Commonwealth Day 2020

True North

UK Flag

Although it isn't a national holiday in Canada, I think it is important to note that there is such a thing as Commonwealth Day. After Queen Victorias death in 1901, Empire Day was celebrated  on her birthday, 24th May to remind people around the Empire that they had a common bond. Around this time 100 years ago, Empire Day was quite a celebration, but it became unfashionable.

The name Empire Day, was changed to Commonwealth Day in 1958 and in 1973 the timing was changed to the second Monday in March. In England Commonwealth Day is marked by Queen Elizabeth II attending a service at Westminster Abbey and giving a speech which is broadcast around the world.

In Canada, from dawn to dusk, the Royal Union Flag or Union Jack, is flown alongside the Canada Flag on government buildings. The paintings above are my tribute to our Commonwealth and are available in my shop at Daily Paintworks.

Thankfully, in Canada, we have retained the original date as a separate holiday called Victoria Day and it usually marks the beginning of summer activities and in particular, planting our garden annuals. Queen Victoria would have loved that.

CANADA DAY - YAY! - BUY A FLAG - COMMISSION A FLAG

CANADA

USA - SOLD

UK

Flags are a great deal of fun to paint. If you would like a patriotic painting of a flag that is special to you, I would be happy to take a commission. Both Canada and UK can be purchased via Daily Paintworks. If you're looking for USA I would be happy to take a commission in any size. 

Commissions start at $25

BEACH WONDER ACEO, TOPIARY ROSES OSWOA and HOME AND NATIVE LAND Canadian Flag

BEACH WONDER
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
2.5" x 3.5"
On Auction

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. You may also view ALL my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.

This looks like a plain and simple painting of a beach scene, but it was not so simple to paint. The scene is one of my multi layered paintings with the final layers including iridescent pearl, iridescent bronze and interference gold to create the effect of sunlight on the waves. Here I was working on making a simple scene awesome and I think I achieved a great result. One day when I have a permanent home I will paint this for my bedroom in a very large size with a great big set of brushes.

I've read many Artist's advice on how to paint water and a very well known artist whose name escapes me, wrote that wave strokes must connect to make it look realistic. Well, when I was in Paris and had a opportunity to study Monet's work close up, I realized the previously mentioned expert was obviously wrong, however, I do admit it is very difficult to pull off. The first layers of the water were painted using Claude Monet's style of rapid dashes to denote waves. The final layer of glints and glistens on the water were added using the same effect and were even more challenging to achieve while still making the scene look natural.

My signature on the left here shows up more than in the actual painting because it is created in interference gold which is only visible from certain angles.

For some reason my blog has become out of sync with the start of my Daily Paintworks auctions, so today you have the pleasure of two new works from my studio. Here is the second.

TOPIARY ROSES
OSWOA Postcard
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
6" x 4"
On Auction

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me. You may also view ALL my available ACEO in my Facebook Gallery here.


And finally, as CANADA DAY is upon us I´m passing on this great photo from Loblaws via Artist Barbara Muir´s blog. 

And below is one of my patriotic flag paintings. 


HOME AND NATIVE LAND
ORIGINAL ACEO BY SEA DEAN
8" x 6" Canvas Panel


 
 









Cat # 13157  Beach Wonder    
Cat # 13158 Topiary Roses  
Cat # 12065 Home and Native Land

WELCOME VIEWERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD and FLAG WIDGET

What an amazing world we live in, although I had written articles, emails, newsletters, books and blogs on other sites, I didn't start blogging here until the beginning of 2013. I have now posted over 100 blogs and had over 2,000 page views.

"Paint a Masterpiece" Blog has been viewed by people in USA, Germany, France, UK, Canada, Russia, Italy, Costa Rica, Australia, Greece, Turkey, South Korea, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Palestinian Territories, Spain, Vietnam, Hong Kong and of course China. Partly due to this blog, my paintings now grace collections in USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Austria, and France and I have several regular patrons.

To help me track my audience I have added a wonderful widget to my blog, that monitors who is visiting and shows their flag. Isn't that great! If you scroll down my blog to the very bottom of the right hand side, you can see it grow. Unfortunately it is not retroactive but I will have fun every day looking at the new flags and taking imaginary trips. If you would like to add the widget to your site, click here "Flags of the World" counter widget


I have a few flag paintings available but if you would like to commission me to paint a flag that is special to you, I'm happy to do so. They make a great gift.

LONDON 2012
HOME AND NATIVE LAND
TEAM USA
ORIGINAL ART
8" x 6" CANVAS PANEL
To view my Gallery please visit Daily Paintworks. 

This painting is SOLD but I'm happy to take a commission for a similar work. Contact me to inquire about prints and Art cards.

Cat # 12061 London 2012  - UK
Cat # 12065 Home and Native Land - Canada
Cat # 12064 Team USA (Sold to aid Hurricane Sandy Relief) - USA