It might be so that I like the live classes too much.

These are spring flower watercolor paintings, fantastic addition to my watercolor flower collection! Magnolia, trillium, wild anemone and daffodils

Daffodils are a fantastic subject for spring flower painting. This is the close-up version.

Not abstract, not photo-realism

Very many artists paint abstracts nowadays, really many. Therefore, I’m glad I’m doing something different. Sometimes I’ve told, I should make my art more realistic, but I don’t intend to. I’m mostly painting what I can see. What I can see is not what camera captures and one can enlarge until every ant on a grass stem is visible. It’s just my opinion, but I don’t want to go into tiny photographic detail and use computer. My art is done by simply using sketch or real flower, or real still life as reference most often. As you know, I can draw anything and do it fast. I would sometimes add a little bit of extras from imagination, like water drops on pansy. So, it’s my own realism with touch of imagination.

Watercolor paintings, fmagnolia painting, pansy painting

Magnolia, pansy Purple variety apples. and trillium and the fantastic purple pansy.

Watercolor painting, purple pansy watercolor

Personalized use of color

White is a good background for flowers, and dark background colors make white flowers pop. I personally do not like black with watercolor, that suits oils or acrylic more, I believe, and makes watercolor too heavy, but that’s just my personal preference. When I was very young and at school, my art teacher told I should never use black watercolor paint. I have followed her advice. I never use black watercolor paint. I took one more advice to never premix watercolor paint, but add color as I go and use it as I see fit. I actually do the same with acrylic: I use paint without previously mixing it, unless it’s for extra-large area or under-painting.

Watercolor painting, pansy, trillium and petunia painting

Decided to leave my website as is

I spent about 3 or even more previous weeks trying to figure out how I could change my website. I tried different things, considered new themes and tested them, asked advice from very well-established artists, who have excellent online presence and whom I know personally. They all told their websites were done by web designers or specifically created for their needs. Most of them have also social media and online representation specialists, video editors and filming teams, etc. Therefore, I decided to leave my website as is. I’m the only one for every single task and I’m doing anything that comes my way. However, I cannot spend all time just editing social media posts and website. I want to paint, draw and create also. Therefore, I prioritized creativity over online perfection. That’s just what works for me right now. I hope you like my flower collection and it inspires you to create flower paintings, too.

Stay safe, healthy and thanks for reading!

Original watercolor paintings for sale

December 23, 2020October 16, 2024

Magic winter night

Winter watercolor paintings by Inese Poga

While I have decided to stay away from snow paintings since I’ve got already too many, I still did a winter watercolor painting, just a quick one for mostly celebrating this time and things we need most in our life. I think we all need a little magic and a few miracles.

We need certainty about the days to come and self-assurance that all goes well. We need somebody’s understanding shoulder to cry on and somebody’s smile to warm up on a chilly winter day. We need peaceful, healing silence filled with lights of candles, flavors of delicious meal lingering around the house and lovely greetings on Christmas cards.

I personally need a real, live Christmas tree, and I have it – a beautiful one. The green, living tree is to remind that love never ends. It always returns and is more resilient than ever before.

We need miracles to also remind us that many things are not what we thought, neither that simple, nor that easy to understand. Miracle touches us all. That’s a new outlook and a new hope, but most of all, it’s a never-ending trust in good outcome for us.

If you are observant and if you love watching the sky and stars, you know that the universe is full of miracles, and it is up to us to believe in them and to shake off the tiredness and lack of determination. We need to open our eyes and start seeing.

This watercolor painting is called “Magic winter night”. It could be called winter night miracle also.

Creating Magic winter night watercolor — Magic winter night, watercolor, 18 x 24 in or 46 x 61 cm, first washes go into the sky area, adding salt when wet shine on paper starts disappearing

When I was trying to take the last pictures, my painting was still a bit wet. It is watercolor on a thick paper, it takes a while to dry. Nothing compares to watercolor when we’d love to create a quick winter painting. The white of paper does the trick. I used salt to create the sky and snow in some parts. As hard as tried, the photo still doesn’t look right to me when compared with the actual painting, but it will have to do. Enjoy!

Magic winter night, watercolor, 18 x 24 in or 46 x 61 cm

May you have your Christmas miracle and may the lights brighten up the way into a better New Year!

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

November 18, 2020October 17, 2024

The joy of color

Color is a big part of any artist’s work if they paint in color. We love some particular colors and we feel uncomfortable with or even dislike and hate other ones. I am very much convinced, though, color is secondary to value, otherwise black and white drawings and paintings wouldn’t make sense. Color gives my paintings mood and, sometimes, it’s the main element of the artwork. Usually, change in color will change the entire painting. I work very hard to achieve color balance and fine-tuned transitions in my art.

There’s more to art

However, people often notice only color, especially when art is viewed online. The online display has gone through many devices and you can see art also using whatever device you have. The most affecting factor is the size. 10 x 10 in art looks the same size as 10 feet by 10 feet painting online. The impact on viewer is totally incomparable because we have taken away all presence of this art. There is so much more to art than color. Lines, brushstrokes, edges, smoothness or extreme textures, story the painting tells and subject of it.

Unchanged nature: subject of my art

For realistic and semi-realistic art, color is interpreted depending on our subject. I’m looking for warmth in my art, as well as energy which makes us happy, maybe thoughtful, but not upset or more depressed. Therefore, I choose to paint nature. I love unchanged nature: flowers, wild flower fields, creeks, country roads, old country barns, small birds which I can watch in my backyard. This subject is very inspiring for me, and I’d say for everyone who looks at it. About 3 decades ago, I was very much in painting posters with faces and figures, I have done a lot of fashion images, too, but at some point, it became boring and moved on turning to nature.

Original, exquisite and recognizable

Early on, I made it my point not to get influenced by anybody else. It was easy before the internet came around since one cannot be present everywhere. After I moved to Canada, I realized that artists were literary copying photos sometimes. It had been the hugest no-no back in Europe. I still feel like it’s not a good art when one has to copy, trace and pretend this comes from the artist, and not from computer, printer and projection device. Therefore, I’m always trying to distinguish myself from the crowd. Many of my paintings are imaginative views of non-realistic settings, but I like the subject to be recognizable. I also want people to notice immediately that I have painted one or another artwork.

My painting techniques

I use techniques which I have developed during many years of creating art. Nowadays, you can find out quickly how somebody does whatever they do, but I prefer to go for my own discovery. My textures are most likely created with different tools and mediums. My color mixing definitely doesn’t fall into the regular color wheel dependence. I believe every artist has to find their own color palette because that will work always. I do not follow the trends, but frequently, some part of my art hits the trendy side anyway.

I currently sell originals only

The displayed images are of original paintings. Original means this painting is exactly as I have created it. My brushstrokes and my original color transitions are visible and touchable. That also means you can feel the energy and my touch. Original art is alive with everything that’s gone into it. I am very meticulous about what I want in the painting, even when it is a small painting with simple subject. I work tirelessly until I have achieved exactly what I wanted my painting to be. The images have a bit too much blue and green than my art. I use grey, brown-grey, but camera gets colors differently. What you see depends on settings on your device also.

Birds and other enjoyable themes this season

It is great one can rotate paintings on their walls. It is also fantastic one can create displays of large collections. Prints are fine for some areas and specific rooms, but when it comes to classiness and elegance, originals beat prints 100%. Classiness is already built in the original art, so you don’t need to add extra work to make this art look impressive. I have to display some paintings more than just one time for a few reasons: lots of people never read or look at something closely, attention is the hugest deficit nowadays, and holiday season is short. This type of paintings is sold only during holiday season.

Art prints

I can offer to select printed art products from Fine Art America site which has a huge choice of products which can be viewed in 3 dimensions.

Art collections by Inese Poga

My winter collection:

Winter paintings by Inese Poga

Enjoy! I hope somebody loves my art so much that they are willing to go a step farther and purchase it. The special offers are here:

Original paintings for winter holidays

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

Inese’s blog

Good addition to my watercolor flower collection

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Magic winter night

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With love and embellishments of frost

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The joy of color

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No-rush life mode and energetic value of art

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