New paintings and regular art updates.
All that’s left is a small bag of rubbish. My studio was a small space but I fitted a lot in it. Now my living room looks like one of those TV programmes about hoarders! I didn’t realise how much space it would take up and a lot of my paintings have gone to a friend’s studio for a while. I’m going to have to learn to throw things away. It’s not an exciting photo but it means a lot to me. Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford to go back. I’ve got to have some hopes!
Sketch of an eclipse on canvas in acrylic paint. I challenged myself to just paint with red, yellow, blue, white and black so I had to mix new colours using the primary colours on the pallette. I added a tiny moon surrounded by the corona of the sun visible against the darkened sky. It might be something I paint properly in future.
His birthday,
He was no fool
We would have had on this day
A walk by a pool?
It would have been a grand day
Even if it rained
The sun is shining today
But he’s not here, my friend.
I’m sitting feeling lonely
His life came to an end
He had so much to give
Love and hugs, not only
A great wish to live!
When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Give me crayons, give me colouring books. Books with paper covered in dots that you wet with a paintbrush and colours emerge.. Dot to dot books, pages with squares on that I could turn into patterns. I might have been a bit older than five for some of these, but I always wanted art things for my birthday or Christmas. I must have heard of artists because I always wanted to be one. I got an etch-a-sketch machine to draw with, I loved that.
My sister wanted to be a musician, she eventually borrowed a violin from school. I got jealous because my parents said I was doing art and they couldn’t let me have a musical instrument, so I overtightened the strings on the violin and they snapped ( bad/very guilty memory!)…
Now? I’ve been an artist all my life. I started drawing when I was a child such as historical people in tudor dress, Asterix the Gaul, horses, clouds, all sorts of things. I still do that, anything is interesting to me.
I painted this ginger cat a few years ago. He’s based on a stray that moved in with us for a while. He would sit on a windowsill and stare out at the garden. I decided to make his view a bit more floral, and almost Mediterranean.
Unfortunately we had to rehome him because he would fight with our other cats and ended up with an abscess in his paw. I spoke to the vets and they agreed to find him a good home. I hope he was happy and it was sad to say goodbye to him.
Koi carp I pay a few years ago, it was part of my recent exhibition. I thought it was worth showing on its own here. I love painting reflections and the way some parts of the painting can be seen through so you can see the fish. Other things include the distortion of the window bars in the water. Acrylic on canvas.
A painting from a few years ago, a bit burry with camera shake. It’s one of four I did to represent Earth, Air, Fire and Water. It was a series I really enjoyed. Working with the flow of paint, allowing my imagination free rein. It’s acrylic on canvas. Two of the set had already been sold and I was thinking of painting replacement images. I wish I had, I’m not sure I ever will. X
What activities do you lose yourself in?
Painting makes my mind flow…
Koi carp painted a few years ago. I love all sorts of art. It engages my mind as I create. The world and time just seems to disappear.
I might start painting or drawing in the afternoon, then suddenly realise I’m hungry or thirsty and find it’s 3am and I’ve lost half a day….
It’s just hand eye coordination, and often putting liquids onto a surface, or shading with pencils or pastels, but something grips me and I am embedded into art.
I love visual art, taking photos, and sometimes I even attempt 3d art in ceramics. I have only ever tried to carve stone a couple of times but didn’t have the strength.
Art encourages creative thoughts. I’d recommend it to anyone. Try it, you might enjoy it. X
An imagined cat on a white wall. The plants make it feel like a courtyard. I had fun with the paint mixing different tones and colours . The cat is a ginger tabby staring out of the painting. Acrylic on canvas.
Two small, quick paintings of cats that I painted years ago. My friend sent it to me recently. Both of them have also got poppy details. I will see if I can zoom in on them to see if I can get clearer views of them. I know they are mine, but I genuinely can’t remember painting them. That makes me feel guilty, I think I should recognise all of my work. Memory frays as you get older x
Mallaband-Brown