Horse and Child Painting for Today and Frida News!

" Distance tests a horse's strength. Time reveals a person's character."

~Chinese Proverb

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: Time and Distance
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: Size: 12 X 16 in
40 X 50 cm
Date: 2007

I actually finished this one on the weekend, but didn't get to posting it here.
This week is a blur! It's a rush to the finish to be ready for my first summer show Art In The Park !!! I'm putting last minute touches on original pieces, printing and framing, and well, trying to keep it together! And in the midst of all this chaos, I just filled my first order for the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center Museum Shop. I am so honoured, humbled, thrilled, delighted!!! Well, I could go on and on, but it's late, I'm tired, but it's all about Frida.

Another Fast Ride - Child and Horse Painting for Today

As I child, I was "horse crazy". I loved them. I have wonderful memories of feeling free and incredibly strong while riding...until I fell off, but that's another story...
So, here is a favourite subject, a child on a horse, running free in a sort of dream scape...



And a little detail...



And another little detail...



" To ride a horse is to ride the sky."

~Author Unknown

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: Another Fast Ride
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: Size: 16 X 20 in
40 X 50 cm
Date: 2007

You can drop me a note anytime if you're interested in any of my work.

Two More Angels Paintings for Today

I'm still trying to figure out how to retrieve everything that I managed to loose yesterday...got a few more widgets to find a place for in this template...
But in the meantime, I'll continue to post my work as I get it finished.

I worked on a couple of angels today...



"Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge."
~ William Shakespeare~

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: Sweet Mercy
Medium: Acrylic on Wooden Block
Size: 5 X 7 x .75 in
11 X 15 x 2 cm
Date: 2007

This little primitive angel is painted in acrylic on a textured background. The clay Celtic Cross holds a sparkling Swarovski crystal.

And another little angel...


"In charity there is no excess."

Sir Francis Bacon,


Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: Prayers of Charity
Medium: Acrylic
Frame: Black Wooden Frame
Outside Dimension: 6 x 8 in
15 X 20 cm
Date: 2007

And evening falls again...

Frida Unnamed Almost Finished Painting For Today

Well, if my blog looks a little different to you today...you're right. I was doing a little routine maintenance and with my usual technical aplomb managed to delete just about everything! Yes, I know, I should have backed everything up...but I hit the "other" button first and poof!
So, with frazzled nerves, I'm posting now. I didn't have the heart to try to fix everything...maybe tomorrow.

So, on to the art. I spent today finishing up pieces that were "almost there" but not quite. I started the Frida below a few weeks ago, but it still isn't quite finished. I think I still want to add some embellishment to her hair.



So for now, it's "Frida Unnamed"

And I hope you'll check out my little Nibblefest piece on eBay.

Nibblefest! It's The Sixties Again! Painting For Today

Every 20th of the month is Nibblefest time for participating artists who sell on eBay. It can be a little risky...but once a month it can also be a lot of fun.

Here's the story: NibblefestArt Contest (NFAC)is a themed art contest beginning on the 20th of each month. Please search for NFAC to see more great entries, starting at just 99¢! This month's theme is "Groovy 60s".

I wasn't going to participate this month, but I changed my mind when I saw the theme. So I've just listed this little girl on eBay and I am just about ready to call it a day!

Each time I sit down to make an entry I'm absolutely paralyzed by the prospect of having to string a few words together between shots of my work...As I'm logging into my computer, I say to myself..."OK, this is the day when you're actually going to write something..." And well, it seems this isn't the day after all. So I'm back to simply introducing my most recent work. Here's what I was up to yesterday...

“Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing.” "

Adolph Monod

And another one...I've begun to finish some of my smaller pieces in black satin finish frames.



"Light tomorrow with today."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

And one more





Each of these little pieces is framed and finish size is 6 x 8 inches.

Printing, Painting and Preparation!

Oh,oh...how did it get to be Friday morning already? Ever since I returned to art full time, I'm astonished at the speed of time passing. So here we are on the brink of May 24, Canadian pronunciation is "May 2-4". Our first big weekend of the summer season! I woke up to sunny skies, but frost this morning. For the past few days, I've been printing cards and canvas in preparation for Art In The Park and The Beaches Arts and Crafts Show. It's been years since I've done back to back craft shows,and it's always a struggle to figure out what to take, and how much to take. The last think you want to do is run out of stock, but the car will only hold so much!

But I did paint since my last entry, so here's the latest little angel.



“Life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning”

~ ~ Virginia Woolf

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: Luminous Halo
Medium: Acrylic on Wooden Block
Size: 5 X 7 x .75 in
13 X 18 x 2 cm
Date: 2007

Well, my coffee is finished and it's time for me to get to work.

Yesterday's Painting Today! Folk Nun in Northern Landscape

“In our lives there is bound to come some pain, surely as there are storms and falling rain; just believe that the one who holds the storms will bring the sun.”

~ Unknown

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: Storms and Sun
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 20 x 16"
50 x 40 cm
Date: 2007

...Yep, I'm still working through my obsession with Jean Paul Lemieux...I don't expect it will ever really end. I've just ordered a book about his work, so you can expect to see more of his influence in my art. The first time I really became aware of his work was on a trip to Rideau Hall, the Governor General's Residence here in Ottawa. If you're in Ottawa this summer, take a stroll through the gardens and enjoy the grand old home.


If you would like any additional information regarding this painting please feel free to email me with any questions.

Contemporary Folk Art Painting Sisters

“All our souls are written in our eyes.”

~ U/K

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: My Sister's Eyes
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: Size: 40 X 30 in
100 X 76 cm
Date: 2007


Jean Paul Lemieaux was a Quebec artist whose brilliant treatment of the figure in a northern landscape continues to inspire me. This is a large painting done in a naive folk style. The two sisters stand against a darkening sky, their faces bear a striking resemblence, yet who seem to have traveled down different paths in life.

And of course, Happy Mothers Day...

A Family Symphony - Painting for Today

“ History is a symphony of echoes heard and unheard. It is a poem with events as verses. ”

~Charles Angoff~

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: A Family Symphony
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 36 x 24 in
60 x 90 cm
Date: 2007

I often turn for inspiration to the work of the late Quebec artist Jean Paul Lemieaux. Some very fine pieces are soon going up for auction...hmmm, certainly not in my price range!

I've continued the background around the staple free sides. It is signed and dated, your painting arrives ready to hang. If you would like any additional information regarding this painting please feel free to email me with any questions.


It's a bit of a mad dash right now getting ready for upcoming shows...a day spent painting and now it's so time for the couch!

Painting For Today Large Dark Folk Angel

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

~ Mother Teresa~

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: A Message of Strength
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 18 x 36 in
46 x 91 cm
Date: 2007

I've painted many angels. This angel emerges from the darkness bearing an expression of complete serenity. This is a large dramatic canvas, richly textured. The background is painted in dramatic deep greens and reds and the angel's wings are tipped with warm ochre.

As I'm posting this I'm listening to the perfect "Flower Duet" on my beloved CBC Radio 2. I live stream all day long as I paint or work away at the computer.
Which reminds me...time to order Mother's Day flowers!


*All Image Rights Reserved Wendy Ryan*

Return To Between Two Hemispheres Frida à la Klimt Painting

It's been a busy few weeks filling commission orders. I've just finished a large piece for a collector in Philadelphia. It's a piece I've done before but its been reworked in a much larger format just for her.





With my first summer show only two weeks away, I'm going to be locked away painting and printing and keeping my fingers crossed for good weather! It's my first time at
Art in The Park and I'm getting so excited!

I'll be posting sporadically over the next little while...the days might be getting longer...but they're never long enough!

New Paintings, Computer Gremlins and Spring!

Just as I was about to post a new painting last night, my computer jammed up! Yesterday was a full day, still getting organized in my new studio space, building inventory for the upcoming shows and working on commissions. I'm working on this absolutely giant piece 100 x 130 cm or for those of you (like me) who have trouble with metric, 40 x 50 inches. Once finished, it's bound for Australia.



Yesterday I built up the texture work for the cross using a flexible molding medium. This one is going to be rolled into a tube for shipping so I wanted to make sure it would have interesting texture and not crack.

I finished the painting below over the weekend so thought I'd better post it before I forget.



“In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous.”

~ Aristotle ~

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: Something Of The Marvellous
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 8 x 16 in
20 X 40 cm
Date: 2007

There is something mysterious yet revealing about a woman's face captured so...

I've continued the background around the staple free sides. It is signed and dated, your painting arrives ready to hang. If you would like any additional information regarding this painting please feel free to email me with any questions.

Painting For Today Naive Girl in Landscape

It seems to be getting harder and harder to find the time to post every day. But, I'm still busy at my easel everyday, so if you're interested, I hope you'll check my website, to see my new work. I started a "New Work" page in January and manage to post my paintings as I complete them there anyway.

So, here's a new piece newly completed and available for sale.



“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”

~ George Sanayana ~

Artist: Wendy Ryan
Title: As They Change
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 12 x 16 in
30 X 40 cm
Date: 2007


I've continued the background around the staple free sides. It is signed and dated, your painting arrives ready to hang. Back to the easel for me!