Tag: Acrylic on canvas

Willow pattern banner

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A banner for one of our Penkhull Mystery Plays. We hold them most summers and the one this was painted for was about the pottery industry and its history. This banner was based on the willow pattern famous in the potteries. Spode was one of the factories that made plates and pots with this design, but if you Google ‘willow pattern’ you can find lots of images from many manufacturers.

Blue acrylic paint on a canvas cloth. It took me a while to paint. I also painted the local church and methodist Hall as they would have appeared in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Earth painting

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And then I paint planets too!

Acrylic on canvas, I’m interested in astronomy and this view of the Earth was taken from a photo. It shows parts of Africa, Greenland, Europe and the Americas. I think you can see the wind directions indicated by the clouds.

I’ve also painted views of the Moon, Jupiter and Mars, together with nebulae and galaxies. It may be something I do again.

Etruria Flint Mill

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I added my easle yesterday. Today I’m showing you my easle two years ago, I did a painting of Etruria Flint Mill. It’s also called Jessie Shirley’s Bone and Flint mill I think? It’s the only working Steam driven Flint mill in the country and the flints and bone  were crushed and ground using the power of the steam driven beam engine there.

The buildings are part of Etruria Industrial Museum, a complex of cafe, the museum displays, and the Flint mill on the Trent and Mersey and Cauldon Canals at Etruria, Stoke on Trent. I’m not sure of its opening times. But once a month it used to be fired up and you could watch the fly wheel rotating round and the pans where the flints were ground rumbling as the engine turns them. Its amazing to see the industrial archeology of the potteries in action.

Little Earth painting

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A couple of years ago I painted this picture of Earth. I was trying to get the shading right so the clouds sit above the surface was difficult. This is North America, Canada and part of Mexico and the Caribbean.

I hope the cloud shapes work and you can see the weather patterns. I wonder if anyone would be interested in paintings of worlds. It’s something I’m interested in. I’ve painted pictures of Jupiter and other astronomical images. I don’t use an airbrush for painting so it’s quite hard to get the granularity and softness of space and planets.

Super realism?

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This is NOT meant to be super realistic.

I do try and be accurate with my paintings, hopefully getting good realism. I was once criticised in a newspaper review about an exhibition I was part of, they said if I wanted to be a super realist I should have tried harder. The thing was, I wasn’t trying for super realism! If the journalist had actually spoken to me I would have told him that. I do work from photos sometimes, particularly if it’s a commissioned portrait or painting of a landscape. If I do a painting of a steam train it’s got to look right, you can make it up. I love painting, which to me is the accurate manipulation of liquids on a surface. I do try. X

Poinsettia

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A beautiful indoor winter plant, the red bracts are modified leaves not petals. Its often used as a centerpiece for Christmas decorations. This is a painting I did of one. I remember my mum had one growing in the spare room. I don’t think it likes too much heat? The indoor gardeners here will have a better iidea than I do. It seems to have been taken over in popularity by Amaryllis buls which also flower around this time of year.

Finished at last

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This took a long, long time. I can still paint but shaking isn’t helping. If I put things on the easle it’s a bit better, but sometimes I have to hold the painting to add details, then if I try and paint my left arm and hand shakes and the canvas wobbles. So I have to redo things. I wish I wasn’t getting old. Painting means such a lot to me. Then typing, the phone wobbles side to side as I stab at the keyboard. Thank goodness for predictive text! Anyway I hope this little dogs owner loves this painting, she’s been really patient. X

Preparing to paint

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Eight tiny and four small canvases waiting to be painted. Despite my shaking arm getting worse, and my right hand starting to shake too. Life has to go on.

I’ve been asked if I want a small table at a craft fair, and I said yes (foolishly). Now I’m faced with these blank canvases. I have an idea for some images, I just hope they turn out OK. The trouble is I’ve put this off for weeks and the fair is tomorrow. Luckily I have some old paintings waiting at my studio so I should be OK. I just need a bit of courage. X

Memory

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Cherry blossom. A painting I did a few years ago. It’s meant to signify the hope of spring in the middle of winter. I hope you can see the profile of a woman’s face in it. Perhaps she is the spirit of spring.

I saw this on my friends memories page and realised I wanted to share it. I think adding the blue shadows adds depth and gives it a more 3d effect. I can’t help wishing the winter was over and the sun was coming back.