Mountains (a Series – Part 2)
In this part 2, I share more mountain paintings, a few more from the Banff region with a couple more based on reference photos from when I cycled the “Golden Triangle” in May of 2010.
“Sun Play II”, oil on hardboard, 41 by 30 cm, 2009
“Mountains Over Vermilion River”, oil on hardboard, 30 by 41 cm, 2010
“Mountain’s Edge”, oil on hardboard, 51 by 61 cm, 2009
“On the Ridge”, oil on canvas, 46 by 46 cm, 2010
“Rocky Mountain Serene” oil on canvas, 23 x 30 cm, 2009
untitled, oil on hardboard, 20 by 30 cm, 2009
Mountains (a Series – Part 1)
Living in the Canadian province of Alberta, the Rocky mountains have always been nearby and not an infrequent subject for my art (although not nearly as much as I would like). In this 2-part blog post I will share my take on mountains as subjects for landscape paintings.
All of the works in this “Part 1” were painted in August 2009 when I spent a week at the Banff Centre.
“Twisted Stone”, Oil on hardboard, 30 by 41 cm, 2009
“Mountain Mystery”, oil on canvas, 61 by 41 cm, 2009
“Long Shadows on Tunnel Mountain”, oil on hardboard, 30 by 41 cm, 2009
“Bow Valley from Tunnel Mountain”, oil on hardboard, 41 by 30 cm, 2009
“Sun Play (Banff)”, oil on hardboard, 61 by 51 cm, 2009
“Banff Evening Solitude”, oil on canvas, 51 by 76 cm, 2009
West Coast Trees (Painting Series)
In my previous blog post I shared a series of my landscape paintings of scenes from Canada’s west coast. Again, these were painted around 1992, in fact these paintings were intermingled with the more open coastal scenes done during the same period.
“Candles in the Rain”, acrylic on hardboard, 51 by 61 cm, 1992
“Red Trees”, acrylic on hardboard, 36 by 38 cm, 1992
“Red Path and Trees (study)”, acrylic on hardboard, 51 by 61 cm, 1992
“In the Darkness Grows”, acrylic on hardboard, 36 by 38 cm, 1992
“Together”, acrylic on canvas, 51 by 61 cm, 1992
West Coast (a Painting Series)
In around 1992 after visits to Canada’s west coast (particularly the Gulf Islands), I produced, perhaps my favorite series of paintings. This collection featured trees(and/or driftwood), shorelines and often active skies. My works at this time may show signs of influence from the paintings of Emily Carr.
“Bending to the Sky”, acrylic on hardboard, 61 by 61 cm, 1992
“Windswept”, acrylic on hardboard, 51 by 61 cm, 1992
“Red Leaning”, acrylic on hardboard, 12 by 15 cm, 1992
“Waiting on Island View Beach”, acrylic on canvas, 61 by 76 cm, 1992
“Turning Sky”, acrylic on canvas, 61 by 61 cm, 1992
Night Train (a Series)
This painting series was a bit unique for me. It had a common theme in terms of the subject matter – all of the images were drawn from what I saw (and captured with photos) during the night while on a train between Edmonton and Vancouver in November of 2007. What was unique for me was the use of oil pastel on a number of the works, and oil paint on a couple of larger ones.
“Rolling Through the Night”, oil on canvas, 41 by 51 cm, Nov 2008
“November Rockies Dusk”, oil pastel on paper, 23 x 30 cm, 2009
“Passing in the Night”, oil pastel on paper, 23 x 30 cm, 2008
“Night Siding”, oil pastel on paper, 23 x 30 cm, 2009
“Dawn Arrival”, oil pastel on paper, 23 x 30 cm, 2009
“Supporting the Dawn”, oil pastel on paper, 30 x 23 cm, 2008
“Morning Train into Vancouver “, oil on hardboard, 61 x 71 cm, 2008
Alberta Landscapes (Painting Series, Before and After 2010)
In my previous blog post I shared my Alberta landscape paintings from the particularly busy year of 2010. In this post, I share my landscape works from a couple years before and after that year.
“Red Deer Field and Trees (study)”, oil on hardboard, 20 x 25 cm, 2007
“Canola Fields I”, oil on canvas, 51 x 76 cm, 2008
“Canola Fields II”, oil on canvas, 76 x 51 cm, 2008
(See the previous blog post for Alberta landscape paintings from the year 2010)
“North Saskatchewan River”, oil on canvas, 61 x 91 cm, 2011
“Storm Approaches” acrylic on hardboard, 61 x 91 cm, 2012
“Dark Treeline”, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 91 cm, 2012
“Bend in the North Saskatchewan River”, water color on paper, 10 x 15 cm, 2012
Alberta Landscapes – 2010 (a Painting Series)
Although landscapes are a theme I have always painted, there are periods when they become a particular focus. In around 2010, I developed a new series of landscapes from my home province of Alberta. Most of these again depict the prairies and parkland that dominates the central region of the province. I was painting primarily with oils during this period and this series was painted in the studio.
“Vanishing Prairie”, oil on hardboard, 31 x 41 cm, 2010
“Beside the Highway”, oil on canvas, 23 x 30 cm, 2010
“August Prairie and Sky”, oil on canvas, 76 x 51 cm, 2010
“Flat Prairie Horizon”, oil on canvas, 41 x 51 cm, 2010
“Prairie and Forest”, oil on canvas, 45 x 61 cm, 2010
Prairie Exit”, oil on canvas, 51 x 41 cm, 2010
Prairie Gold”, oil on canvas, 46 x 61 cm, 2010
“Prairie Hay”, oil on hardboard, 30 x 41 cm, 2010
“Prairie’s Edge”, oil on hardboard, 30 x 41 cm, 2010
“Sheltered Prairie”, oil on canvas, 41 x 51 cm, 2010
“Through the Trees”, oil on canvas, 41 x 51 cm, 2010
Alberta Landscapes – 1990 (a Painting Series)
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the subject matter of my painting was primarily landscapes, and more specifically the prairies, parkland and foothills of central part of Alberta.
“Approaching Prairie Storm”, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 91 cm, c. 1989
“Central Alberta Summer Horizon”, acrylic on hardboard, 61 x 41 cm, c. 1989
“Central Alberta Landscape”, acrylic on hardboard, 46 x 61 cm, 1992
“Red Deer College”, acrylic on canvas, 91 x 121 cm, c. 1989
“Restless Foothills”, acrylic on hardboard, 41 x 61 cm, 1991
“Road to the Rockies”, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 91 cm, 1991
“Rolling Prairie with Fence”, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 91 cm, 1991
“Southern Alberta Foothills”, acrylic on canvas, 51 x 91 cm, 1991
“Thunder Cloud”, acrylic on hardboard, 20 x 25 cm, c. 1990
“Stripey Fields”, acrylic on hardboard, 41 x 61 cm, 1988
The North (Painting Series)
In 2009, I painted a series inspired by a train trip from Toronto to Edmonton in December of 2008. The first day and a half of the trip covered southern and northern (northwest) Ontario (actually not very far north in terms of Canada’s geography but feeling very far removed compared to the Toronto region). I took many photos of the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield to use as reference images for paintings. As a series this is one of my personal favorites. Here are the key works:
“Evening from the Canadian”, oil on canvas, 61 by 122 cm (24×48″), 2009
“Leaning”, oil on canvas, 41 by 41 cm (16×16″), 2009
“Northern Survivor”, oil on canvas, 51 by 76 cm (20 x 30″), 2009
“Winter Sunrise on the Rails”, oil on canvas, 61 by 61 cm (24 x 24″), 2009
“December Sunset (Northern Ontario)”, oil on canvas, 61 by 61 cm (24×24″), 2009
“Leaning II”, oil on canvas, 61 by 61 cm (24×24″), 2009
“Northern Sunset Over Unknown Lake”, oil on canvas, 61 by 91 cm (24×36″), 2009
Misericordia Show
Yesterday, 2012 July 7, I had the pleasure of setting up a major show of 43 of my paintings at the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton.
Paintings laid out in the main hallway prior to hanging
The show includes paintings spanning my painting career of some 25 years. The first paintings encountered as one travels the hallway north of the main lobby is a group of seven paintings depicting the Canadian landscape. This group was inspired was inspired by a train trip I took a few years ago from Toronto to Edmonton, and particularly the rugged Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario.
Four paintings in the northern Canadian Landscape group
After passing through this group of paintings, a turn to the left takes one into the hallway that contains 36 of my paintings – landscapes, abstracts and some in between. First, on the right, are 3 landscape paintings going back to the 1980’s. There is a landscape of the the Auvergne region of France and couple of Alberta landscapes (done in very different styles).
“Woods in Spring” and “Auvergne Landscape”
Next on the right are a group of five paintings of the Alberta prairies from the last 4 years.
“Prairie Gold” and “Canola Fields I”
The Prairies give way to the mountains with a eight paintings (some quite abstracted) from 2009/10 depicting scenes of, from and in the Canadian Rockies.
“Banff Evening Solitude” and “Mountains Over Vermillion River” from the Mountains group
At the end of the long hallway, one turns around and returns, seeing a few more of the mountain group and then a selection of ten paintings from my Earth Light Tapestries series. This series of 24 highly textured acrylic paintings was created on 2006/7Â and 14 of them were exhibited at Edmonton’s Milner Library gallery in the fall of 2009. Seeing 10 of these 24 by 24 inch (61×61 cm) works in a row is quite impressive.
“Earth Light Tapestry XIX” and “Earth Light Tapestry XV “
Next are 5 paintings of an abstract nature including 1 that was inspired by an early morning train arrival into Vancouver and two from a scene on Beddis Beach on Salt Spring Island on a foggy November morning in 2007.
“Always Waiting” and “Park Nocturne I”
Back at the start of the long hallway the show ends with a few of my most recent canvases.
“Dark Treeline ” and “Path 2011”
This show runs through to August 17th on the main floor (look for the Day Ward hallway) at the Misericordia Hospital in west Edmonton [map]. The works are for sale during the show – contact the Misericordia Volunteer office (780-735-2754) for more information.
Prairie Exit, a landscape painting
In the first part of 2010 I painted a series of landscapes inspired by the Alberta Prairies. Here is one of this group:
"Prairie Exit" by Randall Talbot, 2010 (oil on canvas, 51 x 41 cm)
To see more paintings from this series, please visit my web site: www.randalltalbot.com
Randall Talbot - Artist 