Quick Sketches

Today is starting off as a slow and comfortable Saturday. I didn't feel like making any grandiose paintings this morning, but I wanted to play with colours again and I decided to do a couple of sketches for fun.

Someone emailed me last week to say that my work looked like kindergarten stuff, ah well, I guess these two will prove him/her right.

I personally love to paint loose like this. It gives me so much pleasure to strike with my brush and discover what got done. In Lebanon, where I was born, ladies used to invert their Turkish coffee cups and let the coffee grains dry on the sides. They would then flip the cups over and read each other's fortune from the dried patterns that where deposited. This kind of painting reminds me of that lovely tradition.

Silent Auction (1)

Well eBay proved to be true to its acronym (Every Bit A Yawner) when it comes to selling art. So here is the deal. I will start selling one piece a week here on the blog and see how that goes.

I will keep it very simple. It will be a silent auction. Just email your bid and the best one will win at the end of the week (Sunday noon). Since I will not be paying eBay, I will simply absorb shipping cost anywhere around the world. I will not set a minimum bid. Just bid what you are willing to pay and let's go.

For this week let's start with a sentimental favorite:

Coming Rain Original ACEO ( 2.5" x 3.5" )

Email your bid to customerservice@marayagalleries.com

If there is another work you like, just email your inquiry about it as well. we will give you all the details and we can work out something to land the painting on your wall... I need new art supplies :-)

ACEOs on Ebay

I put these six ACEOs on ebay today. It has been a long time since I posted anything there and I am not sure how the market is now adays. Ebay buyers are a rowdy bunch. You never know what is going to catch their eyes and what the latest craze is.

Anyway, give these a look and let me know what you think. Some are old, others are new, but all are done with care :-)

Montreal Airport

I spent a couple of days in Montreal this week. They were busy days as usual with no time to focus on the arts. Montreal is full of art. Not only its wonderful museums, but every nook and cranny of the city has or is a work of art.

It wasn't until I was at the airport heading back to the Big Smoke (AKA Toronto) that I had a few minutes for myself. The view from the airport of the mountain that gives Montreal its name was interesting as a vista far away. I had to sketch it... here is the quick result. I had less than 10 minutes to do it so the composition is not the best, but at least I didn't comeback without a sketch!

Sketching Vancouver

I spent the week in Vancouver on business, but my evenings were free except for catching up on business emails. The walk along the sea wall is breath taking there and the northern part of Vancouver with the mountains as its back-drop were just asking to be sketched. I did these two very quickly (sorry no masterpieces here). These were simple impressions of what I saw nothing more.

You will notice that the first one has a better composition and overall feel. That is because the second one was done after a 1hr walk and I was so tired and longing for a shower and some sushi! Never go to Vancouver without checking the sushi places. Most are very very good.

Minimimumumum

A friend at the Fine Arts Watercolour Group Challenged the members to produce minimalist landscapes for this month. I love the idea. Especially since I always have a tendency to fall away from that and in to more representational mode.





Something about minimalist or impressionist landscapes makes me deeply content when I paint or view them. It is this sense of filling in the gaps; of completing the painting in your mind, that makes it yours as a viewer that make the paintings more precious. They are not complete without the viewer's participation.