Nocturnal Painting, Ocean Painting with Full Moon

Ocean Moon, 24x24, acrylic on canvas

This is the 5th painting in my new skyscape series, 'Ocean Moon', painted purely on impulse with only the thought that I wanted to paint with shades of purple and that it was a skyscape.

I had no idea it was even going to be a water painting. Sometimes I find it more rewarding to surprise myself.  Feeling the pull of a colour, or group of colours, is how I came to paint in the first place, so I trust that instinct.

This painting journey took me far out into the middle of the ocean, into the velvety darkness where the intensity of these rich colours felt very deep and healing.  And in the midst of it all, a moment of clarity, as indicated by the moon.

This painting has been sold.  To see available paintings,

please visit my Etsy shop:

www.sagemountainstudio.etsy.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Large Prairie Paintings - Abstract Prairie Wetlands Paintings

Prairie Wetlands, 30x30, acrylic on canvas

This large prairie painting was the third in my new skyscape series.  Emotionally I was still finding my way, still surprised by the joy I felt, and coming to accept this feeling of being set free as my new normal.

I think this is well expressed here in this piece by the nature of the clouds.  They seem joyous to me, full and uplifted as they drift happily over the prairie landscape.  And although I have painted many a stretch of open land, this one was different from any other before it, whereby there was water, and a marshy effect, as it meandered toward the horizon.

I was exciting by this new discovery, absolutely loved the way the cool of the blue mixed with the raw earthiness of the darker browns and greens; absolutely loved the way it seemed to go on forever.  There was a vastness here, space to breathe.

Wetlands, 30x30, acrylic on canvas

Next came this stormy piece simply titled 'Wetlands'.  Like most of these skyscape paintings it was purely spontaneous.  I started in one spot and just built around it until a full image appeared.  And again I played with this idea of water on land, and marsh.  So I brought in new colours, brighter fieldier colours of rust and gold grasses.

The feeling of vastness here again was just what I needed.  There could be no obstacle like mountains in the distance.  The flat, flat never ending horizon was just perfect.  And although it's a stormy piece, there is again a joyousness in this display of nature, in shaking things up.

The second painting is still available.  

For purchase information, please visit my Etsy shop:

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Panoramic Ocean Paintings - A Journey Begins...

Ocean Song, 18x36 inches, acrylic on canvas

This panoramic ocean painting was the first in my recent series of skyscapes.  It marked a change in my life that was long overdue.  I have always been one to seek out situations in my life that were suitable to me.  I never allowed a false sense of security or financial concerns to dictate my actions.

However, that being said, in the past few years I had allowed myself to stay in an unhappy work situation because I felt trapped by a mortgage and life in a small town.  At the end of the summer my unhappy work situation changed from just unhappy, to a situation where I found it impossible to continue.  So I left.

And a window flung open.  Within a day of making my decision to leave, I found another job, one more suitable to me, that would allow me to destress.  The weight on my chest that had been pressing down on me was suddenly released, and the skyscapes began...

In the weeks that followed I painted one huge sky after another, whether over land or water.  I expressed my new found freedom in paint.

I think the extreme blues in this piece are particularily important to the piece as blue is a very healing colour and what better way to allow oneself to mend than by the sea?

close-up detail

      
Next came, 'Out on the Ocean', a little more turbulent.  It seemed to reflect my inner process whereby I was decompressing from the oppresive situation I had been in.

Out on the Ocean, 12x36 acrylic on canvas

At one point I was standing in the kitchen talking to my husband when I just had to remark on a strange feeling I'd been having.  It was happiness!  It bubbled up inside me like I had never experienced it before.  All these remarkable changes were taking place inside me, and until they did, I never knew just how oppresive that job experience had been, or what it had been doing to my quality of life.

I am so grateful that I had the nerve to change my life.  I work less hours and for less pay, but the joy and peace of mind I get in return has no monetary value.  I have more time to paint, and though the job is more physically demanding, I am somehow less exhausted.

I hope you enjoy seeing the work and don't mind coming on this journey with me as I continue to explore the inspiration for my skyscapes.  Be well...

Both of these paintings have now sold.  To see available paintings, 

please visit my Etsy shop:

www.sagemountainstudio.etsy.com

Thanks for stopping by!