east coast summer: studio updates & new paintings

It's peak east coast summertime, my kids are home from school, and our days together are filled with sports, activities, and home projects. There's been less time in the studio, but more time together.

prince edward island

We recently got away for a long weekend on PEI. We used to live on the island, so being back always feels like a homecoming. We spent a day in St. Peters with most of our time at Greenwich National Park then we popped in to the shops (Freckles and Porcelain does not disappoint!) and got ice cream. The kids loved catching crabs and freaking out about all the jellyfish at Basin Head. We made PEI dirt shirts, and I'm currently experimenting with using PEI red dirt as natural pigments in my paintings.

in my 'en plein air' era

With less time in the studio, I've been painting outside more and more. I lugged one of my large canvases with us to PEI and started a new painting on Bothwell Beach. I've been bringing my easel and a canvas or sketchbook for our regularly scheduled South Shore beach days here in Nova Scotia too. It can be nervewracking painting in public and tricky combatting wind and the way that sand gets into everything, but I'm really enjoying it.  I've been painting a lot of shorebirds and seagulls, so I really like how the piece becomes connected to the place that inspired it by painting en plein air. 

shorebirds, beach days, etc

With the ocean, shorebirds, beach days, and the moon, who could not be happy? My new body of work is focused on shorebirds, seashells, and gulls on raw canvas. I'm excited to share more soon!

this & that

Just a list of things I've been really loving lately:

• It's a poké bowl summer, especially for my daughter! We got Poké Shack when we were in Souris, and really love the Shore Lunch food truck in Bridgewater & Lunenburg.
• When we were last at Cherry Hill Beach, we saw three adult piping plovers! Piping plovers are endangered in many areas and are the subject of many of my recent paintings, so I felt so lucky to see them IRL. And if you ever need a pick-me-up, just search for baby piping plover videos - they're so sweet!
• This ultramarine blue soft pastel from Diane Townsend is my favourite. It's the colour of summer beach days to me. I've been using it on each piece I've painted this summer.
• A different kind of painting, but we're slowly painting the exterior of our house. Any fear I've had of ladders is now nonexistant! I'm going lighthouse-core with white shake and red doors.
• I bought this teeny perfume from By Caley Joy at Freckles and Porcelain and absolutely love it.

I hope your summer is going well and is also full of poke bowls and beach days!