The tidy art room

My art room is much tidier now, how nice to know exactly where everything is! I am still trying to find some time to paint. After the big tidy up, preparing tutorials, tutoring and housework once again, I feel time slipping away, almost creeping by me. Last November I finally finished this painting titled ' Silence', it is now up on my art room wall and it is one of my favourite paintings. I really wanted to create a painting that evoked the feeling of silence.  It had been the plan to complete two paintings a month but since last December in which I finished two paintings I hadn't been able to complete my goal! It is OK, maybe it was in a way time to distance myself from painting. For years I have kept up a good pace creating many paintings.  It is true that my neck and shoulder kept seizing up and there have been visits to the physio and osteopath as well as exercises to do.  I do feel much better now, I feel there has been an improvement in my shoulder and neck. I still have to work slowly but that too is OK, why, there is no rush to do lots of paintings.

My artist friend Tamsin and I are going to have another exhibition in two years time in the library gallery which is a very large space, very modern and a good place to show paintings. We want to take our time and just see where the painting journey takes us.  Ideally I would like to create more paintings like 'Silence' and I am working on another painting at the moment which has a similar look and feeling about it. I don't want to get distracted and start palette knife painting again .......!

Happy Painting to you all and hopefully I will have another painting to show you soon!

palette knife paintings

For a while now I have been working on almost three different styles of paintings. Traditional seascapes with nice skies, quiet moody minimalist and limited palette seascapes and lastly the palette knife paintings which while still have large skies I have not felt they looked like my style of work. However the palette knife works do have a lot of energy and do work well on a small scale. The painting here in oils is 5 x 7 inches and is of a coastal area mostly from my imagination. The main idea is to try and create freshness with the thick paint and a feeling of life and movement. In many ways I would like to commit myself to painting one style of painting so that I could feel I was making progress instead of switching from one style to another just for a change. How can I progress forward if I carry on this way!  Interesting is that my studio is having a big clear out too which is taking ages! once everything is out the problem is finding places for it to go back! And the purpose is to also remove clutter!

I really want to commit to the palette knife paintings and see where the road takes me. To just focus on them.

Autumn is really here now, also the nights are drawing in. There is always that feeling of almost loss at this time of the year. Seeing the leaves fall, the leaves turning then fading and finally becoming crisp and dull looking. The branches bare, the shrubs diminished by it all as the wind whips through them and takes their berries away. Late flowers in the garden seem to be all the more brighter and more fragile looking as the surrounding flowers fade away and all seems gold and brown all at once. The bird life is very lively as they all rush about the garden gathering berries and tweeting with glee. I have to now remember to go and fill the feeders though the birds are so greedy the feeder becomes empty in just a day! Wild winds, rain, dim light, and that feeling again of loss. Wanting summer to never leave yet knowing the changing seasons are a beautiful thing too.

Wishing you happy painting days!

blue and buff titanium

I have been busy clearing up my art room which is a time consuming business! Time seems to fly by and before I know it many months passed and I find I have collected a great deal of unnecessary stuff. One being heaps of cardboard boxes I actually believe will be useful one day! and also a massive bag full of old carrier bags or plastic shopping bags again that become completely forgotten once I have stored them away! Also far too many art books, brushes, paints and more paints galore, kept for years!  The thing about clutter is that you somehow fail to see it after a while.  I have to ask myself do I really need this! most of all is it actually useful and of course does it give me joy! Anyway I still can't move in my art room because I have turfed out everything from the cupboards, drawers and boxes.

  In the midst of all this chaos I found this painting in a box. I started a little while ago putting things into boxes, and one of the things I put into boxes are paintings! I really enjoy opening a box and not knowing what is inside it! Mind you the problem with this is that I have heaps of boxes with stuff in it that I don't see unless I open the box! so I think it is still classed as clutter! I have now released this painting from it's box and remember painting it and then keeping it safe in a box until I wanted it. This was actually a long time ago maybe even ten years ago it has rested quietly within a box and now it is on my art room wall. I remember being pleased with the buff titanium paint and the blue which is so bright and pretty, I managed to blend it into the sky colour too. The best thing is that when I viewed this painting again I felt happy and uplifted by the blue. It is just a small painting only 12 x 12 inches but I do feel inspired to paint this again on a really big canvas!

I hope you are all well my painting friends, it is so quiet here in blogging land, everyone seems to be on facebook these days. I guess this is a quiet and secret garden to be in!

Happy painting to you all!