A folk art fleet of lobster boats in 2022.
A folk art fleet of lobster boats in 2022.
2022
A new series of acrylic paintings were done in 2022, to make a small fleet of lobster boats, free hand. these are not painted after specific boats photographed, but rather from what was learned about the boats during the last few years. I found pine wood frames to fit the canvas boards used for these paintings.
Artistic Growth - Progression
Artistic Growth - Progression
2022
In 2020 the first acrylic painting i attempted of Picton Castle, Barque Tall Ship, done with the intention of making it looking antiqued, didn't quite turn out to my liking. I dug it back out and further painted it in 2022, and found a method of framing it that completed it much better now. I also found a medium for glossy finish, for use with acrylic paints that make it seem like an oil painting with its shiny finish. in addition to this, I tried out a glazing technique to darken the sky edges, similar to techniques used with water colours.
i had this also made into art-printed, folding-cards.
I think this is now one of my favourite paintings done now.
Sometimes, re-working a piece can make all the difference,
even if the wait to finish it is 2 years.
Artistic Progression
Artistic Progression
2022
In 2020 the first acrylic painting i attempted of Caissie Point Lighthouse, Grande Digue, NB, was a part of initial learning projects. i revisited the painting and re-worked it in 2022 to light up the sky with a sunset. I wanted to show the wear and tear on the lighthouse more true to how I first photographed it, and more of the jagged, dark textures of the rocks. i also felt the motion of the water needed more intentional movements, instead of just splashing textures.
Lastly, I wanted to add some life to the image, so birds were added.
This is the before and after images.
I chose a 8" x 10" canvas board for this piece, and bought a frame that has some good wood character to it, to finish it off. Its currently hanging on the wall, and I am planning on varnishing it closer to summer after it has a chance to finish drying fully. The last time I finished a good oil painting was in 1986. I usually paint in acrylics, so this year I am growing my skills to return to oils.
I am pleased with this first painting. I look forward to doing more.
New skills and supplies = more learning, and more growth.
Gesso the canvas board. Learn about oil mediums and fire safety in using them and in clean up.
(eg: turpentine, linseed oil, etc). Layering the paint thin on canvas, then gradually build up thicker to allow bottom layers to dry faster. Mediums thin the initial paint to help it spread thinner and smoother. Paintings need extensive drying time, and eventually need varnish to help them last for years.
I and consulting with other painters for safety advice, and tips and tricks in working with the new materials. So far, its working out good.
2022 Oil Painting!
2022 Oil Painting!
March 20, 2022
This year I am exploring OIL PAINTING.
The first painting finished this year done in oil paints is inspired by "Fundy Predator II", a lobster boat I photographed from Alma, New Brunswick, Canada. (Note: It is not exact. I don't put the registered numbers or exact logos in my paintings, on purpose, and some parts are interpreted.. it's art.) The vessel was photographed at the Alma Wharf as well, so water and weather in the painting are free hand. The lobster boat is shown moving away from the rains in the background. It's driving itself forward, despite the weather.
This is another art piece created while my hand was still healing in a hand brace (tendon strain-injury). It was slow moving, with a lot of effort, despite the limiting hand brace; effort was moving forward, despite challenges.
2022 First Acrylic Painting Finished.
2022 First Acrylic Painting Finished.
Feb, 2022
This first painting for 2022 is in acrylic paints, on a sheet of canvas, now floating under glass in a frame. It's a painting done while my right hand was in a brace, after tendons were injured. It's a piece of "willpower", stubbornly working through pain and restricted hand movement while my right thumb was immobilized. I am an artist. I want to paint!
The subject is "Miss Katherine", a tugboat from Nova Scotia, Canada.
2022 Sketches, Art Planning, In Process
2022 Sketches, Art Planning, In Process
January, 2022
I am reviewing some of the photos I took in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and decided I would like to paint a close up of the bell from the Bluenose II, tall ship. This is the initial sketch being done on the canvas, working through some details I want to include. Before its painted, the pencil lines are erased down to remove as much pencil gray as possible, to clean it up.
This is a piece "in process". It's on canvas board, 8" x 10". I havent decided if I want to do this in acrylics or oils yet. Stay tuned.
2021 New Paintings
2021 New Paintings
June 8, 2021
Time flies when you keep busy!!
So since January I've spent a lot of time on web development and test printing designs on products, gradually loading the items available for sale on our site.
In the last while new art is being prepared, sketched and planned. I have completed 2 acrylic paintings in 2021 that are now framed. New art is aiming to have more emotional content in the nature forces, instead of focusing so much on location content, so art approaches are stretching more.
The two paintings shown here are acrylic on canvas, then framed. The first one is called "Navigating the Blues". The second one is called "Ride it out". For thoughts and stories behind these paintings click over to the blog for "Stories about art images"
Framing 2020 paintings...
Framing 2020 paintings...
June 8, 2021
I've been on the hunt for frames to start framing the finished canvases from 2020. Its wonderful to see how the right frame can really "finish" a piece. The ones to the left are "Marco Polo" & "Steamer 1 - David Weston". Both are renditions of historical ships from out of St. John, New Brunswick.
Below are paintings of Briar Island Lighthouse, Nova Scotia. The lighthouse stands where the Bay of Fundy begins.
January 2021 Digital Art Designing.
January 2021 Digital Art Designing.
February 1, 2021
For the month of January, I have been developing the digital art of a red-orange lobster to be used over an Acadian flag for "Acadian Pride" type art-printed products. The lobster is digitally painted dot by dot. Printing art on different surfaces requires testing and adjustments. Some items need images lightened up and contrast increased to print well. Each template for printing has to be set up as well.. for magnets, buttons, mugs, bags, & t-shirts. Testing out if the lobster looks better facing left or right was another test. And after coming up with the initial design, mottos came to mind to offer with the red lobster design. Each motto has to be fit to the design (..and font sizes and colours need to be chosen).
So some mottos are chosen. 1. "It's Acadian Lobster Time!". 2. "Acadie! I'm home!". 3. "Proud to be Acadian". After test printing on some smaller items, the design was repainted further to add more contrasting shadows and dot details, before printing larger on t-shirts and bags. I also decided I preferred the left facing angle. There's a lot of decisions to make, in developing a design for multiple print product types.
On a personal note, the motto "Acadie! I'm home!" was what my aunt was yelling out to crowds in 2020 when we found ourselves in the "car parade" for Acadia Day. She moved back to New Brunswick earlier in the year, and finding ourselves surprisingly caught into the parade on the way to Cap-Pelé for seafood, was such "a perfect moment" to me. My family is Acadian. That motto is in honour of that moment.
From sketch to digital art 2020
From sketch to digital art 2020
Dec 28, 2020
For Christmas 2020, digital art was added to our art line up. The image to the left shows stages of one of the designs in development. It started with a pencil sketch concept of a design of lobster traps, stacked into a Christmas tree type design. This is a tradition found along the east coast Maritimes. The sketch was imaged into a laptop where a paint program was used to build the image, shape by shape, then digitally painted with defused spray colour digital features. The end design has been printed on mugs, cards and 3 inch lapel buttons, for the Christmas season, 2020. Digital art is by Sharon Bourque (c) 2020. This design is "Lobster Traps Stacked Christmas Tree."
"Old Sails" - in honour of Bluenose II
"Old Sails" - in honour of Bluenose II
Dec 28, 2020
Each year, I try to do coastal "photo hunts", and seek to expand coastal experiences, to enrich my resources for art reference, and enrich life with experiences. In late summer, 2019, I visited Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and was able to step aboard the tall ship, Schooner, Bluenose II. I took over 2000 photos up close of details of the ship for future art references. The first acrylic painting done in 2020 in honour of Bluetooth II is a piece I call "Old Sails". What doesn't show in the photos printed from this art, is the rope attached to the outer edges of the canvas, to frame it. I returned again to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in summer 2020 (during the Maritime bubble, covid 19 provincial borders arrangement). The Bluenose II was again at the wharf, but public was not allowed aboard. Photo stock taken was more at a distance, but the reduced public presence allowed for distance shots to work out better.
Cape Enrage Lighthouse
Cape Enrage Lighthouse
Dec 28, 2020
One of my favourite places to visit is Cape Enrage, along the Bay of Fundy, in New Brunswick. You definitely need to be able to drive out there, as there are no buses for access. There is a shoreline filled with smooth stones, on the way to the rocky cliffs and hill that is home to the lighthouse. The structure is a square lighthouse overlooking the Bay of Fundy; a location where nature seems quite active. The tides can be experienced there. The lighthouse has a fog horn as well, to warn vessels in foggy weather.
The acrylic painting created started out with a sketch from a summer photo, but was shifted into a winter storm painting, including paint "flicking" at the canvas to create the snow coming down.
This was the last painting of 2020 chosen to be featured in the new art series calendar for 2021 called "Maritime Art". It was also printed on Christmas cards and mugs.
Artistically, this piece started out with the orderly structure sketched out and painted, then contrasting that "order" with spontaneous, chaotic, storm weather painting (less control where paint goes). The mug motto that came to mind is "Nature is chaotic and alive." For me, the struggle between order and chaos seems necessary in artistic creations; especially when painting nature.
Nature is dynamic. These cards were made available to sell through Cape Enrage Gallery in 2021.
Prior Exhibit Art - in other painting styles
Prior Exhibit Art - in other painting styles
March 2, 2021
Reviewing the history of various art styles has me reflecting on some of the paintings I have completed in past years. The most recent art was more figurative attempts at realism, aiming to represent structures of lighthouses and fishing vessels as accurately as possible. Painting nature around these structures seems a bit more chaotic in approach, and spontaneous. Its a balance between the chaos of nature and the orderly, constructive response of man in relation to it. Painting it also feels like that struggle between styles.. an orderly structure then a spontaneous nature around it.
Some of my past paintings have been different from this approach.
One called "Peaceful Shores" has been described as having a "Monet" feel to it. It is a paining of shoreline water, waves, rolling splashes, and a play of blue and white colours. here is no black within this painting. It was painted with directional, moving brush strokes, to 'move with the water' and stippling the white foam splashes rising on the waves. It was painted within one sitting, to allow the mood and creative flow to have consistency. Its soft and light, and its hues are quite beautiful. It has an Impressionist feel to it.
"Cosmic Shores" was a smaller painting, with intense colour hues. It is reminiscent of Cape Enrage Lighthouse, along the Bay of Fundy. The lose flow of paint focuses on impression with shape and colour, rather than with precision details. Flicking white paint at the dark sky area allows for spontaneous creation of a cosmic sky. The release of details allows for the intensity of colour and depth to draw you in.
"Pearl" was a large painting focusing mainly on colour and texture . The whole painting was done with sponge brushes, in a dot-stipple, type of technique. The beauty of this painting was in its intense colours and simplicity of topic. The larger the painting, the looser the style, the less detail, the more vibrancy is colour and texture. These larger pieces can look captivating on a wall or at exhibit, but are not as useful in regards to art-prints for products. For this reason they were reserved as originals for sale, instead.
(Note: Pearl & Cosmic Shores have both sold.)
"Blue Moon" was another smaller painting that was on exhibit. It was my first painting done with a pallet knife. Again, intense colour and texture is the beauty of this piece.
"Treasures of Life" was an abstract painting, ordered into 4 panels on a single canvas. Each panel has a treasure expressed in colour and motion. A heavy leaning on the colour symbolism is used in this piece rather than figures and forms.
These are samples of some of my less figurative paintings, from 2014-2015.
Enjoy.
-Sharon Bourque.
Stay tuned for more blog entries.