New paintings and regular art updates.
Today I started a painting for the first time in months. I saw an image by photographer David Tipling of a Barn Owl from a Staffordshire Wildlife Trust bookmark and just had to paint it.
Why the owl? The photographer has captured it in flight beautifully The sinuous curve of its wings seems to scythe through the air. Its face is both impassive and intent.
I hope the photographer does not mind me painting his image.
X
It’s mother’s day here on 31st of March but I won’t be celebrating it as both my mom and mother in law passed away a few years ago.
What I do have is these two paintings of them to remember them by.
They both had their troubles and difficulties but they were both strong women and I loved them both.
Instead of going to a mothers day lunch or tea I’m going to a theatrical event called Titchy theatre.
I’ve written a couple of small conversations for two or three voices and the people running the theatre event will be reading them out. The Titchy theatre started at Penkhull Mysteries but is expanding to two performances a year. People were asked to write something for the performance. If you are free on Sunday the 31st and want to come up to Penkhull Village Hall please do. Please get there for 2.30pm. The show starts at 3pm. Spaces are limited.
I’m really pleased I got Jupiter Blue into a local Open exhibition at the Brampton in Newcastle-under-Lyme. I’m chuffed as it’s quite a large painting and I was half expected to only get one of the other two smaller ones I had also entered but was not successful with these. They were a pastel of Sky and Land and an abstract picture entitled Druid. I think I may work further into the second of these and make it more three dimensional.
Open exhibitions are hard to get into. They are dependant on so many different things, not least whether your work fits in with the feel of an exhibition. I have more luck some days or years than others. They also depend on the number of entries. I’ve heard of some opens taking one picture from each entrant then adding additional ones if there is enough space.
I painted this out in the open air a couple of years ago. It took a couple of hours to paint. As you can see the day was very overcast. This is a small acrylic on canvas. I don’t actually know where it is. I have a feeling that I sold it?
I’ve painted from this position a few times, looking down the lake towards the Italian Gardens at Trentham. The end of the lake at this end is next to Trentham monkey forest where they have two troops of macaque monkeys.
I hope to go back soon and try and draw some of them. They are beautiful animals and they are so cute when they are babies.
In the meantime I’m feeling a bit better so over the next few weeks I will try and get some new paintings done.
X
Good to get a good image of this painting I did a year ago. The owner has kindly sent me a HD image of it.
Acrylic on canvas, it is a lake view where the trees are back lit by a setting sun. Approximately 12 x12 inches square.
I wanted to paint a view that was crisp and fresh. The colours contrast nicely and the reflections in the water Shimmer with ultramarine blue.
I’m happy to paint anything you would like to commission. Just contact me to discuss.
This is a painting from a few years ago. It was based on the idea of nerves in the brain -synapses, electric currents sparking ideas. I honestly dont know where it went. I do know it was a medium sized acrylic on canvas.
My art life has flitted from idea to idea, like this painting I try to generate new thoughts, I love to experiment, come up with different feelings and emotions.
Why should art always stay the same. Why not do different things?
This is from about 20years ago. It’s me and my old cat. It’s an acrylic on canvas. One friend criticised me for being too splodgy. It’s called Familiar friends.
When you look back at any picture of yourself it can be shocking how much you have changed. The lines on your face increase. I’ve got many more blemishes now. If I take a selfie it tries to blur out the imperfections and I look like I’m standing in fog!
I love this painting. I had dark hair and I was slimmer!
X
The Exhibition of Blue opened tonight at Spode Site at Eleanora Street in Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent..
As you can see from the photos there was a great variety of work on the breif Blue. Everyone had to produce art in Blue with only the addition of white, black and grey.
There were glass and resin pieces, acrylic pours and paintings. Drawings and photos, installations with blue lighting and wall painting and fabrics. We were also entertained by an artist with a beautiful voice who sang the blues.
There were also blue cocktails for people who attended the exhibition. The only real downside was the temperature. The Spode studios are inside an old pottery building. The place was once filled with pottery kilns so it was not built with much insulation. It can sometimes be colder inside than it is outside. The exhibition continues till at least Sunday. It may continue next week but it has yet to be decided.
Since I did so many posts about Blue I thought I would write a random poem about yellow. ….
Yellow bowl,
full of custard,
Bananas
Yellow bandana.
Rifle through my brain…
Yellow ochre,
yellow belly,
Lemon yellow.
Polka dot bikini.
Cadmium yellow..
Corn on the cob
Belishia beacon,
Beaches of golden yellow sand,
Yellow wands of willow,
Yellow cotton pillow
case…
Painted yellow face?
Hello yellow jello
no need to bellow…
Yellow….
I was going to include an American politician in this but thought better of it….
Finished Jupiter Blue. This painting of one of the poles of Jupiter is what I have done for an Exhibition based on the colour blue. It looks more blue than the original photo because of this. The picture brush strokes are not as soft as I wanted, in fact it seems to have taken on a Van Gogh feeling. Come and see the result in the flesh at “an Exhibition of Blue” at Spode Site, Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent, at the artists studios. Starting 6pm on Friday 1st February 2019. There are over 20 artists exhibiting.
Mallaband-Brown