One Week To Go

With one week left until the RAW show, I have to-do lists coming out of my ears. It's tricky timing having recently been away on a long trip and this week my husband has been travelling for work so I have been relying on our amazing babysitter a little more than normal. I've also been putting in some midnight hours once the little guy is asleep and it's amazing how productive I am in the small hours! Luckily, it does seem to be coming together slowly and now I just have lots of little loose ends to tie up. I have nearly finished painting and am busy making prints and trying to figure out labelling and packaging. Yesterday, I sorted out a folding table and drape to cover it and I bought a letter sorter stand to display my prints in. This weekend I have to finish up the last of the painting, photograph and varnish all the work and attach hanging hardware - the countdown begins! Here is another from the California road trip.

"Glimpses from Highway 1" acrylic on board, 8x8"

California Road Trip

We recently got back from a very inspiring vacation on the coast of California. A new type of vacation for us with a lot less lounging about than normal being that we have an 8 month old and this was a road trip! However, it's a trip which we've been wanting to make for years but various events have prevented until now and I am pleased to say the wait was worth it. Big Sur in particular surpassed all our expectations, it is just a staggeringly beautiful part of the world. Needless to say, I am full of inspiration, which is lucky as I'm still short of a few paintings for my show at the end of the month. Today I worked on this which is from a photo I took on the road between Big Sur and San Simeon.

"Driving Big Sur" acrylic on panel, 12x12"

The New Normal

I've realised that (at the risk of stating the obvious) trying to work when one has a new baby is somewhat different to the days when I had endless uninterrupted hours of painting bliss. My new normal is one day of painting a week if I'm lucky and a few hours squeezed in here and there around naps. Now if my son could just oblige me with a regular nap schedule we'll really be rolling but at the moment, when I put him down he might grant me 2 blissful hours of peace, or maybe just 30 minutes - it certainly keeps it interesting! Anyway, I've realised that a few changes to the way I work can make a big difference in terms of productivity. First and foremost I've ditched the oils (just for now) as its just too much mess and time consuming clean up not to mention the toxic chemicals which I can do without being exposed to right now. I've set myself up in a corner of our home office and am working off disposable palettes which I hate because of the waste but it certainly makes clean up quick and is much easier with acrylics as the paint dries so fast its a nightmare to scrape off of a glass or wood palette. I'm also, on the whole, working on a much smaller scale which is fun for a change and makes me feel more productive.

Here's a little study I just completed for a commission I'm doing. The commission is for several Jersey based paintings and this one is of La Rocco Tower on St Ouen's bay, a personal favourite spot of mine.

"La Rocco Tower" acrylic on board, 8x8"

Corbiere Lighthouse

"Changing Tide at Corbiere" acrylic and oil on board, 8x8"

I waited perched on a rock, for absolutely ages until the sun emerged from behind the clouds long enough to get a photo of this that I could work from. It was one of those windy days when the sun teases you with a 2 second glimpse before hiding again. The tide was just changing and there were strong currents forming which created interesting patterns on the water surface.

Today, I have had one of those days where everything I try to work on turns out terribly and you start to question if you were ever any good at all. Maybe it's because I'm full of a cold and feeling groggy, but most likely its because I'm working to a deadline and things never go to plan under pressure! Better day tomorrow I hope.

Jersey Paintings

Well, I've once again been travelling all over the place for the last couple of weeks, more fun at two beautiful and completely different weddings, one in Bermuda and one in Lincolnshire then a quick stop in London and now Jersey for a week of painting and family time. I tried to get some painting done in Bermuda last week but without great success so I'm very pleased that things are going better this week in Jersey. We've had a few rainy days but this morning was fine and I spent a few hours driving around photographing and sketching at different spots. When I returned to the house I set up studio and got on with a few different compositions. Heres a progress shot.

Abstract Castle

Anyone who knows me well, should also recognise this place, though rather abstracted, its a pretty ominous silhouette. It's Mont Orgueil Castle looming over Gorey Harbour in Jersey, Channel Islands, also known as the place I got married nearly 3 years ago. I did not begin this painting intentionally planning to paint this scene, however, after I applied a first layer of abstract doodle shapes on the surface (is that an artistic term?!) I could see the shape of the castle emerging so I went with it. I actually really love how it turned out so I'm undecided whether I might just have to keep this one for my own wall, particularly with the sentimental connection. Maybe I'll try some other similar scenes in this style. Again, sorry about the image, the oil is still wet and I couldn't seem to photograph it without some reflection.

"That Day" Mont Orgueil Castle, Jersey, oil on board, 8x8"

A Long Time Coming

This little diptych, though very small, has been an awfully long time in the making. It has been through many "I think it's finished" followed a couple of days/weeks/months by, "I'll just change a bit here" or more recently, "this is awful, drastic intervention needed". I'm a little nervous to even whisper the words "it's finally finished" but I think I just have to leave it alone and put it aside once and for all! (apologies for the image quality, it's an iPhone pic).

"Sandy Banks" oil on gesso board, each 8x8"

Layering it up

This one was another experiment with layers and layers of paint using different mediums like galkyd mixed in with the oil and applied over many months. It has been through a number of transformations as a result and although it doesn't really come across when photographed, some of the layers are really translucent. I especially like the section at the bottom right.

Now it needs a name - any ideas?!

8x8" Oil on board

Head Down

Well I've been travelling again, this time to go back to the UK to see family and attend two fabulous weddings. It was all a bit of a whirlwind as usual and it's nice to be back with a renewed sense of motivation. I have been getting my head down to try and get through my very long to do list and have some exciting things on the horizon which I will be posting about soon.

Today I set about trying to bring to completion a few paintings I have on the go. They aren't quite there yet but hopefully a few more tweaks tomorrow I will get them done.  Here is the third painting from flower series that I posted about below:

"Into the Deep Blue Bloom" 8x8, oil on board

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"

Dockyard

Finally, a relatively sunny day! All be it with a shower or two this morning, the weather finally lifted enough for us to make the trip out to Dockyard. The ferry ride there was so beautiful as the views of the Island from the water are just incredible. I visited the Bermuda Arts Centre where my favourite Bermuda based artist, Jonah Jones, has a studio. Full of inspiration, I drove back on my moped and I stopped to photograph some of the small bays along the very northern tip of the Island. Unfortunately, my bike then broke down and I had to call out the bike shop to come and deliver me a new moped but that's another story! Here is the painting I did when I got home:

"Onshore Breeze" acrylic on board, 8x8

I have been so busy recently in the run up to Christmas and I haven't had much time to paint or to post blogs but here is one of the abstracts that I finished recently. Unnamed as yet - suggestions welcome!

8x8, oil on board

A Sunny Friday's Work

Finally we had some sunshine today so the light in my studio was much better and therefore so was my mood! Unfortunately, as it's now dark, I think the colours in these photos are a little off but you'll have to forgive me. I went back to the three paintings I did last week to continue with them once the oils had dried enough to work over the surface again. Here is the seascape, it has changed quite a bit -

8x8, oil on board

I haven't thought of a name yet but this painting reminds me of my ferry ride back from Governer's Island a couple of months ago where the view over towards the Brooklyn shoreline was suddenly obscured by a huge storm coming in from the northwest.


The second one, more of emotion based piece, is probably my favourite and definitely reflects my mood this week! I ended up rotating it twice whilst I was painting before I was happy with it's orientation and composition but I particularly like the textures and interplay between the various abstract shapes.

"Fading," oil on board, 8x8"
Click here to purchase this painting

Cityscapes Continued

Another rainy day in the city! This one is definitely the light after the storm though, when the sun emerges from behind that big rain cloud after that mid summer storm. 

"Don't Rain on My BlackBerry" 8x8, acrylic and graphite on board

Limited Palette

As a little experiment, this week I have started a series of abstract oil paintings using a limited palette of just white, payne's grey, quinacridone magenta and cadmium yellow. These colours were inspired by a small two year old friend of mine when we were doing some very serious crayon drawings! I'm still undecided if these are going to work and ironically the first one that began as my favourite is now my least favourite but that usually happens with me. These are all works in progress...

Dune

Here is another small painting which is much more abstract than many of my pieces. It took a while to get the colours to work together but I think I'm finally happy with it. I've laid the paint on much thicker than I normally do so it has a lot of texture to it which I like.

I want to start experimenting more with building up layers of glazing and so I went out today to buy a more suitable brush - a 1" ox hair - very soft! I'm not sure if I'm patient enough to wait for each layer to dry but we'll see how it goes...

Jolomo

A friend of mine recently compared my work to that of Scottish artist Jolomo (John Lowrie Morrison. I had never before come across his work, however, I promptly looked up his website and not surprisingly instantly fell in love with it. Whilst I am extremely flattered by the comparison, I think I have a little way to go before I can really be any sort of competition! His colourful paintings seem to almost jump off the canvas there is so much movement and life in the brushwork. 


I painted this today working from a photograph of my favourite beach, St Ouen's in Jersey, a place that always makes me feel like I've come home. Not quite finished but a good start.

Diptych

"Calm Blue" - oil on board, 8x8 panels
Click here to purchase this painting

I painted this cute little diptych yesterday as a continuation of my seascapes series. This one is oil on gessoboard, each panel is 8x8. Can't decide whether to leave it alone or keep working on it, I think it needs a bit more depth.

On another note, I have discovered the wonder of odorless turpenoid vs regular old turpentine - no more stinky studio hurrah!

More Flowers

Pile of Pansies, 8x8, acrylic on board

I've been back to the flowers today - this time a pile of blue pansies. This is a small painting, only 8x8 but I love the vivid electric blue colour. I chose to back it on a pink/red background so that the whole painting is pretty much based around the 3 primary colours which I think works well here.

I also did this slightly larger anemone painting (got to love anemones!) which is going to be part of a tryptich... watch this space for the next two!

Red Anemone, 18x18, acrylic on canvas