There’s a feeling of winter in the air. The temperature is dropping. I just heard there's a forecast of snow. I see neighbours doing last-minute raking,  closing their gardens and the warm hats and mitts coming out. The squirrels are hustling about everywhere too.
With remnants of fall colour clinging to bare branches and scattered along our walking trails and the forest floor, the first snowfall offers artists a special painting opportunity.
I came across a spot near Almonte several weeks ago before snow had arrived. It had all the markings of late fall in waiting. When the snow did appear, and I saw the sunlight filtering down through snow clouds, I knew I should head out with my paints. The location, along the side road that I had ear-marked earlier, was perfect with its mantel of new snow and I started in to paint. When I got back home I liked the feeling I felt, seeing it under proper lighting. So, after adjustments and some repainting , I signed it and called my painting Prelude.
Prelude 11x14 will be shown in the 10 Collective Show in Almonte in April 4 and 5, 2020.

Just finished framing my new painting for my booth at the Expressions of Art Show and Sale this weekend.
The 24x24 acrylic was painted at the award-winning Rideau Woodlands Ramble nursery near Burritt's Rapids in September with the Manotick Art Association Plein Air group. It was finished, later, in my studio.
Hope to see you  at the show



Vernissage Friday Oct. 11, 7-9 pm
Saturday, Oct. 12, 8am – 4pm
Sunday, Nov. 13, 10am – 4pm
 
Carp Agricultural Hall,
3790 Carp Road, Carp, ON

This coming Thanksgiving weekend marks my 3rd participation in Expressions of Art and I am looking forward to being at my booth where I can show my latest work and meet clients and friends.
 I first heard about the show when Rosy Somerville, Carp artist and teacher, invited me to participate in the Opening Ceremonies for the 2016 Exhibition, not long after Patricia and I moved into Amberwood in Stittsville from our home of 40 years in Manotick.
The thing that impressed me the most about Expressions, besides the spacious Agricultural Hall and large free parking area in the Carp Fair grounds, was the concept that all artists must apply and be juried every year. This means that there is turnover of talent as exciting new artists come along each year.
I am told that this exhibition began around 1991-92 when the West Carleton Art Society was in its infancy. From modest beginnings in the Memorial Hall in Carp and trying several other venues in the area at different times in the year, the organizers settled on the Thanksgiving Weekend at the Carp Agricultural Hall, still retaining the concept of juring the artists each year.
This popular show is open to everyone; there is no admission charge. You will find the 31 booths are spaciously laid out, making it easy to navigate around inside and meet the artists. The Carp Farmer’s Market will be open on Saturday morning as well for one-stop shopping.
Hope to see you there,
Charlie Spratt
 
Expressions of Art 2019
http://www.westcarletonartssociety.ca
Vernissage Friday October 11, from 7-9 pm
Saturday, October 12, 8 am to 4 pm
Sunday, October 13, from 10 am to 4 pm
Carp Agricultural Hall, 3790 Carp Road, Carp, ON
 

A few senior artists may remember the days when artists traveled to The Schneider School of Fine Arts at Actinolite, near Tweed, to paint and take instruction in the 1960’s and 70’s. I understand A.Y.Jackson taught there at some time. Later, the camp with its small cabins became Bridgewater Retreat where a number of us taught and where the East Central Art Association of Ontario (ECOAA) held regular weekend outings.
A little farther west on Hwy 7, the Queensborough road takes you north to the Hamlet of Queensborough. Anyone attending the Schneider School or Bridgewater Retreat would recall day-painting trips to Queensborough. We would set up our easels to paint the Black River waterfall and sawmill and the streets and houses and churches.
This year, the residents of Queensborough decided to hold a Festival to celebrate the many artists who came to draw, photograph and paint their town over the years. A call for paintings that depicted the village resulted in close to a hundred submissions including works by well-known artists, Don Fraser, Poul Thrane and others. There was even a painting by A.Y.Jackson. I brought a 12x16 that I painted at Chisholm’s Mill with Poul in 2009. All of the work was set out, tastefully, in the Orange lodge for everyone to view. The weather on the day of the Festival, Saturday August 24th was perfect. Some  artists, including myself, set up around the Hamlet and painted.
It has been 10 years or more since I was there, very little has changed. Meeting two dear friends, Poul Thrane and Audrey Ross, was incredible and brought back a flood of memories.
A BIG THANK YOU to all those that organized the wonderful exhibition and made everyone feel so welcome. Well done!
Charlie Spratt
August 2019

I bet you know someone who owns an art collection. You probably think they have expensive tastes. One thing for sure – they have artistic tastes.  These days, art collections could include photographs, prints and other forms of art that don’t necessarily cost a lot.
What “Art Collection” suggests to me, though, is that each piece has been hand chosen, whether it’s an eclectic grouping, a few favourite artists or pieces acquired in travel. The thing that makes a collection valuable, financially, is the proof of providence and the name of the esteemed artist. However, aside from any commercial considerations, an art collection of any kind, selected piece by piece with care, can become a lasting treasure. It is something we were taught, way back, as children with our favourite toys.
I know that, as an artist, when I am invited to a home – or office for that matter – and I recognize an art collection of any kind, I am immediately struck with the care and choice of the work. An inquiry or two about any of the pieces, elicits a warm response right away, indicating that the owner takes much pride in showing them to me and explaining how each piece came to be acquired. It makes me feel very special to be included in my host’s hospitality: an experience seldom forgotten. And I know I am not alone in this regard.
So, how might one go about starting a collection? Sometimes it just begins with a picture that was passed on down through family or the result of a hand extended on impulse at an auction. We soon learn to enjoy a chosen painting or sculpture as it becomes part of our daily life; catching our attention in shifting daylight or in the evening room lighting. Over time we begin to consider things like spatial relationships and lighting choices to improve the overall effect as items get added.
By visiting art galleries and auctions and getting to know artists and their work, we join many others, happily involved in discovering other pieces that inspire them; each in a very personal way.
Happy hunting.
Charlie Spratt
July 2019

It was so great to see so many out to the first MAA Plein Air event at the Dickinson Mill in Manotick - Charlie

For someone just starting out painting plein air, the experience can be intimidating. I remember the time and place of my first try, well. But with time and patience, it can be rewarding. Here’s some of the reasons why I look forward to painting outside every time I can.

When I paint outdoors my goal is always to express with a paintbrush something about the landscape that I can relate to, as opposed to working from a photograph or other media. When I am outside,  my eyes record hundreds of images. I look up into the sky and sense the dark branches against moving clouds, I look down into the shadows at my feet and as my eyes adjust to the dark, I see saturated colour and the result is an impression. To paraphrase my artist friend, Virginia Trieloff, “What the eye perceives and the mind beholds are two different things”.

When I find a location I like, I take the time to look all around, I squint to see patterns and values and think about what I’d like to express in a painting. As I begin to analyze my thoughts, I move details around, eliminating some, changing others until a plan unfolds - a sketch book is helpful. Once I have a composition worked out, I get out my paints and become completely absorbed in painting and time literally flies by.

Plein-air paintings aren’t always successful. There are, in fact, many failures: the result of so many elements from which to choose and any number of distractions - some of which make great stories! But often enough, in the two to three hours available while the light is steady, I get a painting that speaks about the thoughts and feelings I experience from being there. Without exception my plein-air paintings, good or bad, have more life and vitality than any photographic record I could take. That is why I keep returning to the outdoors with my paints.

Back to my studio I assess the work. I scrape off the bugs, decide if a different size canvas would work better, taking particular care to preserve the impression that I recorded outdoors, no matter how messy or incomplete the work. I don’t believe that art is so much about detail as it is about self-expression. Whether the painting is good or not, time will tell.

 By organizing MAA paint-outs each Thursday morning, with the help of my friends, I hope that others will try the ‘Plein Air’ experience and that through time and practice they too may come to enjoy it as much as I do. Even after 40 years!

 Good Luck and Happy painting!

 
Charlie
* Reprinted from a Charlie's Blog 2010 and revised 2019
 
 
p.s. It’s always more enjoyable, and safer, to paint with other like-minded artists. Here are several groups that I paint with:
The Manotick Art Association (MAA), the East Central Ont. Art Assoc. (ECOAA), the newly formed North Grenville Artist Guild (NGAG) and Plein Air Ensemble. (PAE)

Too often I see artists: early in the game, bent on selling their work. I can sympathize. I know full-well the rush that comes from selling a painting to a happy client. But after many years of searching for better ways to express myself through my art, I have come to the realization that it is the painting process that gives me the joy and the purpose to continue.

It’s mostly about the many happy hours at my easel; the exuberance from watching an accomplished artist demonstrate a painting technique, at the front of a class, as if it were magic; the many painting trips with friends and new faces; instructing and demonstrating my art for other artists, and the pure joy that comes from learning to see by painting outdoors. And, I have discovered the satisfaction from painting something that I know is good - if only for me. I call it the truth.

For artists, finding themselves frustrated with endeavoring to sell their work, I say "Take some time to reflect on the beautiful journey of discovery that we, as artists, travel."

After 30 years of painting with Plein Air Ensemble, I still eagerly anticipate each trip, This time it is to Maniwaki, QC, where I will be joining 14 artists to paint the spring landscape. If I get a good painting or two, that will be a bonus. See Plein Air Ensemble.

Charlie Spratt
May 2019
Charlie also paints with the East Central Art Association (ECOAA). His most recent trip was to Algonquin Park, staying at the Algonquin Park East Gate Motel in April this year. See ECOAA

Just back home from hanging new works for a solo exhibition at the Fairview Manor Foyer in Almont
Come Walk With Me. . .
Each of these painting began as an impression, formed while traveling along the sideroads and streets of Almonte and the local countryside. The light in the early evening, the stillness along some backroad are things that resonate for me.
The concept for a painting can develop on the spot or it may take weeks, often with return visits before I start to sketch. Once I get started, the years of painting experience take over and time passes quickly as I paint colour and shapes recording the magic I feel.
Whether the final painting is good, time will tell. I will only sign it, if and when I am satisfied that it speaks the truth.
Charles Spratt 

Exhibition runs from April 9 to June 11, 2019
Vernissage, Meet and Greet, Thursday, April 25th from 7-9pm
Fairview Manor Foyer, 75 Spring St., Almonte, ON
 

As the weather moderates away from what has turned out to be a long and unusually bitter winter in Ottawa, thoughts turn to spring; for artists, plein air painting in warm sunshine comes to mind with each passing day.

Here are a couple of suggestions for you . . . .

With help from others, I will again be organizing the Thursday outdoor painting outings in the Ottawa area for members of the Manotick Art Association, each week, starting in early June. Drop by one day and see what we are all about. See: www.manotickart.ca for details.

But before then, for artists wishing to get away for several days to paint in the company of other artists, Plein Air Ensemble, hosted by artists, Mary Moore and Tom Lillico, have a trip lined up to Maniwaki, QC (approx., one and a half hours drive from Ottawa), May 12th to 15th, 2019.

Plein Air Ensemble, started 30 years ago by myself and two artist friends, organizes trips for artists twice yearly, spring and fall, to locations in Eastern Ontario and Quebec within one to five hours away. Accommodation is in selected lodges with studio space for artists preferring to work indoors. There is no instruction as such; artists are expected to work independently; however, with the number of seasoned artists attending in the majority, (some with teaching experience) there are many opportunities to learn from others.

I look forward to seeing many of my friends and new faces in Maniwaki this spring! Think about joining us.

For inquiries and application forms please see: www.pleinairensemble.ca.

Charlie Spratt
613 836-3614

Here is the finished 24x24 studio painting, Stillness in the Park, from the plein air sketch (right)

Some of my favourite memories are of painting trips to Algonquin Park; especially in the dead of winter. Accompanied by two good friends, both seasoned artists, I spent three great days painting in the Park last week. It was very cold - typical for January - so the warmth of our vehicles was the choice of studio.
As usual, we stayed at the Algonquin East Gate Motel owned by artist David Kay, in Whitney, and took our dinners at the Mad Musher just down the street. The town of Whitney is located on Hwy 60, a few short miles east of the Algonquin Park East Gate.
As one drives west on Hwy 60 out of Renfrew, the countryside begins to take on a new look. You notice that open fields, frozen lakes and forests of tall spruce and pine punctuated by the occasional log building become more common. By the time you reach Whitney the Precambrian landscape has transformed to a northern wilderness connected by towns along the highway.
As I stand in a corner of the Park, the sense of remoteness is overwhelming amid the tall Black spruce casting long blue shadows across perfect snow drifts marked only by the occasional animal track. Seeing moose and other animals is not uncommon and I did see a wolf at a distance this time. In the evening the stars stand out like sentinels.
I am so very grateful that I can continue to make these meaningful trips, considering that I have lost a number of wonderful friends that were often traveling companions. Still, the excitement of painting and sketching each day followed with discussion on art and politics in the evenings continue to provide great memories as I make my way home.
Charlie Spratt
January 2019

ps, Stillness in the Park, the 11x14 painting (above) was painted along the Opeongo Road in Algonquin Park, Jan. 19, 2019