New paintings and regular art updates.
I’m going to try and get to an art project about Molly Leigh, the witch of Burslem. I want to try and do a painting of her, but I only had a bit of time today, and because I’m trying to get back into painting again I decided to paint an owl. I did it because it’s a magical kind of bird, the way they can fly silent as a whisper to catch their prey. It’s a small acrylic on canvas. I’m not sure of the species as I based this on a precious owl painting I did a few years ago.
Six years ago I was painting tiny little matchbox sized pictures. I don’t make much money off them, but I guess a few more people can have examples of my art. I love nature, so some of the subjects are foxes and owls, fish, and other animals. I must do some more. I have a couple of craft fairs/exhibitions this weekend, I need to get my act together and paint, but looking after my hubby is time consuming.
Wh-ooo-oo you looking at?
My old handbag I just found in a box. I still like it and might uses it occasionally. I have a similar one with different eyes. Perhaps I should give them to charity shops. I like black and white photos and I chose a filter called impact which gives stronger contrast and less greys shades.
I think the decorations on the bag give it a sinister frown!
Went to sea, in a beautiful pea green boat…
They took some money and plenty of honey, wrapped up in a five pound note….
A nonsense poem by Edward Lear, who also wrote the Dong with the luminous nose and the Yonghie Bonghie Bo. There used to be a TV show in the seventies that included these characters, but the animation was very weird and too colourful if that’s possible with the poems set to odd music, and I’m afraid it actually put me off reading them!
I also get Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll ( who wrote Alice in Wonderland etc) mixed up.
I realised this morning that I have the iconic animals sitting on my bookcase in the bedroom. They are a tiny cat made by an artist friend and an owl I made of clay pressed into a mold. I hadn’t put two and two together before. I guess that anything can spark a chain of memories, there’s a phrase for it in semiotics, about signs and signifiers, but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten it!
On Sunday my owl painting almost sold, a lady came along and was interested in it for her daughter. She even took a photo of it to show her daughter, but unfortunately it was a no from her. I wonder what I can paint that I love that a customer would like? I try and do good paintings, but it is that balance between a commercial image and a more individual picture. I guess everyone is different, we all have our own ideas and unless I paint commissions I have to second guess the audience I have. My work is so eclectic, if I kept painting the same theme over and over again I know I would get bored x
A friend posted this on Facebook, it looks like it’s from a Chinese or Japanese group? No information about what it is. I would try getting a description from Google but I could not find the url for it. Does anyone know if its real and what it might be? Also no sign if it’s copyrighted, no details of the photographer, so apologies for using the image if it is.
I have to go and collect my owl painting from the Brampton open exhibition tomorrow. It was for sale and I would have liked to have sold it. I have an open studio day at Spode on November 12th so perhaps I could sell it there. I am pessimistic though. There is less money available and I think things will get a lot worse before it gets better. Being an artist doesn’t make you rich! But I can’t stop painting.
Just got a phone call. I’ve got my barn owl painting into the Brampton Open exhibition. I’m very pleased. I’ve got to pick the other one up but that’s OK, they were completely different styles so it gave me a bit more of a chance depending on what the selectors wanted. It will be up at the Brampton Museum and art gallery in Newcastle under Lyme from 24th September 2022 for a month.
I’ve wanted to alter this painting for a long time. I had a grey blurred background before but it just merged in to much with the Barn Owl. Now it stands out against the night sky. I also added many tiny stars. I could have flicked splashes of paint but I wanted more control over where they went.
A money plant on our windowledge that has become very contorted. The wizard and black owl in a magic hat below it seem appropriate because they represent magic. There are glass paperweights next to them which I also think look quite magical. I could paint it, not sure, it maybe looks like an illustration from a children’s book….
Mallaband-Brown