Pastel and Paint: Lesly Finn's Art

Old into new ... finished except for varnish

2013-05-03T12:11:00.001+12:00

Acrylic portrait on crinkled tissue paper on canvas. Image source - my own photograph shown below.

Old into New - Take 6. And still refining!!

2013-04-19T14:18:00.001+12:00

Old into new - Take 5, refining and defining!

2013-04-08T15:26:00.000+12:00

Old into new - Take 4, Defining darks and lights

2013-03-30T18:02:00.000+13:00

Old into new --- Take 3, Roughly Sketched In

2013-03-27T22:51:00.000+13:00

Old into new ..... take 2

2013-03-27T16:07:00.002+13:00

A coat of white gesso rollered over the whole painting gives a nice surface to work on, bumps and all! Detail from above showing texture

New from old Experiment .... Phase One

2013-03-27T12:10:00.000+13:00

Don't know about you but I sometimes get to a point with a painting when I really don't like it at whatever stage its reached at the time, and I know deep down that I am never EVER going to like it whatever I do! Well I got to that stage recently with an acrylic of mine and today I decided to let it "morph" into something else. Of course, it is not going to do anything without a little help

Change of mind!

2013-01-12T15:29:00.000+13:00

After a lot more thought I have been continuing to work on this latest abstract. This time I am really pleased with the result, and I'm happier with the new title too. Arpeggio (acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 inches)

Still on my easel!

2012-12-09T15:15:00.000+13:00

and still working on it ..... will it ever come right?

On my easel .............

2012-12-05T17:31:00.001+13:00

New acrylic on 36" x 24" canvas, begun today ......................

Sold at the Fayre!

2012-11-11T08:23:00.000+13:00

This week the biennial exhibition of the East Otago Art and Crafts group in being held at East Otago Events Centre, Waikouaiti, and yesterday a couple took a liking to "Song from the South" and bought it! How lovely it is to have someone like your work enough to part with their hard-earned cash!! "Song from the South" (pastel)

Experiments with media ...

2012-10-11T10:40:00.001+13:00

Having previously experimented painting with oil pastels on black canvas: - here is my latest painting, this time using acrylic with an oil pastel overlay on plain canvas: - .

Rejection, dejection!

2012-09-25T17:08:00.001+12:00

Oh dear! Just heard today that ALL THREE of my entries to this year's Spring Exhibition at the Anderson Park Gallery, Invercargill have been rejected. Although the official wording says "not accepted" I know what it means all right.... and it means Rejected as far as I am concerned. No matter how you look at it having ones paintings thrown out en masse is rather a blow.

SPEED on a Sunday Afternoon!

2012-09-16T16:30:00.000+12:00

Today, having finished some "office stuff " on the computer, I settled down to some serious Sunday afternoon escapism ..... videos of other artists at work!! As people and faces are my most favourite things to paint I was drawn to tasting the delights of some very SPEEDY painters at work .... Agnes Cecile - painting 'One in a thousand' Voka - painting 'Marilyn Monroe' Takeshi Sato

Flamenco dancer (Oil pastel on canvas, 10" x 22")

2012-06-28T16:42:00.003+12:00

Freddie - a kind of magic!

2012-05-30T16:20:00.002+12:00

Otago Art Society is calling for entries into a Members Exhibition with the subject 'portraits'. Entries must be in by 4th June. I thought it might be fun to do a portrait of someone famous and settled on Freddie Mercury, one of my all-time favourites! I didn't leave myself much time so its on quite a small canvas .... but I think its just about finished except for a few tiny touches and some

April ..... almost cooked!

2012-04-22T14:40:00.002+12:00

All done except for a few tiny tweaks! Song from the South (soft pastel)

April .... making progress

2012-04-21T12:25:00.000+12:00

April ... starting something else

2012-04-19T15:44:00.001+12:00

I've got to get a painting finished and possibly framed for entry into Hope & Sons Annual Art Awards. Entry form has already gone in and paintings must be delivered no later than the weekend of 28th/29th April. Having aborted my large acrylic yesterday I'll have to really get a move on to complete something in time!!! I've decided to fall back on a subject that I love doing ....... a figure

April ..... scuppered!!

2012-04-18T14:46:00.002+12:00

Well that's it ............. after 3 days struggle I have given up on this idea!!!! Did not matter what I tried nothing seemed right, and the painting just would not come together. I have just finished wheeling the roller and covering it all with gesso. So once again there is a pristine white canvas, 36" x 48", staring reproachfully at me from my easel !!!!!!!!!!! Ah me, it's back to the

April - new painting in transition!

2012-04-17T17:09:00.000+12:00

Cannot seem to get this painting going in any sensible direction ............... so I'm giving up for today! This is the revision of the revision ..... I'll have another go tomorrow.

April: new work in progress - early stages

2012-04-17T14:33:00.002+12:00

Using rollers, sponges, scrapers and brushes with acrylics, acrylic medium and gesso .................. its fun to experiment!!

whatever next?

2012-04-16T17:01:00.001+12:00

A lovely fresh white canvas has been sat on my easel for a week while I procrastinated over getting started ....................... well, now I have! I have a whole day tomorrow to devote to this painting ....... but what to do next is the vexing question! Lots of thinking to be done this evening I feel.

Mad March Sales ............

2012-04-09T14:35:00.002+12:00

One way of selling paintings has always appealed to me and may be of interest to others. That is to enter a painting into an auction or exhibition where some or all of the selling price is donated to a particular cause. In such an auction I usually opt to share the price achieved 50-50 with the cause. As an example, a few years ago I donated paintings to a couple of auctions, held in

Golden haiku!

2012-04-05T22:13:00.002+12:00

In my brain tumour blog I started trying to write one verse 'haiku' poems, then completed a two-verse haiku about my cats. Because poetry is an art form I thought I'd write one here for a recent special anniversary. 24th March 1963 - 2012. wed as teenagers in spring,some good times and some bad, butloved for fifty years