Paint the Town – Aug 20 & 21, 2016

I’m looking forward to my 7th year of participation at Paint the Town in Annapolis Royal on August 20 & 21, 2016. This annual weekend event brings 80 artists from all over Nova Scotia to join in an outdoor painting race that will raise thousands for the arts council and artists.

I say ‘race’ because artists have about 6 hours each day to paint as many auction-worthy pieces as possible. The pressure is on and it’s a great exercise, if exhausting. It’s a time for painters to see what each other is doing.  And it’s also quite a bargain for the collectors, with many paintings selling for less than $100.

I am posting some of my favorite paintings that I’ve painting at the event over the years.

I spend most of my time at the Historic Gardens. The flowers are gorgeous, there is shade and the park-like setting helps me to focus and remain calm.😉

Throughout the day, ‘runners’ rush the work to the gallery at The Academy at 590 George Street. Silent bids last all day with the auction ending each day at 5pm. Buyers have the option of purchasing paintings at full price before the auction ends.

This is a fabulous opportunity to start or add to a collection of original art by artists at all levels of their careers.  It’s also fun to watch people creating on the spot. Check out the list of artists here and the links to their websites.

Here is my packing list for Paint the Town

• small canvases
• acrylic paints
• acrylic markers
• acrylic inks
• gel medium
• Charcoal
• Inktense crayons
• water bucket
• rags
• French easel
• stool
• sketch book
• marker
• spray bottle
• latex gloves
• colour shaper
• lunch
• water
• sunblock
• insect repellent
• hat
• business cards
• camera

Garden, Painting and Summer in Full Swing Flashback

This post from Aug 9, 2013 is about a lush, rain filled summer. This 2016 summer is not. Drought and heat sum it up. What is the same is the insect explosion.😉

—————————-What crazy weather this summer. We had record breaking rainfall in June and July and hot, hot, sticky days alternating with cold. These conditions have  played havoc with the garden and the insect populations have exploded. This is good news for black flies, earwigs, cucumber beetles, potato bugs and snails. Sigh. It is also good news for birds and their numbers seem up.

I’ve painted more flowers than ever before and haven’t even scratched the surface of what I would like to achieve in that theme.

Lily

Flowers to paint

This week the weather has shifted.  The nights are suddenly chilly and the warm daytime sun has allowed full outdoor activity again. Suddenly the vegetable garden is looking lush and strong. I see my favorite pumpkins starting to form – winter luxury pumpkins  that taste out of this world as pies or as vegetables.

The vegetable garden at the beginning of August

The green beans are flowering and the tomatoes are green and growing.  Larry staked them this afternoon as you can see from the photo in the header. The potato plants are like bushes, in spite of those striped potato bugs that I flick into soapy water when I remember to!
The weather is still always the wild card and teaches both flexibility and acceptance to this gardener.

The rain has accelerated the growth and height of all the perennial flowers. Those tiny plants I put in 4 years ago are crowded now and exploded into bloom.

Perennials planted 4 years ago

Perennials – four years after planting

This is an exciting time for me to paint.

Works in progress at Green Willow Studio

A hot July painting in the studio.

The summer has been filled with other important cultural details😉 such as:

Visiting painter Susan Geddes’ studio in Annapolis Royal.

Listening to Caleb Miles after hours in Bear River.

Swimming in Bear River.

Watching fireworks at Cherry Carnival.

Harvesting a year’s worth of garlic to eat and to plant for next year.

This summer I’ve worked hard at painting and I’ve been blogging that experience. My writing energy is there now…I guess because I am so involved with the act of painting. If you paint too or are interested in the process, please join me at http://floradoehler.ca

And thanks for reading!

Painting the Diamond in the Bay of Fundy

I’m excited to be heading back to this painter’s paradise tomorrow. It is an artist retreat on an island in Canada’s Bay of Fundy. You know. The place with the highest tides in the world.
The following post is from 2012 on my first trip to the island with a group of artists.
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Eventually I painted over this canvas because I just couldn’t capture what I was seeing. As always, it was a thrill to sit on the ocean floor knowing that in a few hours, it would be flooded by the incoming tide.

A wonderful experience sitting in unfurling fern with my paint.

My finished painting eventually sold to a lovely couple from Florida. Painting ©Flora Doehler, 2012

The tide slowly creeps in on the Bay of Fundy. I love the reflections.

Painting the trees. ©Flora Doehler, 2012

Trees cling to the steep cliffs.

Another interpretation of the trees and Bay of Fundy behind. painting ©Flora Doehler, 2012

Boardwalks throughout the small island ensure that noone gets lost and helps to protect the vegetation.

When we arrived at Long Island in the Bay of Fundy for our Artist Retreat,  it was an overcast and showery afternoon. The mist and fog shrouded this huge rock of an island that we could see from our cabin. It looked ancient and mysterious as it disappeared and reappeared in the mist and I was anxious to see it at sea level when the low tide allowed it.

Diamond Island, Five Islands, NS.

The Secret Garden and the Willow Trees

There is a very special place that I go to when I need to be in nature, or when I need a quiet moment. Behind the vegetable garden we have about 1/2 an acre that we let grow wild and that contains our pond.

This piece of land has a few intentional plants like lilies, iris and about 7 willow trees. But the rest of it is a chaotic riot of tangled wild flowers (weeds really) that grow about 4 feet high.

We have a couple of paths cut through it and walking them is like being a child again in my grandmother’s garden. Hidden from view and right in the middle of the natural world. Frogs croak, seagulls and crows soar above. Bees buzz all over the flowers.

The pond itself has 8 large goldfish that wintered over. Animals wander through and drink from the pond. There are dragonflies, butterflies, birds and a host of insects.  It’s a nice place to decompress and to marvel at the complex beauty of the natural world.

I planted the willows 4 years ago and they are already taller than me. In a few more years there will be a willow grove at the end of the pond providing magic for us and no doubt for the next caretakers of this land.

The Acadian Thatched House in Annapolis Royal

Not only do the Historic Gardens in Annapolis Royal recreate gardens from the past, they also give us a glimpse into the home lives of Acadians who lived here before the British arrived.

The first occupiers in this part of the world were the French in the 1600’s. Their settlers were innovative farmers who reclaimed salt marshland and transformed it into fertile growing lands. Their relationships with First Nation groups was more harmonious than the British would be. Eventually the British – French wars meant that Acadians were thrown off their lands by the British and shipped to various outposts including Louisiana where ‘Acadian’ became ‘Cajun’.

Many families were hidden by the Mi’kmaq and refused to leave their Nova Scotian homeland. Today there are still small communities of Acadians in Nova Scotia who work hard to keep their language and culture alive.

Here in the gardens, the tiny thatched house with hand-made glass windows is a visual reminder of some of that history.

La Maison acadienne features the only archaeologically authenticated replica of a pre-deportation Acadian dwelling in the Maritime region. The potager is based on original diary notes from the Acadian era, while the orchard and willow hedge are heritage cultivars from the 17th Century. La Maison acadienne is based on a 1671 time period when Port-Royal (later Annapolis Royal) was the centre of Acadie.- from the website of the Historic Gardens.

Last week in the gardens I sat in front of the thatch-roofed cabin and sketched it, later adding watercolour paint at home.

Acadian House © Flora Doehler, 2014

Acadian House © Flora Doehler, 2014

Japanese Anemone at the Historic Gardens in Annapolis

In the Historic Gardens at Annapolis Royal last week, I spotted a tall Japanese Anemone with a lovely curly branching habit.

The gardens in Annapolis are exquisite…from wild and generous, to deliberate and precise. I walked through the quiet little woods, past the fragrant roses.

I pulled out my sketchbook and a fat marker and stood and drew the Japanese Anemone at eye-level. By the time this sketch was done, I knew I had to find one of these gorgeous flowers for my garden.

Anemone drawing © Flora Doehler, 2014

When I got home, I added watercolour to my drawing. The original blooms were much paler than this, but I wanted a deeper colour.

Anemone drawing © Flora Doehler, 2014

I have tracked down some Japanese Anemones close to home and I’ll be picking them up tomorrow at Bunchberry Nurseries.