Old oil painting

Old oil painting of my cat leaping between gate posts. She was really clever and if I tapped the gatepost opposite where she was sitting she would leap across the gap. She would also come to me when I whistled for her. This was taken from a photo using a 35mm olympus camera. It took a few shots to get the image to paint from.

I used to paint in oils when I was in college and just afterwards but eventually started using acrylics when I found how quick and easy they were to paint with.

Sorry for the blurry photo but it’s high up on a wall and I would have to stand on a, step ladder to get close enough for a good photo.

Little poppy

I had a lovely afternoon out so I gave my friend this small painting to say thank you. It’s only about three inches square. We had gone to a garden center so I felt it would be nice to give her something floral. Poppies are my favourite flower, vibrant and silken looking. This is a simple painting in acrylic. Drops of dew or rain sit on the petals and shimmer in the light. A bud ready to burst sits next to the flower with it’s promise of further beauty.

Jessie Shirley’s bone and flint mill.

A few years ago I did a painting of the bone and flint mill in Etruria. I exhibited it in a small exhibition and I ended up getting four commissions to paint it again!

I had to give each painting a different name, not flint mill 1,2,3 and 4, but slightly different wordings for each.

I only remember this because the photos appeared on Facebook memories. It shows, I think, that I AM a real artist, just because I’m not doing much at the moment. I have paintings to finish, but dear old artists block keeps biting me in the bum. Things I have to do get in the way. Life gets in the way.

Fair fat and forty?

Blurry photo from my Facebook memories

I called it “fair fat and forty”, which was actually a statement radiographers used to use for the risk having gallstones!

I must have been feeling a bit fed up when I painted it. The picture was taken off another photo so it’s a bit pixelated. I shall have to find the painting and take a better photo. I was wearing a favourite tee shirt recycle, repair, reuse. And I’m in front of books with humourous titles that I made up… I can’t read them here. I tend to do a self portrait every ten years or so. X

Four years ago

I was painting a backdrop for the final penkhull mystery play before the pandemic. It’s unlikely the plays will be continued, people get older or move on. The children who used to be involved are growing up. I don’t feel able to do anything like this any more. I can do some things but I shake too much to get delicate work like this done. At least I have memories. Willow pattern design I made up.

Didn’t get my painting in

I just got an email to tell me I didn’t get this in the Three counties open exhibition…. Perhaps I should have gone with a traditional portrait. Oh well, I’m old enough not to be too disappointed. I guess I will try again next year. My work will be on display and up for sale on Acava Spode Open day in a few weeks. I need to check the date. I need to go and sort out my studio and create an exhibition there instead. I’m enjoying painting in a slightly abstracted way, I think it fits in with my style?

I painted an elephant portrait.

Seven years ago I had a small exhibition at Etruria Industrial museum. This blurry photo just came up on my Facebook memories.

The blurry image of my painting was taken from a photo of my friend with a white elephant she had made of paper and willow withies. She was sewing a rich red and yellow fringe around it as way of hiding the legs of the person who was to carry it. The back had a hollow ‘houda’ I think its called? Like a basket to sit in. This was so a person could carry the elephant but look like they were riding it. I loved this representation of the elephant and decided to paint this image. My friend had the painting. The elephant? I think it was destroyed in a fire in the shed where it was stored…

Picassoish horses

Willow and papier mache horse.

The props for the penkhull mystery plays were made using willow withies tied and glued and then covered in paper and glue and painted white, then volunteers decorated them. I had fun giving a couple of horses a Picasso feel. I don’t remember if it was me or another volunteer that painted this one. There were four horses for an apocalyptic scene! I think we made a monster too but these are the photos from 9 years ago off Facebook memories.

#movement

One of the Art groups I’m in wanted us to post a picture based on the prompt #movement. This was from my imagination after swimming with a wild dolphin called Georges. It had swum into a bay where we were caravanning and stayed around after the rest of his pod had gone. There was a notice the next day saying you shouldn’t swim with him because he was over friendly and dolphins can pass on pneumonia from the droplets from their blowhole. Anyway. I loved painting this and have great memories of swimming with a dolphin!