Am I Delighted or What!!!

These are the photos of my paintings at the exhibition I've been droning on about for the last few weeks!!!  I was so pleased with how they looked and apparently they generated a lot of interest (Adam's words not mine!!!!).....however,  had we realised I had so many I think I would have been given a larger area.... somehow my collection started to breed as the exhibition approached and I was shocked to find I had 29 framed paintings and 10 mounted!!!  So, did I sell any, well you are going to have to read to the end to find that one out as I want to chat about it all for a while!!!


I have met so many other artists here and do you know what, we artists (yeh yeh I know am still an apprentice, but think I can now call myself one!!!) are such a lovely lot.... I have only ever met one person I didn't care for in the whole time I have been connected with art. Art seems to bring such nice people together and most seem to have this passion which bonds us all........I am so glad my friend Alison didn't mind me tagging along to the first class we ever did all those years ago!!

Anyway have been along a few times to see how things were going, Adam has been babysitting our paintings beautifully and the space looked great...... it's a pity we have had some of the most appalling weather ever in the North West as it has really hindered footflow, but nevertheless I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and would jump at the chance to exhibit again with Art of Ours... even had photographs done with the press yesterday... I was able to partially hide behind one of my paintings and he doesn't seem to have captured my double chin so I told him he could sell to "Hello" and "Ok!!!" He just looked at me quizzically.....................no idea why!!!

Saturday was busier,  and although a lot of footflow was generated by friends and relatives of the artists exhibiting, there was a party like atmosphere and the daughter of one gentleman brought wine and nibbles... not sure if it was meant to loosen up our punters to extract a purchase or two but was a very nice touch and greatly appreciated by those of us there.


I've been along this morning to collect my paintings and met some of the new group who are setting up for next week........a completely different look to the place with some huge canvases of work.... we couldn't stay to see it fully set up but am sure it will look really impressive, and I might just nip along for the preview tomorrow evening!!!

The exhibition still has another 6 weeks to run and would be good if any of you reading this and are in the locality pop along for a look...you can check the Art of Ours website (link above) to see if you fancy any of the work which might be showing.



Have a busy week ahead as my own lovely group start back on Thursday after our Summer recess so have a little more preparation to do for that and a charcoal portrait commission to do for next weekend.... how I ever found time to work is a complete mystery to me!!! Things have certainly changed since I did my first ever blog at the end of March when I had just made the decision to to retire!!

Now for the nitty gritty... did I sell anything.... well yes actually I did, 3 paintings in total!!! So am well pleased as I didn't want to bring them all back and so happy that some people were actually prepared to put their money where their mouths were!!! 2 were framed and one just mounted so only 27 framed to bring home!!! Phew!!!

Holiday Plein Air

Arrived back from a week in Javea, Spain on Saturday, having had a brilliant time with my Dad, two sons and their girlfriends (hubby too!!), have eaten and drunk to our hearts content and now coming back to reality of eating healthily and cutting out all the overindulgence. The weather has been beautiful and we had returned to a villa which we hired last year called "Casa Flores"..... really lovely, sleeps 8, well equipped, private, in a very smart well appointed development just outside Javea.

I had taken my paints with the intention of painting plein air and am happy to say I actually managed a few.

This is taken from the grounds of the villa looking onto the veranda which was nicely shaded and where we ate all our meals...... we had a selection of food as well as eating out, paella, tapas, chicken stuffed with chorizo... both my sons (and girlfriends) are fantastic cooks and both also seem to really enjoy so we are not stupid when inviting them to join us, we can be assured of top class food!!!

This was at the side of the veranda and I have to admit I decided not to paint the 2 easy chairs and sofa which are here as I didn't fancy all that drawing so the space looks a bit bare now!!! But this too is a lovely shaded, comfortable area where you can escape the strong midday sun though the weather while we were there was perfect and non of us needed to sit here.

The villa is surrounded by bougainvillea so couldn't leave without a quick sketch of the flower heads.....

All these sketches have been done really small, postcard size and I have learned quite a lot from doing them, not least of which is drawing small, I tend to draw big and this is really good practice for drawing in proportion with perspective, things in the distance always end up too large in my paintings so this has been a really good earning experience for me and I will certainly do more in the future.

The idea to go small is down to Maggie Latham who has a blog and has also started a  facebook group  devoted to exploring the possibilities when working in this way... to look at using new techniques and possibly try different media (hmm not sure I will be dragged away from my watercolours but we'll see!!!) and I can see the merits of working small... it is easy to experiment on a small piece and not as unnerving seeing a tiny piece of paper as looking at a piece of full imperial!!!

Am now working very hard trying to finish off all my pieces for the Exhibition from the 25th to 29th September,  am paying them a visit tomorrow so will be able to see from this weeks' artists how many paintings I'm going to need to fill the space.... should have about 25 framed and a few more mounted so fingers crossed that will be enough!!!

My house is in a state of disarray with paintings, frames, mounts, cellophane, bubble wrap all over the place

I have now spread from my art room to the spare bedroom, to the sitting room and finally to the dining room..... the word tidy doesn't seem to be in my vocabulary but hopefully will all be straight and back to normal after I deliver them at the weekend and am hoping to not be bringing them all back again!!!  My husband has taken to hanging them all in our house but as I now have another 12 we will be running out of walls!!!

If you are in the area, do try and visit the exhibition, it is running for 8 weeks, Tuesday to Saturday, with a change over of artists every Tuesday.  I think there will be a really interesting mix of work, judging from the synopses of the artists, covering a wide variety of media and subjects.

Excitement is Rising!!

For those who have been following my blog since I retired (way back in May) you will have witnessed my level of excitement from being mildly, to moderately, to excited..... well now I'm quite hyper!!! Not only has my painting been going really well, but I attended a very exciting meeting yesterday with Adam and Leon who are the guys behind the exhibition I will be doing from 25th to 29th September....... what a great couple of guys and their enthusiasm was so infectious!!!

First of all take a look at what will be "my Space"... the use of the model is to show the sheer size of it!!

It's huge!!! This is Adam chatting with one of the exhibitors. I am so happy I have spent the last couple of weeks getting a few more pieces done and framed.  The walls have yet to be painted white and a few more finishing touches to the space but it is so bright and modern and in total, for each week there will be 4 or 5 artists exhibiting for a period of 8 weeks.

Adam and Leon are young (well they seem really young to me!!) entrepreneurs, Leon has his own website business in Chorley net-heads and Adam has just graduated from Uni with a first class honours degree in Music Production.

The space has been unoccupied for something like 14 years and is right in the heart of Chorley, once a thriving market town in the North West but like many towns, now suffering more from the ravages of recession and downturn in the economy. Leon has taken it over and wants to develop the premises to create a "drop in office" facility which he hopes to have up and running early next year. In the meantime the space is empty and their idea was to fill it with music and art and to offer something different to Chorley and the North West.

Adam has worked so hard to get this up and running from absolutely nothing, he has built the website, Art of Ours He keeps in really good contact with all the artists and quite honestly this is an artists dream!!! Not only is the space fantastic, the whole set up is so focussed on the artists and nothing is too much trouble for these two young men. They are so incredibly flexible, supportive and open to ideas, and Adam will be manning the exhibition for the whole 8 weeks with a little help from one or two others and so far all we have to do is provide a synopsis, a list of all our work for display, turn up a couple of days before, hang our work and step back and admire!!!

Similarly Leon has also been helping get the space ready ..... he has such a "can do" attitude" and nothing is impossible, as I said earlier their enthusiasm is so infectious, it feels like I've sold pieces already.......... Leon is going to be (if not already!!) extremely successful in life!!! Private viewings were mentioned which may not be up and running for my 2nd week but would be fantastic events if they manage to get any planned.

I would urge everyone to come and have a look at what has been achieved here not just for my week of the exhibition but to come and see the space, the diversity of work to be displayed, from photography, to sculpture, to sound installations and to enjoy what has been created here.

So a big thank you to these two fabulous young people for having the idea, the vision, the enthusiasm, the will and tenacity to embark on this venture and I sincerely hope the whole thing is a resounding success, your hard work and endeavours deserve to be rewarded.  

I wish both Adam and Leon every success both for this and any future ventures and I hope you get masses of publicity to advertise your existing businesses and that this will be a fabulous spring board for the new use of the space.

Small but Beautifully Formed!!

You may remember in a previous blog, I mentioned I had been given some advice to have some smaller pieces in the exhibition in order to help maximise sales and so I have been concentrating and cracking on with them for the last few days, they are all 11x7 approximately or eighth imperial.... and am now getting them framed ready to show at the end of September... all reference photos are either my own or from PMP

This looks a fearsome character so not sure if it will have much appeal but is to go with the cockerel theme and I wanted one or two close ups as well......

Another rooster which I may just mount as I am running out of frames!! A much simpler piece as I wanted to do a regular looking animal to give a wider choice but may not put this in the exhibition... will see what space there is when I get to have a look round

Have never really done birds before so am certainly getting some practice in now!!

Have never done boats before either but have posted this as one of our images in the Loose group for September so decided to have a go with it myself.

So this is what I've been working on for the last few days, am finding it quite therapeutic working on these smaller pieces, doesn't seem as much pressure as looking at a large piece of paper and have had very little for the bin, so maybe this has been a good move for me, sort of going back to basics as I have been working much larger recently, almost 8 times as big and haven't done anything this size for over a year. So although I have been doing this to offer a wider range of price at the exhibition, it seems to have done me a favour in terms of getting me painting and focusing my attention on the task in hand....... and the fact that they all seem to be working is spurring me on even more (as if I need any encouragement!!!)

Who Remembers the Cow?

Well finally got back to do this gorgeous little fellow. You may remember from my previous

blog

about it,  I was having all sorts of problems trying to get the drawing right which then led the blog down the route of drawing and more dilemmas!!!

Well here are my first efforts without drawing

and as you can see I didn't "get it" though there are bits that I like about them, mainly the loose feel but I don't think they capture the essence of the pose, which is for me what makes the photo, so here is the go with a bit of drawing. I did use the same colour scheme as I quite liked that, sketches are all about learning for when you come to do the "proper" painting.

Anyway here is the next sketch.....

Still haven't quite got the angle of the nose but better. This is quite small 11x7 as I have been trying out some smaller pieces for the exhibition and looking at this I think I may strengthen the bg and some areas on the head a bit....... just looks  bit "wishy washy."

Having said that I might have another go altogether without drawing to recapture the spontaneity now I have a better idea of the drawing. What we don't necessarily recognise when we watch people like Hazel Soan and Jean Haines who often paint without drawing is that they have often done that subject many times before and therefore get to know how to paint it. Check out this quick DVD on elephants from Hazel

Hazel Soan DVD

The first time I tried this my elephants were all over the place, all out of proportion but once I had done it a few times, it all went better

Not brilliant but much better once I had learned where to place everything and tons better than my first efforts!!

Cockerels and more Cockerels!!!

Have done these today as I am getting ready for an exhibition in Chorley the last week in September... have had some great advice recently... one is that cockerels sell and two go smaller in the current climate so that I can offer paintings at reasonable prices. So these are 11x7 approx, one eighth imperial. Of the two I prefer the first, it somehow looks more spontaneous and unusually that was the second one I did so maybe the practice with the first paid off!!! Often the first is the best attempt so am pleased that trend is reversing as it means I am learning from my previous mistakes!!

So I intend to do a few more smaller pieces which I will mount and possibly frame, maybe a couple more cockerels with different colours....... a different approach as one of my recent goals had been to go bigger!!!

Hidden!!!

This photo was taken by my brother in law on our day out the other weekend for my husband's 60th birthday weekend. The whole family had a tour around the Yorkshire Dales and this was taken from a walk we had along the River Lune at Kirkby Lonsdale, We both spotted this lovely property sort of hidden from view so, as we seem to be doing more of recently, you photograph them, I'll paint 'em!!!!

This was another that painted itself, about 40 minutes, though I have been doing lots of thinking about it, no drawing, straight in with the paint, but not much to be drawn on this really so not too difficult..... buildings are another subject I haven't done much of but am going to do some more in the future, we have such a lot of beautiful historic buildings in the North of England crying to be painted and maybe I'm the woman for the job!!! I certainly have a fantastic resource with Johns' photos so no excuse there!! In fact I am getting quite a store of photos I want to paint and hopefully the more I step outside my comfort zone the easier they will become.

I am quite happy with this, I like how the photo has translated to the painting (one of the main problems for artists) and the level of "looseness" about it. Stuck to a fairly limited palette for the bulk of it, cob blue, alizarin crimson, burnt sienna, cad yellow then touches of May green, raw sienna and green gold.

Did this for my sister and husband as she really liked the painting I did of Rolo. This is one of their boxer dogs Jaz, daughter of their other, Cassie. I will soon have introduced the whole family of animals just one or two more to do!!!This isn't as loose as most of my work and I have to admit a touch of drawing went on as this was one I attempted the other day and it just didn't go right. I take back what I said in my previous blog.... it is the loose stuff I can't always manage and don't know how it will turn out... if I want to paint a bit tighter then yes I can manage, just don't always know how best to do "loose!!"

It's since I started loosening up that the real trouble started!! Have used more paper in the last 18 months than in the whole of the rest of the time I've been painting!! So this may be a bit of a "cop out" as far as loose is concerned but I think my sister and brother in law will like and that's more important with this one (well that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!). I may have a go at some of John's other photos of the dogs, check out his page

Paint my Photo

He is an excellent amateur photographer and is interested in doing more work with his photography.... if you are interested in him doing a photoshoot or purchasing any other of his photos you can always leave a message here or e-mail me......

Does This Happen to You?

I suppose we artists (ok am using the word loosely here!!!) can be a sensitive lot and needy for affirmation and praise which is why we choose to post our work and I suppose one reason why I write my blog..... there are other reasons for the blog but one of them is to put my work into the public domain for people either to love, like, hate, reject... whatever is their opinion of what they see.

So taking into account that reason, I noticed that I haven't posted much in August (ok I was quite busy at the beginning of the month with the party)... but why you may ask??? Not because I'm giving up on my blog, but simply because even though I have been painting plenty, I haven't had much to post. I did three paintings last week and two I was delighted with but a lot ended up in the bin and having painted most of the day today, two goes at a cockerel, one attempt at a dog and finishing off a Venetian mask which I am very undecided about, have nothing more to show than 3 unfinished well below average attempts, so after my euphoria of last week, Rolo and the rose where I really felt I had really made progress am now back to somewhere different and struggling a bit!!!

So that is the question, do you have times when things just seem to turn out and you seem to be on a roll and then you seem to slip back or is it because sometimes you just hit on a subject which you can somehow manage to paint standing on your head and then you don't connect with a subject again for a while? Am not clear what my problem is but it has happened to me before when I do something I really like then takes me another age to reach those heights again!!! I suppose I should take heart from the fact that every so often I pop one out that I am thrilled with and maybe the rest of the time I am using my painting time to work up to the next one!!!

I do know that pro artists have their howlers too and I guess that they are better at rescuing their bin work than I am though I must admit I am getting better at doing that as well and don't leave half as many pieces unfinished as I used to, but sometimes things just seem to go right......... then reality comes along, knocks you on your painting beret and says "Ahaa you were getting a bit cocky and over confident then... a bit too big for your boots, time to bring you down a peg or two and let you see just exactly where you're at!!!

The paintings at the top are a couple of "breakthrough" pieces which I really felt worked at the time. I was earlier in my journey to loosen up when I did these but remember being very pleased with how they turned out.... I guess I work on the law of quantity...... the more I do the better I will get and the more successes I will turn out..... I do know it is all about practice and I should look upon these lean times as good practice for the next ones, just a bit disheartening when you seem to have taken a step forward and then 2 back!!

Arose from my Mind

I did this on and off while I was waiting for another to dry. I often paint roses from seeing Jean's blog about them and it was the first image we did in the loose group...... they are not as difficult as they may seem if you follow Jean's instruction and I have been working on them ever since.

This is quite large 20"x25" as I am still on the trail to paint bigger and this is smaller than full imp (22"x30") though larger than half. Have used Alizarin crimson, pthalo turquoise, cadmuim yellow (I don't use this much but am liking it on here).

I did this without reference and it started out just as a play to see if I could fill the paper!!! Am still working on the painting I was doing at the same time.... that doesn't seem to be co-operating like this one did.... it's a flamingo and am having difficulty seeing how to finish it... watch his space!!!