Season's Greetings!

At the beginning of December, I usually start to think about sending out some greeting cards to try to carry on the tradition. That's probably why my interest was sparked by these two red and green antique cars during a recent Urban Sketching event in Brussels. They will serve as my virtual greeting card here on Blogger. 

 

Happy holidays everyone!

"1910 at Autoworld"
Colored pencil in A4 Moleskine sketchbook

Virtual Paintout - Malta - July 2017 (first stages)

First stage of a 13x18cm oil painting
of the harbour at Marsaxlokk
(private colleciton, Naples)

I didn't want to miss the Virtual Paintout in Malta so I spent the last weekend of the month travelling through the country in Google Street View. I had barely started the above seascape when I discovered an unusual beach with rectangular bassins further up the coast.  (Street View Link)

A sign read :

" Do not pass or stroll through Salt Pans. 

Do not litter in Salt Pans. 

Do not wash clothes or anything in Salt Pans.” 

This was intriguing so I checked a few Internet sites and found out that salt production was an ancient industry in Malta, probably dating back to Roman times. The process involves leaving sea water to evaporate in "pans" (the flat areas) until the salt residue can be collected and moved to storage areas on higher ground. 

In my sketch below, tourists are visiting the Kwejni Salt Pans:

"The Salt Pans"

Coloured pencil in 20.7x29.6cm sketchbook

Exposition de tableaux prolongée jusqu'à fin juillet 2017

"Parcours d'artistes au Bookshop"
coloured pencil on postcard paper

My exhibit at the Oxfam Bookshop will continue until the end of July. 

The Bookshop is open from 10h00 to 18h00, Monday through Saturday. 

In July and August, however, they open only in the afternoons from 13h00 to 18h00.  (Closed on 21-22 July and the week of 14-20 August.)

Do not hesitate to stop by and see the paintings as well as the well-organised and attractive shop with its large selection of books, including many in English.

Le 11ème Parcours d'Artistes d'Uccle 2017

This year's open studios event in Uccle, Linkebeek and Drogenbos will be held in the afternoons on the first long weekend in June. The Oxfam Bookshop is taking part and will exceptionally be open every day of the holiday weekend, according to the following schedule:

Saturday 3 June 2017, from 10:00 to 19:00 

Sunday 4 June 2017, from 12:00 to 19:00

Monday 5 June 2017, from 12:00 to 19:00

Everyone is welcome to stop by and see the exhibit of paintings and jewelry as well as the huge collection of books, including many in English.

Link to jewelry: Bijoux éthnique de Dominique

To view the complete programme of the event and download the catalogue and map, click on the following link: Site de la Commune d'Uccle

See you there!

Virtual Paintout - South Korea - May 2017

Nearly the end of May, so I quickly selected one of the Google Street View links I had picked out earlier and submitted a small painting for this month's VPO. It's a view from the bridge in Busan, South Korea's second largest city. This reminded me of a previous VPO where I discovered how much fun it was to paint seaports: Vladivostok.

Link to Busandaegyo Bridge: Google Street View


"Port of Busan"
10x15cm oil on canvas panel
(private collection, Brussels)

Parc de Wolvendael en automne

After painting the park in March, I was inspired to try a contrasting fall view using my photographs from last November. Each path is named after an artist from Uccle. I think the one that crosses the little bridge is the "Allée Gaston Bertrand" but when I went to check, I couldn't find the sign.

"Le parc en automne"

24x30cm oil on canvas

Fin mars au Parc de Wolvendael

We're having some unusually warm weather for this time of year in Belgium so I packed my gear and painted this view from a bench at the top of Wolvendael Park. The trees are still bare so you can see the Eglise Saint Pierre church tower just behind the Centre Culturel d'Uccle.

"Fin mars au Parc de Wolvendael"
13x18cm, oil on canvas panel
(private collection, Brussels)

La Maison Communale d'Uccle

During the rainy winter period, I painted this view of the town hall of Uccle. It is based on a photo taken by the Google Street View team on a warm day in September 2014: link

some history

"La Maison Communale d'Uccle"
8"x10" oil on canvas
(private collection, Brussels) 

Virtual Paintout - Nashville - February 2017

The Virtual Paintout was in Nashville this month. After a false start in colored pencil (I had steered outside the zone established by Bill Guffey without realising it), I switched to oil on a small canvas panel and painted Nashville's Hard Rock Café near the riverfront from the following Google Street View image dated March 2016:  Link

I picked up this painting again in 2023 and added some clouds, etc:

"Music City, U.S.A."
13x18cm oil on canvas panel

The Bird Challenge

This is another of the Daily Paintworks challenges:  link here. 
I thought this "kingfisher from pixabay" might work well on the small ACEO format.

ACEO n°9: "DPW Bird" 
6.4x8.9cm, oil on canvas panel
(Private collection, Brussels) 

Virtual Paintout - Puerto Rico - January 2017

   

Another tiny 2.5 x 3.5 inch painting. This is a street in Ponce, Puerto Rico, as pictured here:
Google Street View Link  

My other sketches of Puerto Rico are on Flickr:  Plaza Colón and ¿Dónde estás?


ACEO n°8: "La Casa Amarilla" 
6.4x8.9cm, oil on canvas panel
(this painting is lost)

Happy New Year!

Some tiny ACEOs to start the year.  

These small canvas panels are difficult to find in Brussels so I ordered them at www.SharksArtCanvas.com.  I have been calling them ATCs ("Artist Trading Cards") but it looks like that is used only for a specific exchange project. So the generic term must be ACEO ("Art Cards, Editions and Originals").

First, I finally got around to doing the Daily Paintworks painting challenge from 2011.  Take a look at the site to see all the cats:  
The whole cat and kaboodle challenge 

ACEO n°6: "DPW Cat" 
6.4x8.9cm, oil on canvas panel
(private collection, Brussels)


After that I tried Evhe's "défi de peinture", which I just discovered last week. I am amazed that by checking the VPO blog in Kentucky, I linked to a blog in Malaga and that's where I found a link to this painting challenge hosted by a painter in Moselle:
A nos pinceaux

ACEO n°7: "Tulips" 
8.9x6.4cm, oil on canvas panel 
(private collection, Brussels)