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| I cant believe where the last year has gone--our little Ollie is one today.He came round to get his birthday pressies on Monday because he has gone away on holiday now. |
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| he loved his pressies....books , books and more books-he knew straight away how to press the buttons on the front to make the animal noises--he is very clever is our Ollie. |
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| having a cuddle with nanny before he goes back home... |
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| Ive had a very productive day today..and while Ive been getting my latest works finished and new ones started I was thinking about my art journey over the last 9 years.....the little 10in x 8in painting above was the very first one I ever painted.....after watching Bob Ross paint this one on Sky TV all those years ago I had to have a go! It still hangs proudly on the wall in the hall..and makes me smile when I look at it ...the start of a journey.... |
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| this 12in x 20in waterfall one is another of my very first paintings--done on oil painting paper--its always been a favorite of mine---and I couldn't sell it---it means to much to me.....it was a bit of a fluke I think that it came out so good---I had only painted 4 or 5 pictures before this one...I just love the atmosphere in it. |
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| this tiny little picture is again a very early one--an experiment using shiny silver card to do the oil painting on--4in x 7in . It worked really well-but never did any more--must find the card and have another go..the water worked well-there is a lovely shimmer where the silver shows through... |
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| I painted this one last year....but was never quite happy with it...so today Ive just added some more grasses, daisies and did a little bit more to the sky and I love it now! In fact I'm going to enter it into the local Ludlow Art Society exhibition that starts this Sat Aug 20th. Its oil on a chunky 16in x 20in chunky canvas. All the sides are painted. |
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| Another one for the exhibition...Black Pool is in acrylic and oils 16in x 20in and will be coming up in a workshop as well! |
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| I finished "Sandy Shore"s today....this is the 2nd in my Sandy paintings series.I have had great fun using sand and gravel to add texture and interest...they take ages to do because the gravel and sand is such a fiddle to do and I have to keep going over it adding more to fill in the gaps that appear! However its well worth the effort--this one just worked out lovely--I'm really pleased with the results....I used acrylics for the sky and water....its 16in x 20in and the texture/paint carries on all round the edges. Its £185 including P+P in the UK |
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| this is the next one in the Sandy series...3 canvas that are attached to each other with a cord--- so Ive done sky on top one, sea on middle one and am doing the beach on the bottom.Still got top coats of paint to do and lots to do to the beach but it will be a little different to just one canvas when its finished....watch this space! |
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| Well what should have been a busy workshop ended up a small one due to work commitments and 2 no-shows. I think I will have to start charging a bigger deposit for the workshops in future to try and prevent the no-shows from happening. Its annoying and unfair to everyone else to be waiting for someone to show up -and they don't. I'm quite happy to carry on a deposit to another workshop for people if they are ill or they have something happen that means they have to cancel--such as work commitments etc like happened this week....but to just not turn up or return a courtesy call checking that they are coming is just not on. Anyway rant over!!!! Although there was just the 4 students in the end we all had a lovely time....there was time to chat about loads of things as well as painting with Alistair, Jenny, Julia and Margurita.........they all had a laugh watching Jake parrot on my phone at lunchtime too. |
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| My sim card in my camera went wrong for some reason during the class-and has lost all the pictures on there...luckily I had another new one on the van so I managed to get some pics of the end of the workshop! Jenny is seen here adding the snow and bushes to her painting |
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| Julia made quite a journey to be with us again... |
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| Alistair made a beautiful job of his painting--he chose the dusky lilac shades which suits the wintery scene lovely! |
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| What lovely paintings everyone! Well done--look forward to seeing you all again! |
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| the excitment was all too much for Bill--either that or that chair was too comfortable! When we have just a few students we use the small room at the Parish rooms--and there are lovely sofas and chairs to relax on! |
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| After the hectic week with all the shows last week it was lovely to have a quieter week this week.......so I caught up with some painting and up-dating of my websites! I have lots of small paintings-- 8in x 10in that I do as demonstration pieces at shows and markets..all are going onto my various websites tonight-hopefully! |
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| 8in x 10in oils |
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| "Serenity" 8in x 10in oils |
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| "Serenity" ll 8in x 10in oils |
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| "Yesterday" acrylics 10in x 8in |
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| "Poppy Fields" oils 8in x 10in |
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| 8in x 10in oils |
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| 10in x 8in acrylic "Yesterday" |
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| I love these duck egg blue shades....it isn't showing up quite the right colour on the photos though---its 16in x 20in oils and is being entered into the Ludlow Art Society exhibition next week... |
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| This diptych is also for the exhibition--great fun to do--fingers crossed it dries in time for next Friday now! Each canvas is 12in x 24in .I have used sand and gravel to create the beach, and oils for the rest of it...Its called "Lifes A Beach" again the colour isn't showing true to life---the sea is a typical British grey/green/blue in the painting-but showing up more blue. |
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| Black Pool is another entry--a monochrome forest scene 16in x 20in --I can see loads of strange faces and animals in this painting--can you? |
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| I spent an enjoyable afternoon at Doddington Friendship club.Organised by the mum of an old friend of mine I went to Grammar school with-it was over 35 years since I had seen Alison-her daughter Catherine and I had spent many happy hours at her home! We had a coffee and a lovely bowl of strawberries and cream before I got started on the painting.There were 50 people there and the noise when they were chatting beforehand was quite loud---but when I made a start you could have heard a pin drop! Lots of chuckles when I explained about the bashing brush and tickling brush, and several audible gasps were heard as the trees, bushes and waterfall appeared before their eyes in minutes.I passed the painting round so everyone could have a closer look and then made a start on the Reeds in the Breeze painting on the white canvas.Again the painting happened very quickly and I had both done in an hour.Lots of interest in coming and painting with me in the workshops and I will look forward to seeing them soon!There were several comments from members that it was the quietest they had ever been as well which made us laugh! Certainly when they were watching me paint there wasnt a sound from them! |
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| The finished Waterfall painting--its a great one to do for demos--as its quick and shows the use of several different brushes and techniques...... |
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| The Reeds In The Breeze painting is another easy one for me to do as a demonstration piece--its a popular choice of workshop to oas there are so many colour combinations to choose from.Winners of the draw were Hilda who chose the Waterfall and Mary who won the Seascape. |
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| We set up at Tenbury show last night--so didn't have to much to do when we arrived early this morning-just adding the labels and uncovering everything... |
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| there were some beautiful animals on show there--again Bill went off with the camera and got some great photos |
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| as it was getting on for 8pm by the time we had set up last night we ended up in the food marquee for a meal instead of heading home--we had a beautiful steak pie ,new spuds and peas and to follow the most beautiful local strawberry flan and cream--it was delicious! |
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| we had a friend of ours from the market in Ludlow next to us--Edmund who makes the most gorgeous dragonflies and baskets woven from his own willow...we had loads of laughs all day |
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| Bill managed to watch the Big Foot trucks doing their display in the main arena... |
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| look out or you will get squashed! |
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| we had the most gorgeous miniature teddies on the stall the other side of us--just a couple of inches high-each one hand made.. |
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| gentle giant |
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| -I love this pic of these piggies! |
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| Jack made a lovely encaustic painting......I completely sold out of the encaustic kits over the 2 shows...must get some more before the next big show--Onslow Park at the end of the month. |
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| I had a quick mooch round as soon as we arrived there this morning--and on the produce stall found this--the most beautiful lemon drizzle cake..the best we have ever had--light fluffy and moist! Tangy lemon taste to die for. I don't think it will be lasting for long! |
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| The weather wasnt brilliant at first at Burwarton Show but that worked to our advantage and the people came through the demonstration marquee in droves! I cant remember ever being so busy at an event. I was busy all day..and only managed a few snatched words wth 3 of my students who had a stall opposite ours! |
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| We had lots of folk having a go at the encaustic art...and it generated lots of interest in both that and my workshops.. |
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| the girls hard at it....no peace for the wicked LOL |
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| Val was busy spinning wool, Lorna embroidery and Angela was making a rug using wool in its natural form..there was some beautiful things on their stall....very clever ladies all of them. |
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| Bill went off with the camera to get some shots of his favorites--the heavy horses--he came back with some great photos |
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| I managed to get this one done in between chatting to people about the workshops.. |
