October In Review - Art By Mattias

One of the fun aspects of the various seasons is that each month of the year tends to influence the story my paintings tell in different ways.

During the summer months, my paintings tend to feature summer scenes, flowers and the beauty of the Alaskan summer. As fall comes around and the leaves turn, there’s an opportunity to capture the yellow, oranges and reds that show up both on our trees and in the sky during sunrise and sunset. Winter, in particular, is a favorite and it’s not just because of the cold, but because it’s an opportunity to explore the contrast between the cozy inside and the cold outside. Each season is unique and, as a result, the paintings from each season tend to be different.

With this inaugural “month in review” post, I’d like start exploring (and sharing) these stories a bit more, starting with October. We’ll continue with November, December and beyond. For me, it’s a way to reflect on the paintings that have come to life during this period (or didn’t), for you I hope it’s a bit of a more intimate look at my paintings.

With that said, let’s jump right in! What have I been up to?

Paintings

First of all, I spent most of October working on a special project I really can’t reveal quite yet. It’s the most challenging painting I’ve done to date and it also took the longest to complete. I worked on it pretty much all month. But, I wrapped it up just last week. It’s one of those paintings that was as much experimentation and learning as it was just trying to bring an image to life and the lessons learned will be valuable if I do another one like it.

Those of you following me on Facebook and other social media may recall a question I asked about flowers a few weeks ago. I’ve painted two paintings featuring Lupine (“Lupine Blossoms”) and Fireweed (“Fireweed In Bloom”) but I felt a third one is needed, maybe more. Scrolling through my photos, I had a hard time deciding what that third flower should be, so I decided to pose the question to all of you. I received some great suggestions. All that remains now is to decide which one to paint, if not all! Here are the suggestions collected so far. Note that these are flowers found in Alaska.

Sitka Rose
Siberian Aster/Arctic Daisy
Moss Heather
Chocolate Lily
Centaura
Forget-Me-Nots

I think I’ll end up doing several of these, I just haven’t decided which I’ll do first yet, and when. But regardless, to all of those that provided suggestions, thank you, it is much appreciated. Sometimes a little help is all that is needed to kickstart that inspiration.

Christmas Ornaments

During breaks from my larger October project, I was able to spend some time painting a few Christmas ornaments as well as planning a few new ones.

First, the Cleveland Guardians first post-season appearance since 2016 inspired me to create a distinctly Cleveland-themed ornament. It’s very simple, just the red C on a dark blue background. But, I think it captures the signature letter C of the team.

For those Cleveland fans out there, I’ll be creating a limited set for my Etsy store in the next week or so.

I also painted a few more of the Palmer Water Tower ornament, partially for a custom order, partially to have a couple more on hand.

Beyond that one, I still have a few of the ornaments I painted last year. All of these are available on Etsy.

What’s Next?

November is already a week old. I plan on working through a few ideas for a few new ornaments in this next week or so. I’ll be using a new gouache set I received to sketch these out before actually painting them on the ornaments themselves. We’ll see how it turns out.

I’ve also started my next painting project, this time on black paper. It’s a painting inspired by an absolutely stunning sunset a few weeks ago that just had to be painted. Sunsets can be challenging, but so far, it’s looking ok. I’ll share more about the process on this one later.

Events

During the month of November, my painting “Beauty In The Buff” will be on display at Blaine’s Art in Anchorage. They put out a call for watercolor paintings for November, so my painting will be one in an ocean of other talented artists. If you’re local and have a chance to stop by to check it out, please do. Read more about the event and see the art of the other artists below.

Visit Blaine’s Art