Passionate Flamenco 2

Wet Pastels on Printmaking Paper

29" x 22"

$ 400

I hear her heels on the wooden floor, skirt flowing, her posture very commanding.......... all that makes Flamenco dance such a passionate display of body language.

Passionate Flamenco 1

Wet Pastels on Printmaking Paper

19" x 22"

$ 400

Having watched my first ever live Flamenco performance on stage a couple of months ago here in Kelwona, I just had to paint. Did a couple as the holiday season is not keeping me busy with my art classes.

Palette for both is the same as both were painted simultaneously. I had my hands full due to the limited time one has with this technique. The test runs prior to starting the painting is such a great help as colours appear significantly dark on wet paper. For both these paintings I used my favourite Stonehenge Printmaking paper, this time beige in colour. As I use my fingers to blend the creamy paste of dissolving pastels, needless to say, finger nails looked terrible, but it was all worth it. Cleaning pastels off hands is relatively easy.....only takes soap and water

Emerald

Pastels on Canson Paper

26" x 19"

$450

Study from life done a few days ago (22 nov, 2008) during Evergreen, a fundraiser for the Rotart Centre for the Arts in Kelwona, BC. The entire Rotary Centre was buzzing with activities, band playing, wine tasting, auction of paintings and gift packages and much much more. Five of us were busy sketching Emerald as she elegantly posed draped in sheer green fabric. This one of my studies from that evening...... it was a joy to capture light cascading her flaming red hair.

Hidden Exposure

Pastels, 26" x 19", NFS,

Collection of GG

Magical Myra Canyon viewed from underneath trestle # 12. One of the very few landscapes I have painted and what an utter joy it was, for many reasons. The location is very close to my heart as it is a special getaway. Although just 20 minutes away, Myra Canyon is worlds apart with it's majestic beauty and encompassing serenity. Ravaged by the 2003 firestorm, the trestles are magnificently restored now. What a mammoth task and a job very well done. Fortunately I had the pleasure of visiting Myra canyon prior to the fires during my short visit to Canada and with so many trips since then, am still mesmerized by it.

Orange Nude

Pastels, 26" x 19"

$500

Done from a life study. As much as I enjoy working in wide spectrum of colours, limited palette is equally appealing to me. Since the entire surface is so warm, I added one of my favourite colours, ultramarine blue as a colour surprise.

Painting and Seasonal Disorder

Fall is upon us here in beautiful southern British Columbia.
Leaves are changing colours into fiery hues, temperature has dropped dramatically and we are getting less sunlight with cloudy skies and shorter days.
My first winter here, 2004/2005, I noticed something strange about my behaviour. Four or five days without any sunshine, I was a different person, reduced to tears for no apparent reason and a loss of my go-go attitude. Well it must the adjustment process for a new immigrant, I would tell myself and braved on.
Next winter same scenario. Zainab, my daughter had no issues at all with the lack of sunshine. It is then I discussed my sorry state of feeling so low when I talked to friends and aquantences that I discovered seasonal disorder. Having lived most of my life in the tropics, I had no clue of it, thought I had had enough sun for the rest of my life after being in the Arabian desert for more than a decade prior to my move to Canada.
I discovered my solution to seasonal disorder, works great, lists my spirits and ever so simple. I check the weather, if we are heading for a cloudy few days, I start a new painting, sometimes more than one. Painting process for me is so involving and intense that it remains the focal point of my day to day dealings, I am not even aware of the weather. Fortunately here in Kelowna, overcast periods dont last long......... in about a few days the sun is shining again and I end up with new work(s).
Creativity is indeed a gift, delights the soul under every condition.

Myra Canyon - Limitless Temptations

Acrylic on Canvas, 14" x 18"

This painting goes on display on 24 oct, 2008, at Kelowna Art Gallery's 4th Annual Members' Show.

Drawn to the magestic beauty of Myra Canyon, each visit is has been as soul satisfying as the first one for me.
This is a painting within a painting, reflecting the touching vastness that encompasses me inside and outside with no bounderies or borders.
The serene cool hues in the reflections are sharply contrasted with the warm colours in the rest of painting. For obvious reasons, this was painted from a photograph. As with all my paintings, once the topic is selected the next step is the colour scheme. This could be triggered by a random thought, sound, sight, emotion or a long thought process - major players of the palette are rounded up.
Due to my affinity with pastels approach to this painting is similar to that of pastel painting allowing a lot of the base coat to remain untouched. To keep the focus of the painting in the panoramic reflections, including the photographer, treatment of reflections is detailed as opposed to the remainder of painting.