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As a painter, I must “hold space” for a work from the first moments of standing before my subject, gathering information and feeling my way into the painting, right up until the final brushstroke that says – done! It is not a linear process but rather a series of sparse markers that move in and out of my awareness. The large “Sea and Shore” landscape oil painting is a good example of this.
Yes, there are methods and tools, that are picked up and put down as needed, but much of the work of painting is done without what we understand as “knowing.” For me, it is more of an exploration or a trying out of things until something “seems and feels right”.
How do you DO that!? This is a question that is frequently asked in relation to viewers finding themselves inside one of my paintings – such as smelling the sea or feeling the warmth of the sun on their back. So, I will try to explain….
At this point, the process of painting is kind of like driving a race car for me. You know  how you don’t usually need to think about driving to the corner store unless there is something really unusual, like a fallen tree on the road or you have sprained your wrist and you must be careful when you are shifting gears? When we have been driving for years, we can usually just navigate to where we want to go and not think too much about steering, breaking, obeying the speed limit or putting on our turn signal and such. We have become accustom to monitoring all the various aspects of  being able to drive successfully from one place to another. Well, painting wet-into-wet is a little like developing the skills of an endurance race car driver. One must plan ahead, be quick, precise, accurate and have extensive training while practicing regularly… and the painting still might crash and burn! The painter must be courageous, step into the risk of failure, and use her split-second decision-making skills to save the painting and possibly even herself. And when it works, then it is magic! Then you can hear the waves, smell the sea or feel the breeze coming across the landscape.
As you may guess, the intention for a work must be clear, and yet held lightly, as I pick up the brushes and proceeds into the unexpected. The unknowns can parallelize painters or have them work safely so that they make no mistakes or only use approaches that are already familiar. The results when this happens are often dismal. To successfully paint a vibrant work, using all of our sensory information, that then comes alive on a canvas, means being willing to risk – everything! I must confront what is raw and uncomfortable within myself before the inner beauty of the landscape can become visible on the canvas. There are no shortcuts. There are no easy wins or formulas. But there are practices, intentions and mark-making that will start us out in the right direction. From there, we must be willing to step beyond what we already know. Painters must be ready to figuratively die on a canvas before the painting can fully live.
That said, and out of the way, let’s have a look and see what happened with “Sea and Shore” since the last post. Sometimes it is easier to see in black and white.
Sometimes, we just want to look at the work from a different angle.  Yes, it was dinner on the deck for several days while the painted edges are left to dry. 😉
Sometimes, we just want to explore and trace the lines of movement. Though I was visually aware of my composition choice and I had knowingly chose the structure of the spiral, it was only after the painting was completed that I roughly traced it out over top of an image – revealing one of its secrets.
Then comes the final test. The painting is hung on the gallery wall for the viewer to scrutinize and ponder.
The painting must now stand on its own. It is separated from the painter and has its own relationships to build, its own stories to tell and its own journeys to take. The painter, after all, is only a temporary custodian once the work is completed. The painter’s efforts tend to dissolve somehow once the work is seen through the eyes of the viewer. It is the viewer who is now in first-relationship with the work – not, the painter. If there is a connection at all, after this, to the painter, it is only by curiosity and the invitation of the viewer. Maybe we can understand it better this way – the painting itself believes it was born of its own freewill and is unaware of the painter, the paint, the brush marks, the canvas or even its supporting frame. It is not that the painting is unappreciative of its reason for existing, it is just that the painting has know way of knowing. The painting just trusts that it has always existed. Therefore, the painter has a sacred obligation to never break this trust by inserting themselves prominently into the work – because if they do, the magic of the painting might be broken. The work itself must always lead.
The large “Sea and Shore” landscape painting hangs for one-day-only in the gallery before it is scooped up by an art collector.
SOLD! Sea and Shore – 36 x 48 inch oil on canvas by Terrill Welch.
And there it goes…. off on an adventure of its own, hopefully keeping its magic for several hundred years to come.
Thank you for sharing its journey into the world that has been captured in these three recent posts.
What risks do you take so that your creations can fully live?
PART 1 “Sea and Shore – A beginning” can be viewed HERE.
PART 2 “Sea and Shore – Building Up Paint” can be viewed HERE.
© 2018 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
Happy New Year with best 5 paintings of 2017
Happy New Year and all the best in 2018
Canadian Contemporary Terrill Welch Gallery
As we approach the end of the calendar year, we again select the artist’s choice for the best paintings of 2017. This year, we have decided on 5 out of the 29 new works that have been released – and three of those are just being released today in the online gallery! So be sure to check it out. The link is included below.
Here is the 1st and likely the public favourite…
Storytelling Arbutus Tree Bennett Bay Mayne Island BC
Size (h w d): 60 x 40 x 1.5 in
In 2nd place for the artist’s choice of the best five paintings completed in 2017 is…..
Northeasterly Morning Strait of Georgia Mayne Island BC
View original post 617 more words
Two Arbutus Trees Rendered One for New Gallery One Sold
Yesterday, saw the eight painting sketches arrive at the gallery for the first show.
The lights are now up and I am thrilled with the quality of luminescence I will have to work with for photographs.
Last Thursday, Friday and Sunday were painting days. The first is a plein air over two mornings of an arbutus tree caught between the sea and the road.
Morning along the Island Road Mayne Island BC 20 x 16 inch oil on canvas plein air
Details and purchase information HERE.
The second is a small study of a favourite arbutus tree from reference images.
Arbutus Tree with a View 8 x 10 inch acrylic study on gessobord
This one is sold already. Other new works are released in the online gallery HERE.
On Friday morning with a bit of luck we will have a live video of the opening of the gallery on the Art of Terrill Welch Facebook Page. If you want to be there in our virtual world head drop by the page at 10:00 am Friday August 4th. A few people who helped with the raising of the gallery and collectors will be there and the gallery will open to the public at 11:00 am.
How do you stay in the flow when adding something big to your life?
© 2017 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com
Terrill Welch paintings – they ain’t cheap are they?
August 26, 2014August 24, 2018 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments
This morning as I was painting the edges on two new paintings that are now released on my website at Terrill Welch Artist, I thought of a recent comment I accidentally heard being proclaimed in front of my display at our local Mayne Island Farmers’ Market a few weeks ago – they ain’t cheap are they!? To be fair, the lovely person making the comment was speaking to her friends and did not realize I was coming up right behind her. I warmly laughed and agreed with her – my work is not cheap. In fact, deciding to purchase one of my paintings or photography images is a serious financial decision – one that requires thought, conviction and often planning. As the morning sun provides its gift of bright light into my home studio, I think of all the reasons that this is so.
There are the usual and obvious observations including:
1. Market Demand – in the past few years almost 50 paintings of various sizes have found their way onto the walls of private collectors. (Update: post was written in 2014. Now in 2017 this number has grown to more than 100. Maybe someday I shall be one of the “older women artists discovered” even 😉 ) At some points during the past four years prices had to be raised twice in one year to calm the speed of sales which were happening before work was released or even completed.
2. Limited Supply – I am not a hugely prolific painter. Each year there are somewhere between 30 and 50 paintings completed. At this rate, in my life time there will likely be less than 2,000 original paintings available in the world. Original paintings by a specific artist are limited due to the very nature of being painted by the artist’s own hand. My released landscape and still life photography images are even fewer in number.
3. Broad Market Reach – Due to the breadth and depth of social media, I am able to connect with discerning art collectors on global platforms. Though my local physical community on a small west coast island is just over a 1000 people, my online community has the reach of a good-sized city and is populated by those who love art and who love my paintings. There are fans who regularly leave comments and share my work. There is a team of writers who provide commentary on specific paintings every month. There are fellow artists and photographers who share, encourage and inspire me to push the edges and explore what it means to brush paint onto a canvas. All of this strengthens the market reach and the asking price for a specific painting.
But there is more to it than this isn’t there?
The decisions around pricing art work and purchasing art work are also subjective and emotional. My paintings come through my engagement with life. I instill the canvas or camera with the vitality of my everyday experiences. These experiences are not cheap. They are priceless. They are all any of us every really have beyond family and friends. Frankly, I can never translate and release these renderings for pittance because my heart would break. It would mean that our lives and how we choose to translate our experiences have little value. I cherish life. I therefore act accordingly and apply value to my work that comes from that life. The outcome is long-lasting exchanges and deep connections with art collectors and fans. This somehow completes the circle between inspiration, creation and release of work to a life of its own, in places I frequently have never even been.
Yet, I want and do find ways to share them freely with you and the rest of the world. If you are reading this post you can view my work in detail in my online galleries as often and for as long as you like.
ONLINE GALLERIES include –
Artwork Archives for most original oil paintings currently available
Redbubble for most photography prints
In addition, the images on my blog and website can be saved for personal use as screen savers or printed to be sent as cards to your friends or posted on the fridge for that day when you can make an offer.
It is only when you want to own an original painting or a photography image that it ain’t cheap!
So, in closing, I want to thank the person who said loudly and clearly what we all know and seldom discuss – original art is precious and not always accessible to own but we can still admire it and enjoy its presence in markets, pop-up shows, home studio visits, traditional galleries, online platforms and in museums. In these precarious times, we have access to viewing and enjoying more fine art than possibly any other time in history. Thank you for visiting, enjoying and collecting mine 🙂
More about buying original paintings on my website at Seven Tips For Buying Original Paintings .
What is your favorite answer to the question –  they ain’t cheap are they!?
P.S. The new painting released is:
OYSTER BAY LATE JULY 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas
Update September 2, 2014: This painting is now sold.
View all current paintings available in the online gallery HERE.
Enjoy your week and the coming of my favourite season – autumn! 🙂
© 2014 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com
Happy Canada Day from this Canadian Artist to YOU
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014 / Terrill Welch / 4 Comments
The painting below A Tall Tale of Autumn Stuart River 16 x 12 inch oil on canvas is the “Poster Painting” for a rare 40% savings special on all of my Canadian oil paintings available at Artsy Home to celebrate Canada Day – starting NOW until midnight PST July 1, 2014.
Here is what you do – go to my Artsy Home online Gallery at:
Choose your painting and send me an email using the “make an offer” option located just above my name and below the price, shipping and product number on the right hand side of the painting.
The email should say – Request to Purchase as Canada Day Special. It is a first-email-received-request-for-the-work that will be accepted.
I will then confirm if you were the successful request for the painting and we can proceed with purchase details at that time.
Also, there is ONE original painting in the Artsy Home gallery that is available for a draw. It has in capital letters FOUND IT at the bottom of the description. If you find it, send me an email using the same “make an offer” option that says FOUND IT and your name will be added to the draw for the painting. You must find the eligible painting and enter the draw before midnight PST on July 1 , 2014. The actual draw will take place the following morning. As is understandable, a purchase offer will not be accepted for this work unless no one finds it. Then it will become available again after the draw closes.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if some part of this offer is unclear… it is a spur-of-moment, west coast sunny morning influenced decision and so enjoy and have fun browsing the over 60 original paintings that include landscapes and still life works from our wonderful Canadian Living.
I hope you enjoy this rare opportunity to start or add to your collection my original paintings.
© 2014 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com
One Brushstroke After Another
February 10, 2014February 10, 2014 / Terrill Welch / 21 Comments
Life as an artist is pretty simple – just going along, one brushstroke after another. Home is where you hang your brushes and your socks to dry.
I took this photograph for my eldest grandson who has been known to tease me about my single-use devices. So, though I still wear a watch on my wrist that has the single purpose of telling time, this chair is a multi-use device. It is used for sitting on with guests in our great room. It is used as a prop in my still life paintings. It is used to keep paintbrushes, paints and water close while I work on a painting. And most importantly, it holds my wool socks while they dry.
On this particular day I drag this chair and my french box easel over by the kitchen to paint.
I desperately want some warmth and cheer. A few hours painting this still life bowl of winter fruit is just the ticket.
There is a roundness of shapes in the warm winter light that is drifting through the kitchen while paint remains paint.
The finished painting BOWL OF WINTER FRUIT 12 x 16 inch oil on canvas and a poem that goes with it are posted over on my website Terrill Welch Artist HERE.
What are you doing one after another?
© 2014 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com
Good Morning En Plein Air
August 8, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 17 Comments
What does an artist do on the morning after $2.5 trillion evaporates from global stock markets? Paint of course and not just any painting but en plein air by the sea.
It is 8:30 am. The morning is as gray unsettled as the global economy. It really didn’t hold much promise and looked like the bottom was going to fall out of the sky any second.
The only bright spot are these pink roses at the side of the lighthouse building.
The rocks down below me catch my interest but I have come to paint the sea.
Hopeful that the sun will recover its golden glow before noon. I set to work.
I stop infrequently. There will be no process photographs but I do catch a sailboat heading across Georgia Strait.
(this image may be purchased here.)
You can still see it in the distance as I leave aside the first 12 X 12 inch canvas to rest.
(this image may be purchased here.)
The sky starts to clear as I set up for the next 10 X 10 inch canvas. I wonder what time it is? Hum, ten o’clock. Let’s see what we can do.
Again I work steadily as the light and colours change faster than my brush can make a mark on the canvas. The sun is so bright I have a hard time seeing my work and have an even harder time capturing a photograph for you.
It is not finished but it has the energy of the moment and can be completed once this first work has dried.
I am getting tired but I want to do one more painting on my small 8 X 8 inch canvas. It is now just after 11:00 am.
(this image may be purchased here.)
The strokes seem to slip onto the small canvas effortlessly.
Oh my! It is now 12:30 am and I am ravenous! Time to pack up three very wet unfinished oil paintings and head for home.
This past week’s financial upheaval is not a surprise. In fact it has been a long time coming for those of us paying attention. More than ever we need to build on our resiliency, our connection to community and set a course directed by what is essential in our lives at this moment. A morning painting was my perfect answer. This is how I fortify my strength and clarity for whatever may be next.
Sprout question: How are you creatively going to weather our global financial storm?
© 2011 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch
Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com
My Grand Studio (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Mountain Stands Alone (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Being With What Is (creativepotager.wordpress.com)
Art of Day 2010 Holiday Show and Sale
December 18, 2010February 13, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 7 Comments
Creative Potager interrupts its holiday to bring you news about the inclusion of my painting “Rising” in a fantastic online international show and sale.
UPDATE January 30, 2011: This painting has been SOLD to a buyer in Switzerland.
James Day is the brilliant brain behind the development of ART of DAY blog and online gallery store. He invited 20 Featured Artists and included 20 Artworks for inclusion in the ART of DAY 2010 Holiday Show and Sale. There are artworks from a wide range of disciplines from all over the world coming together in this one online location.  Please drop in and to view this outstanding collection.
To view more work by Terrill Welch:
To view more of my oil paintings for sale at ART of DAY, go directly to the ART of DAY store. Also, three oil paintings were recently profiled on Creative Potager and can be accessed through separate links on the post “Wrap up of three paintings over three days.”
My photography can be viewed and purchased at my redbubble storefront.
My full artist biography has a sampling of my work displayed as well.
Thank you for your support, encouragement and purchase of my paintings, photographs, and calendars.
Sprout question: What brilliant creative idea are you working on?
Now back to holidays!
Please note: Creative Potager will be on holidays beginning Saturday, December 11, 2010 and will return on its one year anniversary Monday, December 27, 2010.
© 2010 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch
Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
Wrap up of three paintings over three days
December 6, 2010December 6, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments
Welcome to Monday morning at Creative Potager. Shall we start with a little sandstone, sea and blue sky before getting into the three paintings over three days wrap up? I thought you might be like that.
(view full resolution – available for purchase here.)
This photograph is the first of several I will introduce this week from our walk on Saturday in the beautiful clear blue of the winter sun.
The special sale event for three paintings over three days has been amazing. Guess why? Because of you! All the views, the comments, the emails, the tweets, and the writings on my FB wall have left me full of gratitude with a powerful desire to take my work forward. What a wonderful way to bring a close to my work in 2010. Thank you. Thank you each and every one of you for being part of my creative journey in such a profound way.
Now for the details because today is the last day….
The sale price of $950.00 Canadian for each of these paintings regularly $1,200 Canadian each will end at midnight PST tonight, Monday December 6, 2010.
The first painting East Point Cliffs is still available at the time of this posting.
The second painting Owl’s View is still available at the time of this posting.
The third painting Far Shore is still available at the time of this posting.
TO BUY THIS PAINTING: Critical information for Buyers including the price is posted on a separate page HERE.
And some more great news that I am extremely excited about – my work as been accepted into the new ART of DAY online gallery. James Day is a sculpture and great supporter of artists. His artist features on the ART of DAY wordpress blog are widely read and appreciated. You may remember his feature of my work  “Impressionist Painting of Nature by Terrill Welch” in October of this year. Well, I now have five paintings of various sizes listed in the ART of  DAY online store. Please feel free to drop by and browse.
Sprout question: What do you do when you are feeling absolutely full of gratitude?
© 2010 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch
Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
Monet’s Giverny – (epicurienne.wordpress.com)
First Terrill Welch Original Oil Painting in Sale East Point Cliffs
December 3, 2010December 3, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 22 Comments
This painting is a shape-shifter through time. More than any other painting that I have painted East Point Cliffs absorbs the light and transforms with the time of day. Bright and lush on a sunny day …
Quiet and peaceful on a cloudy day…
East Point Cliffs looks as if there is a full moon shining when it is near dusk. It is rightly the first painting of my online sale as it was the first painting in oils I had done in thirty years of working in watercolours. Oil was the first medium I used when I started painting and selling my work at the age of fourteen. It is ever-so-wonderful to return to a slightly modified water miscible oil paint.
With the oil painting’s deep edges roughly textured, it awaits your personal touch in choosing of a frame to fit your chosen location or it can be left as is, reminding the viewer that it is canvas and paint that has become art.
A close up reveals the layered impressionist strokes on canvas.
East Point Cliffs is inspired from a trip in February to Saturna Island British Columbia, Canada. The deep blue of the sea and the sandstone cliffs were mesmerizing. An early post provides more about the process of painting East Point Cliffs.
TO BUY THIS PAINTING: Critical information for Buyers including the price is posted on a separate page HERE.
East Point Cliffs is the first of three original oil paintings going on sale over the next three days.. The second will go up on Saturday and the third on Sunday. After each of the three paintings become available they will remain on sale until sold or midnight PST Monday December 6, 2010, whichever comes first.
Please share this post with others who may be interested. Thank you for your interest and support of my work.
Sprout question: If you were mesmerized by East Point Cliffs where would it take you?
© 2010 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch
Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
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Early Autumn in the Japanese Garden
Warm Sun with Cool Shadows
Weaving Together A Weekend Through to Monday
Breaking Blue and Gold
Categories Select Category A Brush with Europe Barcelona Basel California and Oregon Cote d’ zur Dijon England Florence Food France Galiano Island garden home Interview Italy Mayne Island Mill Bay NatureIsCalling Painting photography plein air painting Poems Prince Edward Island Salish Sea Sunday Savings Saturna Island Shows and Exhibitions sketching studio The Moon Is No Longer There travel blog traveling artist Tsawwassen Tutorial for painting and photography Tutorial painting photography Uncategorized Venice Victoria walks writing
Canadian Artist Terrill Welch
Online Gallery of Terrill Welch Paintings
Wonders in the dark
A Brush with Europe Barcelona Florence Food France Galiano Island garden home Interview Italy Mayne Island NatureIsCalling Painting photography plein air painting Poems Prince Edward Island Salish Sea Sunday Savings Saturna Island Shows and Exhibitions sketching studio The Moon Is No Longer There travel blog traveling artist Tutorial for painting and photography Uncategorized Victoria walks writing
Subscribe to Blog via Email
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Join 4,864 other followers
Follow Creative Potager on WordPress.com
Early Autumn in the Japanese Garden
Warm Sun with Cool Shadows
Weaving Together A Weekend Through to Monday
Breaking Blue and Gold
Categories Select Category A Brush with Europe Barcelona Basel California and Oregon Cote d’ zur Dijon England Florence Food France Galiano Island garden home Interview Italy Mayne Island Mill Bay NatureIsCalling Painting photography plein air painting Poems Prince Edward Island Salish Sea Sunday Savings Saturna Island Shows and Exhibitions sketching studio The Moon Is No Longer There travel blog traveling artist Tsawwassen Tutorial for painting and photography Tutorial painting photography Uncategorized Venice Victoria walks writing