Morning glory plants

 

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A few years ago painted this morning glory as it flowered. I’d nurtured the plant on a windowledge, carefully watered it. Put it outside when the summer was warm enough so it would stay alive.

It was in a hanging basket outside in the garden when I decided to paint it in situ. As I painted the flower opened and then at the end of the day closed and wilted (the same thing happened with the following days flowers). Hard to  capture but beautiful. I might do a copy or similar painting.

Acrylic on canvas. Small flowers are lobelia, and the cream ones are surfinias.

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Today’s art lunch

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Today’s art lunch was spicy vegetable soup served with chats about funding streams for artists and how to apply for them. Discussing organising workshops. Chatting about doodling. Working out about clearing a work space at the Etruria Artists warehouse.

We were serenaded by lovely jazz music on my friends record player, so stylish. The light was streaming into the living room so I took photos of the sunlight shining on the wall and painting patterns on to it. It was a fun afternoon but I came home shattered and fell fast asleep. I’m struggling to stay awake while writing this!

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Hydrangea

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New plant for the garden, although its really too cold to go directly into the garden at the moment. Hydrangeas change colour depending on the acidity of your soil. I don’t remember which way it is, but they either turn blue or red depending if the soil is acid or alkaline. You can do a pH test if you want to. The flowers appear as florets, lots of little flower heads spread across the bloom. There are different sorts, some with small flowers which looks like lace, others are chunkier, some are flat headed, others have rounded bunches of flowers. Leaves are large and usually mid to dark green with serrated edges to the leaves.

I remember the pink hydrangea in my Grans garden, it was pink with huge heads of flowers. I did a painting of her in front of the plant. I will have to try and find a photo of it.

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Another WIP

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After finishing my ‘green people’ I’m about to start work again on this kingfisher painting. I intend to try and leave the background quite blurred and try and get a lot of detail into the Kingfisher. They really are the most beautiful of birds, with iridescent plumage. It’s acrylic on canvas as usual. About 10 x 14 inches? Maybe slightly bigger than that. Might do some more to it today.

I think you can see these down on the river Trent, although I don’t know if there is too much fish there for them.

Fruit

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Just found out I have been offered an exhibition at the Waiting room gallery in April. The theme will be gardening, green men and women and spring, but I also want to do colourful work. I’ve been going around looking for subjects in the house as the garden isn’t growing yet, just a few buds.

The light was streaming in through the kitchen window and illuminating all the fruit my hubby bought yesterday. So I took a photo of it.

I will try and get some more interesting shots later. At the moment a neighbour is cutting down a tree, so I’m staying out the way. The sound of chainsawing doesn’t fill me with confidence!

Bad week!

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Oh what a week! My stats are down because I haven’t been writing much here. That’s because I’ve been ill. And that’s because someone in our panto cast decided to come in with a bad cold and proceeded to cough and sneeze over the rest of us. So grrrr!

I’ve finally started to feel a bit better today, taken a couple of paintings up to a local gallery and come home. Phew, I’m tired now!

St David’s Day

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“Saint David’s Day is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David’s death in 589 AD. The feast has been regularly celebrated since the canonisation of David in the 12th century, by Pope Callixtus II, though it is not a national holiday in the UK.” Wikipedia

Sorry to use a quote from Wikipedia but it was easier than writing it all out!

St Davids is also the smallest city in Britain. It is in South West Wales. Its somewhere I’ve always meant to visit, but never got there.

Jug photo

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I was visiting the Waiting room gallery today to take in my two new paintings. I saw this jug (is it sprig molded?)

It looked classical, it might end up being a pottery painting. The dark green really brings out the colour of the jug, while the shadows help give it a three dimensionality. The shelf it is on is white painted wood which gives it a nice texture. It’s owned by my friend Alison. I think she said it might be a Portmeirion piece although there is no backstamp or other marks on its base.

Taken in natural light from the gallery window on my mobile phone.

New green man

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A new green man is emerging, the face is based on a photo of someone called Sam Fender? He’s a musician apparently. I liked his angular, thin face. It looks rather elf like. I’m working on the tones and shades. Will try and finish it tomorrow.

I’m trying to get this and the self portrait finished for international women’s day next weekend. I haven’t been doing much but I feel like I’m emerging from a long black tunnel. Anyway it’s after 2am.i wil take my cough medicine and get off to bed.

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