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- News from the Atelier - July 2025
News from the Atelier - July 2025
Vol 1 Issue 7
Phil Jourdeuil
August 15, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
Table of Contents
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July - Lumberjacks, Artists and Paddle boarders
Hi there, welcome to the dog days of summer part 1. So remember last month’s encounter with Emerald Ash Borer (EAB)? Well our one tree was treated, and hopefully will improve and the other, a 65+ year old tree is down.
Ash tree removal on 31 July
I painted a fair bit this month, going to several outings with PAAHRM and HalifaxUSK as well as attending Paint Peggy’s Cove 2025. In all I completed 13 paintings, all of them en plein air. I also started two works in progress, one was a sketch done at Horseshoe Island Park, the other was the garage door project. When I wasn’t painting I was removing ash saplings, gardening, Paddleboarding and preparing for another community market.
Clockwise from bottom right, “Waiting patiently for company”, “Osprey and young” Halifax urban sketchers, “Defending my territory” all at Birch cove park on July 6th and “Northwest Arm view” painted at Horseshoe Island Park on 27 July.
Clockwise from bottom left “Silent sentinel on Shubenacadie Grand Lake” and its reference picture on July 3rd at Laurie Provincial Park, PAAHRM artists at Fisherman’s Cove, Eastern Passage, NS on July 24th, “On the hard” completed painting, the sketch completed on the day and the throw down of paintings from the other artists there.
Paint Peggy’s Cove was a wonderful opportunity to paint in the company of other artists. It was amazing how so many artists in the same spot could come up with so many different takes on what they were seeing. I met a number of local artists and had the chance to chat with them and learn some new things. Interestingly enough I met Jeanne MacDonald, who was in my first art class with Heather Hawley in 2019. It was lovely to reconnect. I also met a number of the members of the Veterans Artist Collective who were from the area! The days were long: 9:30 to 4 plus the hour commute each day, but the experience was well worth it!
Paint Peggy’s Cove Day one, 11 Jul. on the Left “Sentinel Trees” the morning’s 9 × 12 watercolour effort painted hiding from the rain under the tailgate of my car and the remainder painting “Peggy’s Harbour” a 12 × 12 acrylic on canvas.
Paint Peggy’s Cove Day two, 12 Jul. Left “Lonely Island” and “Clashing Currents” two quick 6×6 acrylic on Masonite panels and centre and right “Justin Bay” an 11 × 16 Acrylic on canvas. The reference pictures show how much the weather changed while I was painting this, alternating between brilliant sunshine and fog! The middle picture shows my homemade plein air setup for acrylic painting.
Paint Peggy’s Cove vibe!
Paint Peggy’s Cove day 3, 13 Jul. Left is “Boats and Flowers” a 9×12 watercolour, centre my watercolour setup, right “Gallery Central” a 9×12 watercolour. The first had me sitting surrounded by flowers on the shore beside the road painting the tip of a collapsing dory, a boat launch and the flowers around me. The second is a painting of the Paint Peggy’s Cove pop-up gallery yurt in front of the DeGarthe Gallery, where all of our art was displayed for the weekend.
Trying out the Christmas paddle board on lake Banook!
Exhibitions
Paint Peggy’s Cove Pop-up gallery yurt. In the end I had 8 paintings on display. One I brought and 7 painted on site. There were no sales, but I had an amazing time.
In August I am painting for Palettes and Pigments from 10 - 16 August and participating in the Palettes and Pigments Art Show and Sale from 17 - 23 Aug. I hope you drop by!
Major Works
I finally started the garage door project at the end of July! I am using a mix of spray paint and outdoor acrylic to render this Lake Banook sunset scene. This is a really interesting piece to do. On the one hand the sky is loose, but on the other the shoreline has some interesting detail to capture. More to follow as this project continues. One thing for sure it clearly says, an artist lives here!
Progress shots of the Banook sunset garage door project July 25, 26 and 28.
Some of the shoreline detail
Growing in 2025
In July I continued to paint and build my skills as well as organize to sell my art, at present in person, but the work I did also is preparatory to having an online store. In particular, I entered all of the paintings I have for sale into Square, which will allow me to open an online storefront provided by the app. Before I do that however I need to figure out how to share that information online and build a better presence.
See you in August!
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