Flowers talk

I did some more on this yesterday....but I have to confess to having one of those afternoons where I don't really know where I am going. I wanted to get more depth into it and as is often the case with acrylic, the whites looked faded once dried. So after fiddling with the petal colours I put in some rough highlights. My aim is to get the sense that the central flower is set back from the rest which are crowding in front of it round its edges in some confusion. A work in progress....sigh.

Purple haze

75 x 100 cm on box canvas, acrylic and Graham I owe you a whole tub of white and a few brushes...

I haven't painted in acrylic for a while, the oils have been taking precedence. I'd forgotton what fun it is to paint B I G.

Finished work: "Sideways"

It has been a while but I am finally ready to step back from this canvas. I always find the last stages of a painting a bit fraught....when to stop fiddling and tweaking.

As a painting nears completion, I sometimes wonder when to stop... the best clue for me is when I start painting the next one in my head. (Kathryn Mullaney)

Snapshot from the studio

After a break I have decided to go back to bold florals. The Autumn colours are particularly vibrant this year and have prompted the colours behind the latest canvas. This one is big: 30 x 24" and destined for the Arts Group exhibition next week (if I can finish it that is). Today I started it and this is just getting some paint down to get the feel and atmosphere. Much more to do yet.

More Mona Lucy

Her eyes are following me round the studio today! Blocked in the hands and glazed the face again so she is less greenish. ....still a work in progress but an interesting project nevertheless, trying to get an 'old' oil paint feel with acrylic.

Alice dressing up

Did some more work on Alice ( as I have decided to call her). A way to go yet but I am pleased with the colours and contrast, This painting is destined for an exhibition in Oxford at the end of this month.

Something new

Finished this one today. The canvas used is quite bijou in being only 8 inches square. Its been an experiment in trying to employ a different viewpoint in terms of both composition and lighting. And for once, no red!! I'm quite pleased with this, and I've already started on a much bigger bolder version. I am in love with the greens.....

Stargazers

Here is the finished article. Painted on canvas paper and about A4 in size. What started out like a great idea to paint on this kind of paper has turned into something of a nightmare as the paper is so textured it took ages to get paint on. If you zoom in on the bigger picture you can see the texture of the linen and although arduous, I am pleased with the final result.

New groove and no boundaries

What with one thing and another, I haven't spent any proper time in the studio over the past month. Today I returned to a new idea I have been brewing for a while. Following on from the 'Man Made' composition for the RA Summer Exhibition, I thought I would continue the style with a portrait using bright colours rather than monochrome.
This is the result of this morning's efforts. A canvas 16 x 16 inches square.
All I have done is cover the canvas in paint to give me a base to work from. My idea is to have a girl embracing herself yet staring intently outward. A way to go yet, but I am pleased with some of the effects and can almost see where this one is going.

Getting paint down like this lets you see where you need to make changes. Much easier that trying to paint each little part exactly as you go along. It also allows for much free-er brush strokes and carte blanch (or in my case palette blanche) where colour is concerned.

Wherever possible, I prefer not to draw out my paintings beforehand. And this is an example. Drawing with paint from the inside out is something I learned a while back and, for me at least, allows much more freedom of expression than trying to 'paint within the lines'.

Bringing the outside inside

I have a fair few projects underway at the moment. The one with the most iminent deadline is the submission of work for the new Oxford Cancer Centre.
The brief was 'to bring the outside inside' and to be sympathetic to the environment in which they are to be displayed.
I started off with an idea with tulips......looking from an unusal angle...but after a week of staring at the canvas trying to figure out what was wrong.....

I realised I was going into self-sabotage mode (which I always do when I can't 'connect' with the painting). Something, a seed of an idea was brewing in the back of my mind.


I felt I wanted this painting to 'say' something rather than just be a pretty flower picture. So here's the idea.
A grassy slope bathed in sunshine with the shadows of figures with hands clasped in friendship.
This is a work in progress, but I have some studio time tomorrow and I hope to be able to show you the finished piece. Till then........

Painting a day (2)

Willow. 15 x 15 cm painting, mounted (25 cm x 25 cm) and ready to frame. £40 SOLD