A recent walk in a local park and these magnolia trees were in full bloom, and together - side by side. Lovely how the flowers come out first.
Wednesday 31 March 2021
Wednesday 24 March 2021
In the studio
As much as I try to keep my studio space tidy, something seems to happen overnight to disrupt it. Well, that's how it feels. I walk into the room and look around and am surprised how I ever find anything. Needless to say there are times when I have a sort out and tidy up session, even if only in one part of the space.
The most challenging area for me is the storing of wet and dry paintings. This changes from time to time depending on what I'm working on, but generally I have two specific areas.
The wet paintings need to be dried with them flat. So there have been various ways to deal with this.
Medium/Large paintings on this rack .....
So what happens when those paintings have dried and are ready to be put online or taken to the Gallery...
The top shelf has Medium/Large paintings - all dry - but they still need to be separated. Oil paintings still 'breathe' and need space from one another. I think this is one of the most challenging things to deal with in a small space. Having said that, I do hang some paintings around the house and thankfully we have more room to display future art.
The box-shelves (signified by the pieces of tape...which tell me these are destined for customers and/or are online). These smaller paintings still need to be kept separated, which can be tricky. I've come up with one or two ways to deal with this and currently, you will see in the above image, some wire trays, which keep the paintings separated...
like this...
Monday 15 March 2021
A Website!
It's been a bit of a day here in the Studio - actually got around to setting up and launching a
WEBSITE
This has been something I've been mulling over for a while, but when I started looking at it, I have to admit, it looked complicated. Research helped a lot and fellow artists have recommended Shopify - Plus Shopify does a great tutorial which basically guides you through the process. No more excuses, and I went for a Domain Name too:
~ link in name above, you could also click the image ⤵️ ~
Tuesday 9 March 2021
I still sketch
Although I'm very into Oil painting these days, I do still Sketch. The other day I picked up the dip-pen and bottle of ink and basically doodled...then the Kelpies appeared
I've sketched these before (you may remember them)
but there is just something about the Lines and Shapes that is so tempting to draw.
Here's a link about the Kelpies ⬅️
Saturday 6 March 2021
Inspiration
Yes, inspiration comes from all directions for me. Thankful to those people who take photos (at these times of lockdown and not being able to plein air paint at the moment). Although I have to admit that it does take me a while to get around to some paintings. Take for instance a photo reference from last September 2020 - posted online in Facebook Group : The Official DOING IT OURSELVES. I'll add Links at the end of this blogpost to the relevant groups and Youtube channel.
Sherrie Petherick from Chateau Basmaignee (Doing It Ourselves Youtube) kindly gave me permission to use one of her photographs - a stunning capture of Mont-Saint-Michel on the coast of Normandy France.
I hope I've done it justice, but needless to say, I really enjoyed painting this one.
~ Many Thanks to Sherrie Petherick for permission to use original photograph ~
Monday 1 March 2021
That warm feeling
...that's how this painting makes me feel. Now we are heading out of Winter and into Spring, those chilly - freezing - bitter cold (you get the idea) days are receding, some of my paintings have been on what I call "catch-up". Having started them back in those 'chilly - freezing - bitter cold days' and waiting for the inevitable Paint To Dry phase, I have now completed this 8x10 canvas panel.
Something very nice about completing a painting after the long wait for paint to dry, but this painting certainly takes me back. When the fire was lit, those shorter days seem to be a memory now.