Jim Toth Eclectic Prairie Artist

This is me on January 3, 2018 outside painting in our Wascana Park

Friday January 5, 2018 was an exceptional day in that it was so clear and so warm. After having lunch with Cheryl, she went off to her church and I started mewing about the house agitated. Deep down inside feelings of a strong need to be outdoors doing what I love best were stirring.I realized that nature was calling and I needed to be out doors. I hurriedly gathered my panels, my carrier box, my Strada easel and tripod, oils and solvent, brushes and rags, threw on my coat, got my shades and a cap, jumped into the car and hustled off to Wascana Park. The sight I went to was one I had passed many times driving our granddaughter from her school to our house where she would be with Grandma until her father came and picked her up.It was on the north side of Wascana Lake obliquely across from our performing concert hall. Having lived in Regina all my life, I knew this area very well. As a child I would come here to fish in the lake in the hopes of snaring a Jack fish. At one time my location was an old farm dirt road running along the north side of the lake and on the south side of a huge grain field. The banks were lined with many old scrawly willows and from the main road to the west was quite obscured. So much so that at night, many cars would travel to this "idyllic "spot and stay for a while. We kids knew it as Lover's Lane.And here some 75 years later I am camped out alone painting. But I was never alone for I had the company of many tweeting birds, an odd Nuthatch, a woodpecker knocking himself silly on a tree over there and many human companions - some alone out for the day, some as couples, with and without children, some as friends and many stopping to chat and watch as I grabbed the site. As I did not leave home until after 2:00, after set up etc, I did not have much timer in which to dally so i set about my work and enjoyed the experience. The one regret I had was not having our purebred Border Collie - Baxter- with me. But he was only a n 18 month old pup and full of energy and inquisitiveness. I knew I had not yet trained him to where I could have him with me and paint. But I know I will be out several more times before winter leaves Regina and Baxter will join me.Here is my two hour painting - needs a little refinement in the art room at home but not too sad. Enjoy the rest of the site and do drop a comment. Cheers, Jim

Jim Toth

This is me sketching in Amsterdam

"I have spent all my life on the prairies of Saskatchewan. I suspect the ability to see miles and not feel enclosed gives rise to the breadth of my thinking and beliefs which in turn impacts my art."

- Jim Toth

My Latest Eclectic Art

" This is what I'm doing now. I am very eclectic as you can see. I have lead worship in a three point parish for close to 25 years now so I have an established core of values."

"Fragrantly Beautiful"
oil on canvas, 18 x 24
Framed $625.00

"Petals the Clown"
oil on board, 20 x 16
unframed $450.00

" Before the Frost "
oil on linen, 18 x 24
unframed $500.00

"Where the Qualicum River
meets the Salish Sea"
Oil on Canvas 12 x 16
Framed $400.00

"Slippery When Cold"
Oil on canvas 16 x 20
Framed $450.00

"Lumsden River"
Oil on board 10 x 12
Unframed $200.00

Eclectic Art For Sale

Landscapes
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Florals
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Plein Air
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Eclectica
Click on an image to view a large photo with details about that painting. For more information or to purchase a particular painting, contact the artist directly.

I have spent all my life on the prairies of Saskatchewan. I suspect the ability to see miles and not feel enclosed gives rise to the breadth of my thinking and beliefs which in turn impacts my art.
In Regina, I belong to an art group which holds three shows and sales in a given year. .At the last show one of the members came up to me after looking at one of my paintings and said to me,"Well, that's different from your style."I was somewhat taken aback as I never think of my self as having a style. It is true that I can walk you through a show and point out whose paintings are whose by their style but I am sure I do not have a style. I am style unfolding, still reaching out so that my art encompasses who I am.
I am very eclectic. I have lead worship in a three point parish for close to 25 years now so I have an established core of values. My only daughter is an ordained Lutheran pastor and my wife is an Anglican priest.
I belong to several paint groups and draw both inspiration and help from these. It is enlightening to see how artists across the globe respond to the same images and how they render such. Certainly the beliefs and values one has impacts greatly. Somehow these values I believe enter into my art and that shows up in the broad variety of subjects from which I paint.. You will see this as you go through my gallery.
I also render work in four media, oils, acrylics, watercolours and pastels. I believe this breadth allows me to capture what I feel about the subject I am rendering. Oh yes, I am not only strongly influenced by my feelings, but I am also a romantic idealist. So all of these factor into what it is I am painting and what medium I am using to render that topic.
For the last few years I have received great joy in outdoor painting commonly known as 'plein air painting.' I am sure it is a combination of factors in plein air painting that attracts me: the clear or clouded dappled sky, the sun, or lack of, the coming storm, the fresh air, the scenery, the sounds, the smells and the unbridled expanse. I take our border collie Jake, load up the trunk of my car, get some food and water and off we go. I often task myself to complete an 8 x 10 painting in 2 to 3 hours. This forces me to look for the essentials and cut out the riff raff. I am also forced to look around me and determine which direction would make the best painting, what will be my focal point, how will I balance my darks and lights and is there a story to tell. When you get to my gallery click on the Plein air in the drop down menu and you will see a broad range of my plein air paintings
The topic of my painting will determine what medium I will use in rendering the painting. If the topic has vibrance, is brilliant and sort of in your face or is strong in some feature, I will likely paint in acrylics or oils.
I will likely use oils in all of my plein air paintings. This is because of an experience I had painting in the Tetons' National Park with well known western artist Jim Wilcox.. I was one of a group of 15 and the only Canadian. I was also the only artist painting in acrylics. Aside from the area being rich in scenery, the week I was there it was also hot in heat. and wind. Now if you know anything about acrylics you know they dry fast. So there I am out at String Lake with my colleagues, easel in place and ready to go at it. Out on my palette goes my limited choice of colours, and after watching Jim start his project, I turn to my canvas to start mine. When I go to paint in my outline, I notice that the paints are already starting to skim over. I mix a little water with my burnt sienna and start to draw my scene. Then it is time to rough in my darks and lights. I go to mix my darks and my brush is misshapen from the drying acrylic. I go to mix my colours and find they are drying in the sun and the wind. I try to paint on my canvas and by the time I have succeeded in mixing my colours I place my brush on the canvas and it sticks there. What a mess. I named my painting "Cucu one." Ever since that experience i only paint with oils outside and I love it.
Florals I often render in watercolours because I like the softness of waters. And yet you will see some bold florals done in acrylics also
.My scenery paintings will find me working in either oils or acrylics. I like the openess of oils and the ability to blend well but then sometimes I like the quick dry of the acrylics.
With the exception of plein air painting, I have almost no fixed rule as to what medium I use for a subject. I allow the subject to talk to me, and how I feel about the conversation will determine my medium. Most of the time I am correct in my choice. To a non painter or to one who is not tuned to their senses, this will not make sense. I feel very much about what I paint, and my feelings developed from a life rich with travel and experience I believe allows me to put something of myself in my paintings . I hope you will see this as you go through my gallery.

Thanks for visiting,

My Mentors:

Jack Reid, Donna Kreikle, Elaine Seis , Arlie Hoffman, John Molnar , Linda Kemp, Bryan Atyeo, Allan Lonechild, Carl Schlademan, Jim Wilcox, Huang Zhong Yang, Grant Fuller, Jerry Markham, Mitch Albala, , Richard Robinson of New Zealand, Matt Smith, Marc Hanson, Scott Christensen, Johannes Vloothuis, and Andy Williams.
I have been blessed with a great cadre of instructors, each imparting to me a subtlety that helped me into being the painter I am. I look forward to more growth.

DROP JIM A LINE

Let me know what you'd like me to paint next for you.

email

papat@accesscomm.ca

phone

306.581.5923