The Bearded Flower

Did you know flowers have beards? Well apparently this one does at least, the "Bearded Iris" is a rather showy flower, all ruffles and frills. Maybe there will be some popping up for spring soon, I actually saw the first green leaf on the tree outside our apartment window this morning, finally!

"Bearded Iris" oil on board, 8x8"

Thinking Pink

This is part of the new series of work that will be going to Jane Packer NY. As it's still snowing here and tropical fresh flowers are not exactly the easiest to come by, I worked on this painting from a photo I took in Bermuda early last summer. I love the hibiscus flower, it's such a happy flower and grows in such abundance, I'd love to have a big hedge row of them at the bottom of my garden like I did growing up.

"Bermuda Pink" oil on board, 8x8"

Going Horizontal

I think I am becoming addicted to the horizontal line. My work has been getting increasingly stylised and whilst this may not necessarily be a bad thing, I think I need to to set myself a challenge to get away from the colour-block horizontal lines that keep appearing. This last painting was the tipping point (please excuse the painters tape and poor image, I only had my iPhone in the studio today). 

"North Shore" acrylic on paper, 3x 16x20" 

You may well recognise this painting as I first posted about it here. I had been looking over it and felt it was really lacking life so I decided to develop further it and lo and behold, hello horizontal lines! I definitely feel it has something more interesting about it now that it was lacking before despite the colour-blocky (is that a word?!) nature.

Now I just have to decide how to frame or display this piece. It's on 3 separate pieces of acrylic paper so I could either mount them to boards or frame each one individually...thoughts?? 

Mini Series Continued

As I was painting this I realised one of my favourite places was emerging on the painting surface. This is reminisant of a view from St Ouen's beach in Jersey looking South down the shoreline.

My plan is to sell the originals of these mini's via a gallery in New York but to have the prints available on my Etsy store either individually or in groups of 3 or 4. I'm hoping to have enough completed and dried to begin listing them by April so watch this space.

6x6, oil on board

Blast from the Past

Here is a small painting I did last summer at the Slade. I really loved the colours in this one. Makes a change from so much blue!

oil and graphite on paper, 14x12"

Happy Weekend

I've had a great week in the studio. I'm making good progress with the new paintings for Jane Packer which I'll start to post next week and also completed several abstracted seascapes. I had been thinking spring was on the way but it's been snowing all day so I'm heading up to the Catskills for some skiing. Maybe it will inspire some landscape based painting, wait and see!

oil on board, 6x6"

Back To Routine

"Sand Bar, Les Minquiers" oil on canvas,  36x36

I think I've finally found my groove, about time too, I was starting to think I'd lost it completely. This week I've been working on finishing this large seascape which is inspired by an amazing day trip I took last summer to Les Minquiers or "The Minkies" off the coast of Jersey. I am pretty pleased with it, I am just not sure if the sky needs some more work so I have resolved to let it dry and come back to it in a week or so.

Next up is some small florals to replace sold work at Jane Packer Florist, New York. It will be nice to be forced to paint a completely different subject for a little while.

Home Studio

Now that we have moved, I have been working on getting a little home studio set up. It's getting there but I'm sharing the room with a load of boxes at the moment, things that we are putting off unpacking until after we complete the renovations so it's kind of cramped. However, its working well for small scale paintings like these four little ones I started on. I'll post a finished update in a few days.

I have been out of the studio for way too long. So many things going on... moving house, jaw surgery (yes, ow!), holiday to recover from surgery... but finally today I managed to spend a few precious hours in the studio. So excited was I to finally have this time, that when I got there I got all set up, unwrapped a new canvas and then blanked and could not think of one single thing to paint. How is this fair?! Why does this happen? Block. Block. Block.

Another Mini

This is my husbands favourite of the mini series so far. I love all the colours in this one and I can't wait to get more completed, they are so happy and cute!

6x6" seascape,  acrylic on canvas

Mini Seascape

Another mini....

 6x6" seascape, acrylic on canvas

Butterflies for Debra of America

I am very excited to finally share this painting that I was asked to create for the organisation DebRA of America. Debra stands for Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association. And just in case you (like me) had no idea what that is, here's a great quick explanation from their website:

Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a rare genetic disorder that is painful and can lead to disability, disfigurement & early death. There is no cure or treatment today. EB makes the skin so fragile that the slightest friction causes blisters and skin tears. The eyes, mouth, throat and other internal organs are also affected.

The butterfly symbolises the fragile nature of the skin of people with EB and so DebRA has decided to have an artist create a butterfly themed image each year to be sold as limited edition prints. I am very honoured that this piece will be the first in the "artists corner" and as it has just gone live on the website you can follow the link here to purchase a the limited edition print in time for Christmas. All proceeds are going directly to DebRA of America. Happy shopping!

"Butterflies" 18x18" acrylic on canvas - http://www.debra.org

Mini Seascape Series

6x6" seascape, acrylic on canvas

I'm once again back to seascapes ha! Here is one from a new series of mini (6x6") series I'm doing. My intention is that they will be displayed in series of 3 or 4 but sold individually so that the exact combination can be decided by the customer and in that way they get to play a part in creating the final art work.

"The Maroon Bells" 40x30" oil on canvas

I wanted to share this recently commissioned piece which is not my usual subject or style but something I nevertheless really enjoyed doing. The scene depicts what are supposedly the most photographed mountains in America - the Maroon Bells near Aspen in Colorado.

This particular painting is going to be hung in Bermuda which couldn't a be more contrasting setting to the scene in the painting but the customer wanted it to serve as a reminder of one of their favourite places. Having stared at this scene for a fair amount of time now, I really must try and get out to see it in person - just another place to add to my ever growing hit list!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving! After an awful lot of eating yesterday, I got back to the studio with the hope of meeting my weekly goals. I've started setting myself weekly targets in an attempt to be more focused and productive. Anyway, I nearly made it this week and maybe I'll come in over the weekend to finish it up. Please excuse the quality of these images as I only had my iphone with me today. These paintings are both on linen, it is just such a lovely surface to work with. I think I might have to start using it more often but I got these on sale in London, shame it's usually so expensive!

oil on linen, 16x16"

oil on linen, 16x16"