New Painting - BICYCLE AT THE BEACH

As we move into autumn, it is so much fun to paint a scene reminiscent of an idyllic summer. I painted a small watercolour study of this scene earlier and it has already sold. This time I enlarge the format to 16X20 inches on canvas using acrylic paint. The format permitted me to include the distant shoreline. With this painting I listened to some counsel that I have recently received from well known artist Peter Etril Snyder. Customarily I anticipate what I will put on a surface by sketching the scene, making a plan. Then of course it becomes a fill in the blanks exercise - kind of a glorified colouring book. I haven't wanted my paintings to look like that. Snyder calls this front loading and he encouraged me to move away from this tendency. Here I painted in the sky and sea with solid colours which I mixed to suit my warm summer light. I decided not to detail the water at all. Then I scrubbled in the grasses that would be behind the fence. I covered the water with a towel and then shook a brush wet with paint on the grasses to create the impressions of flowers. I proceeded to paint in a solid sand colour for my path to the beach. I then again covered water and grasses with a towel and did what this inferior photo does not show. I covered the sand with tiny multi coloured spots of sand and stone drops of paint that I made by tapping a wet brush above the canvas sand. I scribbled a couple of bicycles on paper, cut them out and tried them on the canvas for size to see which size would look best in the frame. Then I pencilled in the rear wheel where I wanted to position the bike and I began to paint a bicycle. It's the kind of rusty handled old bike I saw at the beaches on the north coast of France, Normandy and Guernsey. Once the bike was completed I painted in the fence posts, the dark shade colour first for the entire post and followed that with a light colour to give the impression of sunlit sides. The last thing to be painted were the shadows of posts on the uneven sand - shadows cast from the posts on the opposite side of the path. It's a simple painting but the actual piece is compelling and hangable. Colours are vibrant. The online photo does not do it justice. In one of my gallery frames, 2 1/2 inch espresso colour with a 2 1/2 inch white liner, it will be impressive. I like it.

NEW PIECES I HAVE PAINTED

For the past weeks I have been working on some paintings reflective of some of my most appreciated memories. I love the people of France engaged in varied activities as you can see. I am hoping to produce many more before I hold a Studio Open House Show during the week following Canadian Thanksgiving. I will be sure to inform you of the exact dates and times. My Ron Unruh Online Gallery contains a collection of visual art images.

Beggars are everywhere. Some are disgusting with their abrasive and manipulative approaches. Others, like this mother, who sits outside an historic church in the city of Arles, are genuinely needy people. One looks for an opportunity to help with a small gift. She was neat and clean and sat all day and evening on a small green mat as she leaned against the ancient church walls with plastic cup in hand.
"Mother Begging in Arles," 20X24 in., acrylic on canvas.

Of course French patrons love, perhaps even live for their food and their exquisite wines, and everywhere music serenades and delights. Buskers are talented musicians and these three positioned themselves in late afternoons at a corner in Lourmarin where folk sat outside two bar/cafes enjoying the warm air and the music.
"Buskers at Happy Hour in Lourmarin", 20X24 in., acrylic on canvas.

Images are the property of the artist and must not be downloaded without seeking permission from the artist.

Tour de France, Lance Armstrong and Coming Back

The Tour de France has begun once again.

Today is a rest day. Eight stages have already been completed.

We love watching the Tour de France. The telecast comes to us VERY early in the morning. Channel 49 OLN here in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Of course OLN shows it at night as well. While we lived in France for two months I picked up a 2009 Tour de France T shirt which I wear each morning as I watch a stage. It has the logo on the front and the map of the route for the entire Tour on the back. I am like a little kid.

For several years Christine and I have followed these twenty-one days of time trials, sprints and mountain climbs. Christine and I enjoy this athletic event because of the magnitude and majesty of the course, designed differently each year to give riders every riding experience. We admire the team strategies as much as individual performances. We envy the stamina and endurance.In April and May we saw many riders throughout France handling mountains as though they were small knolls.


Certainly Lance Armstrong was a draw during his robust seven Tour de France victories and NO, we never believed that he took performance enhancing drugs even though the sport has been riddled with violations in recent years. Then this year, learning that Armstrong was attempting a comeback we were thrilled but admittedly not expecting him to be more than a team support player. He is thirty-seven years old and he has had a five year hiatus from racing. How could we know that he is something so special that as we have watched these past few stages, Lance has been in second and third place overall and may yet wear the yellow jersey. What a Comeback! It’s incredible, and of course he will pee in a bottle regularly for dope monitoring.

GPS Application:

I ask myself, "Am I in need of a comeback?" “Am I ready for a comeback?” Perhaps I am. Not a return to my former career. Life has changed for me, ??? pounds too heavy, drinking too much coffee, teeth worn with age, corrective lenses and my granddaughter plays with my wisps of hair on top of my head. Life's purpose is a bit confused. Spiritual slippage is a concern. God says, “Now, therefore, (because of all that has happened) return to me with all your heart... ” (Joel 2:12)

Lance Armstrong's Official site
Livestrong Website - The Lance Armstrong Foundation
The Livestrong Blog
On Tour with Lance
YouTube video of the Tour's Itinerary