Catharine Clarke

Time to get organized

2011-11-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

With paintings seemingly coming and going in all directions, I've been working on getting organized. Other than running a 1/2 marathon (very slowly), I spent the weekend photographing, wiring, varnishing, etc. I have a booth at a show at the Carriage House in Manotick this weekend. It's kind of an impromptu thing so I hope we get traffic.

In other news, my brand new business cards arrived from Vistaprint today, and they are quite nice. Just wish I had put my QR code on the back but that's OK. Oh yes, and I finally put a couple of images on my Imagekind site so I can sell prints more easily.

Here is a recently finished piece. I think I'll call it "Escape".

Persistent Visitor

2011-11-13T21:13:00.001-05:00

My inspiration for this piece was a very persistent oriole that was hanging around the house this summer. He kept going around to all the wondows and chirping and looking in.

Small Wonders Show Opens

2011-11-04T04:56:00.000-04:00

I belong to an art group called "Ottawa Mixed Media Artists" and every year we have a show called Small Wonders where all the pieces are 12"x12" or smaller and are square. The vernissage was last night at the Britannia Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario. The show looked great! This image is of one of two paintings in the show and I'm happy to say that it sold.

September Virtual Paintout

2011-09-25T19:01:00.002-04:00

This is my contribution to the September Virtual Paintout. This month's location is New Orleans. I chose this image to paint because I like to ride my bike(s) but what really struck me as I explored the area using Google Street View was the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. It was incredible to see the number of people who are still unable to live in their own houses, so instead, they live in trailers in front of their houses. Entire neighborhoods have trailers in front of their homes. You can't help but feel for those people. My heart goes out to them.

Here is the link to the location: Hampson at Burdette

Award Winner!

2011-09-19T17:14:00.000-04:00

It wasn't very long ago that I posted this painting but the big news is that it won some awards! Not only was this painting accepted into the Everyday Patterns show at Gallery Perth in Perth, Ontario, but it won an Award of Excellence and the Juror's Choice Award. Sooo exciting for me!

A Little Something 3-Dimensional

2011-08-29T16:16:00.000-04:00

I took a wire sculpture workshop earlier this month with Charles O'Neil but I wanted to see what I could do to incorporate that type of thing into my usual more 2-dimensional work. This is what I came up with using the back side of a cradled wood painting panel.

Now, what am I going to call this ??????

Tapped Out

2011-07-30T15:17:00.000-04:00

This is a photograph on wood panel with encaustic and oil paint. An engineering company nearby was looking for some art with an industrial feel to it. This is a small image (8x8) but I plan on creating some larger pieces.

Inspired By Rauschenberg

2011-07-07T21:51:00.000-04:00

The composition of this painting was inspired by a small 4x4" collage of my own. The instructor in a class I was taking suggested we take a look at Robert Rauschenberg's art and I was intrigued by his use of small rectangles of colour across some of his paintings and his rough, messy style so I decided to incorporate that idea into this piece.

Sometimes I chastise myself for trying too many different materials and styles of art. The truth is that I have an addiction to art supplies and playing with new things and it's really hard to settle on one medium. Apparently that's a no-no from a collector's point of view, but hey, it worked for Rauschenberg. Nevertheless, I do believe my unique voice is starting to emerge in my art. When I look at my art there is almost always a merging of organic elements with more rigid shapes.

What's New? My Favourite Art Podcasts

2011-07-05T21:29:00.001-04:00

What's new? Well, I've been painting a lot but not blogging much (feel guilty about it too). I have discovered quite a few bits of information lately that I'd like to share though.

For those of you who don't know, I run and I bike and I have a long commute to my day job. Rather than listen to music during those activities I listen to my favourite podcasts that I download from iTunes. Here are a few:

My most recent discovery is "Artists Helping Artists" from Blog Talk Radio and hosts Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry. This is an amazing podcast! It's very focused on the business of art and has a tremendous amount of information. Keep a notebook handy! You can listen to the live show or download from iTunes.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artistshelpingartists

This link will list all the art-related shows:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/art

A few other favourites:

Art & Soul radio on Blog talk Radio.
Artistically Speaking on Blog Talk Radio.

CraftSanity with Jennifer Haywood, although she seems to have stopped podcasting since she started her own magazine. Although her podcast is geared toward knitting and sewing and quilting, I feel like we're kindred spirits in a way. You can still listen to all her older shows.

CraftCast is geared toward jewellery-making but she has interesting interviews.

Recently Sold

2011-05-21T21:09:00.001-04:00

Here are a few paintings that I've sold recently. I did a show at the end of April and it went really well. It was amazing to see how many paintings I have done in the last year when everything was laid out for the show.

Clarence's View
Mixed Media on cradled wood panel

Impressions I
Encaustic on cradled wood panel

Small Works 2

2010-11-27T22:07:00.000-05:00

Small Works 1

2010-11-27T22:05:00.000-05:00

Reflections in Red

2010-10-08T20:10:00.001-04:00

Women of Influence

2010-08-20T05:33:00.000-04:00

My mother recently celebrated her 80th birthday and looking back on pictures of her she always has a look of strength and independence about her. I wonder if she would like this painting.

Route 11, PEI, Canada

2010-08-15T11:03:00.003-04:00

Here is a second painting I did for the August Virtual Paintout. Again, using my new Golden Open Acrylics. This time I had more gesso on the canvas first so the paint "stuck" a little more which made for a less watercolour-like effect.

Here's a link to my inspiration: Route 11, Lot 15, PEI

New Zealand Rd, PEI, Canada

2010-08-09T15:51:00.005-04:00

9" x 12"

Open acrylics on canvas board

New Zealand Rd.

PEI, Canada

Here is my submission to the August, 2010 Virtual Paintout challenge which is PEI, Canada. I just bought a set of Golden Open acrylics and this was my first try at using them. The set is a "traditional palette" and the colours are all very transparent, so the look I achieved was very watercolour-like. This isn't what I would call my normal style of painting but I'm interested in doing more plein-air painting to enhance my skills, so I wanted to paint this very directly in a limited timeframe.

Virtual Paintout is an online art challenge that uses Google Street View as a source of inspiration. Here is the link to my inspiration for this painting.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=206+New+Zealand+Rd,+Lot+44,+Kings+County,+Prince+Edward+Island+C0A+2B0&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=48.835041,135.087891&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FcN_wwIdI41J_A&split=0&hq=&hnear=206+New+Zealand+Rd,+Lot+44,+Kings+County,+Prince+Edward+Island+C0A+2B0&ll=46.36983,-62.288607&spn=0,0.01649&z=17&layer=c&cbll=46.366637,-62.288605&panoid=L-1QdN1vkeZe3pLzU_yBFA&cbp=12,136.72,,0,-4.08

Old International

2010-08-06T08:53:00.011-04:00

"Old International"

Pastel pencil and Nupastel on black sanded paper

9.75" X 8.5"

I fell in love with a junk yard last weekend at the 2nd annual "Brush With the Highlands" Plein-Air Art Festival in Wilberforce, Ontario. There were lots of amazing spots to paint but I spent hours at the old farm/junk yard location. Here is my rendition of an old International dump truck rusting in the yard. I took hundreds of photos too, some of which I'll post on my photography blog.

The festival was attended by some amazing artists such as David Sharpe (http://www.davidsharpepaintings.com/) whoo was last year's juror's choice and Patricia Savoie and Charles Spratt and many others.

Now, here is where the hard core plein-air painters probably thought I was a bit of a whacko. I took rubbings off lots of walls and old rusty parts with the intention of combining them in some other mixed media work but some of them are little works of art in themselves.

Let The Sun Shine In

2010-05-30T22:29:00.006-04:00

11" x 14"

acrylic on cradled wood panel

This is my submission for the May Virtual Paintout where the destination for May is the Czech Republic. It's my first submission to this monthly challenge. I did it over top of an old painting which added a lot of texture and variety of color in the wall.

For Brianna

2010-05-28T10:06:00.003-04:00

A few years ago someone I know bought a painting of an iris from me and apparently her daughter kept "stealing" it from her room. So, with her daughter's 17th birthday coming up, she asked me to paint another iris for her, only this time with purple and green to match her daughter's room. Here is the result (which she loves).

Too Pretty to Eat!

2010-03-25T22:10:00.004-04:00

Here is a little drawing I just did in the spirit of the upcoming holiday, but they're too pretty to eat...

3.5" x 3.5", pencil and ink on paper

2010-03-25T21:54:00.005-04:00

It's feels like forever since I posted anything. Being the mom of a competitive athlete is wonderful but very time consuming! I have been making some time for my art in the last little while though with a number of projects on the go. Here is something I did in response to a monthly painting challenge but I was too late so I didn't submit it.

8x8, acrylic on cradled wood

Year-end Challenge

2010-01-03T21:48:00.006-05:00

Here is my piece for the Different Strokes From Different Folks year-end portrait challenge. It's done with pastel pencils on black sanded paper. The most challenging parts were the eyes (looking up and away) and the lack of definition and contrast above the lips in the photo . I could have used a few more color options in my pastel pencils too...good thing I got that art supply store gift certificate for Christmas. The last month has been crazy busy so a little more time would have been nice but I didn't want to disappoint Karin the other artist!

Rooftops

2009-10-27T22:07:00.010-04:00

This is my submission for the latest DSFDF challenge. I painted it on unstretched canvas with the idea of using my sewing machine to do some detail work but didn't quite get that far. While this is not exactly one of my favourites, I learned a few things and got some ideas for some options to explore like these...

Tea Cup #1

2009-10-26T19:29:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking of persuing one subject in a number of different ways in the hopes that it will help me to paint/create on a daily basis. So, I'm going to try that with a tea cup theme. This one has a little of everything in it, fabric, paint, paper, wax, and a the cup is from a printing plate I made from very thin styrofoam. I quite like the soft quality of the end result.

Experimenting with Encaustics

2009-10-09T11:11:00.003-04:00

This has been a very experimental week as I tried encaustic painting on my own. Mixed media with wax might be more accurate because I used soy wax, not encaustic medium and it has paper and pastel and oil paint in it too!

Prints

2009-10-09T10:37:00.007-04:00

I've been taking a printmaking class and while I've done lino-cuts before I've never used a press. What I'm looking forward to trying is solar plate etching. Here are a few of my attempts.

This one is a lino-cut on dry block-ptinting paper.

This one is the same lino-cut but using soy-based ink on damp rag paper. I'm not sure but I think I like the other one a little better.

A Moment on The Lips...

2009-09-07T20:28:00.005-04:00

This is my submission to the latest DSFDF challenge. I pulled out my pastel pencils and black sanded Colorfix paper.

A Moment on the Lips

8" x 8"

Pastel on sanded paper

Veggies 2

2009-06-12T23:21:00.007-04:00

I can't believe I got a chance to do 2 versions of this challenge. While the watercolour on Yupo version was fun to try, this one is more me.

16" x 16" acrylic on canvas

Yupo Veggies

2009-06-09T14:13:00.006-04:00

Here is my summer veggies submission for the latest Different Strokes from Different Folks challenge. It was indeed a challenge because it's my first attempt at watercolour on Yupo paper. This piece of paper has been calling my name for a while now so I decided to break from my usual acrylic and mixed media endeavours.
I don't think I would do anything with large washes on Yupo but I like the way you can wipe it off.
If time permits, I'll do another version using my acrylics.

Life's a Beach

2009-04-03T11:33:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately I was 2 days late for the beach Different Strokes challenge, but here is mine anyway. I'll try to get Karin to post it still. When I was saving this for the web I was playing around and really liked the charcoal version so check it out below.

I may even like this one better than the original:

Sushi Exploration 2

2009-03-22T22:16:00.003-04:00

Here is another exploration of the sushi theme using a texture technique that I've had a lot of success with for producing fun and energetic paintings.

Wig in Progress

2009-03-21T23:19:00.003-04:00

This is the piece I was working on for the Different Strokes Wig challenge but I didn't get it done in time and it's still not done but I thought I would show my work in progress.

Sushi Swirls

2009-03-17T21:44:00.004-04:00

This is my interpretation of the current Different Strokes challenge. It's a more abstract approach than most. This was my second version. I'll post the first one when I get a chance.

Mixed Moodia Cow

2009-02-03T09:13:00.003-05:00

Here is the mixed media painting I did for a Different Strokes challange a few months ago, but I never actually posted it.

Crooked Victorian

2009-01-30T15:54:00.007-05:00

Here is the painting I did for the latest DifferentStrokesFromDifferentFolks challenge, a San Francisco Victorian. I did another more traditional version of it using water-soluble oil paints but I missed the drying time of my acrylics, so here's version #2.

It's a 8"x8" acrylic on canvas painting.

A few other new things in my artist's life are that I joined the North Grenville Artists Guild and I may become a member of the executive of the Manotick Art Association (voting is in March). My friends would say "as if you have time for that!" but I think it's a good way to make art a bigger part of my life. Sleep is over-rated right :) ?

Happy Painting!

Still Painting

2009-01-09T15:23:00.003-05:00

Well, once again it's been a while since I've posted, but I have been painting. I participated in the differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com year-end challenge which was a portrait painting swap. All the participants submitted photos of themselves and were given a photo of someone else to paint.

Here is the painting I did of Nancy Vance. I'm not sure I did this poor woman justice with my procrastination over the holidays but the pressure of a deadline was probably good.

Here is the painting she did of me. She made me look young and the eyes really sparke so I think it's great.

2008-11-17T23:04:00.002-05:00

I had an absolute blast this weekend at the portrait and figure drawing and painting workshop with Brian Smith. He certainly left everyone wanting more. We had some great models too. Louis, the 70ish Italian ladies man was so disappointed that he didn't get to model his thong and show off his body builder body! Tracey was an absolutely wonderful and gorgeous young woman who is an artist herself. I'm thinking that I want to do more life drawing and painting so I'm going to check out some local groups to practice with live models.

IMT - Coffee Break

2008-11-14T08:57:00.004-05:00

I love this topic! Maybe because I love coffee? Not sure how much time I'll have to paint something on this topic, but it's for a good reason! I get to spend all weekend painting with Brian Smith (http://www.drawn2life.com/). He is also "Mr. November" in American Artist. Can't wait!

Anyway, I did snap this photo of my coffee break...may even do a painting out of this....

Undercover

2008-11-02T13:06:00.002-05:00

Here is one of my latest paintings. It's called "Undercover" and was inspired by a photo of my sister and I as children.

IMT - Carve

2008-10-25T23:51:00.002-04:00

Print from carving a styrofoam meat tray:

This print was made from carving into a sheet of children's craft foam, printing with acrylic paint and then colouring lightly with coloured pencils:

Raspberry Tea

2008-10-24T20:05:00.002-04:00

A Little Bird Told me

2008-10-21T23:20:00.002-04:00

IMT - Nervous Cat

2008-10-19T10:41:00.005-04:00

The theme for this weeks Inspire Me Thursday is "nervous". Have you heard the expression..."as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs" ? Here is my interpretation. It didn't make me nervous to do this but it did make me laugh.

OK, so it's not exactly a hang on the wall piece of art, just a page in my sketchbook, but it was fun and I learned that I could quite easily paint and collage a room that looks like it has some depth.

What does make me nervous is putting my art out there for people to see, especially in a show or something. It's easy to second-guess yourself when you're surrounded by "real" artists. But, you know what...I'm starting to figure out that I am a "real" artist too. It took me months to finally jump in and create an ETSY shop, but I'm glad I did.

P.S. No cats or other animals were injured in the making of this image. :)

When the soul lies down in that grass

2008-10-13T19:09:00.000-04:00

This week's Inspire Me Thursday is a poem by Rumi:

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language - even the phrase "each other" - doesn't make any sense.
- Rumi

These are my fields. I think my soul would like to lie down in this grass:

Shrink - Days 4 & 6

2008-08-12T09:10:00.000-04:00

Heres buddy on day 4:

Here he is on day 6. Unfortunately he's starting to grow on the inside where I cored him out, so I don't think I'll be doing too much more with him. Say goodbye to Buddy!

Shrink - Day 2

2008-08-08T15:02:00.000-04:00

Buddy's not looking quite as friendly today!

Shrink (Shrunken apple head)

2008-08-07T22:11:00.000-04:00

OK, so you're going to have to use your imagination a little on this one because it's so early in the process, but my contribution to Inspire Me Thursday "Shrink" challenge is a shrunken apple head.

If it works out, then I can turn it into a doll.

This might take a week to really "shrink" but I'll take pictures each day and you can follow the progress if you're interested. I welcome any name suggestions...Bob?...Georgia?

"I Can't Sit", 4x4 in blue

2008-08-06T20:08:00.000-04:00

This is a small piece (4x4) but I love it. I was trying a technique of making "fabric paper" and found this in it.

The Beach

2008-07-26T14:54:00.000-04:00

Father/Son bonding on the beach in PEI:

This image has insprired a painting that I'm still working on, my first oil painting, but the drying time is slowing my progress.

Collecting treasures:

Polka Dot

2008-07-23T21:41:00.000-04:00

Here is my Polka Dot entry. This is actually a 2-piece object and I just need to join the front and back with hinges. When it's closed, you can see the little girl through the window. Too bad it doesn't scan well!

Outside front:

Inside Front:Inside back with door open:
Inside back with door closed:

Beauty in Everyday Things

2008-06-14T22:58:00.000-04:00

I think the beauty in everyday things comes alive when you take the time to look a little closer. Who would have thought that coals in a fireplace could contain such a variety of textures:

Some see a beat up pair of shoes...a runner feels the freedom, the fresh air, blood pumping, life:

Sketchbook Doodles

2008-03-27T22:25:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to think I need another blog, one for Inspire Me Thursday and one for all my other stuff I feel like posting. I had a great art class tonight. I FINALLY finished a painting that I started last spring and then didn't touch for months and months. Something was just bothering me about it and it eventually came to me what I needed to do. That painting will go up here one of these days. Here are some fun little doodles from my sketchbook.

Fleur-de-lis Wallpaper

2008-03-23T19:37:00.000-04:00

Here is another Inspire Me Thursday posting for the "Wallpaper" prompt. This is a portion of a gesso and acrylic piece on watercolour paper. It was done a couple of months ago but I thought I would post it because of the "fleur-de-lis" stamp. Variations of fleur-de-lis are very commonly used in wallpaper patterns. The French symbol has a very rich history and represents (among other things) peace and purity. Having grown up in Quebec, the symbol holds a place in my heart. Check it out more information on the fleur-de-lis on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur-de-lis

You can create wonderful textures by carving into a thick coat of wet gesso on paper or other support. It almost feels like leather when you use watercolour paper (after it dries). Rubbing acrylic paint onto it highlights the texture.

Wallpaper Over Winter and Welcome Spring

2008-03-21T20:57:00.000-04:00

This week's Inspire Me Thursday assignment is "Wallpaper".

Here are some tulips on wallpaper (OK...so it's really scrapbooking paper but it looks like funky wallpaper). I'd like to use this to wallpaper over winter and welcome spring!

Here's a little something on paw-print wallpaper. I'm sure there are a few pets out there looking forward to stepping on some green grass like this.

I'm sure I'll add a few more before the week is out.

Circle of Friends Inkblot

2008-03-19T21:42:00.000-04:00

One last inkblot for good measure! Here is just the inkblot:
Here is a quick sketch on it...Circle of Friends. My other thought on this one is that it could be 3 people sitting at a table playing cards.

Inkblots

2008-03-16T22:53:00.000-04:00

I did a few inkblots before I had one I wanted to do something with. When I tried different colours in acrylics, everything looked like a butterfly. The black ink ones were so black it was hard to draw anything on them. I came to the conclusion that watercolours were the best thing to use (good thing I have an addiction to art materials, eh!). Anyway here are a few of mine:

Original Inkblot #1...every time I look at this one, I see new things. Some of the paint dried before I folded it over so it didn't come out exactly the same on both sides.
Here is what I found sketched in in pencil.
Original Inkblot #2:

Green Crocs today

2008-03-16T09:35:00.000-04:00

Some green Crocs for St.Patty's day?

2008-03-08T16:01:00.000-05:00

Even BBQ utensils can be fun! It's called Rustic Charm.