New Years Eve

This is a picture of my friend Rita, enjoying Christmas, I love her to bits bless her!!!!
She is coming to dinner on tuesday--her favorite----Roast Goose and all the trimmings!!


Well Its been lovely to have a complete break from painting and classes. I have been able to just enjoy everything to do with Christmas!!!

I have had an email from USA from someone who wants a painting like the commission I have done--this time with a sausage dog in the painting!!
Will be working on that a bit later on, I have several other things pressing in the new year first.Iwill put details of them later on, as they develop!

I have to start getting all the dates for classes, talks and demos, and craft fairs sent to my webmaster soon to update my website.

Before then I have to get the New Years Eve party food sorted-- we are having :::
Fresh Crab Cakes with Mango , Avacado and Tomato Salsa to start
Lobster Thermador , salad and new potatoes for main course
and the grand finale::: Dianes Self -Sauceing Chocolate Pudding with Grande Marnier Cream.

we will forget about the chrolestoral and calories for now!! You have to break loose now and again!!!
As My Bill says, life wouldnt be worth living if you couldnt have a little bit of what you fancy now and again!!!!!!! Food Included!!!!!!

We have tryed all the food before-hand and know it all works great- cant wait for tomorrow night!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Christmas Night

These photos were taken at 11pm on Christmas night----the kids had a face pulling competition!!!!

Natalie had earlier entertained us all by imitating her mum and then the charactors in Little Britain--we were all creased at her!!! Best laugh we have had for a long time!!!

Brians New Painting

This is Brians latest painting that he has produced at home.
What a great painting---I love the mountains in the background, he really has them off to a fine art!!!
He has done the water and trees beautifuly too--Well Done Brian!

Im sure that Brian will just go from strength to strength with his painting, he is achieving such a lot from only 2 classes with me.
I look forward to seeing more of his work in future.

Nearly Here!

Well you can see what I have spent the last 2 hours doing!Marzipaning and icing the small christmas cakes!
But I am so pleased with them, there is also a large cake that is not on the picture that has been marzipaned and iced tonight!
Bills cake has to be tasted to be belived, but do not drive after a slice--there is loads of brandy in there!. All the fruit is soaked in brandy for 2 days before baking and then he feeds the cake with brandy afterwards--so it is very alcoholic!!Hic Hic Hic!!!!!!!!
Well I know I have some regular viewers to my blog, I wish you all you wish yourself-- none of us know what the future holds but lets hope its all good!!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY ,HEALTHY NEW YEAR from Diane and BillXXX

A Sad Time Of Year

I have spent the afternoon making the wreath for my dear dads grave,it brings it all home at christmas time--how much we miss the people that are no longer here to share it with us.

However Im sure my dad would aprove of his christmas wreath--its been recylcled for the 2nd Christmas!.
Dad would have gone spare at the cost of the flowers at his funeral--he would have much rathered the money went to the cats or dogs home!!
So I did the next best thing and saved the bases the flowers were in and I use them for Christmas and birthdays. I use the leaves and berries from my best friends garden. My dad thought the world of marion so that makes the wreath even more personal.
My dad always loved christmas and we shall miss him just as much this year as we did last year.

Sparky Update

At last Sparky has had the all clear from the vet--they took the last dozen staples out this morning and said he does not need any more injections!!!!!!
It is looking good, but he is still not allowed out yet , a few more weeks just to make sure it is really knitted together.So im sure he will be relived!

Christmas Paintings

I had a busy day yesterday painting the pictures that I will be giving Bills 3 boys and my 2 children. I always do them on a theme each year, and this year as you can see it is a moonlit night scene.They are all slightly different to each other. They have been painted with acrylic paint so they are dry enough today to varnish and pack tomorrow for Christmas.
The varnishing is Bills job, he makes a better job of it than I do!!!

New Site to see my work on

I have spent the past week uploading pictures of my paintings onto a new website, I have a lot of my work on a website called Artists Web , you can find me www.dianetheartist.com
. I am still updating the site with my work---only another 30 or so to put on! Its a good site, fairly new I think, but quite easy to use--even for a computer illiterate like me!!
I have several galleries on there, the one I like updating the best is the sold one!!!!!
I have another one to add to that one tonight if I get time!!!.


Up date on Sparky-- he is a lot better,still not out of the woods quite yet but his leg is looking better than it has for the past 4 weeks.The staples that are still in look like they are holding it together ok.
He is seen here with Paddy the parrot who is ready to pounce on him--He is the most evil little bird--he flies at poor Sparky with claws out like a bird of prey--you would never reconise him as the same little terrified bird that we rescued 2 years ago, scared stiff of cats-he lived in a house with 4 cats and 2 dogs, all of which terrorised him.
When he realised that Sparky left him alone, he turned on him, we came home once and thought we had been burgled--then realised that Paddy had attacked the cat and wrecked the living room! So now we cant live them alone ,Paddy is confined to his(large) cage for the time being!

Christmas

Well we have got the tree up and the lights are up outside, so slowly but surely The Christmas Spirit is happening in the Jennings household!
I spent 6 hours wrapping up Christmas pressies yesterday and my back is still aching from bending over the wrapping paper and gifts!!

The biggest wrapping job is happening tonight. The commission Ive been working on has finaly dried enough to wrap and send to its new owner.
Its a major job to make sure no damage is done in transit,first a layer of greaseproof paper is placed on the surface of the painting, then layers of bubble wrap is used and then several layers of strong carboard is placed over the top of everything else.Loads of parcel tape is put around it and hopefully it will arive at its new home on Wednesday.It is always a nerve wracking 24 jhours waiting to hear that the painting has arrived ok but so far, up to now they always have . They are always insured and trackable so maybe I shouldnt worry so much!!!!
I cant wait to see how it looks in situ in Oxford, Im sure its owner will email me a picture of it on the wall.

Jans Painting

Ive had a lovely morning. I had a one to one lesson with Jan.Her daughter in law bought her one of my gift vouchers as a present for her 6oth birthday.
She wanted to do the Summer Day painting, and she made a lovely job of it!
She is going to have another go at home, so I will look forward to seeing the results!

Bit Busy at the Moment!

Im so busy at the moment!
I have had a lot of my work on a site for the past 18 months. It was a great site to begin with, then they started rejecting all my photos for various reasons, out of focus, light coming from right etc etc.
It was not just me it was 40 or 50 other artists as well, we all meet up each day on a forum and some of them have been selling paintings for years , nobody could understand it. We have all left slowly but surely,as our membership runs out!!
It is no good putting bad photos on a website to sell, because if the painting does not look like the photo you will get it returned.
So none of what they were telling us made sense. I was selling quite frequently and some of the other artists were selling loads through the site!

I had painted a seascape in shades of blue in a out of focus way because that was what I wanted it to look like, they rejected it because it was out of focus,I told them it was how I intended it to look, they didnt belive me.You can see for yourself what I mean,the painting is published here.
I spent more time taking photos and loading them than I did painting, so I am finishing the contract with them on Friday and I am very busy getting everything loaded on to another site at the moment.
As you
can imagine it is time consuming with over 100 paintings to put on there.!!! So If I dont update my blog everyday as normal you will know why!!!

Sparky's update

Sparky had another operation last Friday because the skin had died again where his stitches were.
To save taking him back each day for antibiotics they gave us the injections to do daily, not a nice job!!
I hold him while Bill injects him.!!
All went well until today when we noticed that at least 6 of the staples that they used were missing and the wound was gaping slightly, a quick trip to the vets this morning, thanks to my good friend Phil,because I was else where.
He has to go back again on Friday, maybe to have another op.

The Craft Fair

Well the weather didnt turn out quite as bad as forcast, there was a little rain but no wind as they said there would be, so that was a blessing !
As you can see we had the tinsel out accross the front of one of the stalls, just to get into the christmas spirit!
Everyone was in a festive mood,christmas music was playing and the atmosphere was lovely!
As you can see from the photos I had a good display of paintings on show.
The abstracts are very popular at the moment among the younger generation.
I used to look at abstracts and think "anyone could do that" but to be honest they are not as easy as you would think, to get a good balanced abstract is quite hard to do.
Its not just a matter of throwing paint at the canvas, you have to see the finished painting in your mind to a certain extent.
The hexangle canvas are another popular line that I do, just right for abstract and the modern house!

My Friend

I am so proud of my great friend Trine( on the right of the picture) who lives in Norway.
We met earlier this year when she stayed with us as a guest and did some painting with me.
We had a wicked time of it, we found we had so much in common it was really great.We stayed up many nights til 4 in the morning putting the world to rights!
We have been in constant contact via email since.
Trine has recently decided to pack up smoking, and she has found it quite hard--which it is, me and Bill packed it up nearly 4 years ago and I really feel for her!
However I am sure she will do it, she is a very strong person, so Trine keep up the good work girl!!!

This Weekend

I thought you might like to see my en-suite door that I painted just after I started painting 4 years ago.
As you can see it is one of my favorite subjects- a waterfall.
It didnt take too long to do and it was fun to work on something so big.
I have also painted the other side with a different scene, but its difficult to get a good photo of that as its a bit too small in there!!

The doors with the fish on are my airing cuboard doors, I have create a lovely underwater scene and added the koi carp.You cannot see the water effect very clearly but close up it is beautiful and gets a lot of comments.

We are going to do our last craft fair tomorrow, it should be quite busy now its so near Christmas.I have had to print some more gift vouchers off as they have been selling well lately.So I have a good stock to take with me tomorrow.

As usual I will be painting whilst there, and Bill will be demonstrating the encaustic art. He has got very good at that and sold his first encaustic painting about a month ago at a WI, so he was chuffed to bits.

Bill is the other half of the Dream Team, he does all the donkey work and I take all the credit!!!He has been busy lately getting canvas's and everything ready for next years classes, Bill paints the canvas with black acrylic paint, strings them , sorts the brushes into their boxes,makes sure all the tiny jars of thinners are clean and a host of other things.

I couldnt do it without him. He is much more organised than I am, I would rather spend my time painting and find my mind is always on what sort of painting I am going to next!

THANKS BILL !!!!

Sparky update

Well poor Sparky has had another op today. The skin flap that was ripped when he was attacked by a dog?3 weeks ago has had a very poor blood supply to it. Despite being taken to vets every other day for anti biotic jab this week it has failed to knit together.
He is feeling very sorry for himself at the moment, he has been cut open again, all the dead tissue cut away and stapeled up this time instead of stitches.
Poor thing has been poorly for the last 3 weeks. The vet has given us the job of giving him his anti-biotic injections every day-- not something Im looking forward to, but less stressful than being taken to vets every day.

Past few Days!

Well its been hectic with one thing and another, the latest sold painting was sent off today by special delivery, so will be with new owner for christmas!

This is the sight that greeted me the other day when I got back from shopping, Bill was feeding the christmas cakes that he made a few weeks ago with some more brandy.
They will be beautiful , the whole house had a christmasy smell, there was some fruit left over so he has put that to soak in some brandy today ready to make another one!

Dont know what we are going to do with them all Im sure! We usualy cut the big square ones into 4 and ice them for friends, but that still leaves us with the big round one! we are supposed to going on diets after xmas--looks like we will need to !!!!

Sparky has been going to vets every other day for jabs, tomorrow they will check if he needs another op to remove dead skin, Boy am I glad hes insured, dont know what we would have done otherwise!

Work in Progress update

Well I have just about finished the commission , its not been easy,but really enjoyed it.I have finaly got the dogs as I wanted--caracatures of the real things.

Work in progress

I have been working on a commission for the past 3 weeks.It has been an interesting project to say the least.
When you start these things you have to try and get onto the same wave-length as the person who asks you to paint a picture for them.

Its much harder than you would imagine, a calm sky with a full moon can take many forms as can a mirror- like sea--both of which I was asked for.
Then comes the hard part--a jetty with with his 3 dogs on, one a wolf dog howling at the moon and the other 2 dogs, a jack russell and a labrador, incorporated into the painting too !!!

. Well I did the jetty but wasnt happy with it, I emailed the customer with each stage as I did it and adjusted it to suit his wishes and he agreed, the jetty didnt look quite right, so I scraped it off and put in a beach instead with some gentle ripples instead.

Now the part I was dreading--the dogs. Now I was sent some snaps via email to give me some idea of what the dogs looked like--handsome they are, but difficult to paint!.

I have been working on some drawings the past few days, to get them in propotion to the painting, have come up with a rough idea of how I want them to look, I sketched them out roughly onto black paper, cut them out and blue-tacked to painting to see how they looked , waiting for response off customer, then I can get the paint out and finish the picture.
It has been an exciting project, I dont normaly paint animals of any sort so I put pressure on my self with this commission, but I feel you have to branch out and try different things or its too easy to become stuck in a rut!

Sparky Update

As you can see, Sparky is on the mend, he still has to go to the vets daily for anti-biotic jab. There is still one little bit of the wound that the vet isnt sure is quite right and it may need another op, but fingers crossed it wont come to that!
Bill made him this toy yesterday out of a cork and some of Paddy the parrots feathers. He loved it.Poor thing is so fed up with being kept in its driving him daft.At least he can get rid of some of his energy chasing his new toy about!

Craft Fair

As you can see I had quite a display on my stall on thursday. It stayed dry but oh boy was it windy and cold!!
The new parking regulations came into force this week and it really showed, there were hardly any locals about in town, and not many tourists, the cold weather kept them indoors.
I had some interest in classes and sold a gift voucher so things not to bad.I also sold 2 mounted encaustic pictures and had an order for some encaustic equipment, so all in all it was worth doing.


We had to tie everything down practicaly, paper weights on everything and sticky velcro behind paintings to stop them being blown away.At least it didnt rain on us though!
Just one more craft fair before Christmas and then it can all be packed up and put away until Feb/ March when it all starts again!

Star Pupil Brian !!!

Brian came for his 2nd painting lesson today, he has already painted a lovely waterfall painting on a black canvas a few weeks ago.
He has been doing some more painting at home and bought along the results for me to see--I was very impressed with his results.
Today Brian wanted to paint a white canvas and we decided to paint a mountain scene.
Brian is very easy to teach and listens and watches and more importantly asks loads of questions.
I love it when people ask questions and dont just except what I tell them, its shows a deep seated interest in what they are doing.
Every stage was written down, which brushes to use and how to load and use each brush and Brian should be able to continue his painting easily at home now.
I have supplied him with some more brushes needed to blend out the clouds and sky, they are also good for water too.
We had a great mornings painting and Brian was thrilled with the end result, he used the knife with great skill on his mountains, and learnt a lot of different ways of using a fan brush after too!!!!
I look forward to seeing Brians results that he does at home!

Sparky

Poor Sparky has been to the vet for yet another operation today.
We noticed a hole appear in his leg just under his stitches, it got bigger as the day went on yesterday.
Didnt seem to bother him though.Took him to vets at 8:30am today, when Amy the vet looked at it she said she wasnt surprised really, the blood supply to the flap was not great and that some of the skin was dying.
She poked poor Sparky with a needle to find out how far the skin was dead--not very nice for him at all.
Anyway picked him up at 4:30pm, he seems fine but we have to take him down to the vets for an injection of antibiotics EVERY DAY until its better.
At the moment he is chasing his tail on the landing and looking for an oppertunity to get outside so whatever they have given him today has made him feel ok!!

Spoke to soon!!!!

Sparky has to go back to the vets tomorrow AGAIN ! The cut the vet had to do to drain his absess has opened right up and is in danger of splitting into his original wound. He has also refused to eat anything since he seems to know his medication is hidden in his food. He still hasnt been allowed out so hes not a happy pussy at all at the moment!!
This picture was taken before his leg was poorly.
Handsome fella isnt he?

Sparky is on the mend!

As you can see poor Sparky had another op yesterday to drain a nasty absess on his leg, so he now had 2 holes in his leg as well as the original injury!
He seems better today has been trying to escape from the house all day so its a bit of a nightmare keeping him in.! He has also noticed that his medication is being hidden in his food and is refusing to eat it today, At least now he is feeling better I can relax and get some painting done.
The commission is coming along great, just a bit to do and then it has to dry out a bit before the last stage.Just hope it dries in time that it can be delivered for Xmas!!! fingers crossed!!!

My Easel

My husband Bill made me my easel 4 years ago when I first started painting, Its fantastic to work, on the tray is handy for putting brushes on and my pallette fits on there too in the middle so my hands can be free.
It has been carted all around the country when I do my talks and demos, craft-fairs etc.
I have been offered good money for the back board by American tourists and very often I have spotted people studying it while we have been setting up the stall!!!! They really think its a painting!!
It has my 4 years of painting history on there, you can see the different size paper and canvas I have used, the different colours, bits of blue tack and masking tape--its all there. I wouldnt part with it for the world,Bill has made several more since for friends and they all say its better than any you can buy!!!

up-date on Sparky

Poor Sparky has been back to the vets today, we found another bite on his leg that has become badly infected--how I dont know, he has had 2 anti-biotic injections and has been on 2 tablets a day as well. He has to go back to the vet in the morning to have his leg opened up and washed out with peroxide--YUKKK .
Then to add insult to injury Paddy the parrot flew from his cage(First time he's been allowed out of his cage since Sparky's been poorly, cos Sparkys been lying on sofa) claws out like some bird of prey and lands on the poor cat. Back in cage very swift I can tell you!!
Will post latest on Sparky tomorrow.

What with my friends news and the cat I havent felt like painting much today, I have done a bit tonight, had to alter some of the commission I am doing for Keith, I feel it is a lot better with the new changes, I will post the complete work from start to finish when it is finished and safely in Keiths home.

Ironic

Well I cant belive whats happened after putting the Life post on here this morning,I went downstairs to a call from a friend who I havent seen for a while, who has been told by the specialist she probley has lung cancer.
It has knocked me for six. My thoughts are with her and her daughters.

It certainly brings it home to you that life is too short to waste.

Life

Take a look at the link I was sent by a dear friend, its something we should all think about.
www.thetimemovie.com Makes you think!!!!

poor Sparky!!!!!

Well what a week, Sparky the cat came in Sunday morning minus half his skin and fur on his hind leg. Thank goodness he's insured! This is his 4th escapade this year all with the same leg--when will he learn? So he now has a load of stitches in it and has been made a house cat. He is not very amused to say the least, but he couldnt outrun the cat that had him at the weekend if we let him out again yet.
Then we had my Jims birthday, in between visits to the vets and birthday partys I have been working on my latest commission, its nearly finished and Keith who commissioned it has had an email each day with the painting as it progresses, He said yesterday its like playing pass the parcel, each email is a step nearer to the final painting!
Not much to do now, just his 3 dogs to put on it!!! Its a big 3 ft canvas and I have to say Im really chuffed with it so far, and so is Keith.

Something different for a change

This is the view that we are lucky enough to have from our house, its so relaxing to watch the birds and wildlife out there, and this morning while looking I had another idea for a painting in my 'almost monochrome 'collection. I have already incorporated some dogs into my latest commission so the next step is a cow, the perfect monochrome subject really!!! Will have to get down the garden a bit closer and get some snaps of one of one of them.
The painting above is another Im really pleased with, I love the effect that Ive got with the glass vase.
Every now and again I like to do something different for a change, I have had a sort out and found some watercolours that I did a short time ago, must get my watercolours out again soon ,I find them really refreshing to do.
The one above Im very pleased with,must get it framed up for the next craft fair!

Happy Birthday Jim!!!

I just want to share with you a photo from last nights celebration. My son Jim was 29 yesterday and we had a great party around at his!
This is my daughter Becki with me and Jim, enjoying a drink--Oh what a night!!!

Some Pics from my classes

Above we have 3 of the students from 17th June, its great how everyones painting turns out different,Barbra on the right of the picture has entered her painting into exhibition at The Secret Hills at Craven Arms and it was lovely to see a picture of it in the local paper last week-- well done Barbra.
Above we have Robbie with his version of Birch Tree Wood that he painted on Oct 10th, what a great spooky looking wood , again some detail has been added in coloured encaustic wax as is a trademark feature of my 'almost monochrome 'paintings. Robbie has painted his picture on a deep edge box canvas which is quite a lot bigger than normal--its hard to tell as Robbie must be all of 7ft 6ins tall!!!
Here are Renatta and her mum Mandy at the 'Early Morning'
class earlier in the year 7th Oct. Its the 3 rd time they have been to a class and as Renatta is just 10 years old I think she has done very well.
As you can see Mandy left her monchrome painting as it was , just adding some foxgloves and dragonflies with the encaustic wax,Renatta covered hers in a light oil wash for a slightly different look.

Christmas is coming!!!!

We love Christmas in our house,and couldnt resist this little fella today in the store in Kidderminster, you press his hand and he farts like a good en, then chuckles and says thats all your getting this Chistmas HO HO HO .
We laughed our socks off !!!!!!
Had an email today from one of the ladies at the WI on thursday, she said the ladies had been chatting together after the meeting and had likened me to the great Rolf Harris, to say I was flattered was an understatment, Its alright being able to paint so fast when doing what comes naturaly, but to be able to put that over to novices is something else!!!!!!!

Emerald Wood

Here is my latest work which is simply one of my almost monchrome collect with an oil wash.

Sunflowers

Id love your opinions about this painting,I just love it!!!!!

It is a large acrylic painting and the sunflowers appear to almost 3 D. It really brightens up my bedroom where it hangs at the moment.

I like to try out my new works to see just how they look in a real room, I usualy hang them first of all in my front room opposite my large mirror. I can sit and study what needs to be changed in the mirror, dont know why it works but it does!!

Next Solo Exhibition

Well I have just sorted out my next solo exhibition.It will be held at Leominster Library, 8 Buttercross, Leominster HR6 8BN.

It will be held from March 6th until March 17th 2007 I am also holding another one at the same venue Dec 4th until Dec 22nd 2007.

It will contain a real mixture of paintings, with every shape size and medium !!!

This example of my work here has proved very popular of late, I think it is the cold weather setting in, the warm colours in this painting really warm up a room!

Every taste will be catered for and I will also be there on several dates-to be anounced to show you just how some of these works were achieved.

It sounds a long way off yet, but the way the time is flying by it will soon be here!
I will look forward to meeting some of you there.

Bluebell Wood

Well Ive had some good news today, one of the paintings that I dropped off at 'Natural Break in Kidderminster has been sold already!!
'Bluebell Wood is one of my' almost monochrome collection' so called because they are almost monochrome, I always add some detail with a little colour, usually melted wax, which just adds a bit of interest to the painting.
Bluebell wood was one of my larger versions of my latest birch tree series and Im sure it will look great on its new owners wall!

Latest Works

Fancied a change yesterday so got out the acrylics and did these 2 paintings, I just love the autumn colours, will be varnishing them today and they will be coming to the craft fair tomorrow with us! I also did another diptych in my almost monochrome collection, this time on 2 very large canvas each one is 3ft tall x1ft wide so a very dramatic piece, the detail is again added with melted wax.

Beautiful Sunset

What a beautiful end to the day,the most beautiful sunset, pinks and purples abound!! This is the view from our back garden!!
I think this will be a great painting, I will work on it later this week and let you all see the results.

Poppy's

Here are my 2 favorite poppy pictures, the second one is made up of 4 canvas each measuring 16inx20in, it makes quite a statement when hung on the wall. The first one is a large canvas measuring 80cmx60cm.The centres of both of them are made with melted wax and the main body of the picture is acrylic paint, I love them both they are so vibrant!!! Let me know what you think.