Leona Brown Artist

2011-01-07T15:19:00.000-08:00

second week of workshop

2010-08-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

This is the home of art noveau artist Antonio Chini. Here we are within walking distance of the Italian Riviera and will be doing sand paintings in the Mediterranean! We will also be taking a train to Cinque Terre as we went there 4 years ago and we were amazed by the painting opportunities!

Off to Italy

2010-08-31T14:08:00.001-07:00

This is our first stop for 6 nights. It is in the town of Bagno Vignoni and is the summer residence of Pope Pius ll.

We will be painting in the mornings and having critques at night.

Clouds

2009-11-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

These NEW paintings were inspired after traveling through Northern Manitoba this fall. I was invited to teach for a couple of weekends in Russell Manitoba, about 4 1/2 hours North of Winnipeg. What a fun time using my new Canon camera to capture the vastness of the landscape. I now have a file full of the undulating fields and different cloud formations.
These were on display at the studio show last week and 2 of these sold. The sale was a huge success with a total of 9 sales...and nothing small either. It seems if someone falls in love with a piece of art it doesn't matter the price. Not too much of a recession here!

Oh What a Grand Country

2009-11-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

This is the painting that was sellected into the Winnipeg Sketch Club show that was showing all this month at the Bay Art Gallery. The second piece that was sellected by the judge Tom Lovatt was Spanish Hillside Glow. I am now just waiting to see if either one of these won the "People's Choice Award".This will be a real learning experience as the juror is talking about the pieces and why he chose the winning pieces and a critique on our work. Most useful!

Art Show in the studio

2009-11-15T08:32:00.001-08:00

Well one day of selling has been fun. I have met lots of people that interact with my art. Most rewarding! Have sold 2 pieces in 1 day and there is Sunday left. Amazing to hear people's responses to my work and to see which ones turn them on. Will post pictures of the ones they have bought. really there is no rhyme or reason. It is like falling in love. there is no formula. You can't paint to sell as there is no reasoning with the consumer's tastes. Tiring and the smilel muscles are sore, but worth it.

Painting in Italy in September 2010

2009-09-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

This is the updated version of the Tuscany trip. There are new pictures of the places we will be staying. From September 7 to 13 we will be in Lido di Camaiore at the Hotel Club i Pini. While there a train or boat will transport us to the amazing cliff towns of Cinque Terre. Loretta and Claudio are our hosts and will also provide us with cooking lessons.

The second week we will be in the historical thermal town of Bagno Vignoni. Our accomadation is in a 1400 century summer residence of Pope Pio ll. The spa facilities look amazing! The outdoor painting opportunities abound! `Plein air`painting will be enhanced by excursions to the villages of Pienza and Monticchiello.

Turn up the volume, sit back and enjoy the sights of Tuscany and the sounds of Beethoven!

Pinawa Dam

2009-09-02T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is the final painting. The dam is really behind me. This is the water that is flowing from it into the Winnipeg River. I found that after I signed it and photographed it, I saw some compositional problems. The camera has come in very handy once again. I feel that I have captured the essence of the place. The rushing water against the coolness and calmness in the bay. The rough rock against the smoothness of the rocks that have been pounded by the relentless flow. The light hitting the rocks casting shadows. A painting of contrasts.

Painting at the Dam

2009-08-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

Pinawa Dam area where Sharon Marilyne and Louis painted "en Plein air". A glorious day with no mosquitoes and warm sun shining down on us. My painting is not quite fininshed as you can tell. This is my interpretation of the place July 17, 2009.

Casey at 3 months

2009-08-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

Casey and his Mom and Dad came over August 4, when he was 3 months old. He was gooing and very happy to be in Grandpa's arms.

2009-07-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

Can't believe that July is OVER. Our weather has been cold and rainy, but have managed to paint outdoors without baking in the sun. This was one of the "plein air" creeks we painted. We also treked to Pinawa Dam and painted there for the glorious sunny day. I am still working on the watercolour of the scene and will post when finished.

This long weekend I am going up to Victoria beach to a girlfriends cottage where we will sell our art. She will be displaying her photographs from around the world and I will have some original unframed watercolours fro sale. Hope I can make some money and chat up some out door lovers. Wish me luck!

2009-07-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

This is a detail of the painting "Spanish Valley" Hope you can make out the Quail eggs, brown eggs, and flax seeds.

Spanish Valley

2009-07-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

This watercolour was started as a demonstration in Spain. After visiting the Alhambra, I was blown away with the tiles and ceramics and mosaics. I wanted to have the students experiment with collage and recreate the affect of moasics in their watercolours. We saved brown egg shells and Quail egg shells as well as flax seeds and oat meal flakes for the tile pieces. Upon my return home I finished this in the studio.

"Rendezvous"

2009-07-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

To Celebrate Canada Day I felt that Rendez-vous spoke to the meeting of friends and neighbours to blow off....fireworks! This painting is hanging in our national capital Ottawa, at Gallery 240.

2009-06-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is where we will be traveling to September 2010! We were in Tuscany painting 4 years ago at the Villa 1 Club Pini and will stay there again. It was the home of a famous Italian painter CHINI, whose work can be seen throughout the villa. It is minutes from the Italian Riviera in the town of Viareggio. While there we will be venturing out on days trips to paint. One trip will be a train ride to the breathtaking Cinque Terre. There are no roads in so we will trek along the cliffs till we arrive at one of the villages perched on the rocks. We will also experience "Slow Food" on an amazing estate where a person roams the gardens and pathways sampling food and produce from the local farmers and bakers. The best part is almost every second booth is wine sampling! Once inside the mansion you are awe struck by the tapestries and roses everywhere. The whole video is where we will be painting in Tuscany except for the last 2 pictures. These are from Lucca where I hope to spend the 2nd week of the trip.

Watch the blog or my web page http://www.leonabrown.com/ for more info on the trip.

Spanish Watercolour Trip

2009-06-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

What a glorious trip to Southern Spain! It was mainly due to the wonderfully warm and gracious host and hostess Mike and Hilary. This video shows the couple and the painting the 16 artists collaged for them. It also shows the places I demonstrated watercolour painting. We traveled to Ronda, with it's magnificent Roman bridge over the gorge, Iznajar, Zuheros, and The Alhambra. Enjoy the photos, my paintings, (except 3 from the students), and the music of Spain.