Started again

Posted on September 4, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Art, Landscape, Painting on canvas, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

I’m just starting a painting about 2ft by 2ft 6 inches.

It’s a view of the Spode site looking from the building that houses Hulton Pottery which is a small studio pottery on the Spode site, looking down the run of buildings then on to the iconic Spode Chimney that stands high above the site.

Spode is changing, parts have been demolished, other parts will be gone soon. However new people at moving into the studio’s on the site. Together with the visitor centre and the hotel it is becoming more vibrant and interesting.

Hopefully the weather won’t get too cold this winter, that’s what really puts me off going. I have a studio but my mind isn’t on things really. I have found it really hard to get motivated but perhaps I have turned a corner…..

So I will leave you with the beginnings of a painting..with luck I can get it finished soon.

Knitted Jupiter, well not really..

Posted on August 16, 2018August 16, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Astronomy, Blogging, Fun, Humour, Painting on canvas, PoetryLeave a comment

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I wanted to paint Jupiter a couple of years ago, but my technique with acrylics does not quite work. I think I don’t blend colours as well as I could, still I had a go…..to me thus almost looks knitted…

What would Jupiter think if he was an ancient God?

You knitted me? That can’t be right,

I am great Jupiter, not a wooly jumper?

In all my days of pomp and might,

I was never treated rougher.

My power is great, my influence strong,

I never wore a cardie…

My orbit is extremely long,

And I am very hardy.

My storms last centuries you know,

They do not soon unravel,

So take your woollen paint and go,

As I through space do travel!

Poster?.

Posted on July 31, 2018 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Art, Etruria, Exhibition, Painting, Poster, Stoke-on trent5 Comments

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I’m trying to come up with a design for a poster. I may have an exhibition at the weekend and I needed to produce something I can put on social media. The only problem is I don’t know until Thursday night if I can use the room or not. I’m experimenting with ideas and I quite like the drawing I that I created for the background.

I have quite a few new pictures and I hope people will like them. I have to hang it myself, so it will be a bit difficult. It will beat the Warehouse at the Etruria Flint Mill in Stoke-on-Trent.

Im not sure if there will be more text on it. There will have to be more pictures. Anyway, more to follow I it happens !

View of Dartmoor

Posted on July 29, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Acrylics, Art, Dartmoor, Devon, Landscape, Painting, Painting on canvas5 Comments

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This is a painting I did a few years ago of a friend standing beside one of the outcrops at the top of a hill in the Dartmoor national park.

The rocks have been weathered over the millennia to create flat plate like structures stacked up on top of each other. Sometimes the base will be of softer rock and so the stack will be formed above a narrow neck of rock where the surrounding stone had been worn away. Another place to find these sort of outcrops is in Yorkshire. You can also get limestone pavements where the rock is at ground level but there are large cracks going down deep between the rocks with plants growing up, taking shelter between the stones. These can be found up at Malham cove in Yorkshire.

My friend used to fly gliders over Dartmoor, so he knew his way around the area. It is a beautiful part of the world, high up above the surrounding countryside with rolling hills and wide skies. Sometimes it snows up there and it can be very bleak in the winter . I can imagine trying to shelter behind these rock on a cold winters day with an northerly wind blowing snow and sleet at you. I guess Dartmoor ponies might even have sheltered there.

The painting was quite small and was painted with acrylic on canvas. It went to a good home.

How to paint Snake and Ladder

Posted on March 21, 2018April 10, 2018 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Canvas, Celtic art, Colours, Fine Art, Knotwork, Painting, Snake2 Comments

What a random painting!

It started out as a series of splodges. I was not sure what it would turn into. I am interested in Celtic knotwork and also Saxon metalwork. The Staffordshire hoard of Saxon gold was found nearby a couple of years ago and there are many animals and monsters found in that kind of art and craft work.

Suddenly the idea of a snake popped into my mind so I added scales and a head to the pattern, but why would it be there, what was the reason behind it. I remember being intrigued by Snakes and Ladders when I was little. I always landed on a snake and slither down to the foot of the board .

I decided to add the ladder, but the background was too dark. I was modelling the 3 dimensions of the snake with dark and light paint but the snake was merging into the background. What to do!? I tried a green, but felt that was not the right colour. …why not a bold red? I had got a bottle of glittery deep red and I tried that. Bingo I’m pleased with the result.

That’s how you paint a Snake and Ladder. ….

Getting ready for a stall

Posted on March 6, 2018April 11, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Abstract, Acrylics, Art, Burslem School of Art, Cat, Fish, Flowers, Painting3 Comments

20180306_225311 After a couple of weeks struggling with a cold I’m now preparing work for a stall at an international womens day event at Burslem School of Art on Saturday.

That basically means getting paintings together that I can display for sale.

The last time I did something like this was when I sat inside at Spode Studios last November when it was almost as cold inside as outside! I only sold a few tiny paintings. I have also had a stall in the winter a few years ago. It was cold and I did not sell much. So I have to say I’m a bit nervous of doing it.

At least I have some new business cards and labels done. I’m trying to be more professional. Is there anything I should think about?

There should be quite a few crafters there on Saturday. Hopefully it will be a good day.

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Life studies

Posted on February 22, 2018April 11, 2018 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Life drawing, Painting, Profile, SketchesLeave a comment

This week’s model at life class.

I did 3 drawings, 2 were 10 minute sketches, then one over 35 minutes and finally an hour painting a small portrait. I like trying to capture accurate images and I think I was quite successful this week.

One thing I tried was using two colours in the background , turquoise and gold . I think this worked quite well. I used only 5 colours, orange, black, gold, turquoise and white.

The lighting caused good shadows which help to define the shape of her body.

Overall I really enjoy honing my drawing skills.