Three new works

Islands across the bay. Acrylic on canvas. 24 x 36"

This is a larger acrylic I did as part of joining the local art group.    Joining in and being committed to physically being at a set place, at a set time for the purpose of painting was productive as I finished two paintings in 3 weeks.    So far I have learnt to be freer with my brush, approach the canvas with gusto and confidence, and be bold with colour.    My question though is how to find time to paint.  I don't work so that should be easy? right? But by the time you factor in 2 teenagers and homeschooling,  with singing, drama, and flute lessons... and boy my week starts to look rather full!   I'm contemplating just treating 'studio time' like I would if I was working - just say for 2 hours every morning I am 'at work' in the studio and make a commitment to myself to do it.

White teapot. oil on masonite.  20 x 30cm approx.

Blue coffee pot. oil on masonite. 8 x 10"

Three new paintings.  Life has been busy, but I'm still here, and still painting.

One Small painting - Bay View

Bayview. 5 x 7" acrylic.   $55 signed with mat
Boats on the bay. Winters afternoon.  Lots of deep peach clouds, and one small boat.

Waiting for the tide

9" x 12" oil on canvas panel.   Waiting for the tide. I used my little portable easel yesterday, down at a local inlet.  It has carry slots for two 9" x 12" panels, a palette, and lots of room underneath for paints and brushes.

Getting back in the groove....

End of week 1 back in the studio, and I have these to show...

A pen and wash sketch from a photo I took last year. Quick, easy and a fun way to get back into creative motion... and to get things rolling I am trying out a few of my art supplies, to try and narrow down if I have a favourite, and I thought the easiest way to do that would be to start small!

5" x 7" - pastel on MiTeints Tex card.   Canelands 1.  $55 signed with mat

A scene so familiar to me - the canefields outside Bundaberg, Queensland.  A simple photo while driving past of a lonely farmhouse. (Although there are no windows or doors - I just double checked!  Maybe they are all on the other side?)

5 " x 7". Watercolour. Elliot Heads.  $55 with mat.

Another very familiar scene from last year - the georgeous river mouth at Elliot Heads, just south of Bundaberg.  ( The camera has washed this out a little)

I have really enjoyed working small.  They take a fraction of the time, I can do them with a small easle at my desk ( thus saving my legs as I can sit down), and it was less intimidating than jumping into something bigger.

Next I have to figure out 1. how to price these teeny gems, and 2. how to make them available for purchase :-)    Followed by an oil and then acryllic.  I am trying to see which medium I prefer... although so far I like them all!

Reserved.

Update 24/8/2012 - pricing done!

holidays...

Holidays here are almost at an end.  One more day, and then we'll be getting back into the usual school time routine.  And that should mean I will then get some time to be in the studio, be creative, and put some marks done, somewhere! This past week I/we have been creative in other ways, just not the arty kind: baking bread, home cooked meals, sorting the masses of bookshelves, de-cluttering wardrobes and cupboards, organising the office, shopping for art supplies - if that counts as being creative?   Also, lots of dreaming about what I would like to create - so all that to come, or at least start next week!

Painting sideways

Something novel to try.   The next time you are drawing or painting from a photograph, try turning your image upside down, or sideways.  It forces you to look at the image completely differently.  I had a interesting photo of a pond, that I thought would make a nice basis for an abstract, so I turned it sideways, and then proceeded to paint, using pastels, the colours and lines that I saw, without any regard for making it 'real'.  To my complete surprise, when I turned it back the 'right' way - I discovered this...   and I really love the luminosity pastel gives the water.

This was an interesting experiment, and one that I will probably repeat.  I wonder if it will also work with faces too?

Although I am on holidays, it has been so cold and miserable weather I havn't ventured much into the studio.    However we are getting quotes to replace the two garage doors with glass windows and a glass sliding door - which face north / north west - which means a lot more natural light coming in - they will really make a difference in here.   During holidays we are always up late, sleeping in, doing other things, that I havn't been able to find a good routine for being creative. 

Just for fun

Just for fun - I finally got around to finishing this one!  It's for a birthday present - so shhh don't tell anyone!

Pastel Portrait Fun

Tonight:  Pastel Portrait. Sting & George Michael. Real Loud. Fun. And lots of capitals.  

Why is it now that my kids are teens they are telling me to turn down my music? 

Portrait one liners

 Picasso of course excelled at one liners - deceptively simple drawings using one continuous line.  I've done a few of these in recent weeks, and thought I'd share the latest editions to the family

 

Trying to capture the essence of the person and their emotion in one single line is challenging.  It requires a distillation process of choosing the most important line and angle to reflect that which is crucial to that point in time.  Simplifying to a single black line on white... maybe that's why I like doing these so much.

She Sees possibilities

“There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern.” ~ Abraham Heschel

One of my favourite all time quotes.