And the Winner Is......

'Autumn Overlook'
Watercolour by Eileen Gidman
Winner was LM from Creston, BC

Thank you to everyone who commented on my blog, newsletter or Facebook page. Your comments encouraged me to keep painting on location everyday during my art residency in the Crowsnest Pass, AB. I looked forward to my down time on the internet to see who was commenting.

Ready for the draw

The winner is number 44: LM from Creston, BC

Here is where I sat to paint that last painting,

right beside an animal's den. See the bone out front! Luckily no one was home.

 

Displaying the watercolours on the wall in the Art Residency Cottage

Our paintings were transferred to the Gushul Studio for the Open House

Off to a new home! Thanks for the purchase. You may not be able to tell but the wind really got blowing there, where it comes over the Livingstone Range. Those clouds had to be captured quickly as they were really blowing around. This area was one of my favorite places to paint but the weather here was definitely the most challenging. One day two other artists and myself huddled on the leeward side of a snow fence to paint.

Off to a new home! Thanks for the purchase. The day was so perfect, warm but not hot as Fall can be. I enjoyed painting this watercolour so much. Those old signs are so captivating. Someone at the show mentioned I had captured the roughness of the old buildings. I took that as quite a compliment.

In another post I am working on, I will tell you what the other artist and myself gleaned from the Art Residency. Hopefully you will be inspired to set some time aside to follow your own passion.

Gushul Art Residency: Open House

 To Win a Watercolour Sketch painted in the Rocky Mountain Foothills: comment on my blog or Facebook posts during Sept 2015.  I will make the draw the first week in October. Good luck!

Gushul Studio Open House, Blairmore, AB
 Sat, Sept 26 from 4-6 pm
Karen Arrowsmith, myself (Eileen Gidman), and Kristen Lyttle warmly invite you to attend and view their art:
watercolour paintings, painted textiles and Maori weaving

I'm in the third week of my art residency and I continue to paint plein air everyday rain or shine. This week it seemed to be about cows.

The DU ranch has a preserved log homestead on their land. After painting for the morning, it was a delight to walk down the hill to the log cabin for a close up viewing. Can you see the cows far in the distance?

Yesterday, in order to get the cows this big in my painting, I had to sit on the edge of a secondary highway. Amazingly when you are painting, it is easy to ignore the distractions of the zooming vehicles. Someone from Washington stopped to ask for directions and I am happy to say I was able to help them. I'm getting to know this Crowsnest Pass. They didn't even ask to see my painting. Hmmm..... 

This is what I painted today. I thought I would switch the colours up and I chose a split complement: purple with yellow-green and orange-yellow. What do you think?

After a three hour painting stint, look who decided to show up!

Rocky Mountain Foothill Series: Field Patterns

To Win a Watercolour Sketch painted in the Rocky Mountain Foothills: comment on my blog or Facebook posts during Sept 2015.  I will make the draw the first week in October. Good luck!

Plein air painting in the Rocky Mountain Foothills:

Another longgg... view. The patterns of the far fields were captivating as were the dusty silver coloured shrubs in the foreground. This 11 X 15" watercolour painting is, so far, untitled. I'm happy to hear ideas.

Set Up for Plein Air Painting:

I had a comfortable set up for painting on one of the days last week as the other painter and I were parked along a road and thus close to our vehicle. It was very windy so I huddled down beside the car for some protection. This folding chair has a little table attached which fits my palette and water dish. On the ground you can see a metal case that holds my supplies. Once I get everything out, it makes a nice table for extra things. If I don't take an easel, I rest the board with the watercolour paper taped on it, at an angle, on my knees. To the left of the photo are other essentials: rain coat, water and bear spray!

Dusty silver coloured leaves dotted the foreground so I chose to highlight one of them in my painting.

The fence post was smack right in the middle of my view. Why didn't I move? Well the wind protection the car provided that day was really necessary. After awhile though, I totally forgot about the fence post.

 Another Day's Set Up:

 

A different set up on another windy day. As we packed into this field searching for a view and protection from the wind, we found it was best to sit low to the ground. The one flattish spot, on the side hill where I was, had two dry cow patties on it. I decided it best to place my foam insulated square and my cushion on one and my hard side case on the other. The case on the ground then became a table for my palette. I am pretty sure that was a long john day.

The following paintings, shown in previous posts, are now titled and ready for sale. For further details, email me at eileengidman@kootenay.com

Watercolour painting: 'Nestled in the Rockies' - 11 X 15
by Eileen Gidman

Thank you to the viewer who gave me a title that I think perfectly suits this painting.
Watercolour painting: 'Tree Tessalations' - 7.5" X 11"
by Eileen Gidman