Erato's Effect

Christmas 2018

2019-04-07T12:37:00.000-04:00

These are quick paintings I completed the week before Christmas for friends and family members. I shall know next year to start earlier (when the mood hits and time allows).

These were ... rushed, to say the least and I know without doubt they could have been much better if more time and love had been given. Still, I'm happy with them and they recipients are as well, so there is that.

Autumn Sky

2019-04-07T12:24:00.002-04:00

A collection of mini 5x7 paintings I completed in October of 2018 for my daughter's wedding. These all came with an easel for quick and easy display, but they could also be framed or not and hung on a wall. They sat in the centre of the tables with the centerpiece and one person from each table got to take is home as a remembrance. The backs were all signed with my daughter and husband's name and the date. :) Such a wonderful day this was.

Poolside

2016-08-22T22:50:00.000-04:00

Been painting like a mad woman to get ready for a show in late October.

http://www.thehandofman.ca

Poolside ~

Lakeside ~

Forestview ~

Jackson Park ~

Cabin in the Snow

2016-06-30T22:21:00.004-04:00

I have to give credit where credit is due and in this case, it's the late Bob Ross. What an amazing man he was. I never fully appreciated his talent until recently. This "Cabin in the Snow" is a Bob Ross inspired piece and I love it. Still working to get the water right, but man, he has given me so many tips and tricks that I'm painting like a mad woman now! :) Thank you Bob. This one's for you ~

Across the Universe

2016-06-30T22:19:00.001-04:00

Tried my hand at a couple "universe" pics and I LOVE this!! I will be doing much more like these two in the future. The most wonderful thing about paintings like these are the sky's the limit; you can use any combination of colour and pattern you like. Whatever is appealing to you, you can just go for it. This is about as close to abstract painting I'll ever get. :P

Autumn Dream

2016-06-30T22:13:00.004-04:00

Been a while since I've visited - a lot has been happening since my last post and I am in such an amazing place in my life right now. The poetry and painting is pouring out of me. In fact, I'm considering actually buying a table at one of the craft shows in the fall. Working diligently on some paintings for that. Here is one that I did recently ~

This one is called "Autumn Dream"

Mother's Day

2016-06-30T22:13:00.003-04:00

Now that both of my girls have a child of their own, I wanted to give them something meaningful on Mother's Day. These were the paintings I decided to complete. :)

Christmas Projects - 2013

2014-06-14T16:17:00.002-04:00

Okay .. .....so this is a little over due. Alright. A LOT overdue. Been busy with life changes and the like but I did find the where-with-all to at least photograph my projects. My sisters were so impressed with the results that they immediately rushed out after the fact to pick up several christmas balls for me to paint and sell for next year. (Speaking of which, I should get started on those if I ever want them to be completed in time - yes, I know it's only June, but I also know myself well enough to know that I procrastinate incessantly and trust me....these will not be done on time if I don't begin immediately. )

So, without further adieu, I present my very quickly, but lovingly completed Christmas balls and Trinket Box, (my mom loves lady bugs). I have several balls, boxes and miniature canvas on easels to keep me going for the next several months. Will update with pictures upon completion. :)

Inter Lacrimas et Lactum (Amidst tears and sadness)

2013-08-17T20:21:00.000-04:00

"I shall, if I can, defy this fate, even though there will be times when I shall be the unhappiest of God's creatures ... I will seize Fate by the throat. It will not wholly conquer me! Oh, how beautiful it is to live - and live a thousand times over ! " ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

I know something of happiness
And yet 'twas not discovered with smiles
But suffered through anguished tears

You could not be witness to the affliction
But surely I am bleeding
Upon the mischance of my darkest fears

~ * ~

What a superficial lover is fate
She warms you with her loving embrace
Then betrays you with a twist as cruel as hate
Leaving you nothing but your hapless life to retrace

~ * ~

I live only in and for the music
Ever and always the impassioned call of the muses
Echo through my soul, and still I am despaired

By this cursed silence outside my mind
Wandering hand in hand with the demon of envy
Causing more suffering than this malady has impaired

~ * ~

That which drove me almost to despair
And from my friends forced me to flee
Also inspired a strong conviction to be bared
A cognition fate plainly held, when she kissed me

~ * ~

I live
I breathe
I bleed
and always . . . I play on

Note: It must be credited to this brilliant artist for not only the inspiration furnished me to write this, but the title of the piece as well. -- ever does he move and inspire.

Temptation

2013-08-17T19:53:00.000-04:00

Life now moves to the rhythm of you

It dips into the flavour of my desire

directing ripples of colour through

my black and white haze

I want to taste your music

to move inside your symphony

where the walls cave around me

in an earthquake of ecstasy

I want to sway

to kiss the essence of your mystery

to pull it so tightly to me, all the edges

of love spill out the sides and cover me

And when I have consumed the elixir of your soul

I shall long to taste it once more ~

Classic Serenity

2013-07-28T13:11:00.002-04:00

Finally quenched this insatiable thirst to attempt a waterfall. First one and I think it's not half bad. :) This is one of those paintings that I would just LOVE to dive into. The searing tranquility and quiet of this is so entirely appealing. Anyone who has been following this blog understands how captivating I find water and this, is the epitome of that emotion. I think everyone should have a waterfall in their home. ;)

Hazy Daze

2013-07-28T13:05:00.000-04:00

A painting I was commissioned to do for my office. This was the smaller "sample" which has since found it's way to my daughters home. :) I love the colours in this, but I am still struggling with the acceptance of my work. I am seriously considering lessons. I think I have reached an impasse where my talent is concerned and I now need to work on technique and building of my knowledge of colour tone, highlight and blending. :) I'm certain this will bring more satisfaction within and also a greater degree of respect for the craft.

Sunstream

2012-05-30T14:36:00.000-04:00

Painting I did (finally) for my daughter's birthday. I love how the sun appears to be cutting clear through the forest to touch the ground. It's almost passionate. I'm still working on technique ... this is something that I might decide to learn through lessons in the future. But for now, I'm happy just discovering what my limits are.

This is another one I truly had difficulty letting go. But I know I can visit it anytime I want (and my daughter too! :P)

Samples for a mural

2012-05-30T14:23:00.002-04:00

Three paintings that I quickly did up for work. I have been commissioned to paint a mural on one of the walls and needed to provide a few samples for selection. Still working on a couple to submit.

I ADORE the beach/water one. Took me the least amount of time and it just feels like something I'd love to jump right into. The other two are peaceful to look at, but the colours in the beach one just bring me something that I cannot put a finger on. There is a feeling of calmness and happiness that swarms the mind and makes whatever is going on in my life that's upsetting, somehow okay. I need a larger one like this for my wall. lol Maybe I'll do a mural at MY place. :)

Alone

2012-04-03T10:57:00.000-04:00

When life was young and everything new

And the sky was always a powder blue

Days were long

And all birds’ song

Illuminated love’s beauty true

The veiled light of her aura fell into my room early

Shaking me from dreams

As from her streams

All of tomorrow’s gain was like a stain

A stain on the heart of trust

Inside the dark there is a quiet peace

But nothing shivers like the cold of oneness

Thoughts get carried but never reach a destination

In the aloneness of morning

A voice is summoned, but barely heard

As its resonance breaks the shattered pieces

Until they no longer resemble life

Reflections only seem to magnify the hold

A heart stretches, looking for relief

Or truth in what it knows but cannot feel

There is a solidarity in being wordless

But at the cost of an essence that screams for release

Trapped, it struggles to break free from

Netting that holds its core in superficial conviction

There is a depth that the surface cannot comprehend

Inside a hollow that fills the soul

Life is seemingly less in control

Destiny knows wings and flies

When time proves difficult to try

And all that’s left is this oneness

A soft and breezy air in morning light

Sometimes enough, is more than a heart can stand

And there is loss within the darkness of being lonely

Forgive me

Autumn Leaves

2011-09-24T10:31:00.000-04:00

For the Autumnal Equinox (Sept. 23, 2011)

The autumn leaves of green-turned red
Cascade through fragrant air
Spilling to earth in silent flight
While homes stand lost and bare

Blank, the sky, in pinkish hue
Filled with the escape of birds
Delivers us the sun-swept view
Untrapped by any words

Adorned in Autumn’s deepest charm
The ground prepares its slumber
Tucked away in protective sheets
Of shades in countless number

Almond bark and cinnamon
Burn pleasant in woodsy scent
Telling tales of winter’s march
When Autumn leaves are spent

My Moon

2011-08-04T08:08:00.002-04:00

Iridescent moon, spilling light
into the naked air of my room
With shimmering milky fingers
your draw is so complete
You absorb me as though I could dissolve
into the tiny fraction of peace
you allow the clutter of my soul

Your radiance softens the edges of disquietude
and bearing all things
you carry moments in your arms
from which glitter is scooped
and furnished into dreams,
then littered like fairy dust
across the sleeping world

My love intensifies
with each phase of your joy
until full, you overflow the sky
splashing down until the earth is drenched
in the blush of your majesty

~ * ~

I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it ~ Albert Einstein

Auburnesque

2011-06-23T08:02:00.000-04:00

Oh how I wish I had had more time for this one. It was a wedding gift, and of course, I left it too late. :( So in the rush to finish it, I am not 100% satisfied with it, (I know; how unusual for me). :P

Still, I LOVE the colours in this. The inspiration came from a friends deviant art post. It was a photograph taken somewhere in Peterborough and I fell in love with it. It seems so ... dusky and mysterious. Anyway, the couple loved it, so I guess I'm okay with it for now. Will try another one of these when I can spend more time on it.

For now, I'm going to try and do up some quick paintings for a showing maybe. ;) Hopefully I'll be able to get on here more to post them. Thanks to my pal, John Carter for coming up with the title of this. It fits perfectly!

Enterprising ....

2011-06-23T07:58:00.000-04:00

Something I did as a little project for my place of employment.

Although very enjoyable, this took almost too long to finish. Couldn't quite get the colours right. Or the shading. I'm out of practice. :P Situated in the new place now, so there should be much more time for painting. :)

Stewart Farm, Maynooth, Ontario

2010-11-30T00:20:00.001-05:00

A painting I did for my mother's 75th birthday. This was the barn at the old farm where she was born and raised. I don't remember it completely and missed a few small details, but the emotion is there and I'm glad I was able to capture that somewhat. Would have liked to have taken more time with this one, but she was delighted and that makes me happy. Should be placing a lot more up on this blog soon. I have a lot of work to do in the next three weeks. :)

More Than Everything

2010-07-12T21:26:00.009-04:00

The air is filled with memory...

Hope shelters distress

and is lost to control

that does not stay together

fingers ... tracing ... touching...

longing

kisses lost to promised zephyr

stretching time to cover discouragement

(independence does not vibrate so animated now)

when disappointment fathers fear

life moves to slow motion

and every moment from the past

is adorned in costume

and plumps to a surreal dimension

I only hold the musing;

the stars that fall fom the blackest night

shattering at my feet

I break so easily

I wish for whispers

for day to be night

and my love to settle into every corner,

that my heart might know at last

the ease of doubtless air

Fish Ladder

2010-07-11T23:50:00.003-04:00

A painting requested by my mother to give to a friend of hers for her birthday. I'm finding balancing the colours found in nature with my own internal palette to be quite trying at best. The thing is to take the picture away from the real life scene and examine it for its own elemental merit. I decided getting the water just the right colour was unecessary, as the colours that emerge as I paint are far more interesting and beautiful. This turned out with more green than expected, but the murky brown that the river looked on the day of photographing left much to be desired.

Anyone familiar with the Port Hope area will reconize the Ganaraska River and our infamous fish ladder. I wish I had a photograph of this from the seventies. I believe their was a foot bridge that spanned the width of the river at the top of the ladder. In any case, this holds a bounty of memory and emotion. I hope Cheryl enjoys it.

Serenity

2010-04-20T22:05:00.001-04:00

I did this for someone special who told me that water is his inspiration and serenity. I hope that when he looks at this, it calms and soothes the soul and inspires him in the best ways possible. I let go of the perfectionist in this and I love how it turned out. More than I have in a long time. This is closer to where I want my paintings to be. I haven't given this to him yet, but hopefully he finds as much pleasure in it as I did creating it.

I love the colours I found in the sky. I think I probably spent the most time on it. The sun gave me the most grief. It is so hard to capture the exact movement that I want. *sigh* It's still something I truly enjoy doing. When I paint, I feel more free than at any other minute in the day. :)

The Lights

2010-04-12T15:47:00.001-04:00

I have finally gifted this painting (had to wait to meet up with the recipient) and so am now finally able to share it. I wanted to give AB another attempt and although I prefer my first one to this, the rainbow of colour in this one does make me smile. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't come close to showing the colours as vivid as they truly are. But I DO like the way I've filtered the trees in.

I am not entirely happy with this one, but I'm still learning to shush that inner perfectionist.

The Bridge

2010-03-18T16:58:00.001-04:00

FINALLY!!

I am finally done with a painting I began about two months ago. The link (just click on the title, "The Bridge"), provided will take you to the artist's blog who inpsired this. Scott is a gifted photographer and sees art wherever he is. I am thankful that he allowed me to use one of his photos for inspiration.

I am not certain why this gave me such grief, but the black eyed susans were so unforgiving. I stopped when I was almost finished the bridge and had everything else painted in EXCEPT those blasted beautiful flowers. lol It sat in the living room just mocking me everytime I looked at it. I finally managed to coax the muse to help me finally finish it and now it gives me some satisfaction when I look upon it. This photograph simply does not do it justice. I couldn't capture how truly beautiful the colours look on canvas, but this is the best I can do for now.

Now I must visit this actual bridge and see how beautifully life imitates art. :P Thanks Scott!! :D