#2483 "Cirriously Summer"

Painting is a solitary, thoughtful process. I like to sit and ponder the existing and future strokes everyday whether I have a brush and palette in my hand or not. Sometimes the strokes just feel right as they are going on the canvas. Hopefully one feels the wrong strokes before they get even applied. The poem by Marko Burrows describes the process of painting and life very well. Here are just a few of those words. 

• The paint on my brush keeps on flowing
• In small dabs and long strokes it feels right 
• Blending, colour and texture, that’s going
• To reflect, almost dance, in the light
• But up close, you can’t see any structure
• It’s a jumble of chaos and strife
• But step back and look at its wholeness
• A painting is a lot like life

A couple of Boston really enjoyed #2065 "Summer Cirrus" which is 22 X 26 (inches) and based on a photo taken from my kayak at 8:45 pm on Friday July 28th, 2017 Singleton Lake. The gravity waves and lines of cirrus are what attracted me to this painting. I rarely do commissions but I felt this could be a fun adventure using one of my favourite paintings as a launching board. They wanted a canvas almost 4x6 feet in size. That large size adds an entirely different dimension to the project but life should be an adventure and a challenge as well as being fun. 

I did some fun investigative sketches to find out where this commission might go. One of those evolved into #2477 "Three Amigo Canoes at Sunset". 

I realized from the feedback and ongoing conversation, that if I wanted to thrill my Boston clients, I was going to have to be really bold. They appreciate the fauve style and I really enjoy painting that way as well. They loved the darker blues of #2065 "Summer Cirrus" and wanted something in the foreground. Based on Michael's suggestion, I selected the foreground modified from #2505 "April Afternoon Convection". The paint got really thick on the canvas with lots of interesting texture.

The title came to me as I pondered the art one day. I enjoy puns and weather terminology. This painting was all about summer memories and the energy in the sky and weather. Both of these fun concepts go seriously well together during a summer holiday adventure. The title and the painting is intended to evoke those happy times, enjoying the lake and the summer sky - make you smile. 

The end result was the above and to quote Michael and Alison "Wow this is absolutely stunning!!!!! We love it!!!!" So that's a wrap. Step away from the easel... 

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