For Mousy Brown

This is for Emily who is a fellow blogger and crafter ,living in North Wales. she asked me to paint something for her and both the subject and situation stuck a chord with me. I had a wonderfully holiday with friends in Cornwall a few years ago and identified with the place and the marvelous image of her sons playing in the surf.

It is amazing who one meets in blogworld and I am delighted to have finally painted this for her.

Www.mousybrown.typepad.com



Oil on panel
8 x 16 inches
20x 40 cm





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My latest aquisistion

I have borrowed this rack from my children's school as a drying/ storing rack for my paintings. Perfect, is it not?!I swapped it for a painting.Good trade!!!

My next big thing is daylight fluorescent lighting in the studio. Modern lightbulbs are amazing and with a combination of daylight balanced, non-flicker fluorescent light and my floor lamp, the dark days of winter should not be a barrier to my painting.

Back to painting........


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serene marine scene

Sorry, clearly an error of judgement to go humouress with blogpost titles, but what the hell! It is a serene scene....and I felt the need for that today after a busy weekend with the children, who are the Antithesis of serene.Vortex of energy , more like it.They made me play tennis in the midday heat.....cruel,cruel children.

This is a scene from Vancouver island, Canada.



- Oil on panel

9x12inch
22x30cm
for sale $ 75.00
contact me for Paypal account details and postage co

weekend indulgence

I have no formal art training. I think that might be my saving grace. If I had gone to art school, studied fine art at university (instead of archaeology!!) or graphic design, I might not be where I am today, painting my way.I think the way I learn is quite modern......student interest directed learning.If I had to paint in the modern fashion,I would be labelled a dismal failure, old fashioned and dated.Too many artists friends feel their artistic voice was stifled by the need for technical perfection or that their art practice and style was not the popular aesthetic of the day ( or the teacher!) and they compromised themselves in order to succeed.

I have a fabulous stash of magazines,my favorites being Southwest Art ,The Artist and the Australian Artist. I am going through them, revisiting some good articles and finding others that now have relevance to my art practice. I love reading about art and artists, why they create, how they create, their inspirations and techniques.I find something of interest in every article I read.

I do not know anyone in my area who paints like I do, so I rely on the Internet and publications for tuition and critique.There are wonderful workshops available but New Zealand is so far from any of the ones I really want to attend. I have recently ordered Herman Pekel's new DVD and one by David Curtis. I have made so many trips to the postbox that I am wearing a track through the grass!! Till then ,my magazines and books keep me going.



So this grey weekend, I am going to finish my knitting, bake a cake,visit the dAvid Lloyd gallery to see my friend Mark Taylor's photographs of his trip down the Amazon,read my magazines and give my brushes some TLC and a good wash.

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Where is my summer?

Clifton beach, Cape Town, complete with ice cream vendor.
" granadilla lolly to make you jolly"




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Old time surfer

We have had a rubbish summer this year. I had intended to spend quite a few weeks camping and taking the kids to the beach. Those plans were thwarted by the La Nina and La Niño weather patterns that plagued our island.
It has been raining for the last few days . I am keenly aware that summer officially ends in 2 weeks time and I am resentful that it has been so pitiful. To break my funk( careful spelling, hey!!) I looked through my photos of the brief beach holiday we had and cheered myself up by painting some of the scenes.

This dude had to be mid 50's and had a wonderfully,longboard.He was pretty good but even better, he was very cool!!!




Oil on board
6 x 8"
15x 20cm

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Location:Whangamata

More psycho cows

I know, more cows, but I seriously just needed to paint them today. Here's what I know about cows: they are very curious and quite difficult to photograph if you get too close to them because they all come too close to you...then get all skittish and freaked out and careen around paddock, eyes rolling, trying to get away.Psycho is not a reference to the colors!!! I once saw a cow, standing sadly in a paddock, waiting for the farmer to come free her from the ladder that was arranged round her neck like stocks. The ladder had been leaning up against the water tank and she had stuck her head through the rungs for a scratch. In the process, the ladder had swung sideways and oops.....she was stuck.it was funny in a " glad that's not me" kinda way.


I wanted to try a palette of magenta, permanent rose and their derivatives against a background of vivid green. Really like it and it is far more vivid in real life. My apologies for the quality of the photo,but my camera has gone on a rip to South Island with Charles and will no doubt be returning on Saturday with a new card full of scenes to paint.Like this , perhaps, courtesy of Trailzone Motorbike magazine, who posted it on their Facebook fan page.Till then, the iPad camera and my shaky hands will have to suffice





That is my husband, on a motorbike, in Lord of the Rings country.


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GlenRoy valley cows

Charles, the marvel, took some photos of cows in the GlenRoy valley whilst on a somewhat energetic trail bike adventure. I have no idea how he explained this impromptu photo opportunity stop to his fellow riders, but I thank them for their indulgence and Charles, for thinking of me and my interests!

oil on panel
30x 40cm
12 x 16 inches