“Beneath the Skies”

Beneath the Skies
16×20″ (acrylic on 1 1/2″ canvas), R Luymes (c) 2015

After a long hiatus of posting nothing on this blog, I am back with another painting! And this particular painting has been in the works for WAY too long! I’m so happy it is finally finished and off to its new owners as a belated wedding gift.

I started this landscape with significantly more land taking up the majority of the canvas, and as I was working on it I wasn’t feeling inspired…so I took the plunge and slapped three coats of gesso over top of the painting, turned it upside down, and began again. I’m glad I seized that small moment of bravery–it’s hard letting go of something you’ve put so much effort into even if you’re feeling less than inspired by what you’re creating. I am a thousand times more pleased with the end result now, so it was definitely worth the risk! I am fairly certain that my new-found inspiration had much to do with focusing on that big open sky filled with billowing clouds. I can never get enough of the sky!

“Saskatchewan Sky”

Saskatchewan Sky
6×6″ (acrylic on 1 1/2″ canvas), R Luymes (c) 2015

After looking through my blog for a photo of this painting, I realized I forgot to write a post about “Saskatchewan Sky”. So I figured I should post it before I completely forget!

My mom asked if I would do a painting for a friend of hers whose 60th birthday was coming up. I readily agreed and together we found some reference photos from a road trip that my mom, my dad, her friend, and her husband went on together a while back. For part of their road trip they were in Saskatchewan, so I used bits and pieces from a few of my mom’s photos to create this painting.

Rolling hills may not be the first thing that pop into a person’s mind when thinking about Saskatchewan, but it was what captured my mom’s attention when driving through the province. But even more attention-grabbing were the skies which the prairies are so well-known for. How can you not love deep blues and purples stretching as far as the eye can see?