Sandraws

Preperation for bear number four...

2012-02-21T14:35:00.000Z

First of all, thank you all so much for your lovely feedback on my latest bear.

I'm so glad you all like him :0)

I have now started bear number four!

This bear is going to be sitting on a shelf in an antique shop, nestled amongst other antique items.

When I am working on a serious painting, there has usually been an awful lot of preparation work involved.
It is often a long time before I actually get to the stage where I can apply brush to canvas.

I find it all too easy to become impatient, but I have learned that the longer I spend on this, sometimes frustrating stage, the better the end result will likely be.

Preparation is most definitely the key to a successful painting in my own experience!

Once a new idea creeps in to my head, my first task is to get hold of the items I envisaged. This often means borrowing, sometimes several trips to second-hand or antique shops, trawling e-bay......

Preferably I like to paint things I have some kind of connection too :0)

My next task is to figure out how to make the items work together on canvas. I try lots of different set ups but sometimes they simply don't work and if that's the case, I might be forced to lose an item or two or even have a complete re-think!

I use sketches and photographs to help me decide on my final arrangement...

...Once I have my sketch, I might decide that an adjustment is needed. In this case I felt that the bears head was a little straight on, so I decided to tilt it to one side, which I think works better...

And now I can finally transfer the sketch to my canvas!

Actually, I am past this stage now and have in fact just completed the under-painting, but I will keep you posted!

Back soon :0)

Big Ted on Beethoven...

2012-02-07T14:24:00.001Z

"Now listen Big Ted, we need to talk...

You and me? We're finished, we're through... IT'S OVER.

It's not you, it's me... I've got itchy feet and it's time to move on.

I have met a new bear you see, and I'd like to get to know him better.

I hope you understand and I hope that you will soon meet someone else who will take care of you as I once did.

I'll never forget you Big Ted..."

... Tee-hee, sorry - I just couldn't resist!

Well, this has been one of the most frustrating paintings I have ever had to photograph, which is why it has taken such a long time to actually post it on my blog!

Dad and I tried all sorts of ways to get it right, but even now it doesn't show the colours and tones as they truly are, but - it is the closest I can get and I think it's close enough!

In reality there are more cooler colours within the fur, like those rich yellows and greens you see on the Beethoven music cover he is sitting on. So, the bear is actually a little lighter than this.

There is also a more obvious difference in tone too - Oh, and that blue tinge in the top right hand corner is just light reflecting off of the darkness.

Oh well, you get the idea!

By the way, I haven't painted the same wallpaper as was in my last bear painting. That was a Victorian pattern, whereas this is of course a pattern from the Classical era - Well what else could it have been for this particular set up, lol!

Once again this is oil on 18" x 22" canvas covered board.

I have already sketched out the composition for bear number four and I'll blog that in a few days.

I am just sorry this one took so long !!

Back soon!!

:0D

Art that warms the heart...

2012-01-29T21:03:00.001Z

Bear number three is now finished - finally!!

I tried to take a photograph of it so I could post it on my blog but I am having real trouble with colour matching. So, once again, Dad to the rescue!

He is popping over to take some photo's for me tomorrow and when he's emailed it back to me I will post it, I promise :0)

Meanwhile, I received two parcels a few days ago that I just had to share with you.

The first was Codi's new bed. As you know, our beautiful dog, Codi, passed away unexpectedly on Christmas day and it has taken me some time to come to terms with it - in fact I am not even there yet and I know that by how emotional I feel as I type this post.

Initially I had thought that keeping Codi's ashes close to us indoors might be of some comfort, but looking at the box that her ashes were in, merely served as a reminder of her death. It just felt so 'cold'.

I needed to find Codi something more personal to rest in and during my search I came across this website, Pretty Boxes. I contacted Rachel, who makes beautiful handmade, 'decoupage' personal Journey boxes and asked her if she could make me a box for Codi.

Rachel was so empathetic, having recently lost her own dog and she asked me to send her some images of Codi.

Meanwhile, I had also received the most heartwarming poem from my friend and blogger, Suzanne Berry, called 'Rainbow Bridge'. I was so touched when I received it. I'd never heard it before and it was quite a comfort to me. I thought it might be a nice idea to use the poem as a text background and then put the images over the top, so the poem showed through the spaces.

Rachel agreed that this was a nice idea and not long after, I received the box in the post. Here it is...

... This photo really doesn't do the box justice. It is really special. It is scattered with photographs taken during some of the best times Codi has had during her life and Rachel has finished it with pretty gems in each corner.

The box now sits in the front room by the telly and rather than reminding us of her death, instead it reminds us of her life and we really couldn't ask for more than that...

...But - we did get more. Having cried my heart out when I received the poem - and then cried my heart out again when I received the box, it was emotional meltdown when I received the next parcel!

Not long before, I had been a randomly picked winner of the most beautiful limited edition print 'Timeless Remedy', by Crystal Cook. I felt SO lucky!

Anyway, soon after, I received the most beautifully wrapped parcel...

And inside...

The real thing, if at all possible, is even better than the photograph, but as if that wasn't enough, along with the print was a card and at the end of the words inside, Crystal wrote, 'I hope you love the print and the other little surprise I sent along with it'.

So, I turned the package over ...

and found this...

Drawing by Crystal Cook

(drawn from the Photo I put of Codi on my blog a few posts back)

It must have taken me at least ten minutes to be able to see Crystal's drawing of Codi properly, because I was so moved by it that I was in floods of tears and literally had to sit down. And I'm honestly not one to cry at the drop of a hat!

Crystal had captured Codi's character so perfectly - far more so than I had ever been able to myself - that I felt momentarily as though Codi had just walked in to the room!

Do you know, I have met the most warm, caring and thoughtful friends through blogging? And I can't begin to explain what it has meant to me. Losing Codi was the hardest thing I've had to deal with in a long time, but these three beautiful things - the box, the poem and the drawing, all of which I will keep forever, have really meant the world :0)

My Dad wrote Charlie a story about his own childhood dog 'Bingo' the day after Codi had passed away. I only managed to bring myself to read it a couple of days ago and as Charlie promised, it really helped. It's amazing how art in it's many forms can be so healing isn't it?

I found that getting on with my own art helped with the healing process and now I have finished the latest bear I am buzzing because I have a great idea for the next bear of the series! It's quite a bit more complex than the one I have just finished but I think it will be really fun to do :0)

So - tomorrow I will begin playing with some new compositions and my Dad will hopefully get a nice photograph of the bear I have just completed so you all finally get to see it :0)

Don't go away!

Saving the best until last...

2012-01-22T18:39:00.001Z

(...and you will understand the title when you have finished reading!)

When I find a few minutes to sit and sketch, I can never resist these furry little fellows. They are just too cute!

I have never understood why people are so afraid of mice - or in this case, RATS!

But, for those of you who really do fear rats, I have named this one 'Lord Archibald the II', to make him seem less scary ;0D

On the subject of furry friends, I've been missing Codi in a big way.

Lately though, the chickens are really making their presence known! Just yesterday as I was making their porridge, whilst Marjorie and Babs ventured into the back porch, Frankie not only wandered into the kitchen as she often does, but this time she flew up on to the kitchen Island and perched herself there, staring intently as I stirred! Clearly she was getting rather impatient for her supper!

I don't mind her wandering into the kitchen. She will usually just peck up any crumbs she comes across on the floor, which I may have missed with the broom. I think the most amusing sight was when she pressed her face against the oven door as though she was trying to see what was inside. Aren't chickens usually looking out of the oven window, rather than in it, lol? If only Frankie knew that, she might not be so keen to go so near!

It has to be said, our feathered girls are quite safe from the dinner table - I don't think I could ever eat something that had a name!

It's still cold and dark here in the UK at the moment and whilst I don't want to wish that time would pass by any more quickly than it seems to already, I am looking forward to warmer and longer days.
In the Spring I hope to be sketching the girls as they roam the garden instead of curling up indoors with the sketchbook in my lap.

Anyway, as usual I will end my post with a fact about my week... and this one is BIG........

Q: What is the best thing that has happened to me during the last week?

A: I have been offered a six month contract with a rather beautiful gallery!!! And as I tell my news to my lovely bloggy friends, I am smiling from ear to ear :0))))))))

Watching paint dry...

2012-01-16T20:36:00.000Z

... at least that's what I was doing before I decided to finish this Portrait of 'Alfie' instead!

I had planned to spend a few hours on the latest bear, only to find that the last layer was still too wet to work on. So, every time I tried to work on one area, I smudged another! It just wasn't worth the risk.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I was asked to do a pencil portrait of this adorable little chap, 'Alfie'.

I did the hat a few days ago when I had some time to spare, and I did the rest this afternoon.

My hat goes off to Crystal Cook, who seems to effortlessly produce endless, perfect baby portraits, but portraits are completely out of my comfort zone and this is my first attempt at drawing a baby.

They are so perfect, in fact their adorable, squidgy, pudgy faces are actually too perfect; Their skin is flawless and smooth, their skin tone is even, but this means that there is little skin texture and tone to work with.

I started with a sketch on a separate piece of paper, just to get the shape of the face and the features correctly placed. I was expecting this stage to take a long time, but when I compared my initial sketch with the photograph, I realised that it was surprisingly close and only a few minor adjustments were necessary. Once I was happy with the sketch, I transferred the outlines to a sheet of Bristol Paper and then it was just a matter of adding the shading.

I found a way of helping with the problem of lack of tone by scanning the photo to my computer and adjusting the mid-tones. This made the shadows on the face a lot more apparent than they were on the actual photograph I was given and so much easier to work from.

The portrait of Alfie really didn't take me long and it was actually nice to have something else to do between 'bear time'.

I need to do more things like this I think!

Anyway - as promised, I will end this post with a useless fact about my day:

Q. What music did I listen to today?

A. None! The sun was shining and so the birds were singing me the most beautiful song. How could I possibly be so ungrateful as to not listen to them :0)

An interview with Carrie Waller...

2012-01-13T14:22:00.000Z

For the second in my series of interviews, I would like you to meet Carrie Waller (oh, and that's her son, Steven, also a budding Artist!)...

"I am a Mommy/Military Wife/Artist trying to keep her creative side intact in a world full of diapers, spit-up, and toddler conversations."

I have admired Carrie's incredible artwork since I stumbled across her blog a couple of years ago. She is a master of her chosen medium, watercolour and her blog is well worth a visit. You can see it here.

1. First of all, when did you first realise that you could draw?

When I was in the 3^rd grade my art teacher entered a collage I did into the Texas State Rodeo and I won 1^st place, that was the first time that I had any idea that I might be good in art. I took art as often as I could after that. I guess in Jr. High and High School I realized I could draw.

My own personal favorite of Carrie's paintings

2. Did you have any formal training?

I majored in Graphic Design at the University of Illinois for 1 yr, I did really well in the program but realized I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life. I switched majors and schools. I ended up getting a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design at Southern Illinois University.

3. What made you settle on watercolour? Have you tried other mediums?

I had always enjoyed watercolours in high school. I dabbled with ink washes in college. When I decided to start painting after college I wanted something that was easy to get out and not as messy as oils, I wanted as few deterrents between me and painting (if I had to change clothes and worry about ventilation I knew I wouldn’t paint as often). I also read that watercolour is the most difficult medium to master and I’m super competitive so I took it as a personal challenge.

4. How do you manage to juggle painting with other things such as entertaining your two little boys and keeping a home? Take me through an average day in the life of Carrie Waller…

Ha Ha Ha, as I’m answering this I’m typing with one hand because I have a squirmy 2 yr old in my lap :0) It’s not always easy, I have to take lots of breaks to do normal life activities, get snacks and drinks for my 5 yr old and 2 yr old, transform a transformer, play with Lego's, break up a brotherly fight, it can be a challenge. But I love to enter competitions, I need deadlines, so if I have my blog and competitions to hold me accountable I soldier through the daily grind:) I also try to get my boys into the action by letting them paint and color anytime they want to .

5. I am a very messy painter! Luckily, my Husband converted the summer house at the end of the garden in to an art studio. Where do you paint and how do you manage to keep tiny fingers away?

I paint in my dining room. I’m in the center of the house where I can watch everyone and everything. I have trained my kids to be mindful of Mommy’s art. They know not to draw or paint on my paintings. Sometimes I will let my 5 yr old (Steven) paint a little area on my paintings. He takes great pride in helping Mommy :0) I’m not sure I trust my 2 yr old (Sam) to do this yet, but sometime in the future!

6. Do you ever have days where you simply don’t feel in the right frame of mind to paint? If so, do you give in to that feeling? Or do you make yourself paint regardless…

Depends on how strong that feeling is. Some days I know I’m just not in the mood and I do other things that day, other days I will force myself to sit down for at least an hour, if I’m still not feeling it after an hour I start fresh a different day. When I am on deadline, however, I will force myself paint.

7. If I am not in the right frame of mind to paint but paint anyway, I am often unhappy with the end result. Is this the same for you too?

Not really, sometimes I feel like I’m not even part of the painting, it’s kind of an out of body situation. My hands seem to know what to do even if I’m in a not so creative frame of mind (Now you're just showing off, lol!) In fact I really try to zone out by watching a movie or listening to blog radio shows. (Blog radio shows? I never knew they even existed!)

8. My Mum is very artistic and my Dad, as an ex-photographer has a keen eye for colour and composition. Where do you think your Artistic gift came from and are any other members of your family Artistic?

My Dad is also a photographer; I think I definitely think in compositions and paintings when I’m out and about. I rely on photographic references and I am always out to capture the perfect photo.

My Mom was always doing something creative as I grew up, she entered a lot of craft fairs—she was the inspiration for the name of my blog Carrie’s Creations, while I was growing up all of her craft tags were Krafty Klassics. Every since I was a little girl I wanted to use Carrie’s Creations for my works. My Mom’s dad was also had his own business and did art work and custom paint jobs on cars and trucks.

9. I often ask my 15 year old Son Charlie for his view on a finished piece of artwork, because he seems to have a good eye and though always tactful, he is very honest. I think that we all need someone like that! Who is your most honest critic - who do you turn to for an opinion on your art if you are feeling unsure?

Steven, my 5 yr old. He is super honest and really has a good eye. And he gives his opinion whether it’s asked for or not :0) The longer I have painted the more secure I am and that need to gain approval or another person’s opinion has diminished some. I pretty much have a clear vision now and stick with it.

10. My husband always says that he can’t even draw a straight line. My answer to that is always, ‘Well, there is nothing at all interesting about a straight line!’ Has Mr. Waller ever tried his hand at drawing?

My husband has a degree in Graphic Design and Architecture. We met in college in design classes. He will tell you though; his strong suite is in the functionality of a building or object and not the design. After college he commissioned into the Air Force and he is in Aircraft Maintenance so he doesn’t get the opportunity to draw or paint anymore but he is a fabulous photographer. I have used his photos for most of my European scenes, he has a really good eye! He’s also 6’3”+ so he has a different perspective than me at 5’ 3”. It can be interesting to see how differently we view the World.

11. What first gave you the idea of starting your own blog?

The movie “Julie and Julia”. (Love that film!) After I watched that movie 2yrs ago I thought what could I start a blog about and thought oh, yeah, I used to do this watercolour painting thing, I guess I could pick that back up:0) Before that it had been years since I had painted. (Wow - Really? I am genuinely surprised at this answer!)

12. What do you think has been the best part of having a blog?

Definitely the people I have met. What an awesome support system. Keeps me accountable, makes me strive to get better at my craft and keeps me sane as a military wife that moves around all of the time. I have a group of friends and mentors that move with me wherever I am.

13. And the most difficult part?

That would be when blogger ate my blog and I had to start all over from scratch, that was a bad couple of weeks. (That must have been a nightmare!)

14. You paint still life’s more than any other subject. Why is that? Are you ever tempted to paint a landscape or portrait?

I have painted landscapes and portraits. I had an epiphany this year that the reason I enjoy still life paintings so much is that I love interiors and design (hence my degree) and I’m just not as interested in the exterior as I am the inside and the objects within. I love to set up little vignettes that I think are beautiful or make an ordinary object elegant. My favourite landscape that I’ve painted is “Venetian Canal” and I realized the other day that I like it so much because you get glimpses into the interior of this building.

15. I tend to paint from life when the subject allows. Do you ever paint or draw from life, or do you find photo’s to be more useful?

I paint from photos. I spend a lot of time getting the perfect photograph. I think it through for several days and end up taking around 300 photos of each still life or subject so that I capture the perfect light, composition, etc. (Thank goodness for digital camera's!)

16. I tend to avoid painting landscapes because I find them uninspiring. Are there any particular subjects that you avoid painting? If so, why is that?

I find portraits hard to wrap my brain around. I also think that I gravitate to works that lacking people, I’ve always been a fan of Hopper—I always feel like you’re looking in or not really part of the action. In fact if I have a photo of a landscape I will take out the people and cars because I find it to be visual clutter. It may be a glimpse into me as a person, I enjoy my friends but I also enjoy my alone time.

17. Is there any subject that you haven’t attempted but you would like to try in the future?

I would like to paint my boys, I’m so inspired by Carol Carter and her growth series. She painted a portrait of her son for every year of his life. I really want to do this for my boys. (I'd like to do a portrait of my Son too.)

18. This is a difficult question. Which of your paintings is your favourite to date?

I really feel like each painting builds off the other and the more I paint the more I start to find the style and paintings that really feel like me. “Nostalgia” really made me start to focus more on capturing a certain feeling that I wanted. I also feel with my painting “Anticipation” I really found an aesthetic I like. I want to have contemporary compositions with dramatic lighting and objects that resonate with people. More people have shared stories with me about their time canning with their Grandmothers and Mothers. I really love that it evokes good memories for them.


Nostalgia

Anticipation

19. I once read that you should never throw away a failed painting. What do you do with the paintings that you regard as unsuccessful, assuming you have any?

I really push through on my paintings, I rarely stop in the middle. I have maybe 2 or 3 that I didn’t finish. I paint from left to right and I completely finish a section before I move to the next section, I think this helps me eliminate that stage in the middle where things can get muddy and discouraging.

20.What are your three all time favourite paintings by any Artist, dead or alive?

Wow this is a tough one: I’m constantly finding new art all the time by my fellow bloggy artists that I love. I’m trying to build up a collection.

I love a lot of Edward Hopper “Room by the Sea” is a favourite, appeals to my Interior Design roots, I love the simplicity and the light.

http://artgallery.yale.edu/pages/collection/popups/pc_amerps/enlarge19.html

I came across Alvin Richard in the blog world. I would say his art has been the most influential for me so far. He puts so much research and thought behind his compositions. They tell a story and they’re so personal, can’t get enough of his work.

http://alvinrichard-art.blogspot.com/2010/06/sheriff-woody-crayolas.html

And while not a painting, I am obsessed with chairs and design and I love Charles and Ray Eames. Love this aesthetic it is a definite inspiration for me I want my art to be complimentary to their style. I love the vibe and I will own this chair one day :0)

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/10/26/1288086330121/Eames-lounge-chair-and-ot-006.jpg

Speed round!

Early bird or night owl? - Definite Night Owl—Whooo Whoooo :0)

Sweet or savoury? - Both

Tea or coffee? -Tea, not a coffee drinker

Romantic comedy or serious drama? - Romantic comedy

Drive or walk? -Both

Too warm or too cool? - We move all of the time, so I find it fun to live in the South for a while where you can wear shorts in the Winter and also live in the cooler climate where the kids get to enjoy the snow.. I do love my sunshine I don’t enjoy gray days.

Friends for dinner or dinner at friends? Friends for dinner (but not in a Hannibal Lecter kind of way :0) (Hehehe)

Autumn or Spring? Love all seasons

Favourite colour? Really depends on what I’m using it for. When I’m painting I love to incorporate Turquoise somewhere in my painting. I love red (me too), I always have a red purse or red polish on my toes.

10. Ask the questions or answer the questions? - I think I learn both ways

Thank you so much Carrie! I really enjoyed reading your answers!

As for me... well don't go away, because between 'bear time' I am also working on something else which I hope to finish soon. So watch this space!

Seeking 'The Light Side of the Moon'...

2012-01-07T19:32:00.001Z

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for leaving me such heart-felt comments on my last post about Codi.

As you know, I almost always answer comments individually at the end of the comment roll, but this time I hope you will understand that though I read and absorbed them ALL, I really couldn't go back and type an individual response to each one, because I just found it too emotionally difficult.

It took me a while to make my way down to my art room because Codi would normally come with me and so I knew I was going to really feel it... I think they call it 'self preservation'.
But knowing I needed to get my next bear on the go I finally made a start a few days ago.
Ordinarily I would have been doing this all over the Christmas holiday and so it would have been nearly finished by now. Instead I was curled up in my bed with a nine roll pack of tissues - But, at least the ball is now rolling.

Anyway, I thought I would give you a little preview.
I have got the under-painting down now, most of the background and even part of the fiddle, but in this photograph it shows only the first layer of under-painting, where I begin to establish my darkest and lightest areas...

Though it looks quite light at this stage, like the last bear, this will also be very warm and very dark once it's complete.

Meanwhile, I found that painting really helped to take my mind off of what's happened. In fact, it has been the only time that my head has rested since... well, just... since :0(
Painting is a really therapeutic way of passing time isn't it?

The problem with concentrating on a series of large paintings is that I have little to post between. This got me thinking about sketching - AGAIN.
Anyway, I came across this wonderful book called 'An Illustrated Life', by Danny Gregory. Every page is crammed full of sketchbook excerpts, from both amateur and professional Artists. There are hundreds of them and I've never yet read a book that has made me want to rush out and fill a sketchbook as this book has. It's totally non intimidating and shows not just carefully thought out sketches, but also carefree and hap-hazard ones too, just as I like them!

I am now on the look out for a decent sketchbook, which I have never yet found, so, if any of you have managed to find a good one, I'm sure we all want to know about it!

Before I go, this year I thought it might be a fun idea to put some sort of fact about my day at the end of each post, such as, what music I listened to today, or what's for dinner tonight. So, here is this years first fact...

What music I listened to whilst painting today?

'PINK FLOYD', because it suits my current mood - Both 'The Wall' and 'Dark Side of the Moon', twice each - and both at at least 100 decibels as this is the ONLY way to listen to Pink Floyd.

Back soon...

The day the fairy-lights went out.

2011-12-29T16:20:00.000Z

I said I wouldn't post until the New-Year, but we find ourselves in bits following the most awful Christmas.

This post is for Codi, our dog, who died unexpectedly on Christmas day.

I have never felt such a loss in my whole life and this feeling is only amplified by the fact that as I work from home, we were virtually never apart and not only that, she was a dog that always made sure her presence was known.

Now, her presence is only 'felt' and earlier today I found myself opening the back door to let her in. It's the strangest thing.

When I have heard people speaking of a 'heavy heart', I always thought that it was just an expression, but now I know that it is a true physical feeling. My heart feels as though it is being dragged down in to the pit of my stomach and I find myself constantly fighting back tears.

I am never usually a person to share negative feelings, but hopefully you will understand that just this once I can't do anything else.

I feel like I should be posting so much more but this is just too painful.

I hope that all of you had a much brighter Christmas.

'We love you Codi - and you will always be here, right by my side xxxxxxxxx'

Ho Ho Ho...

2011-12-21T15:48:00.002Z

Whilst on the phone at work the other day, I found myself doodling a little festive pen sketch.

It was one of those things that I did without even thinking and it wasn't until later that I noticed it on my page at all as I scribbled down another phone number. I chuckled to myself and thought that it might make a rather cute and amusing Christmas Card!

Over the last few weeks I have been really busy, not only with Christmas preperations but also with preperations for my next oil painting, so unlike last year when I posted the Baubles and a Cocktail glass as my Christmas post, I haven't had time to produce any thing like it this year!

So, I decided to recreate my little doodle, a little bigger, with a little colour but minus the coffee ring and scribbled telephone numbers beneath! I thought that it would be the perfect Christmas card to all of you, my lovely bloggy friends!

It's been an interesting year for me.
I made the decision to leave my course and it is only since I left that I finally realised how 'Sandra' paints. Now I can honestly say I have realised my own style at last and it feels like 'me'!

That in itself is one of my biggest achievements of the year and I now find myself with the backing of a Gallery too. Whether it progresses or not, I can not think of a more positive way to end the year than that!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of my followers, old and new, for your continued support and endless words of encouragement throughout the year. I have met such wonderful people!

Speaking of which, I was asked today by one of my American bloggy friends, what I mean when I speak of 'Boxing day'. I was really surprised since I ignorantly assumed that everyone has a Boxing day! So, for the benefit of those from across the pond, Boxing Day is quite simply the day after Christmas Day. But it has become like a second Christmas Day and it has it's own traditions that come with it.

So, since we have two special days it gives us a chance to share our time around different members of the family and we usually alternate years as to who we see on which day.. This year we are spending Christmas Day with my parents, my Sister and her family. We will have some kind of starter, usually chosen by my Dad, followed by a traditional Christmas dinner as follows: (Vegetarians please shut your eyes!)

Turkey

Ham

Pigs in Blankets (or chippolatas/mini sausages wrapped in bacon)

Sausagemeat Stuffing

Sprouts - I am one of those who LOVES sprouts!

Red cabbage with ginger, red wine and Cinnamon (which I will be making myself as it's my speciality)

Roast potatoes

Roasted parsnips

Honey glazed carrots

and a selection of other veg

Home-made Gravy (this can only be made by my Dad as he is the MASTER of gravy!)

Cranberry Sauce (though some strange people, who enjoy all things disgusting, prefer bread sauce!)

Hmmm, I think I've remembered everything...

Next, we will indulge in a traditional Christmas Pudding (my FAVOURITE!!!), which we will first steep in Brandy and then set fire to it at the table. Once the flames have gone out, we will cover it in fresh double cream (some prefer Brandy butter - I love both!) and devour it! We usually have an alternative pudding too for those, like my Sister, who dares not to like Christmas pudding!

This is all usually washed down with a merry glass or two of wine along with some terrible jokes from the crackers, which we pull at the table!!

Then on Boxing day we are having Paul's Mum over, followed by his Sister and her family later on in the afternoon. We don't have another Christmas dinner on Boxing day but we will still eat lots of yummy things from the left overs of Christmas Day. Some people make a turkey curry and that has become the traditional thing to do over here. But - we tend to have cold meats, smoked salmon, a cheeseboard, some salads etc. And of course there will be mince-pies with cream too!

And Christmas simply wouldn't be Christmas without a bottle of Original Baileys Irish Cream and a tin of Quality Street or Roses chocolates... Mmmmmmmmmmmmm..

The day after boxing day is all about staring at our huge reflections in horror and trying to squeeze our newly gigantic bottoms in to our jeans having over indulged in a big way for the several days beforehand!!!

What will you all be up to I wonder?

Now I am off to wrap the final gifts so I can enjoy two solid weeks off with my lovely husband :0) (Of course I will be spending some of this time at my easel too)

So, this is my final post until the New Year and I am sorry in advance if I miss any of your own posts during this festive time!

Merry Christmas to you all and have a very happy, 'arty' New Year!!!!

Festive Hugs!!

The Versatile Blogger Award...

2011-12-14T12:19:00.000Z

I was very chuffed today to find that my bloggy friend Jane Minter has awarded me with "The Verstile Blogger" award...

...Thank you SO much Jane :0D

Do have a look at Jane's art blog, Jane Minter's Sketchbook.

As part of the award I will now pass the award on to 15 bloggers and their blogs .

I pass the award of "The Versatile Blogger Award" on to the following wonderful 15 bloggers and artist :

Crystal Cook at: Art by Crystal Cook

Carrie Roets-Waller at: Carrie's Creations

Suzanne Berry at: Suzanne Berry

Kim Rempel at: Eat, Drink, Paint

Barbra at: Art Hearts Place

John at: JWJArts

Cristina at: A Blob of Colour

Katherine Thomas at: Katherine Thomas

Carmelina at: Creative Carmelina

Sandy at: Paintings of my Life

Pointy Pix at: Pointy Pix

Hilda at: H.Muxo

Liana at: Liana Yarckin Watercolours

Michael at: Paint Bytes

Kathryn at: Studio at the Farm

As part of the award I also have to include 7 facts about me. So...

1. I first began drawing five years ago at the age of 35!

2. I am married to my lovely husband Paul and we have two children; Charlie aged 15 and Adele aged 20, a dog called Codi and three chickens named Babs, Frankie and Marjorie!

3. I am very sentimental.

4. I am a Gemini

5. I believe in Ghosts

6. One ambition of mine is to one day swim with Great-White sharks...without a cage!

7. I will often shelter myself to the point of ignorance, from the nasty things that go on in the world. For that reason, I rarely ever watch the news or read the Paper. If I can't do anything about it, I would rather not know.

I am hoping to get another post on before Christmas - It's very hard to keep it all up at this time of the year isn't it?

I hope you are all enjoying the preparations as I am :0)

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"

2011-11-27T11:06:00.000Z

... And here is that truth. Let me introduce you to............. 'Sherlock-Wilson' - my Mum's previously unnamed bear...

If you remember my earlier post on the bear as a W.I.P, you will know why I named him 'Sherlock'. So - why Sherlock-Wilson?

Well, when I spend so much time with one bear, I often find my self, um... talking to it!

Do you remember the Volley Ball that Chuck befriended in the film 'Castaway' and named Wilson?

Well, during the 60 hours I spent in solitude with this bear, he became my Wilson, hence the middle name!

Anyway, it turns out that Sherlock-Wilson has a cockney accent! Who knew? Lol!

It also turns out that the best tutor I have had to date was my Dads old bear, Ted, from my previous bear painting! I knew I had learned a lot from painting him, but I didn't realise quite how much until I began this one :0)

I found the books to be quite a challenge, particularly that tatty old cotton covered book.

Aside from that, you wouldn't believe the trouble I had getting a photograph of the painting. I had such a problem with reflected blue light bouncing off from what in reality are warm, rich darks - particularly towards the bottom. I had to turn to my Dad in the end who managed to get a much better result than I had!

The painting is 18" x 22" on canvas covered board.

I have three more boards of the same size, all of which will be paintings of bears. I am just looking for some new props. :0)

I hope you think he was worth the wait, lol!

An Interview with Crystal Cook...

2011-11-22T11:57:00.000Z

This is the first interview ever on my blog and who better for me to begin with than Crystal Cook?

And here she is...

Crystal was one of the first to follow my blog and still I remember when her face appeared and off I went to check out her own blog. What I found was one of the most amazingly gifted artists I had come across and I couldn't understand what on earth she saw in my own work!

Anyway, that was a long time ago and since then, Crystal has become a wonderful friend, always burting with encouragement and willing to offer advice how ever busy she is.
She also invented a brand new word... HUZZAH!!!!!!!!

Crystal has the rare ability to paint the very soul of her subject, but you really need to see it for yourself to understand what I mean, so I would recommend you visiting Crystals blog because it really is a treat :0)

So, here we go - I will be speaking in purple and Crystal will be speaking in blue and throughout the interview I will be showcasing some of Crystals work for you to see...

First of all, when did you first realise that you could draw?

I have always loved to draw but never felt competent at it. When I was in high school there were so many other kids who could draw better than me and I kind of took it as a challenge to try and improve. So after more years of practice, one day when I was drawing in my sketchbook I looked back over the last few pages of drawings I had done and was surprised to see that they were pretty good. I had spent so much time working and studying and hoping to be good at drawing that it really came as a surprise that I had gotten close to my goal. That’s the long answer to your question. The short answer is, about ten years ago. :0)

Did you have any formal training?

Nope. I took one watercolour class that was a gift from my husband when we were first married (which was about eleven years ago), but that was it. I pretty much taught myself through lots of practice, LOTS of mistakes, and lots of study of paintings I loved. And I’m still learning! Always learning. :0)

As a wife and Mother myself, I often find it hard to juggle painting with other things. What about you, as a wife and mother of three, how do you manage to juggle every day things including entertaining the three little Cooks and yet still manage to find the time to write and paint? Take me through an average day in the life of Crystal Cook…

I find it to be a real struggle too. I’m always trying to find a good balance. It’s hard. I don’t work outside the home so I usually set my schedule by whatever my boys need at the time. I try to make sure that when my boys and husband are home I am giving them all of me so I don’t paint or write from the time my boys get home from school until they go to bed. But I have to paint, every day if I can, it’s a huge part of who I am and when I don’t paint I’m not happy and then I know I’m not giving my family my best self. During the day my youngest son (who’s three) will sometimes take a nap so when that happens I stop whatever I’m doing and paint! I get up early sometimes and paint or write then when my family is still asleep. And I have this little envelope of photos and ideas for future paintings that I keep in my purse and whenever I have free time, if I’m stuck in line somewhere or waiting in the car for my kids to get out of school, I pull those photos out and study them, and I paint it in my head. I think about what colors I would use, I study shapes and shadow patterns, and I plan the entire painting so I know exactly what to do when I do have time to paint so that time isn’t wasted (What a great idea!). At night, once my boys are asleep, I usually paint then too.

I am a very messy painter! Luckily, my Husband converted the summer house at the end of the garden in to an art studio. Where do you paint and how do you manage to keep tiny fingers away?

I usually paint in my kitchen, which opens up to both the family room and the dining room so it’s one big space. This is pretty awesome because I can have my paintings and drawings that I’m working on out all the time and when I paint at night when my husband’s home we can still be in the same room and talk while I paint so we’re still spending time together. My kids are really good about not touching my paints, and I make sure they have plenty of their own art supplies to use too.

Do you ever have days where you simply don’t feel in the right frame of mind to paint? If so, do you give in to that feeling? Or do you make yourself paint regardless…

Honestly most of the time I feel like painting, it’s my passion (or obsession some might say:0)), I think I might feel differently if I had unlimited amounts of time to paint (does anyone have that though?) (Not me!). But sometimes I really just don’t feel like it so then I’ll take the day off. It usually means that I’m burning out and if I push myself to paint anyway, I’ll get a nasty case of artist’s block that will take a loooong time to get over.

If I am not in the right frame of mind to paint but paint anyway, I am often unhappy with the end result. Is this the same for you too?

Yes definitely! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ruined a painting because I pushed myself to paint when I wasn’t feeling like it. I think this is more because I’m rushing to get through painting because I think I ‘have to paint’ and so I’m making mistakes I wouldn’t usually make if I took the time to think things through.

My Mum is very artistic and my Dad, as an ex-photographer has a keen eye for colour and composition. Where do you think your Artistic gift came from and are any other members of your family Artistic?

I think it came from my Mom. She’s amazing at drawing! It just comes naturally to her. When I was little I used to ask her to draw pictures of horses for me all the time and I was always so amazed at how easy she made it look. My brother’s also really artistic and my sister is a photographer with an eye for colour and composition like your Dad.

I often ask my 15 year old Son Charlie for his view on a finished piece of artwork, because he seems to have a good eye and though always tactful, he is very honest. I think that we all need someone like that! Who is your most honest critic - who do you turn to for an opinion on your art if you are feeling unsure?

My middle son, who’s six, is pretty honest when I ask for his opinion. He even told me once that his favourite part of one of my paintings was my signature. (Ahh, how cute!) :0)

What about your children, do any of your boys show signs of being a whizz with a paint brush? Do you try to teach them?

Both of my older boys show lots of talent with drawing. But my middle son (the six year old) has always been interested in art. From the time he was about 18 months old he has LOVED to colour and draw. This summer I spent some time teaching him about art and painting, but mostly I just tried to encourage him and provide him with lots of different supplies. Right now he really likes to illustrate his own little books that he makes and he can draw comic book type superheroes really well.

My husband always says that he can’t even draw a straight line. My answer to that is always, ‘Well, there is nothing at all interesting about a straight line!’ Has Mr. Cook ever tried his hand at drawing?

I love that answer! A straight line is boring! My husband has tried, and he’s pretty good at drawing super hero guys too, but it’s not what he’s passionate about. We always joke that if our kids need help with math homework they go to him and if they need help with literature or art they come to me (Exactly the same in our house!). Which sadly has proved true, who knew fourth grade long division was so hard? :0)

What first gave you the idea of starting your own blog?

I had just found one of my favourite author’s blogs (Maggie Stiefvater) that was a lot about the process of writing and offering encouragement to other writers and I just loved that approach. I wanted to do something similar, but with an art blog. When I first started as an artist I struggled a lot with feelings of inadequacy and failure and I thought that others probably did too (Ohhhh yes!), and wouldn’t it be great if I could combine my art with a little piece of my writing that was meant to motivate and encourage other artist’s to keep trying and never give up? I guess that sounds a little idealistic, but the whole idea of persevering even when things get tough has really been important to me and I wanted to make sure that if there happened to be other artists out there who needed someone to encourage them when they felt like quitting, then I could be that person for them.

What do you think has been the best part of having a blog?

The feeling of kinship with other artists. I love the connections you can make with people you wouldn’t otherwise have had the chance to meet. That is a very, very cool thing.

And the most difficult part?

Coming up with new ideas to write about. And making time for it. Blogging takes a significant amount of time and it’s hard to fit it in sometimes.

You paint portraits more than any other subject, but recently you painted a glass of iced tea, which I thought was just as brilliant. Is there a reason that you tend to stick to portraits even though it is clear that you can paint other subjects in equal amounts of amazingness to your portraits?

First of all, thank you so much for that wonderful compliment! :0) I guess I paint portraits so much because I want to express emotion with my paintings and I think that painting the human face is the most direct way to do that.

I tend to paint from life when the subject allows. Do you ever paint or draw from life?

I don’t paint from life right now, one day I hope to do that, maybe when my kids are all grown up. I do draw from life in a sketchbook sometimes, and I’m going to be joining a live figure drawing group that I’m really excited about, and I’m a little scared about it too! :0)

As you know, I don’t particularly like painting landscapes. Is there any particular subject you avoid painting? If so, why is that?

Landscapes for me too! I keep telling myself I need to get over that, but I just don’t feel drawn to them for some reason. I think it’s because I am so used to painting close ups that when I see a huge landscape in front of me I just don’t know where to start!

Is there any subject that you haven’t attempted but you would like to try in the future?

I would really like to try some interior scenes with figures, maybe in coffee shops or restaurants or something like that. I want to incorporate more figures and scenes into my paintings instead of just portraits.

I have realised only in the last few months that try though I have, I can not paint like anybody else - I can only paint like ‘me’. Have you ever tried to paint like another Artist and if you have, did you find it difficult?

I think that realising that you can only paint like ‘you’ is one of the most important steps any artist can make. When I was first learning I copied the style of a lot of artists I admired, but quickly came to see, like you, that I couldn’t maintain that. I wasn’t happy painting like anyone else, I had to paint like me.

This is probably a difficult question, but which of your paintings is your favourite to date?

I have one painting, which I have never posted on my blog, that is my favourite because it was the first portrait that I painted that felt like it was ‘my’ style. I wasn’t copying the style of someone else, I was painting like me, and it’s also a portrait of my son and I feel like I really captured who he was in paint for the first time. But my favourite painting posted on my blog is ‘Timeless Remedy’.

and this is it...

...Breath taking isn't it? Sigh...

I once read that you should never throw away a failed painting. What do you do with the paintings that you regard as unsuccessful, assuming you have any?

I, um, *gulp* throw them away! At least, the ones that I know are beyond saving and that have no sentimental value for me. But I have kept all the ones that I painted when I was learning to paint, just to see my progress over time.

What are your three all time favourite paintings by any Artist, dead or alive?

Now that is a hard question! Let’s see. . .

Their Journey Together by Daniel Gerhartz - (Have just Googled. It's beautiful!)

The Lost Sheep (modern) by Liz Lemon Swindle - (Googled again - Not what I was expecting as no sheep apparent. Maybe sheep is indeed lost, lol! Can see exactly why you like it.)

By A Thread by Mary Whyte - (Wow, this is like a photograph!)

Aside from painting and writing, do you have time for any other hobbies?

Not really! I read, play with my family, go for a run. I do really enjoy cooking and baking.

Okay – now for the fun part! The Speed round…

Early bird or night owl? Early bird. I love mornings!

Sweet or savoury? Sweet!!! Huzzah!!

Tea or coffee? Neither. Hot chocolate! With dark chocolate if you please.

Romantic comedy or serious drama? Romantic comedy

Drive or walk? Drive. In a fast car. With a great sound system.

Too warm or too cool? Too warm

Friends for dinner or dinner at friends? Friends for dinner

Autumn or Spring? Autumn

Favourite colour? Pink! Hot pink, dusty pink, rosy pink, anything pink.

10. Ask the questions or answer the questions? Ask the questions. I’m very curious.

Thank you so much Crystal for such an insightful interview! I'm sure everybody will love reading it as much as I did!

Now - A quick note to all, about the bear - I have had real issues in trying to get a good photograph of him, which is why it's taking so long, but it will be the next post, I promise!

'And I quote...'

2011-11-15T19:01:00.001Z

Well, I could go on fiddling with the bear for ever and a day, but as Leonardo de Vinci once said...

'Art is never finished, only abandoned'.

Ooh, don't I sound knowledgeable! But in fact I only learned that the other day whilst on a visit to London's National Gallery with my Mum a few days ago...

As much as I would have liked to have taken such a good photograph of the Gallery, I found this one on a copyright free website and all of the remaining photographs on this post were courtesy of Wikapedia and similar sites.

I was really disappointed when we were told that we were not allowed to take photographs inside the gallery.
Never mind - we had such an amazing time! Just being in Trafalgar Square was nice. There is something to see in every direction; Nelsons Column, Big Ben, the Millennium Wheel... Oh and a few thousand students protesting about University fees along with an equal amount of police, TV Cameras, and helicopters!
Still, it was all harmless and quite an intriguing sight! All part of the London experience!

It was the first day of the Leonardo de Vinci exhibition at the gallery, but Mum and I have booked to see that one in January after the initial rush is over. Jolly glad I am too, since the queue ended up somewhere in China I think, lol!

Inside the gallery, well what a treat!

We saw paintings by Van Gogh, including these...

This one was SO much brighter and more vibrant in real life!

And this, one of my all time favourite paintings by Turner...

The Lilly Pond by the wonderful Monet...

We saw paintings by Constable, Botticelli, Rubens, Cezanne... The list goes on!
And Mum and I learned that in the 17th cenury, people seemed to love running around with no clothes on!

Whilst many of the paintings in the gallery weren't really our cup of tea, it was still amazing to see them. Many of the canvases were so huge that we couldn't possibly imagine that they had ever hung anywhere other than in castles and mansions!

It was wonderful to see paintings such as the 'Sunflowers' just inches away and being able to see every single brush-stroke. It is those details which are lost on a screen or on print.

What also surprised me was the sheer vibrancy of the paintings in real life when compared to what I have seen in books or on the internet. The best examples of this were 'The Fighting Temeraire' by Turner. If there is one painting to see in real life if you ever get the chance, it has to be that one! Also 'The Wheat Field', by Van Gogh. I have never seen a reproduction of that painting with any where near the brighness and vibrancy as the real thing. I was really surprised when I saw it!

Anyway, I must stop waffling because I could go on and on!

I hope to post my new bear soon, but meanwhile, I am HONOURED to have been featured on Crystal Cooks latest post! I couldn't believe it when she asked me! She is such an incredibly talented artists!

I was so surprised to be asked and I had so much fun answering all of Crystals questions.

I was equally as delighted when Crystal agreed that I could interview her on my blog too. So, watch this space because that (and of course the bear) is all coming soon!

So don't go away!

Self Portrait...

2011-11-12T21:42:00.000Z

Yes - for those of you who have managed to work out what exactly that sketch is meant to be on my desk at work, it is indeed a 'headless chicken', or a 'Self-Portrait' as I aptly call it... because that is exactly how I feel at the moment!

Well, I did promise you some chicken drawings didn't I, lol!

Oh go on then, here is a close up, I know you want one ;0) ...

Here in the UK the clocks went back at the end of October and this means that the Autumn sun begins to sink towards the horizon from around 3.30pm. By 5pm it is completely dark and this really does limit painting time.

Still, I am trying my best to fit as much painting in as I can between my usual day job and other things I need to do such as keeping a cozy and clean home and spending time with my family.

I am very lucky to have the most amazing husband - and today, I managed to paint for six straight hours! Meanwhile, Paul was attempting his second Victoria Sponge following the slight disaster he'd had with the first attempt! He also cooked us the most yummy dinner! :0P

Thanks to Paul doing those things for me today, I am on the home stretch with the bear now. It really is all just minor details now such as highlights on the bears fur, the bow needs a little more work and the looking glass needs the last few highlights. I am sure that one more day would do it!

That said, tomorrow we really need to start our Christmas shopping, since we haven't even started yet! So as much as I would like to paint, a trip to Tunbridge Wells it is!
I still hope to squeeze in a couple of hours painting time in the afternoon..

If all goes to plan, I would like to think that by mid-week the painting will be complete. Then I will leave it for a few days and look again with fresh eyes to see if any adjustments are needed.

Oh I do hope that the final result is as I hope it to be!

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed the sketch I did, just for you whilst I was at work yesterday, lol!

The sign of a productive day...

2011-11-04T13:24:00.003Z

Hello my bloggy friends!
I'm still working away on my latest bear and I have to say, I'm rather excited about it how it is progressing!

I came to a point where there was something just not quite right about it and I couldn't put my finger on what that was, so I decided to step away from it for a while and look again with a fresh pair of eyes. That almost always works for me and this case was no exception.

When I looked again a few days later, I quickly realised that the colour of the bear was just too cold to harmonise with the rest of the painting and this case I am looking for an overall feeling of warmth and depth. The thing is, the colour of the bear is rather a cool and neutral colour, so I had to think about how I was to address this problem.

Then came my 'aha' moment, which I spoke of in my last post - I put a lamp to one side of the bear and this instantly brought out some much warmer hues. So, I simply exaggerated those colours and within a short time the painting looked entirely different.

I have just about finished painting the bear himself apart from a few minor adjustments needed to the feet and then I will be able to continue working on the old and tattered books. The last thing will be that lovely old looking glass!

Anyway, between the wonderful times I am spending with the newly named bear 'Sherlock', I have been working in my usual day job, so I have not had time to draw anything else to post.
But what could possibly be more of a work of art than the evidence left behind in the art studio after a day with brush in hand?

I would say I am about 3/4 of the way through the painting, so not long now!
What is wonderfully re-assuring, is that my husband showed a photograph of the bear at the stage it's at now to one of his customers... and guess what - she is desperate to buy it!!!! Yes, 'desperate' was the exact word used!!!

So, now I face a dilemma. If the Gallery likes it, do I sell it to them a lot cheaper in return for the promotion of my work, a cut from any prints sold and a chance to be paid more the future? Or should I sell to the lady who wants to buy it directly and make probably four times what I would from the Gallery?
If the Gallery did want it and I turn them down, I may not get that chance again. This is all new to me so I have some advice to seek!

Oh if only I could paint full time, then I could do it all; some for the Gallery, some for me to exhibit and sell for my own pocket and some for commissions... If only!

Oh well, let's not get carried away - the Gallery might not like it anyway and if they don't, at least I already have a buyer.

And really, how lovely to have that sort of Dilemma anyway! :0)

Before I go, please let me point you in the direction of Crystal Cooks latest post and not just for the most exquisite painting, but to learn the reasons behind it :0)

W.I.P. Thinking like Sherlock...

2011-10-21T18:47:00.000+01:00

Well I have been busy, busy, busy with the second in my series of bears and I have decided to give you just a little peak at the stage I am at right now.

I have finally finished the under-painting, which I did to establish my darkest tones and as you can see there are plenty of them!

I am aiming for another old fashioned style painting, rather like the last bear. That old bear of Dads taught me so much, so this time I feel ready to be a little braver!

I love this stage. It really does give me an idea of how it will look when it is finished...

(Ignore the blue area in the corner, that's just the light from the window hitting the canvas)

This bear belongs to my Mum and though vintage in style, I actually brought it for her just a few years ago. I have yet to decide whether or not I should 'tatty it up' a bit for the sake of the painting but I'll decide as the painting progresses :0)

That beautiful antique magnifying glass, which was kindly lent to me by a family friend reminded me of the sort of thing that Sherlock Holmes might have carried around whilst investigating crimes.

This got me thinking... painting is sort of similar really; although it's not quite like solving a crime, it is still an investigation of sorts. We are still looking at the evidence before us, building a picture and piecing together the puzzle in order to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

Just like Sherlock, I seem to go through stages of frustration and elation during the whole process.

One minute I am scratching my head, for something is wrong or out of place and so I have to step back and unravel, look just that little bit closer, until I reach one of those wonderful 'Aha!' moment.

It is when those very moments happen, that I find myself one step closer to concluding the whole picture and reaching that long awaited verdict when I can finally declare 'Case Closed'!

The frustration with this one hasn't been in the painting itself, but rather in arranging a good composition in the first place.

I really wanted something glass in the picture and the magnifying glass seemed in-keeping with the tatty old books, which I picked up from a local Antique book store.

Incidentally, one of the books is called 'Through the Looking Glass', making the magnifying glass even more relevant.

I had hoped to used the glass to create all sorts of wonderful distortions to the wording on the books, but no matter how hard I tried, it always left the composition looking overly contrived and it also seemed to take the focus away from the bear. So, instead I laid it in front of the books as something relevant to catch the light in what will be a predominantly dark painting.

Once the painting is complete, I hope I can borrow the magnifying glass again at a later date, because I do want to play around with some distortions at some point and glass is a favorite subject of mine to paint :0)

Since solving the composition issues, from then on it has been pretty plain sailing so far. Perhaps it's because, like the last bear, I had a pretty clear idea in my head from the start of how I want it to look. Let's hope it continues that way!

For once I have been properly timing how long I am spending on one painting. So far, from the moment I picked up my pencil to draw my initial sketch (as shown in my last post), to the under-painting as it is now, it has taken me 16.5 hours!

Anyway, I need to get back to my investigation now. This is the really exciting bit - time to add some colour!!

Take care everyone :0)

'Bear' Essentials...

2011-10-13T18:59:00.000+01:00

To my lovely, loyal, bloggy friends.

Firstly, thank you all for still being here!
I wouldn’t blame you for boring of my recent absence from the land of Blog during the last couple of weeks.
I feel the need to explain, as much has been going on in the right-hand side of my brain cell over the last few months!

Firstly, a couple of months ago I composed a long email to my tutor, in which I expressed a wish to withdraw from my Open University art course. To cut a very long story short, I felt that I was being moulded to paint in a certain way, to follow a trend and I was therefore being forced to develop a style that just isn’t me.

A couple of weeks later he contacted me and managed to persuade me that it was the wrong decision to make. So, as weak willed as I suddenly found myself, I reluctantly said I would keep it up - hence the subsequent landscapes and little else to show blah, blah....
Though I recognise my tutor’s good intentions, I had been looking forward to doing my own thing – I had so many projects in mind and yet here I was, back on that Merry-Go-Round!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I happened to be passing a beautiful Gallery and took a look inside.
The Gallery owner asked if he could help. I explained that I wasn't buying anything, but I was just interested in the way others paint because I like to paint too.
I want to paint like this...' I said as I pointed to a painting, which hung proudly upon the crisp, white wall before me, '...instead of like this', I finished as I showed him a random painting of my own on my iPhone.

He took my phone and asked if he could see some more, so I reluctantly showed him one or two further pictures.
I was shocked when he expressed an interest in my work and asked if I would bring some of the real things in to show him, so early last week I found myself drinking coffee with the Gallery owner, surrounded by the works of Phillip Gray, Rolf Harris, Hazel Soane etc, apologising profusely for the work I was showing him!

During our chat, it became evident that we both seemed to have very similar visions in what would make a nice painting, but what surprised me most was that he said that he 'liked my style' and that it was 'different'! He suggested that when I have done some further paintings, should he feel that they are what he has in mind from me, he might consider testing the interest on his website. He said that if there was enough interest, he may do some limited edition prints in the future!

He stressed on several occasions that it may come to absolutely nothing and I don't expect it to - But, WOW - Just the fact that a gallery owner would show some interest my work is more than good enough for me!!!

And what was this 'my style' business? I didn't even know I had one!
But then, as I sat down and looked at the bits I had shown him, I realised that none of those bits were from my course at all. In fact, all of it was work that I had painted just for the fun of it and from my own vision.
When I lined them all up, I suddenly realised that I do have a style - one that has developed naturally over time and one, which only finds itself when I am not being pushed to paint in a different way by the course.
I lean naturally towards realism and when I don't fight it, that is when I create my best work and in my opinion, the only good work I do.

Anyway - let's not get carried away by this. The reality is that nothing has really 'happened' other than a chat consisting of ifs, buts and maybe's, with the owner of a rather beautiful Gallery. So, I am remembering that and being very realistic.

But, this is why I haven't posted anything over the last couple of weeks. I have felt entirely lost again. I have been feeling SO guilty that one minute I am agreeing to carry on with the course and yet the next I am realising that I can’t do it all.

At this moment in my art room, in one corner there is a figure painting half finished, in another corner there is a still life with a glass sketched and ready to paint, there is a sketchbook open, begging me to sketch anything, at least something for my blog until I finish a bigger piece, then there is the course book open at the page where I am supposed to be painting a 'sky dominated landscape', yaaaaawn...
Consequently, I walk in, spin around, scratch my head and run out. What do I do first? Gaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I thought about this and realised that I need to forget about the course and everything else in the room at the moment. I need to start painting again from the heart and who knows, maybe the gallery owner will like it – but if not, I will at least have painted something by the real me.

And what better subject to start with than another bear!

Having played atround with some arrangements I got the initial sketch down on paper today, though I still have some adjustments to make before transferring my sketch to canvas ready to paint. For one thing the perspective of the magnifying glass needs adjusting before I go any further and there are also some further shadows to add.
It looks a little busy at the moment but a lot of it, such as the clock, wallpaper pattern and magnifying glass will be in DARK shadow and so ‘bearly’ even there!

Well, having not posted for a while, I am sorry that this one is consequently so EPIC!!!
But, you really don’t have to read it!

Instead, you might just like to see my sketch…

Thank you SO much for not leaving me!

See you again soon!

Thoughts and photo's to share...

2011-09-28T20:01:00.002+01:00

Nature offers such treasures for us to find at this time of year; an abundance of inspiration for small paintings and sketches!

During my earlier woodland walk, I took some photographs of the colourful and glossy fungi that has sprung up over the last few days...

... Aren't they beautiful?

If anyone would like to use any of these particular photographs for painting or sketching purposes, please feel free!

I have had little time to do so myself over the last couple of weeks for various reasons. That said, I currently have one painting on the go, and a new one which I am about to start.

It's funny how I have so many mixtures of feelings when I paint. I will often go from excitement, anticipation and loving each brush-stroke, to a feeling of sheer frustration! Of course sometimes it's the other way around :0)

And then there are those finished paintings, which I like at first and then later go on to never wanting to see them again! Like this old one...

I quite liked it at first and yet now, I see so much about it that I would change!

And at first, I was really uncomfortable with the 'Daddy's Home' painting behind my blog title, but then for some reason it really grew on me!

It goes to show how each painting or sketch that we do, teaches us something about ourselves as Artists and which direction we need to take next in order to evolve :0)

Sketchbook excerpts...

2011-09-16T19:35:00.002+01:00

As promised, I have decided to let you take a peek inside some of my sketchbooks, old and new!

So, for starters here is a very old one, next to a more recent one...

I am trying to leave out the ones you have seen, but I used to post a lot more sketches when I first began my blog, so I apologise if any of these have appeared before!

Anyway, here are some pages in which I was just playing around with ideas ...

And there are lots of experiments...

And these are some VERY old sketches that were done just for the sake of sketching...

...These two are how I learned that coloured pencils do not work well on pastel paper!

But never mind - I was pleased with the folds in the bedding...

...This is my most recent sketch. Here I have taped a new Autumn leaf inside my sketch book and painted the leaf next to it - I did this just a couple of days ago! :0)

And I'll finish with the sketch that helped me work out the colours and composition of the very painting behind my blog title above...

There are lots more sketches in my sketchbook, but since I have given you so much to look at in one go, I won't waffle on anymore today!

Have a great weekend!

Putting things into perspective...

2011-09-06T18:14:00.001+01:00

... And that's what I was trying to do here...

As you know, landscapes are simply not my thing. I don't like painting them and I am not yet a whizz with watercolour either. But because of this I make myself do both from time to time.
Give me oils or Acrylics any day!
It was all going perfectly well until it came to the shadows of the trees, which where meant to hugely emphasize the perspective. It's a shame that I made such a basic mistake and began painting the shadows whilst the wash beneath was still too wet.

I didn't want to wait until it was completely dry because I wanted the shadows to have soft edges, but unfortunately the wash beneath was wetter than I had realised and because of this, the shadows spread far more than I had anticipated.

The idea was that they would start off much thinner in the distance and get progressively larger as they came further towards the foreground. Instead they are the same all the way along and this actually takes away that feeling of distance that I had hoped to achieve. Talk about fall at the last hurdle!!

Oh well, never mind - another lesson learned!

At first, I was really disappointed and I almost put the painting away, never to be seen again. But then I really did 'put things into perspective' and changed my mind, because there are elements of it which I am really pleased with.

I am very happy with the light, which gives a real sense of the sun going down. This adds mood and atmosphere to the painting, which was largely achieved by studying other Artists and the way in which they work.

There is one Artist in particular who's work I particularly admire; I have been following Cristina Dalla Valentina's blog, A Blob of Colour, for some time now. She has painted many a landscape where the light really turns the painting in to something special. In this instance, it was this post, which inspired me in her use of light, but I could direct you to many, many more of her posts which are equally impressive; have a look at this one too.

Cristina makes watercolours look so easy and effortless! Of course that isn't true at all! Somehow her paintings always look so fresh and bright, whereas I often find that my watercolours dry to a rather dull finish.

Now, I do know that my lack of experience with watercolour must be be a factor, however (and not meaning to be a workman who blames his tools) I wonder if the paper I use might also be a factor, or even perhaps the paints.

The paints I currently use are mostly student quality, some are SAA (which I find quite chalky) and some are Cotman, though as I run out I am gradually replacing them with W&N Artists quality, which are visibly superior.

Reluctant to spend alot until I am more at ease with the medium, the paper I have used to date is Langton, occassionally Bockingford, both of which are reasonably priced, though neither of which I have been particularly impressed with.

Cristina kindly shared her brand of choice with me, which is Arches (300gsm cold pressed), so, for the first time I have pushed my purse strings and ordered this more expensive brand in the hope that it might make a difference to the finish of some of my future paintings.

So, whilst you are here, I would love to know which is your favourite brand of paper and which, if any, you have had problems with.
I would love it if you shared your own experiences :0)

Anyway, speaking of sharing, I thought that I might share some of the pages from my sketchbook in my next post, since I always love it when others do the same, so don't go away!

See you soon :0D

Foul Play...

2011-08-29T14:01:00.000+01:00

...And there has been plenty of that around here in the last week!

Having enjoyed a week of all things 'chickeny' it seemed my obvious choice of theme for today's post!

If I am to be completely honest with you all, I have a feeling it might be the theme of several posts over the next few weeks :0)

The girls have been SO well behaved! After just three nights of having to pick them up and put them on their perch, by night four, when we got to their chicken mansion to put them to bed, they were already there! They are such good chickens!

Anyway, having had some time to get to know them a little, they each have very different personalities. Babs has the most attitude, Frankie is the most curious and Marjorie is the most laid back.

This morning I thought that it might be nice to sketch one of our girls. However, whilst considering the best place to sit, I noticed that Marjorie had very kindly discarded one of her tail feathers, which was now drifting along the ground of their run in the breeze. So - I thought that I might sketch the feather instead - after all, it wouldn't move...

... Or so I thought. But on two occasions, whilst drawing the feather I looked up to find that it had fluttered to the floor in the breeze from the open door!

I was quite pleased with my effort when I had finished and was almost disappointed to have completed the sketch as quickly as I did! However, whilst I had been happily scribbling away, Paul had made his way down to the Coop and retrieved a lovely fresh egg, still warm, from Frankie, who is firing out eggs like there is no tomorrow! She has given us seven eggs in seven days so far!

I decided that I would sketch the egg to go with the feather. I know that an egg is hardly a challenge, but it is SO easy to forget how much fun it is to just draw. There is no pressure involved, no worrying about the result, nor if people will like it, its just drawing - and I do SO love that, and I forget just how much until I actually do it!

Aside from this, let's not forget just how important it is to keep drawing! Art is an illusive thing and it's all too easy to let other things get in the way and before you know it, it might have been a month since you picked up a pencil. And oddly, it's not like riding a bike - If you don't keep it up, you do go rusty!

A very talented Artist once said to me that there are plenty of artists out there who can paint, and yet they can not draw. Someone who doesn't practice art may not understand that, but those of us who do, will.

Recently, I have been so wrapped up in long-winded paintings, that I have been neglecting the very fundamentals of drawing and for this reason I am planning to be doing a lot more basic drawing over the next few months.

Sketching is one of the most important things an Artist can do and yet why is it that I will make every excuse not to do it? Just look at this charming sketch by John, at J.W.J. Arts . Aside from the hilarious narrative, I just LOVE looking at sketches like this - and yet I rarely do them myself! I need to change this and start to embrace the simple joy of sketching, just for fun.

Anyway - enough of my waffling! Time to enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday and get my pencils out :0)

Ta ta for now!

Exercising creativity in other areas, and visiting the Tate Britain...

2011-08-24T13:46:00.002+01:00

Firstly, my apologies for neglecting my blog for the last couple of weeks!

I have been working all hours to cover my colleague whilst she is on holiday, and aside from this, my hubby Paul, my son Charlie and I have all been busy creating something else together and our little project has meant devoting every minute of every evening and weekend to our new creation!

Anyway, it is finally finished!

The chicken run...

We have been toying with the idea of keeping chickens for the last couple of years. There was an unused area of garden that seemed like the perfect spot, and work began soon after my last post!

And these are the three girls who now live in this luxury chicken palace...

We collected them on Sunday and they are all 15 weeks old.

The red one is called Frankie. She is the most confident and she is the first to do everything, including laying her first egg just 24 hours after we brought them home...

And here it is again, the freshest egg I have ever cooked, straight from butt to pan - though my son wasn't overjoyed to be reminded of this when he was eating it, lol!

!

The black one is called Babs. She is the one with the most attitude!
The white one is called Marjorie and she is the most docile and the most lazy too.
Babs and Marjorie haven't started laying yet but hopefully they will soon :0)

Anyway, it may not be art, but there was some painting involved and I have no doubt that it will lead to some chicken and egg sketches too ;0)

Anyway, during this time, there was one thing that I couldn't resist making some time for.
The Tate Britain in London were holding a two week watercolour exhibition and I just had to go! You can't keep me away from local galleries, but I had never been to a gallery in London before.

I invited Mum along and was surprised at how much she enjoyed the day too.

The exhibition was far bigger than I had expected and there was so much to see! There were some of Turners sketchbooks and paintings on view. The two of us felt quite privileged to see them for real.
The one I was most surprised about was the famous 'Scarlett Sunset' painting which has always been a favourite of mine...

...Though I had seen the painting so many times in books and in print, it was so small in reality! Much smaller than I had ever imagined it to be - about A5, I would say.

There were also items which belonged to Turner on display such as his wallet, his paintbox and palette.
Of course there were other inspiring ideas on show too used by some of the other great masters! There were some oyster and mussel shells which had been used as portable palettes - what a neat idea! And lots of experimental works dotted about - Most inspiring!

We were also delighted to see some of John Singer-Sargents paintings which were also on display. It's so different to look at the paintings for real because you just can't see those all important brush-strokes when you see them in print.

When we had finished looking around the watercolour exhibition we didn't have a lot of time left, but we were determined to see some of the paintings in the rest of the gallery too.
It was just unfortunate that I had assumed that cameras were not allowed, because I realised late in the day that actually they were. If I'd have known, I would have taken lots of photographs.

This painting is made up of the fewest brush-strokes and colours and yet it was so beautiful, proving that less really is more. The photograph I'm afraid doesn't do it justice at all...

And this is a beautiful painting of Claude Monet, painting by a river, by John Singer-Sargent...

And this Singer-Sergent was absolutely huge!

The day filled me with new ideas but I the main thing I learned is that, the greatest paintings are made with the least fuss!!!

I found the whole day to be so inspiring and the both of us had a lovely day.

My colleage is back to work on Tuesday and so I will be getting my usual day off to paint, so normal activities will ressume on my blog from then onwards! And following our visit to The Tate, I am determined to come up with some sketches and paintings created with the minimum fuss!

Neat? ....Or not?

2011-07-26T17:16:00.000+01:00

For those of you who despair of my 'neatness', this one's for you!
(you can click on the images to make them larger)

It's about as far away from my most recent paintings as you can get, lol!

It was inspired by a painting I saw in a gallery recently, which I immediately liked.
I spent so much time studying the painting that I never thought to look at the name of the artist! It's a shame because I would have liked to have looked up some more of the artists work and shared their name with you too.

I took my newly found inspiration and used it to portray this scene from the woodlands at the bottom of my garden. Although initially it was meant to depict the pathway running through the woods, in the end it became a stream, because I felt that it seemed to read better that way!
Don't you just love the advantage of artistic licence? Besides, who's going to know it was a pathway anyway? ;0)

As I have said before, I like to try to offer a variety of styles on my blog, though I will probably always lean towards and perhaps even settle on realism - simply because I like it, it's me and instead of fighting it, I have finally begun to embrace it. Anyway - why not? I mean who makes the rules anyway?
To be honest, I question why anyone should feel pressured to follow what at the end of the day is merely the current trend - unless of course it comes naturally to them.
That said, I still like to dip my toes in the water now and again!

It is not the 'playful' watercolour I was telling you about in my 'Feeling Bubbly' post - I haven't started painting that one yet because it is still in its planning stage.

At this time I have three paintings, all on the go at one time! One is the playful watercolour (though who knows how it will turn out) and two are more serious acrylic/oil pieces.
I just wish I had more than one day a week to paint!

Now, to add a twist to this post - you may remember my Fields of Gold post in which I produced a fairly decent pencil sketch of a Spanish landscape. I said at the time that I was going to attempt the same scene as a watercolour, but - in the following post I admitted that the result was far too hideous to post!
Well, James said I should post it regardless, but I didn't and it's been hiding in the back of the cupboard ever since.

Anyway - today I came across it again and decided to post it, regardless of how I feel about it...

I put the two landscapes in this post beside each other and realised that I still have absolutely no idea where I am! I am both good and bad, sure and unsure, neat and loose... In other words I am neither here nor there. It's not the place I want to be - but at least I am somewhere, which I wasn't a few years ago!

I really think that the opinion will be divided between these two paintings. I mean, if you like one, then you surely won't like the other, right?

There is no question that my Dad will prefer the latter painting and probably my sister too. Yet I am almost certain that my Mum will prefer the first. I don't know what you guys think and I'm looking forward to finding out, but now what about me? Where do I stand?

Well, as much as I like painting realism in oils and acrylics I don't feel quite the same when it comes to watercolour. And following my most recent work, you may be surprised to learn that I prefer the first and find the second one absolutely dull, uninspiring... even sterile!

How is it that this scene works in pencil and yet not in watercolour? If I attempted the same scene again I would almost certainly tackle it differently.
One thing I am fairly certain of, is that if I painted the same landscape in either acrylics or oils, the result would be far more interesting.
But still, when I am challenged by something it makes me all the more determined to keep on having a go from time to time.

Isn't art an interesting thing? It divides so many opinions! The naturally neat people are forever wanting to loosen up and the naturally loose people are trying to neaten up! Just as those of us with straight hair long for curls and those of you with curls long for straight hair!

I am on this journey of discovery just waiting to find out what kind of artist I really am.
My guess is I will settle some day, probably in a realist style and probably on acrylics - but who knows. At the moment I am a multitude of artists of varying standards and styles, yet hopefully creeping ever closer to my goal of becoming an established and confident Artist.

So, tell me - which of these paintings do you prefer? Maybe you don't like either! And please, don't be shy - Say what you really think! I am entirely comfortable with that because I don't consider either one of these paintings to be the real me. One is my interpretation of somebody else's style and the other is a forced effort to paint the very subject which I least enjoy - Landscapes!

This should be interesting :0)

The 'My 7 Links Project'...

2011-07-22T12:28:00.002+01:00

The My 7 Links Project was generated by TripBase to "unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavour to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again." Bloggers list their Top 7 Links in the following categories...

– Your most beautiful post
– Your most popular post
– Your most controversial post
– Your most helpful post
– A post whose success surprised you
– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
– The post that you are most proud of

...and then Bloggers tag others and so it goes on.

I was tagged for this project by Sue Pownall from Art of a Nomad.

Here are a selection of my past posts, some of which are fairly recent, but some of which I think deserve this trip back in time:

My most beautiful post

I chose this not so much for the painting its self, but rather for the sentiment of the beautiful memories behind it :0)

My most popular post

This post has received the most comments!

My most controversial post

This post continues to catch peoples attention, not only because of the painting its self but because of the tricky subject I wrote about.

My most helpful post

This is the only post where I have showed a step by step guide to how I reached the finished result

The post who's success surprised me

I was amazed at the volume of positive response I received for such a simple sketch!

The post I feel didn't get the attention it deserved

But this was probably because it was only my third post and I had yet to gain any followers!

The post I am most proud of

Aside from the bear which I have already listed, this is still one of my favourite paintings

Finally, my five nominated artists to take part in the 7 Links Project are:

Crystal Cook of Art by Crystal Cook

Artist Suzanne Berry

Carrie of Carrie's Creations

Pat of Pat Elliot Paintings

Barbra Joan of Art Hearts Place

Happy posting! :0)

Feeling Bubbly...

2011-07-16T18:23:00.006+01:00

I had intended to do something a little more 'playful' for this post, but after having so much fun with the glass, I just couldn't resist some more realism!

I have been wanting to paint some bubbles for some time and at last I have finally scratched that itch :0)

As much as I prefer to paint from life, clearly this isn't possible with this particular subject! But getting a reasonable photograph proved to be a challenge in it's self!
In the end I had to seek some help from my Dad, but even he found it difficult!
So, as well as using photographs for reference, I had to call upon a little of my imagination too :0)

Though not as complex as the glass, this painting still required a considerable amount of concentration and observation. My eyes are actually still hurting as I type!

Anyway, I have to say I was very pleased with the result, until I varnished it with gloss, which I had thought would suit the subject. This proved to be a mistake.

Unfortunately if the painting is near light, the light bounces from it, which is distracting.
I am really cross with my self because I had been thrilled with it to that point.

Never mind, another lesson learnt! And I still like it anyway.

I am going to give my self a rest from realism for now and attempt a more 'playful' and imaginative painting using watercolour. Who knows what the result will be? But it'll be fun to let go :0)

Besides, it's nice to offer you all a little variety too.

See you again soon :0)