Art in the County

A painting I completed in the field, “Rebecca Spit: A Nod to the Open Sea,” at Quadra Isle, BC this past May has been accepted into Prince Edward County’s annual juried show, “Art in the County.” I am honoured and excited to have been included by the esteemed jury. If you are in the area, come check out the show!



From the web site:

Vision

Art in the County is the best summer art show in Ontario.

Each year, Art in the County displays the work of County artists and artisans. Now in its 14th year, the exhibition is a highlight of the summer season in Prince Edward County, attracting residents from around the Quinte area and visitors from across Canada, many US states, Europe, Asia and Australia.

All of the art displayed at Art in the County is carefully chosen by three distinguished and experienced art experts who are professionally qualified jurors.

Ten by Ten

I am now on number four of my environment-related landscape series. These are large paintings, some several feet wide and tall. Being a teeny thing myself, I love the sheer physicalness of these! I have to jump and stretch and use my whole body to make some of the brush strokes.

Working on the larger paintings has its drawbacks. I may plough right through a frenzied mountainous section, but then the cirrus clouds will demand careful attention. I make a few large strokes of sky, and then I must wait for them to dry with zen-like patience. These times where I am literally "watching paint dry" pass slowly if I do not have something to occupy my brain. I have to walk away from the work for a bit, or else I'll screw it up and overdo it.

Some things I am unable to do, like accounting. It spoils the creative process. Reading, researching and listening to music is okay. Blogging is on the borderline, because you are putting yourself out there and are hence self-conscious. Running with the dog in the woods is best. :-)

Reading, Dreams, Oil and Art

I love to read, and try to never leave the house without a book or some essays in my bag. (I am into non-fiction.) Saves one from going mad while waiting for someone/thing, especially if there is a television blaring where one is waiting.

A while back, I became quite absorbed in an article about Peak Oil that I found online while researching homesteading. I was on an airplane of all places. This reading triggered the resurgence of a series of recurring, post-apocalyptic dreams that I have had since childhood. These events have deeply affected my recent work.

In my dreams, and now in person while working on site, beautiful lands and waters speak in colours and shapes as a reaction to what humans have done to them. It is where I derive some of the emotional reds and oranges, the sharp points, and dark gapes in my recent landscapes. I try not to personify my 'scapes, but I do paint what I see, and I see this more and more out in the field.

There is a meaningful environmental theme threading through in these new works that I'd like to explore. I can see this developing quite distinctly.

Quadra Isle, British Columbia

Just back from a painting trip out to Western Canada. I had the immense pleasure of meeting one of my fellow plein air painters from IPAP, Nanci Cook, and her husband Tracy, and staying at their fabulous B&B on Quadra Island. Highly recommended. They are both so helpful and welcoming. (Check it out here - www.firesignartanddesign.com ) Thank you, Nanci, for your warm hospitality, comfy bed, and yummy breakfasts. I enjoyed hanging out in your studio, too!

Oh, what a beauty is Quadra Isle. Green green greeeeen jewel of the Strait of Georgia. A delightful, natural location to paint! One can certainly channel Emily Carr there. Rebecca Spit Marine Provincial Park, a fascinating finger of land that juts out into the sea, was my favourite spot to work.

What is your summer ride?

Can't sleep.

Your Summer Ride is a Toyota Prius

Sure you're a little sensible and quite green But no one enjoys outdoors more than you do!

What's Your Summer Ride?

(No surprise here! But I'd way rather have an e-bike with extra batteries.)

Why I Travel

Once upon a time, before the average person could hop on a plane and see a desert/palm tree/iceberg/tiger for oneself, folks relied on artists' renderings (and later photography a la National Geographic) for visual knowledge of everything on the planet that did not exist in their immediate environment. Storytelling and imagination fleshed out the essence of such lands, such beasts, such humans.


15th Century painting of a Giraffe by Ming dynasty painter She Du (public domain)


I think this may happen again, in my lifetime. We will use up all the Earth's finite energy resources and won't have the capacity left to find and employ new ones. Then only soldiers, pirates, and the very wealthy will get the opportunity to travel great distances, especially via air. Only they will have first hand, primary visual experience of a foreign land and its inhabitants in person rather than in books (or on screen if there is any energy to power the equipment.)

So, I travel and document what I see as the essence of a place from life, while I still can. Acknowledging the inevitable outcome of our carefree ways with the planet's resources makes me so serious while on location. My focus intensifies. I treasure the moment. Seize the day. Can't relax much! Gotta paint.

I suppose enjoying drams of single malt is part of this as well. These won't always be so readily available. I know I am guilty. Cheers.

Show Announcement

Confirmed: The brand new Loft Gallery in Bath, Ontario Canada will present an exhibition of 30 of my Caribbean pieces in June. The body of work focuses on Bajan dialect and proverbs, and their relationship to the landscape, sea and flora. There will be a meet the artist event. Dates and more information forthcoming.

Caribbean Winter, West Coast Spring

Have almost completed documenting the many works from Barbados. I found the distant reefs and their pools of hummingbird-wing green water irresistible.



The above is one of six in a series. This one was done later in the day:

Of course, it was sultry and sunny most of the time - resulting in efforts like this, created at Martin's Bay (also known as The Soup Bowl.) Martin's Bay is adjacent to Bathsheba, my favourite part of this beautiful country - a remote, rugged paradise, where huge hunks of coral lie in the crashing surf like beached dinosaur skulls.

Lots more to come.


Some news that makes me very happy - Just confirmed Quadra Island, British Columbia for a couple days in early May, where fellow plein artist Nanci Cook has a charming B&B. Really looking forward to meeting her and working in such a gorgeous area!

Updated schedule for 2007

Just back from a gloriously productive stay in Barbados. Lots of new work to catalog, some of which will be shown at a new gallery near Kingston, Ontario for their debut exhibition.

More than ever it seems to me that the right-brained activity of painting doesn't always vibe with the left brained actions of composing an online diary. My apologies for the lack of recent journal updates, but I've been so incredibly busy - outside and away, creating! There are several new paintings in the web site's galleries, notably winterscapes from Lake Louise.


Working in the field at 7000 feet, Alberta. Photo: Dr Claire Weigand

That snow is now a distant dream. Spring and summer stretch themselves in front of me most invitingly. Here is my painting schedule updated with some exciting new destinations:
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April, 2007: in studio prepping large canvases for January 2009 show in Barrie

May 2 - 6, 2007: Vancouver BC

May 6 - 10, 2007: Vancouver Island (and maybe Quadra Island)

Mid May, 2007: Prince Edward County springtime

Late May: Gananoque and Hill Island

June, 2007: California Coast, Laguna Beach and hopefully San Diego

July 2007: Upstate New York
Monheghan Island, Maine (yes, I am finally going to paint there!)
Maritime Canada

August 2007: Northern Ontario

Early September 2007: Niagara Falls

Mid September, 2007: Banff/Lake Louise, Alberta

Winter, 2007: Scottsdale, AZ: Sedona, AZ, Utah

Sincere thanks to my friends, family, fellow artists, galleries, mentors and my treasured clients: I could not accomplish my goals without your continued support!

Happy New Year

I did not make it to California or Utah this winter, unfortunately. Laguna will have to wait. But I'm on my way to Lake Louise to do snowscapes, plane ticket in hand!

Here is my painting trip schedule so far for this year:
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January, 2007: Lake Louise, AB

February 2007 - Harrisburg, PA

March 7 - 10, 2007: Toronto, ON (CMW 2007, media photographer)

March, 2007: Barbados, West Indies

May, 2007: Vancouver BC

Please let this be the summer I make it to Europe!

July 2007: Northern Ontario

August 2007: Southwestern Ontario

September 2007: Niagara Falls

Winter, 2007: Scottsdale, AZ: Sedona, AZ, Utah

Thank you to my friends, family, fellow artists and treasured clients for their continued support. Hope to do you proud this year.

Panoramic Messages

I am very satisfied with this one, completed on location at Lake Louise,using a huge brush. This will become part of a large triptych.

Pochades From Out West

Looking back at Kelowna, I am noticing how humans have made their mark on the beautiful countryside. Clear cutting. Towns. Mines. I'll do a large version of these in the studio. That'll keep me busy til solstice. Not much to say: this trip had quite an introspective effect on me.

Autumn Plein Air Pleasures - Part 2: British Columbia

(Well, better late than never, here is Part Two. I have been busy making art. My poor, neglected blog. But it's such a left brain process to write in here.)

After Niagara, I raced home to tackle Laundry Mountain, in anticipation of heading to some REAL mountains, the Canadian Rockies that is.

After boarding a jumbo jet for Vancouver, we took a small plane into the BC interior. Destination: gorgeous Kelowna. On the Saturday, I photographed Sleddogs on a boat cruise - the 'dogs are always such a blast. Here I am all bundled up and happy, pic by The GOAT, Lloydminster's APD/MD Poncho Parker: (what a great guy, too!)

No, those are not my crutches.

Then off to Lake Louise by car. Painting all the way.

Autumn Plein Air Pleasures - Part 1: Niagara

Hard to believe it is almost the end of September! I have been away for most of it, painting of course. It's good to be home at last, knee deep in new work to be catalogued!

First I headed to Niagara Falls for International Plein Air Painters' World Wide Paint Out.


(All Your Cares... (2006) plein air watercolour by Brandy Kitten Gale)

I must remark on the variety of weather we worked in, the skies on Saturday morning were particularly exciting to render. During the timed "Quick Draw" portion, I was painting alongside a row of others under the bus shelter in the drizzle. As the sun coyly hid and reappeared, some cheered, others booed, for their light was lost! Great fun and camaraderie.

At the lovely reception and awards on Saturday evening at Edgewater we were fortunate that John Stuart Pryce brought along his fabulous sketchbook from his Arctic Quest foray, full of gems. How I would love to work up there someday.

To my delight, I was given the honour and privilege of announcing the recipients of three of the evening's awards; here are IPAP Founder J. Baldini and I, with IPAP newcomer Garin Baker, and the two Founder's Awards winners, whose work I admire greatly - L. Diane Johnson and John Stuart Pryce:



photos by Charles Vanderslys

I was also invited to introduce Niagara Falls Canada Major Ted Salci, however he was called away at the last minute and was not able to MC the event. Niagara Falls New York Mayor Vincent Anello was in attendance for the first time, giving the Paint Out even more International cachet.


Thanks goes to Jacqueline Baldini and crew for another amazing World Wide Paint Out.
Looking forward to next year!

I stayed in Niagara Falls for a couple more days to paint, and raced home to prepare for going out West. On Sunday, by serendipitous chance in the Botanical Gardens, our group ran into Robert Amirault and Sam Paonessa, who also had also decided to stay on. Seems Niagara is addictive!


(Sam at work in Niagara's Botanical Gardens and Horticulture School. Photo by Brandy Gale)


PART 2 coming up. British Columbia, and then Lake Louise!

New Web Site

September is here, along with the exciting autumn painting season. The leaves are starting to change, and I have made some changes myself!

After many hours of effort, I am pleased to announce my brand new web site, Brandy Gale - Alla Prima and Plein Air Paintings

It's all part of a focus to stay up to date with function and design, and to make my web presence more of an asset to my pursuits as a plein air artist. Allaprima.ca shall forward to this URL now, and singlemaltcove.com and kittengale.com have been redesigned to complement brandykittengale.com's focus on plein air painting.

I gratefully acknowledge the valuable website consulting assistance of Artist Marketing Coach Alyson B. Stanfield, of Stanfield Art Associates, Inc.. Also, many thanks to Paula Lohmeier for her long-distance help with editing and fine-tuning the copy and links yesterday.

I hope visitors will enjoy the new site. Off to prepare for guests for the long weekend. Yippee!

Plein Air Painting Schedule, 2006 - 2007

My upcoming painting trips include:

August 2006: Prince Edward County, Canada

September 7 - 11, 2006: Niagara Falls

September 14 - 15, 2006: Kelowna, BC and the Okanagan area

September 16, 2006: Salmon Arm, BC

September 18 - 20, 2006: Lake Louise, Alberta

September 21, 2006: Banff, AB

October 11 - 16, 2006: Thousand Islands, ON

December, 2006: Scottsdale, AZ: Sedona, AZ, Utah

January 1 - 3, 2007: Laguna Beach, California

January 14 - 18, 2007: Lake Louise, AB

March 7 - 10, 2007: Toronto, ON (CMW 2007, media photographer)

March 11 - 17, 2007: Barbados WI

May 2 - 6, 2007: Vancouver BC and environs

A trip to Europe (Bavaria, Austria, Italy) is planned for Summer 2007.

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A big thank you to my friends, family, fellow artists and treasured clients very much for their continued support!

Keeping With The Theme...

Willow Tree (2006)

Path for Janis (2006)

Brushstroke details...





These two are smaller, 9x12 inches Belgian Linen on hardboard. The background is Cadmium Orange this time. It gives a far softer effect than the red.

Darks dried good 'n moody... which is a positive thing. While the area is quite pretty - lots of August perennials, etc., I've attempted to also capture the undercurrent of darkness that exists in these woods.

More Red Ground!

Yesterday's unfinished effort: a sundail on a tree stump in my yard. 16x20 inches, acrylic on stretched canvas.

This red ground technique has me so stoked. Couldn't resist trying it again. Here is my contour drawing, using vine charcoal on the prepared red ground:



I called it quits as I began to lose my lighting, which indeed can get frustrating. I will simply return today when the dial is at the right "time"!

Painting From Life

Painting From Life
As a diehard watercolourist, I have not attempted an acrylic or oil plein air, but Larry Seiler's recent blog posts about Gruppe and complementary palettes inspired me to do one yesterday afternoon down by the meadow entrance. It is acrylic on stretched canvas, 16x20. The undertone I gave it was red red red! I tell you, I really enjoyed painting greens and blues on top of that hot red. It just vibrated! Thanks for the illumination, L!

Massachusetts Whirlwind

Bobby and I went on a last minute business trip to Cambridge Massachusetts last weekend. We were able to get a great internet deal on a room at Hotel Marlowe - I recommend the place completely. Late Saturday aft, we had time to meet up with equine artist Helen Scanlon and her husband Steve. Helen and I have maintained an online relationship for some time. It was just like picking up on a conversation that we started online. Lots of laughter and art talk! We met up at The Museum of Science. We saw the poster for Body Worlds and decided to go see that exhibit.

Body Worlds was tastefully done for the most part, and there was no covering up of nudity – one saw everything the human body has to display. My favourite display was “The Yoga Lady”, a woman who had done yoga all her life. No spring chicken, her eyebrows were gray, but her body was flexible and toned, with no evidence of arthritis, etc. Made me want to take up yoga! Also part of the display were organs – lots of them. Healthy versus not. It was an eye opener to see in 3D what coal and smoke really does to lungs. Photos were not allowed, but you can read about it here. I do wish I had brought a sketchbook with me. What a life drawing experience it would have been!

After this experience, we were definitely hungry for some fava beans and a fine Chianti, so we headed to an Italian restaurant nearby and gorged ourselves on LOBSTER RAVIOLI... Papa Razzi was the restaurant’s name, so we acted accordingly:


(photo: Steve Scanlon)


As the sun set, we bid them farewell, and headed off to our business event. We drove the long haul back to Canada the next morning. What a fantastic place Massachusetts is - we both kept saying we must make a trip back someday to explore the area further. So many galleries and bookstores in Cambridge alone! I was drooling as we drove past gallery after gallery on our way out of town, wishing we could have afforded another day, and time for me to paint.