Jackie Irvine's Landscape Art: November 2017

Tuesday 21 November 2017

Yukon College Workshop: Paint Winter with a Klondike Cabin

We had a workshop with a group of locals at the Faro, Yukon College Campus this Saturday past. Paint a snow scene with a Cabin and the winter moon. We used 6x8 canvases and acrylic paint, chocolate cookies and coffee!

I painted an acrylic painting a few years ago of this theme, which gave me the idea - it is shown below. We had a great time and a lot of the ladies that attended this class have been painting for quite some time. Some of them attended a series of workshops I ran weekly in 2013 - funded by Recreation Parks Association . After the workshop series was over, a lot of them kept on painting ..... I love their enthusiasm & results!

Klondike Cabin 2013
8x10 Acrylic on Canvas

The Ladies' Paintings - Beautiful!

Painted this one as a demonstration :)
8x10 Acrylic on Canvas

Sunday 12 November 2017

Forest Lover - North End Gallery Whitehorse

When I picked the theme Forest Lover for this solo exhibition- I had a lot of the paintings in my mind before I even started. I love the forest.. It surrounds me, my home so it has permeated my sub-conscious. Our cabin is nestled in the spruce trees near a pond and by the river. There are a lot of trees! aspens and poplar mixed in with those spruce and the occasional pine. The mountains are there but in the background- gentle old mountains not dramatic peaks but a comforting presence.

When you come off the highway you drive for a kilometre (half a mile) to get to our home. On the left side the lane follows the river banked by the moss covered forest with lots of deadfall. I often walk along the river. A few days ago it was so beautiful! You could see the water running over the aqua ice as freeze up is not yet complete; hoarfrost over all the trees including the alder leaves and the sun was shining through them - they were glowing a burnt orange, painters know it as burnt sienna. A humbling experience it is to see all this beauty and then try to capture it with your paintbrush. Of late, I have made a point to just go out and enjoy it. My snowshoes will become regular attire now.

I started the work for this show on September 27th and took the show into Whitehorse on Nov. 2. The roads were very bad - freezing rain mixed with snow on mountainous roads in the Yukon do not make for good driving. A few years ago I had a very bad accident on the highway so I find it hard when this time of year comes again. I took my time driving, instead of 4 hours it took me 5 & a half. I thank God I made it there in one piece.

The paintings I hope tell their story. Forest Lover I am and will continue to enjoy it's beauty.

Here are 5 of the 15 paintings in the show. Will post some more in the next few days :)