The grey lady

Posted on May 10, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Ghostly figure, Grey lady, Landscape, Leaded windows, Painting, Portrait, ReflectionLeave a comment

I’m still in the process of painting this, but I wanted to add a presence to this painting… _20190511_004612

There are tales of grey ladies haunting old buildings. Why does she look slightly surprised? Perhaps she hasn’t seen her own reflection for centuries, but the dust motes caught in the light of a setting sun have made her image come to life in their brownian motion. Is she looking out over her land, not realising that the past is gone? Seeing people in outlandish clothes? Women in trousers or short skirts? Men in more dowdy attire than she remembers? I toyed with trying to paint a ruff from Tudor times, and her hair up in braids, but I decided she would be in a night shift, hair down, caught between dusk and dawn.

More work to follow on this and other paintings.

Red horse, after a black and white photo by Eve Donnadieu.

Posted on May 9, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Animal, From a photo, Horse, Life, Painting, Red, Red horse2 Comments

This cheeky horse appealed to me the moment I saw the photo by my friend Eve. I was going to paint it in naturalistic colours but started underpainting it in red and that grew on me. I added a metallic blue sky to give contrast and atmosphere. Grey ground to make the land look dark and gloomy. This is another work in progress. I have a lot of ideas but I’m not sure if I will get them all done in time for an Exhibition at the end of May. X

Half ‘n’ half, work in progress.

Posted on May 8, 2019 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Animals, Cat, Experiment, Half and half, Life, Painting, PeekingLeave a comment

I’ve started a new painting. My cat decided to climb up being my easle and popped his head out from behind a pastel drawing I’m doing. I decided to do a painting of it.

I’m going to try and do some different paintings over the next few weeks.

Of course I’m using artistic licence tto change the background.

Plains Zebra

Posted on April 27, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Africa, Animal, Equine, Life, Painting, Plains Zebra, ZebraLeave a comment

The weather here is very wet and windy so I’m concentrating on doing some painting. I decided to paint a zebra yesterday. I sketched it out last night but didn’t start on it properly till today. I’ve extended the muzzle and made its mane black and white. It seems to be shaded with brown dust. Possibly it has been having a dust bath. I hope to finish it and my owl painting today. It’s also taking my mind off a toothache I have after eating a cashew nut.

Etruria Artists

Posted on April 25, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Etruria Artists, Etruria Industrial museum, Etruria Stoke-on-Trent, Fun, Painting, Potters wheel, Pottery, Staffordshire, Thursday eveningsLeave a comment

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Etruria Artists logo by Robert Cochrane.

Etruria Artists is on tonight. Starting an hour early at 6pm. If you want to come and have a go at painting, drawing or pottery come to the warehouse by lock 40 (summit lock ) of the trent and mersey canal.

Most art materials are provided or you can bring your own.

I’ve had some good times there creating art. It is an old building though and we do close over the winter as it’s only heated when we are in the building so the water has to be turned off in case it freezes and bursts the pipes. I’ve also helped people with advice for using different paints like Acrylics, Watercolours and Gouache…. I’m not trained as an art teacher but I do have some knowledge.

New business cards

Posted on April 22, 2019April 22, 2019 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Business cards, Life, Painting, Spode4 Comments

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I’ve had some new business cards. Shiny, new and based on one if my paintings.

My previous set were based on a painting of a spode plate but it’s good to have a change.

Not much else to say really. I’ve decided to just sign my paintings Mallaband-Brown as fitting the Christine or C in takes up a lot of space. These also reflect my love of colour and experiment.

Maybe one day I will be better known, but I’m trying..

Druid revisited

Posted on April 16, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Druid, Green man, Growth, Leaves, Life, Painting, Spring2 Comments

I’ve done some more to this acrylic on canvas. I have added more definition around the leaves but tried to leave some of the subtlety of colour in other places. It has some sparkle in the paints to give it a slightly frosted appearance as if leaves have piled up, but the face of the druid is emerging from it.

About 16″ by 12″ this is one of my more abstract pieces based on the green man theme.

I promised myself I would paint.

Posted on April 15, 2019April 15, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Barn owl, Environment, Life, Painting, Photography, Staffordshire wildlife Trust, Wildlife4 Comments

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.

After Manet, Olympia

Posted on April 15, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Digital art, Drawing, Olympia, Painting, Realism, Sketchfu, Wikipedia2 Comments

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Digital drawing after a painting ‘Olympia’ by the artist Manet. I think this was another one of the challenges I drew at sketchfu. It’s a few years since I drew it. Apologies to anyone who does not like nude pictures. Edouard Manet was a French artist born 1832 died 1883.

From Wikipedia :

“Born into an upper-class household with strong political connections, Manet rejected the future originally envisioned for him, and became engrossed in the world of painting. His early masterworks, The Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l’herbe) and Olympia, both 1863, caused great controversy and served as rallying points for the young painters who would create Impressionism. Today, these are considered watershed paintings that mark the start of modern art. The last 20 years of Manet’s life saw him form bonds with other great artists of the time, and develop his own style that would be heralded as innovative and serve as a major influence for future painters.”

When I was studying art Manet was one of my favourite artists. I also loved the French impressionists. I wish I had the skills to actually paint in his style. This is the closest I ever got.

Cats and clutter

Posted on April 8, 2019April 8, 2019 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Art, Blog, Cat, Clutter?, Humour, Life, Painting, Poem, Poetry2 Comments

I took these photos within minutes of each other. This is my painting chair where I prop up my canvases while painting at home. I’m between paintings at the moment so the cats often sit on it. The house is full of “stuff” that Mey or may not be used as subject matter. Hence this poem!

Cats and clutter, clutter and cats.

Do the two go together

Like mittens and bats?

Like bread and butter

Like lamb and spring

Grapes and wine

Cheese and bread?

We all live differently

Each to his own

Cats and clutter are in my home!