Opening

This little painting became a bookcover. I love the abstract painters and wish to take my own abstractions further. This one is loose, and the photo doesn't show it's brightness. I like the line quality I achieved with a liner brush.

An Everyday Leaf

This is a tiny painting, 3x3. I was looking at larger paintings, 6x6, and was thinking it is a better size. 6x6 with an inch of white space and then the matte and frame. Makes a nice sized piece. This piece is between abstract and realistic. I like to put lines in the painting that become direction composition components.

Winter Birch

Winter Birch, and the reflections of trees and light in water. Acrylic on watercolor paper. A tiny painting--begun when I decided to do a painting a day. That lasted about a week. I'm not very good at setting myself challenges like that. But I did get about 7 paintings out of the deal. Sweet.

Le Jardin

Black gesso on watercolor paper. Added collage element and acrylic manipulated zinc white acrylic.

River Valley

There have been places I've lived in my life where I've investigated rivers. Priest River, Spokane River, Little Spokane River, the Naches River, and others not coming to mind right now. Rivers are always moving along, unlike the tides that come back, go away, come back. Then there are the flood plains, like where I lived in Yakima, where water crept in the night toward the house, and that's what it sounded like, this stalk, sluicing closer and closer. Here this painting, with iridescent paint, looks like an aerial view of meandering water. I like the colors and the shimmer the mica in the paint brings to the finish.

Shine on Sound

This painting was part of a quick series of work I did where the images all came out with swirls and spirals and if you notice at the top of this piece, bird shapes. Frequently images in up in my paintings, sort of automatic paintings if you like, and then I enhance the images that are there. They usually tell me a story, like this piece might be about the swirl of emotion I feel and how my life can be overwhelming, yet always there is a spiritual presence I can rely on for comfort. To purchase go to www.nancycanyon.etsy.com

Inside

This painting was painted in the same series as "It's Beneath". I was inspired by an artist's abstract work that I'd seen in Art News, and thought the way I was painting could change a bit, try something new for a thrill. The series didn't go far, but I do have several paintings now of round shapes with blobs in them that remind me of crows.

Rose of Watervein: copywrite Aug. 2007

The painting process: Tape down the paper with removable masking tape. This will give you a clean edge when you are finished painting. The tape should not be left on the paper for a long period, I remove mine the following day. Most of my small pieces are painted in an hour. This one includes metallic paint by Daniel Smith and other acrylic paints. I like painting with acrylic instead of water color, because the colors are more intense. I can also get texture with the acrylics.

Once the paper is taped to the table, I begin painting. My process is to not think. Like my writing, beginning with knowing nothing is better for me as an artist, than to think up what I will do. Then everything is fresh and bold. Brush strokes are alive, vibrant, confident. Try a painting a day, like a writing practice. A short piece, perhaps ten minutes worth of words on the paper a day. Paint fast, write fast.

Southwestern Wind: copywrite 2000

When the artistic flow is blocked, I go to another form, such as writing or dancing. Or I watch movies. Basically I need to have input so I can generate new material. In the Artist's Way, the suggestion to take yourself on an artist date is very helpful. I like yarn stores, second hand stores, and imports. All the detail stimulates ideas. This piece was painted during the year I was taking a fiction writing class.

Small painting: Vortex and Ruby

When I paint, power sometimes looks like the wound, and then the wound becomes empowered. All is welcome and invited in the creative process. Sometimes imagery coming from the subconscious can have a frightening effect on the artist. Sometimes the artist isn't moved, but the viewer is. Either way, art is a journey unfolding in waves of power.