Back to Work

After a busy few weeks preparing the RAW show, the event came and went last Thursday night and was great fun. It was good to learn how to put a show like that together and now I'm looking forward to hopefully doing more events like it in the future. It was nerve wrecking putting my work out there for scrutiny but great to make new contacts and hopefully gain some more fans, plus I sold a few things as well so that's a bonus! You can see some images from the show here on my Facebook page. 

Now I'm  back in the studio working on finishing a commission before I leave for an extended break in the UK and Jersey next week. This commission is for a duo of Jersey based paintings. Here was a sketch I did yesterday but we have decided to actually paint this lighthouse from a different angle for the final piece…

"Corbiere Lighthouse Study #2" acrylic on board, 12x12"

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"

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.

The House on North Uist

I have to admit, although we had a wonderful holiday, it is nice to be home. Particularly, as its much hotter at home than it was on our holiday! I am quite enjoying the heat and humidity of NYC after chilly Scotland.

acrylic on board, 6x6"

Here is another picture from North Uist, this is done from the beach in front of the house we stayed at. I'm really pleased with the way this turned out and I've already ordered a couple of greeting cards of this painting to use as a thank you to the owners of the house, hopefully they'll like it too! You can see the byre at the bottom of the garden where I set up a little studio in the painting on the left. I could paint those views over and over.

North Uist

We will shortly be on our way back to New York but have had a really wonderful week up here on North Uist. I have learnt a lot about how to catch and prepare various fish and shellfish and don't think I have never eaten so much! 

Here is the first little sketch I did of the view from the house we stayed at.

acrylic on board, 6x4"

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.

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

Waiting

My biggest source of inspiration is always discovering the work of new artists that I love. Etsy is such a great place for this as there are constantly new shops popping up with more and more talent. I can easily spend a few hours just window shopping and so often discover new artists who inspire me to experiment with different techniques and styles within my own work. 


Here is a small abstract painting that I am working on right now which is a bit of a departure from my normal style! It is acrylic on board which I am then drawing into with pastel. This painting is part of my emotions series and is called "Waiting".

"Waiting" acrylic and pastel on board, 8x8"

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

Cityscapes

"Blue Monday" 6x6, acrylic and graphite on board

Here's one from my cityscape series I'm working on currently. I love it's sketchy feel which contributes to the rain like effect and atmosphere in the painting. It's not of any city in particular although when I look at it I think of London which must be lodged somewhere in my subconscious having lived there for 4 years!

More Water Towers

I have had a lovely weekend, good food and great company and you really can't beat New York in the autumn (sorry, fall!). I'm still painting some of NYC's many water towers, here are a couple more of my recent small paintings.

"Candy Towers" 5x7, watercolour on paper

"Competing for Glory" 6x6, acrylic on board

Water Towers & Other Things

I've been having a very busy but very exciting couple of weeks and suddenly it's seems that lots of things are happening at once. Having managed to figure out how to suitably package my two paintings that were going to California - several rolls of bubble wrap later, I had a very unpleasant reality when I discovered the outrageous cost I would have to pay for UPS's shipping services. However, as luck would have it that was also the day I sold the my a large charcoal drawing which was a very nice surprise and extremely well timed to cover my UPS bill! Much to my relief the paintings have now arrived at the gallery so I assume they are being installed as I write this.


I have also been adding the final touches to my card range and working on a new project which is based on New York's many Water Towers. This was inspired by a friend who is looking for a painting of New York's lesser depicted rooftop silhouette, the hundreds of water towers. This weekend the weather finally cooperated and allowed me to go out and pound the pavements in search of some suitable angles to start painting from and it's amazing how you start to notice them just about everywhere when you actually look. So I've done a few sketches and completely fallen in love with the subject, they are just so "paintable"! 

Water Towers, West Soho, 6x6, acrylic on board

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

Etsy shop open for business

A while ago a friend of mine suggested I look at etsy.com as a route to selling some of my artwork and I'm pleased to say I have finally got round to it. Having spent a little time exploring other people's etsy shops I have discovered some really amazing creations for sale and an incredibly creative community of people who are seemingly doing a good deal of business out there! I have so far listed 5 paintings in my "shop", one is this seascape below, to view the others please click here... Happy shopping!

Seascape2, acrylic on board, 8x8

Portraits for Mothers Day

I have been away for a couple of weeks so I haven't been doing much painting. However, I returned to NYC on Thursday and got straight back in the studio to finish a commission for mothers day which I have been working on for a while. I am extremely pleased to have finally finished them and just in the nick of time. This was a huge challenge for me and although I'm very happy with the result I will be very pleased if I never have to paint another portrait - or at least not for a little while!