25 September, 2011

Psycho cows and other things


I painted some cows....my monochromatic friends were black and white. I was not excited about them. Then I introduced a good idea(colour) but went a little crazy and hence,psycho cows are on the canvas. I like the idea but I will rework it from beginning with the colour in mind and be more carefull with the placement of paint. But, here they are in anycase....


And then, I painted this for my friend Helene. Well, I painted this with her in mind.




It is not massive, 25cmx50cm, but I really like it's warmth, much like Helene herself!



This is a detail of the painting.

I am on a mission to paint small for a while, not miniatures, but small enough that I have to THINK about my brushstrokes and the paint application as a one stroke exercise, not a three stroke mess!

11 September, 2011

It's spring!

We went skiing last week, hence the silence. Our family does an annual spring ski and we lasted for 5 days with spectacular weather...blue skies and sunshine all the way. By day 5 I was a bit over it and spent a lot of time gazing at the snow and the rocks and wishing I had my paints with me!
Day 5 coincided with me being bowled over by a novice snowboarder which re broke my rib just as it was healing. I took that as a sign! Off the mountain for me!!Anyhow, it was fun and the kids loved it.That's what it's all about.

Whilst away I celebrated a birthday and I received two of Carol Marine's books on her small paintings. These are gems and I absolutely love her work. Anyhow, I poured over them with glee and good intentions to learn from her. On our return home I discovered, via her blog ,that she and her family were badly affected by the fires in Texas and have lost their home, her brand new studio and all her private art collection.I have to say, I was quite devastated on her behalf. It made me reflect on what I would try and grab if a fire whipped through out home, and, to be honest, it would be other peoples paintings, not my own, that I would rescue. I have a wonderful collection of my fathers paintings, some from friends and family...all are priceless.But then again, if the kids are in the house I better take them first !!!

With that in mind, I studied her two books with great care and endeavoured to do a small painting...a still life. New for me and I enjoyed the process. These are my little glass salt and pepper shakers from Stellenbosch.

01 September, 2011

Browsers....again!

 I reworked the idea of Charles reading in the bookstore, omitted some of the distracting detail and did not add white to my palette till late in the piece.And the result is that I much prefer this rendition.

I shall work on his face(so to speak) at a later date, as I am not very good with that detail when the paint is very wet and thick, as it is now.

And that is all I have to say about that.
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