JEAN KIEGERL - ARTIST
  • Home
  • Jean's Art Journal
  • Portfolio
  • Events and Workshops
  • About

A Few Words from Jean
​(i.e., an artist's journal)

Sneaking back into my studio...

31/1/2026

0 Comments

 
Starting small yesterday, just a little tweaking on the Nicola Lake midground before I finish the foreground trees. I feel like some cows might wander in and need a little fencing to keep them in the picture. Pieces of Highway 5A and the Monck Park access should be showing up too. A hint of Quilchena Hotel on the far side of the lake, some subtle texturing of the fields.. etc. I like the duller colour of the irrigated field. Next I can detail the trees when the midground is dry.
Picture
0 Comments

Feeling like a beginner today :(

29/1/2026

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Progress, but hard-won today.  So much work for so little difference: paint on, wipe off, repeat. I seem to be learning the Karate Kid way this week. I am hoping these will look more like the image in my mind when I wake up tomorrow.  As usual, they look better in the photos than in real life.

Actually, I am just impatient to move on to the beautiful sunflower that is next on my list to do for the show in April. I can get that started tomorrow while I let these two dry enough to work on again. The mountain cliff needs some hard-edged dark shadows and the green ridge behind it needs some trees and snow banks. The lake painting just needs the foreground trees tuned up. Easy-peasy, right?
0 Comments

Maybe progress, or maybe just painting

24/1/2026

0 Comments

 
I can't decide if I have actually finished this or if I am just painting something darker, lighter, darker, lighter. ... 
It does not look "right" or "finished" to me yet. 

Sometimes when I get to this point, I let it sit for a month or two. Then I look at it and it has self-corrected and a keeper  - or it is a burn-it and move on.

Concerns:
- that too-bright-green ridge in the middle ground is also too high and competes with the cliff;
- foreground needs some red tones;
- avalanch rockfall on the right mid-ground should be removed to simplify image.

There - problems solved!   Tomorrow.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

When more is not betterĀ  :(

18/1/2026

0 Comments

 
 (I kept painting on the "Kwoiek Peak" but it is not matching my mental image of how I want the picture to look. What is happening?
- No value sketch first and "my mental notes are not worth the paper they are not written on."
- 
forgetting to look at the photo reference often as I work
- losing the strong lights and darks by over-blending

Moving on (when it is dry enough):
- thin bluish-white veil over the background mountains and sky to push them back.
- shadow glaze over most of the cliff
- detail the foreground vegetation and highlights.

0 Comments

Art Show Progress Report

18/1/2026

0 Comments

 
Show Title - __________________
Show Location - Nicola Valley Arts Gallery, 2051 Voght St, Merritt BC
Show Reception - April 10, 2026
Show Curator - Shannon Dunn
Show Sponsors - 
NVCAC Sponsors - BC Arts Council, City of Merritt 
Artist's Support - Yvonne Reddick, Creative Company, NVCAC, ...


Paintings ready to show: Online Gallery
Paintings left to finish: 
  • Butterfly Meadow
  • Nicola Vally from Overpass
  • Kwoiek Mountain
  • Nicola Lake (commission)
Paintings still to start:
  • Hello Morning (sunflower)
  • Kentucky Blues
To-Do List - endless!
  • varnishing
  • framing
  • wiring for hanging
  • other preparation for show time
0 Comments

Inspiration plus focus

12/1/2026

0 Comments

 
All this and it is still early afternoon!  Time to "step away from the picture" and go for a walk.

Colours: Ultramarine Blue Light, Prussian Blue, Transparent Red Oxide, Atrament Black, Titanium White.
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Progress at last!

11/1/2026

0 Comments

 
A few days' break to catch up with life, and now back in the studio! Yesterday:
- I corrected the butterflies in the meadow, and will do the last details when it dries.
- I painted a thin veil over the distant hills in the Nicola Lake painting and brightened the mid-ground. Today I will touch up the foreground trees and maybe some animals will wander into sight.
- I sketched a vertical mountain scene on a 12x36" canvas that was prepped with oil primer. It is a photo I took years ago (pre-digital) while hiking in the Nahatlach Valley across the Fraser River.
I am looking forward to even more creative work today :)
Picture
0 Comments

Layer by layer

3/1/2026

0 Comments

 
Lighting problem fixed - maybe. Eight bulbs in the long ceiling fixture now have alternating bluish and yellowish LED bulbs. The result is a more neutral colour of light.

Today I continued to paint down the Nicola Lake canvas middle to bottom today. My paint colours are titanium white, mars black, sap green, naples yellow light, naples yellow dark, nickle quinachrodone gold, ultramarine blue light. The medium is Liquin Original. I am satisfied with it for now, but looking forward to adding details - maybe cows and definitely deer.
​
I still have the Butterfly Meadow (formerly Monarch Migration) to detail and the Nicola Valley from Millcreek Overpass grisaille to glaze. A 12x12" canvas is ready for a sunflower. Then I can tackle the 24x36" canvas that has a wonderful big frame - as soon as I think of an image for it. So many choices!

Picture
0 Comments

    Archives

    February 2026
    January 2026
    December 2025
    November 2025
    October 2025
    September 2025
    August 2025
    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    February 2024
    December 2021
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Jean's Art Journal
  • Portfolio
  • Events and Workshops
  • About