Irene Duma - Landscape Painter
fine artist and educator
The East Coast Trail offers jaw dropping views like this with every step and turn, or seemingly fatal descent by stairs without handrails.
I still can’t believe I live by the ocean. Growing up in Toronto I always dreamed of living by the sea, but I had just assumed it would be a tropical one. One day, one day.
Day 9 of #30paintingsin30days!
Hiking Jaw Dropper
oil on canvas board
9×12
Day 8 of the 30 in 30 painting challenge. I am painting, I am painting! It’s just the posting I am lagging behind on.
This is a 5x 7Â gouache and pastel on watercolour paper. I made it by doing an underpainting in gouache. When it dried I painted it with fine pumice gel which gave it a sanded surface which helps the pastel stick to it. Then a final colouring with pastel.
The Battery used to be a small fishing village located at the mouth of the narrows opening into St. John’s harbour. Now it’s mainly residential homes with mighty fine views.
This is a small gouache and pastel painting of a house with my dream view. It’s at the little fishing village called Quidi Vidi just a 20 minute walk from downtown St. John’s. It’s pronounced kitty vitty, but I have heard many variations including kid-eye vid-eye from a gentleman who grew up in the area.
Yes, I know – how lucky am I that I can walk to 2 fishing villages from my home – Quidi Vidi and the Battery at the foot of Signal Hill.
The house with the perfect view.
5×7 gouache and pastel on watercolour paper.
2017
This spring when the icebergs came to town, I took a ride down the Avalon peninsula on the road known as the Irish Loop. I love driving around just following the roads that look the prettiest. As the sun was setting in Ferryland, it lit up this house and ocean in a strking manner. I take my trusty Canon point and shoot everywhere and snapped some photos. Today I picked this one to paint for day 5 of the 30 in 3o painting challenge.
The weather was gorgeous today so I painted in my backyard. And since there was no rain in sight, I decided to go back to oil painting. I also decided to refresh my oil technique basics first because I felt shaky after neglecting it in favour of doing pastels. So I rewatched this video by Barry John Rayboud.
I really appreciate this video because it breaks things down into steps that a beginner can really grasp. Painting: it’s all about shapes and values.
Being able to walk to Signal Hill and hike the trail that goes around it is one of my fave things about living in the east end of St. John’s. As summer comes to a close, the days get shorter so you may find yourself walking in evening light sooner than you expected. Which could be scary since not all of the path has stairs and handrails to hold on to.
This little pastel 5 x 7 was painted for day 5 of 30 paintings in 30 days.