New paintings and regular art updates.
Today was going to be the last day of my exhibition. But two things have happened. My painting ‘autumn vase’ has sold, and they have extended it till next weekend. The gallery is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon to about 5pm.
Best of all I saw lots of friends there today as I was there so people could ‘meet the artist’ lots of cups of tea and chatting ensued. Many ideas and plans were discussed. My head is spinning but I had a great time. The gallery is so helpful and friendly.
Value pack. When you are creating art it’s good to use quality paints but I don’t spend too much on canvas. I’m not being mean, the stretched canvases are serviceable. It’s just that I’m not made of money but I want to paint.
Plans for future pictures:
Green men and women,
Winter men and women (images within trees)
Astronomical objects from moons and planets to novae and Galaxies.
Animal and human portraits, perhaps integrated with nature.
Architecture.
As you can see I’m planning to use a lot of canvas…..
Dust rising (or Dust 19) is a group show by artists being held at Spode alongside the British ceramic biennial which is currently on till mid October.
This is me with one of the plates that have been created out of transfer prints. (if you look over my left shoulder the green patterns on the window are where the image comes from).
It’s amazing what’s going on here. We might be a bit down in the dumps but Stoke-on-Trent is so full of creativity. There is still a full time Fine Art course at Staffordshire University which is quite unusual in the current economic climate.
Stoke-on-Trent is situated in the middle of beautiful countryside. You can’t complain if you want places to visit.
So I guess what I’m saying is come visit!
Painted several years ago, my painting of Maiden Castle Hill Fort imagined a woman dancing in the landscape, and also her bones as if they were found in the land.
The idea was inspired by visiting Maiden Castle in the 1990s,thinking about it being a hill Fort and part of the Celtic world.
It is located in Dorset near Dorchester. If I remember correctly it is reached by a small road, then you walk up through the ditches and mounds that lead up to the top of the hill Fort.
I think I got the idea from watching archaeology programmes on TV. I imagined the woman being aware of the changing seasons and how time passes. The little skull below her is a rabbit skull we found on a walk.
It’s a bit weird, but I wanted to include a figure in the dramatic landscape.
I’ve duplicated this image multiplying it by four to extend the pattern. It’s another older painting. I think I was channelling Georgia O’keefe when I painted it. It is acrylic on canvas. 
I was given a book about her art as a birthday present. Sadly the book was damaged when I spilt a mug of coffee over it. It’s only a small, square paperback and now some of the images are stuck together.
O’keefe was controversial as an artist. Some of her art was seen as erotic even though she was painting flowers. I am more interested in her use of colour and blending techniques. Her work is beautiful and striking.
My painting of lilies is also slightly based on images from the start if the twentieth century. I do like art nouveau. I was also trying to use fresh colours rather than a more realistic background.
This painting is a few years old, and I think it led to my green man painting. I tried to ain’t something that was about ‘mind’, the squiggles and orange splotches are meant to be like synapses, and flashes of electricity. If the nerve fibres in your brain we’re stretched out they would cover a huge area. The brain is convoluted and folded which increases the interconnection of brain cells. The more convoluted and complex the brain, the more intelligence seems to be the rule. There are probably research papers about it and there may be information on Wikipedia.
Back to the painting. I can’t remember whether the face was taken from a photo……. But the eyes look quite real? What I must do is start creating new paintings again…
A couple of friends visiting my exhibition at the Waiting room gallery today. I’ve spent most of the time sleep deprived because of my hubby waking me up in the middle of the night worrying about something, then the cats decided to break my favourite glass bowl. When I finally got a bit of sleep it was time to do things like running round trying to organise things including visiting the vets about our stray cat in the garden problem (has he got somewhere to live), getting organised about a performance next weekend in Newcastle-under-Lyme, visiting the shop to get snacks and drinks for my solo exhibition. (who knew no one seems to sell little bottles of beer anymore, they used to be all the rage? Then the main dual carriageway, to where the exhibition is, was coned off and closed to traffic! Got there a few minutes late feeling like a wet weekend in Whitby (which is actually beautiful before anyone asks). A few hours chatting to people about painting. Now to rest. Tomorrow is busy too!
One of the many slides I found last year of my art in the 1980s. I like playing with perspective and I used to do many more portraits than I get to do these days. Maybe selfies have taken over. But wouldn’t you want a special portrait with things that are significant to you included in it? I’m also good at amalgamating photos, so if there are three people each on a different photo who want to be together in an image I can do it – and I don’t need photo shop!
Get in touch, commissions welcomed.
Black and white drawing from the Youdraw.com website I drew a few years ago. Based on a pre-Raphaelite painting. I just love the faces they created. Long noses, cupid bow lips, beautifully painted eyes. I could never achieve that level of soft, smooth, flowing colours.
I don’t know the history of the movement but I know there were some famous models that appeared in their paintings over and over again. There was gossip about the painters behaviours and morals . But they left the world with some wonderful images.
Coming up for the autumn / winter. I want to do some more green men and women. If I can do some with frost and snow that would be interesting. I’m looking for pictures of striking faces so that they have character, I’ve found that if I just make them up they get a bit flat and don’t have as much impact. More later….
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