Plein Air Painting: Taking Your Paints Outside

Last week I was gifted with a ‘plein air’ watercolor workshop given by Lynn Onley. Plein air painting is a familiar concept today, but in the late 1800s when the Impressionists ventured out of their studios into nature to investigate and capture the effects of sunlight and different times of days on a subject, it was quite revolutionary. We met at Porteau Cove, which is situated overlooking Howe Sound, 38 km north of Vancouver on the Sea-to-Sky Highway on the way to Whistler. Interestingly, I learnt that an old ship has been sunk in the bay, so as well as attracting outdoor enthusiasts, scuba divers and marine biologists come here to explore  the depths of the ocean. A pebble beach slopes gently into Howe Sound in Porteau Cove. On summer days when the tide is low and the sun high, the warm rocks heat the incoming waters, making swimming here a pleasure. Lynn Onley who gave the workshop, is the daughter of Toni Onley, one of Canada’s most celebrated artists. His landscapes have always provided a special significance for Canadians in reviving an appreciation for our surroundings. Lynn Onley following in her father’s footsteps is an accomplished artist herself. I felt very privileged, and excited to have the opportunity to learn the art of watercolor from Lynn Onley as passed down to her from her celebrated father Toni Onley.

  
The view of the scene I painted with instruction from Lynn Onley

Lynn Onley painting Plein Air in Porteau Cove using her father, Toni Onley’s paint box

Lynn Onley painting Plein Air in Porteau Cove using her father, Toni Onley’s paint box and his wood and canvas folding chair.  The first step is to lay in the color washes for the sky, and while still wet take tissue and blot to make the clouds.  The next step is to paint in the mountains, using the ‘soup’ as Lynn calls it, which is the remaining mixture from the sky as the base to add the next colors to.  Lynn showed us how to mix Alizarin Crimson with Sepia, to tone it down, to paint in the slab-like chunks of red granite showing in the mountains.

  
Lynn Onley demonstrates watercolors techniques

Then Lynn added in the ocean, and next the shore, and then trees.  At this point you can continue to add more detail, or take the painting home to finish.  I had to leave at this point with my water color still needing more work.  I took it with me on my trip to Desolation sound and added in more detail, working from memory and being further inspired by the colors and light in the more northern atmosphere of Desolation Sound – Desolation Sound is at the 52nd Parallel, while Porteau Cove is at the 49th Parallel.  Thanks Lynn for the inspiring day!!

 
My finished watercolor of Porteau Cove after a morning of instruction from Lynn Onley.
11” x 15” on 140 lb watercolor paper , Windsor Newton paints

A pebble beach slopes gently into Howe Sound. It was low tide so the green moss on the rocks usually below the water line was showing.  We started painting at 10:00 AM, and the sky, cloud formations, and shadows on the water were constantly changing as the sun and tide line changed.

The dock at Porteau Cove.

The granite mountains above Porteau Cove on the highway to Whistler. 

 

These pictures are of the beautiful tree I sat under while painting at Porteau Cove.  I took these pictures as inspiration – possibly for my next water color.

Van Gogh, in a letter to his brother, claims to
“devour nature ceaselessly,”
and finds himself  
“in surroundings which entirely engross me,
which so order, fix, regulate, renew and enlarge my thoughts
that I am quite wrapped up in them.” 

Toni Onley 1928 – 2004, one of Canada’s most celebrated artists, painting Plein Air.

Map of Porteau Cove

Patricia Gray Inc is an award winning Interior Design firm  in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about Lifestyle and WHAT'S HOT  in the world of Interior Design.
2010 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Natural beauty

What can be inside these enticing tissue-wrapped packages?


I bought these splendiferous candle holders in town the other day. It was the colour (or rather lack of it!) that caught my beady eye at first. They are a perfect washed-out sea-grey.


I find it's a very fine line between a beautiful weathered look (new or otherwise) and knocked-about nastiness passed off as 'distressed' for bringing in extra pennies. The latter are, in my opinion, to be avoided like the plague. The choice of material ensures these fall into the category of perfectly distressed.

Anyway, off my high horse (so easily climbed upon!!) and back to these objects of loveliness. When the candle is burning, the carved pattern on the sides casts its shadow on the walls. Very atmospheric indeedy!


They've even got little circles for the night light to sit in.


It almost makes me look forward to the evenings drawing in! Almost, but not quite.

I hope you have a lovely summer weekend, long dusky evenings, warm breeze in your hair and a glass of scrumptiousness in your hand. Enjoy. xx

A present in the garden...

Something that has been really lovely about moving into a house whose previous occupants were keen (and excellent) gardeners is that, even now, 6 years on, I notice new plants that they must have planted shortly before they left and are only now reaching maturity.

This year I noticed, for the first time, a lace cap hydrangea growing under a rampant honeysuckle. I am sure this is the first year I have seen it flowering. I've been wanting one for a while. They are so delicate and pretty.

We have other mop head hydrangeas but none like this! It's like being given a lovely present.

Book review: Comfortable Country by Enrica Stabile

Comfortable Country: Peaceful Homes Inspired by the Country by Enrica Stabile veers much more towards the Traditional Country side, rather than my favoured Modern Country Style. By that, I mean the rooms presented are more busy, patterned and full of knick-knacks and ornaments than those that I naturally lean towards.


There is less of an emphasis on texture and quality, and more on chintz and swirls. That's not to say that some people wouldn't rightly love this style but it doesn't ring my bells.

A quote from the book is quite telling. 'Recapture the unassuming style of a contented era not so long ago..." Traditional style is more about looking back to the 'contented' past (although, life for a country cottage worker would have been anything but contented...) and Modern Country Style is more about taking the very best from the past and moving it forward, if that makes sense.

Here's an example of one I dislike (too lurid, too stripy, too cluttered...):


Having said that, there are some lovely photos in Comfortable Country.

The garden section, especially, is beautiful.


The content of the book is divided into two parts, Country Influences (changing seasons, peacefulness, nostalgia, utility and natural materials) and Country Rooms. I love the utility and natural materials sections. There's plenty of inspiration. Here's an image I like (love the mix of chairs):


The writing is lovely and really draws you into the heart of the book, which is about creating the feel of comfort and relaxation within a country setting and that is where Traditional and Modern Country Style's paths DO cross.

Overall, Comfortable Country is a nice book to have. Not so much for the pictures, although the are plenty of gorgeous images, but for the text, which has a good mix of practical suggestions and dreamy and evocative inspiration.

Another home-made snuggly cushion!

After being so pleased with how my snuggly cushion turned out, I turned my attention to the arms of the woollen cardigan. They are ribbed and, therefore, very stretchy. I had dismissed them initially until I realised just how sttrrrrreeeeetchy they were!

The look and feel of the lovely cream wool kept drawing me back and I realised there was easily enough wool to create another snuggly cushion. Yay!


Having already detached the sleeves from the body of the cardigan, the next step was to unpick the two, slightly triangular sides and then to tack them together to make straight sides. I used bright red cotton so I could see clearly where to sew.


Setting my sewing machine to a tight zig-zag stitch , I sewed along three of the sides, leaving the original hand hole as the open side.


I then measured how large I wanted my final cushion to be and made an inner to fit.

This is pretty easy to do.

Measure the final size of your cushion and cut two pieces of pale non-stretchy material (cotton works well) to these measurements plus a seam allowance (1.5 cm is good) all round. Sew these two pieces together to the desired finished dimensions, leaving an opening for the stuffing. Down or good quality synthetic stuffing are best to avoid a lumpy look.

Stuff the cushion, paying special attention to the corners and sides to get an even plump feel.

Sew up the opening by hand or machine (because the inner is hidden, the sewing doesn't have to be super-neat). Et voila! Your very own bespoke inner!


I carefully cut along, and slightly away from, the newly stitched lines of the knitted outer to create the finished cushion shape. The tight zig-zag should stop the knitting unravelling.

This is the cushion currently. When stretched the wiggly sides even out. (Yes, I worried about that too!).


Today is a day of pondering where to take it from here. Ideas welcome!

Beverley Hewitt mug....

At the Spring Country Living Fair earlier this year, I spotted this gorgeous mug from British ceramic designer, Beverley Hewitt. It's a biiiiig mug, perfect for large cups of sweet, milky tea, or to take lots of cream squirted on top of a steaming hot chocolate.

The shape of the mug, whilst being classic, feels original, rather than a rip-off of one of the better-known ceramicists.

The lettering is bold and clear (and, perhaps more importantly, hasn't faded in the dishwasher!). I especially like the 'LOVE' down the handle.

I'm really pleased with it! More of Beverley Hewitt's gorgeous designs can be found here.

Back issue inspiration...

In a friend's car, the other day, I saw the magazine Living etc from June 2009. I had a flick through and one feature caught my eye to such an extent that I bought that issue on ebay the next day (hooray for ebay!).

The article was about a Victorian London semi, renovated by the photographer Paul Massey.

It looks quite ordinary from the outside.....

...but inside, it's scrumptious!

I LOVE that sofa. Mmmmmm.

You can see more from the article here but I hope this has been a good taster.

Modern Country Style shops: i gigi

I've decided to blog from time to time about my favourite shops. I do masses of my shopping online so locality shouldn't be a problem in most cases (although extortionate p and p abroad can be prohibitive. Come and visit!!).

Going into i gigi , in Hove, East Sussex, is like stepping into an alternate, incredibly chic reality. The owners have got an amazing gift for arranging and displaying their wares.

They sells men's and women's clothes, furniture and accessories for the home but it's the homely bits that really sells this shop to me.

The ranges all fall into a delicious earthy palette of muted greys and browns, which could sound drab, but in their capable hands becomes modern, elegant and exquisite.

They've also recently opened a website http://www.igigigeneralstore.com from which you can browse and buy until your heart is content (which will only be when you've bought the contents of the entire shop, believe me!).

i gigi has an amazing mix of vintage pieces (when I was there they had an elm table fashioned out of a hundred-year old door...nice) and carefully chosen new pieces.

A huge amount of careful thought has gone into designing the shop (which you can peek at virtually on their site), including importing a staircase from France - when did you last do that?!!

All photos are the property of i gigi (yes, photography is another thing they can do well. Grrr!!).

Modern Country Bedroom: lighting

In the early days of choosing everything for our bedroom, I actually went as far as ordering a chandelier but it looked wrong, wrong, wrong. Far too fussy for the atticky loveliness that I wanted.

I hastily sent it back! What was I thinking?!

My second choice, much more appropriate for the Modern Country style look I wanted, was this:

A very simple oval, cream drum shade. We have it on a dimmer switch for different...ahem...bedroom moods!

My inspiration photo had this candlestick lamp for bedside reading:

I wanted the same style so, after much (very enjoyable) searching, I found a lovely mahogany version to match (but not too matchy-matchy) our mahogany sleigh bed.

I really like it's understated elegance. It's a good height, too, so casts a lovely glow.

My final light choice was for the other end of the room. This was one of those serendipitous finds that I didn't really know I was looking for......UNTIL I FOUND IT!

Light of my life, I love you!

It's a scrumptious lamp, in chrome and leather. It's beautifully articulated so can be angled any way you please. Pure lighting yumminess. It makes my heart sing when I see it.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is the lighting tour of our Modern Country Style bedroom!

Modern Country bedroom ... details

As I said in my last post, this was the first room we renovated big-style. The whole process was pretty new to me....and I was pregnant with twins at the time. Not the calmest period of my life!

After playing around with lots of ideas, I knew I wanted to go for a Modern Country style bedroom (see inspiration photos) and for our bed, piled with pillows and gorgeousness, to be the main focus of our master bedroom. Possibly, the fact that I was absolutely shattered during that pregnancy helped with the appeal of the bed! It's a mahogany sleigh bed, the very first piece of furniture we ever splashed out on. It's eleven years old now but is aging beautifully!

I thought a picture would look great above the headboard but wanted nothing too big because of the asymmetric slope of the ceiling. I chose this restful photo by Jeff Teasdale called Westwater #1. Not quite black and white, yet not quite colour, I love the way it tones in with the feel of the room.

At the end of the bed, is an old leather suitcase. This is great for storing winter bedding during the summer, as well as for adding a vintage note to the room.

I'm especially thrilled with the bed cover/ quilt (there must surely be a better name than this!). It's total luxury. It's made from thick velvet and silk and makes you feel like a princess at night (always a good thing!). The colour is officially 'Dusk', which translates as browny-grey. It's lush!

Colour-wise, I chose: white, brown, Farrow and Ball's Light Blue and a couple of touches of black. It was in here that I first started to appreciate the look of a limited palette. There's nothing bitty in this room. Blocks of muted colour are what I like best.

We even chose a Modern Country Style bin! I'm obsessed with getting the details in place!

A peaceful master bedroom is just the ticket with baby twins!

Weekend In Paris

 
Toast Soldiers and 3 Minute Boiled Egg
This picture is my inspiration for Sunday brunch, when I like to take my time and read the New York Times,
over a leisurely breakfast of three minute boiled eggs and, toast soldiers with homemade blackberry jelly. 
I am going to cut my toast into strips like this and serve on my best china!

Postscript comment from Herve Pierre the owner of this plate: The plate was made on Bastille Day 1789 !!!! its in the back of the plate ! the man who made it signed and put the date, didn't know at the time that it would became eventually a famous day !!!

 
Macarons from Ladurée in Paris
And then for Sunday afternoon tea, this silver tray of goodies looks delightful. 
This tea-service porcelain is from the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres and is an exact replica
of those made in the eighteenth century. The macarons are from Ladurée in Paris. The best thing
about them, as well as being delicious and melt in your mouth, are the beautiful colors.

Macarons: Small, round cakes, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle,
are made every morning in Ladurée’s "laboratory". 
 
To live as if you were in Paris, in your refrigerator, you need Evian, confiture, foie gras, and
Céte d’Or chocolate, which friends know to bring back for Pierre from France.

con·fi·ture (n) A confection, preserve, or jam
foie gras (n) A pate made from goose liver (marinated in cognac) and truffles

Credits & Photos: The Selby, NY Mag  - The New York lower Fifth Avenue condo of Hervé Pierre, the creative director of Carolina Herrera.

Patricia Gray Inc is an award winning Interior Design firm  in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about Lifestyle and WHAT'S HOT  in the world of Interior Design.
2010 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™