Fill A Backpack With Simone

Yellow Sweet Pepper, 6x6in, oil on board, $100, available

 Happy winter 2019 everyone!

 I hope you all got a good start into this year and are safe and warm during these frigid winter temps!

As for me and my family, we have enjoyed a few nice and quiet weeks over the holidays and now into January.
Yes, and painting I have been as well- almost daily actually!
I started a fun series of 6x6in oil paintings of food. As per comment on my social feed I called it: Let's Make An Omelet!

Today I want to feature the peppers from the series.
A yellow pepper, a red one, green one and two small red hotties.

I hope to have my website updated over the weekend, listing each painting individually (if you want more info on a specific painting).
Each of these 6x6's is for sale for $100 (incl. shipping to Canada and the Continental US) and in the spirit of St. Valentine's Day I will donate $15 from each sale to 'Backpack Blessings and Beyond' charity.

Green Sweet Pepper, 6x6in, oil on boar, $100, available

Red Spicy Peppers, oil on board, 6x6in, SOLD thank you!

What is 'Backpack Blessings and Beyond'?

'Feed School Kids, No Matter The Cost' is their mission statement.
The program buys food for school children that live in homes that face food insecurity.
Before the kids leave school on Friday, the volunteers have food-filled backpacks lined up by the school entrance. The kids that are in the program know to look for them and grab a bag on their way out. The other kids don't know and so there is no stigmatism.
My kids' school is spear heading the program for St. George, Black's Harbour and Back Bay area schools. The program has been established about 5 years ago is providing weekly bags in 4 schools so far. Cost per backpack is $20 monthly or $240 per year.
This program is run by a handful of volunteers and caters to the very vulnerable of society and so I hope to give them a little plug and encouragement and a cheque on Valentine's Day.
If you want to help directly, here's their contact (Tax Receipts available):

Backpack Blessings and Beyond c/o FWC
PO Box 1092
St. George, NB, E5C3S9
506-754-1819 (Chris Sarchfield)
email: backpackblessingsandbeyond@gmail.com
Facebook: Backpack Blessings & Beyond

Sweet Red Pepper, 6x6in, oil on board, $100, available

Tomorrow I'll showcase more paintings from the series, they were so much fun to paint!

Thanks for reading along and following my painting journey;-)

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!        Simone

Two Apples, More Vitamins

Two Apples, More Vitamins

oil pastels, 5x7in approx. matted to 8x10in

more info and purchase, click here

Day two this year and I've painted a second apple, wohoo! The little pleasures. So I call this sketch Two Apples, More Vitamins. I like this medium, always come back to it as a ways to see things new. It is straightforward to judge the colour stick to the actual colour of the object. I then can either put it down or substitute by finding a different colour the same value. This creates little colourful flicks here and there that make the painting more interesting, more colourful. Well, a colour junkie talking here, haha.

Hope to find time again tomorrow for another little sketch. On Thursday another snow storm is expected, so I might be stuck inside still with the kids bouncing off the walls. At least the temperatures are expected to be higher and freezing water pipes are less likely.

Welcome 2018!

Welcome 2018! I hope you had a great start into this new year!
My very best wishes to you and yours! A new year upon us gives us a chance to reflect back and also plan ahead. I am in the midst of both. Here is a little vignette I created for my Instagram feed, it shows the nine most popular posts of the last year. Yes, I was travelling, painting as often as I could, hm, or should we say: walking the tightrope between my mommy life, wife life and artist life. Surely keeps things interesting, haha! I think for the most part it worked out thanks to my supportive family big and small. Thanks guys!

Welcome 2018 with an apple a day!

orig. oil pastel 4.5x6.5in approx.

purchase info click here

What am I looking forward to in 2018? I want to tackle my website, which likely means a complete overhaulin'. Painting regularly and especially POSTING more regularly. I have been pretty good on my social feeds, but my blogs and newsletter have been neglected somewhat.
In the spring I hope to do some renovations to my little Shasta travel trailer. This old girlie is in her 50's, so requires some TLC along the way...
Well, the year is young, so let's start with some fun and bright small sketches! Have taken my oil pastel set out and just finished 'An Apple a Day'. The system of applying paint is the reverse of watercolour, where I usually start with very light washes and work my way to darker and darker shades. Here i am very roughly outlining where my subject shouldbe on the paper and start with darker colours first before adding lighter tones and highlights last.
I'll keep you posted as I'll be working my way through hopefully more little sketches. I hope they'll help me judging values when painting from life.

I'm sending you my very best wishes for the new year, may your dreams and hopes come true, esp. health and happiness and God's blessings!