Christmas Time

 

So it’s Christmas already.  I think I am so glad to have made it through the year okay health wise.  I have more confidence that I am able to get through difficult times - with help of course.  I’m actually looking forward to Christmas Day this year.  I really enjoy cooking for my family when I’m up to it so that is the focus for me.  I look forward to the new year and making new art.  I hope you have happy holidays, bye for now😊

New Painting Finally

Light In The Foliage.

Acrylic Paint, Soft Pastels And Acrylic Paint Pens On Polyester/Cotton Canvas

48” x 40”  (122cm x 101cm)

Hi there.  I’ve been away awhile.  My health hasn’t been very good so it’s been difficult to make art.  I started this painting over a year ago and now I have finally finished it!  It is the largest painting I have made so far.  It is so freeing to work on a big canvas.  I think I am happy with it.  I will get cards and prints made, maybe by December I think.  I hope you enjoy looking at this painting, it really was fulfilling to make.  Bye for now 😊 

 

Cards And Prints Available now

 

Hello!  I just wanted to make a short post to tell you that cards and prints are available online from Willunga Gallery.  These are some that are available from the website.  The cards are A6 size and the prints are 8 x 10 inches and made on Archival quality, 100% cotton, Fine Art paper using Archival inks.  So if you are interested, just click on the link Here.  I hope your weekend is going well!  Bye for now.

Small Floral Canvas Painting

‘There Were Flowers In The Deep’

Acrylic, Soft Pastels and Acrylic Markers On Cotton Canvas

60cm x 50cm

Hi there😊.  I finished this painting I posted about last time.  It was a really difficult painting to make because it has a sombre mood to it and sometimes I felt pulled to a dark place.  But I made it out and I like it.  It is a small painting compared to the others, which also made it difficult because for some reason it is easier for me to work big.  I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for looking and reading😊

Starting A Small Floral Painting

 Acrylic On Cotton Canvas 60cm x 50cm

Hi there :)  Hope you are all well.  I started a new painting.  I didn't know which size to go with next.  I decided to go bigger but I had to wait on some stretcher bars for a new canvas so I decided to make a small painting on a canvas that is pre made.  It is still quite good quality so happy with that.  I am choosing a different colour scheme with this one.  I think the cold and the coming winter is affecting my colour choices.  I think I will do a light indigo background for this one, that's all I can say right now because I am not sure what else will be next.  I just wanted to post a progress pic to let you know what I'm up to.

Well, I will be back another time with some more progress or a finished painting :)

New Floral Canvas Painting

Acrylic Paint, Acrylic Pens An Soft Pastel On Polyester Cotton Canvas

100cm x 76cm

Hi there😊  I finally finished this floral painting which I seemed to have been working on for a while.  I was distracted, mostly by health problems but that’s life.  I am happy with how it turned out in the end but there were more than a few worrying moments.  I did have a lot of fear because I’m painting in a process driven way and part of me is still scared to trust and let go.  It is a lot like riding a horse in so many ways.  By process driven I mean that the painting gets made up as I go, kind of like improvisation.  I do make preparation sketches in Watercolour of flowers that are difficult and that I am unsure of but I don’t plan much.  I think I have talked about this before.  So I am pleased with the colours and the life in the painting.  I know the composition isn’t perfect but I like it like that.

So the weather is cooling here and it will be winter soon.  I hope wherever you are that life is treating you okay and you are all feeling okay.  I am not sure what is next painting wise but I will post about it.  I will do another floral, I have a vague idea of what I will do.  Thanks for looking and reading.

(Description:  two images of a large vertical canvas painting of flowers and leaves in a grey coloured square vase with white polka dots.  The flowers are in a big bunch in blue, pink, orange, yellow, brown, light pink.  The style is almost loose and there are little details added with acrylic pens of different colours.  The background is a very light yellow/gold colour.)  

Girl Illustration With Stitching

 Gouache, Watercolour, Synthetic Embroidery Thread on Khadi Handmade Paper

A5 size

Hi there!  I felt compelled to make another girl painting on this Khadi paper.  I really love the texture and the challenge of painting on this paper.  It's 320gsm so it is almost like a cardboard feel.  I added stitching to this one again because I really like the tactile feeling of the paper with the stitching.  I used Paynes Grey for the shirt again because I just love that colour and could use it endlessly, along with Indigo, which I am having a break from:)

I am happy with how she turned out.  I think this is one of the few times I have painted long hair.  I am not really overjoyed with how I painted the hair, it feels a bit overworked to me but it's okay.

Well, that's all today, I hope you are all having a good day and thanks for looking!

Painting Anxiety

 Acrylic Paint, Acrylic Markers and Soft Pastels on Polyester Cotton Canvas

40in x 30in

I am using Sennelier, Matisse Structure and Atelier acrylic paint.  I use Posca and Acrylograph Acrylic pens and Unison, Schmincke and Art Spectrum Soft Pastel.  The Canvas is Polyflax by Fredrix and the Stretcher bars are Art Spectrum Heavy Duty.

Hi, I hope everyone’s weekend is going okay, the weekend is just about finished here and daylight savings ended so it will be getting dark at 6pm now.  The nights are really cooling down and I can smell woodsmoke in the air when out walking. 

I have a new floral painting on the go.  It's at the crappy stage where I have painted the first layers and am just starting to add details.  I'm really unsure about this painting.  I was feeling not in a good place mentally and it was a real struggle to start and connect with what I wanted to do.  It just came out in small parts instead of flowing and I just had too much anxiety going on.  My mental vision has been really off but I am hoping I can turn it around and get this painting to a place it is supposed to be in.  Anxiety is awful when I am trying to paint, I really doubt my painting ability to the point where I feel I have no skills, as if I am a total beginner and then on top of that I lose all confidence.  I feel like I have moved forward a bit now to a place where I am not so anxious and have some confidence back which is a relief!

I will be back with the finished painting at a later date but for now thank you for looking and reading!

Birthday And Art

 

It was my birthday yesterday which was March 9 and I turned 49 but I still feel younger than that, I thought I would be much more grown up now but unfortunately not.  Just my body is older.  I do have more confidence and don't care so much what people think and I just wish I had had those qualities when I was much younger but what can you do?

We went for a drive to a place called Normanville on the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula.  There is a small outdoor Cafe there and we had fish burgers and fish and chips which was really nice.  Then we drove to Rapid Bay which is further south and this is where I took this photo.  This photo is looking north back up the coast.  It was quite cool and windy but at least the sun was warm.  It was a great day by the sea.

I made this girl painting on Khadi 320gsm handmade paper which is quite thick and I was really happy with how she turned out.  I used Paynes Grey watercolour for her top and I really like the colour.  I was looking at artists on Instagram who do collage and stitching, combining fabric and paper and I was really inspired by what they do.  So I decided to add stitching to the top of this girl.  I was learning a lot of embroidery last year and really enjoying it.  I thought I would do the French Knot stitch and please forgive my stitching because the French Knot is my weakest stitch and I'm not very good at it.  The girls on YouTube make such immaculate, neat looking French Knots and hopefully one day I will be good but not today!

You can see the stitches better on this photo.  The paper is A5 size.

Thank you for looking, I hope you enjoy this post!

I Finished My Floral Painting

(I don't have a name yet)

102 cm x 76 cm

Acrylic Paint, Acrylic Pens and Soft Pastel on Polyester Cotton Canvas

So at last my painting is finished and I am so happy with how it turned out.  I was anxious with this painting because it has been a long time since I painted a bigger size and I was worried about stuffing it up.  But I just took my time and let it happen.  I maybe wish I had been a bit looser in the style but I will try again in the next painting.  I just love how colourful it is now even though I was worried about that too.  I restretched one side of the canvas and it is really taught now.  I hope you enjoy seeing it finally!

Girl Illustration In Sketchbook

Gouache, Watercolour and Fountain Pen Ink On Handmade Paper

A5 sized Journal by Nero

I painted this girl recently and so enjoyed it.  I used Lady Rose In Gold, Ferris Wheel Press fountain pen ink for the dress and I was so happy with the colour.  Fountain pen ink has a real luminosity about it.  The blue flowers are Diamine fountain pen ink.  I like making these little paintings as they are no or little stress and help me to be relaxed, which can be a problem for me.

Hope your day is okay, bye til next time.

Floral Painting Update

Acrylic, Pastel and Acrylic Markers on Polyester Cotton Canvas

40 x 30 Inches

Hi there, I hope you are all having a good weekend.  It feels like summer is ending slowly here but that’s okay, I kind of look forward to shorter days.  I just wanted to post an update of my floral painting which I have been working on.  I am happy with how it is turning out but I worry about the amount of saturated colour I have used.  It wasn’t really my intention to make such a colourful painting but it has just turned out this way.  I think it is okay.  I don’t work with much of a plan.  The painting will be what she wants to be😊,  I don’t try to control what comes out too much.  I will be adding details with Acrylograph pens next, which, I am really looking forward to because it’s fun.  For now I will let the painting sit and I will do something else because I have been looking at it too much and I have lost perspective.  

Well I look forward to posting hopefully, a finished painting next time.

Look after yourselves and bye for now.

Art Canvas Stretching Problems

 Hi there, I hope your year is going okay so far.  My year hasn't been very eventful which is a good thing.  As you can see I have started a new painting which is bigger than my last painting.  It's 40 x 30 inches.  I am about half way through.  As with the previous painting I stretched this canvas myself.  I was worried after I made it that the canvas was not taut enough on the frame and it turned out that I was right.  You can probably see all the detail in the middle of the sunflower, I used Acrylograph pens for that.  This meant that I was pressing against the canvas a lot and consequently the canvas has loosened and become slightly slack.

I don't know if you can see but the bottom right of the canvas is slightly buckled, as is further up where the sunflower is. I know of tricks to tighten the canvas, like spraying the back with hot water; drying with a hair dryer and I read about a product you can buy to spray on the back of the canvas.  I also know to use wood keys in each corner which I have in the past.  

I have decided the best decision is, once I have finished the painting I will pull out some staples on maybe three sides and restretch the canvas.  I don't think it is necessary to pull the whole canvas off and stretch from scratch again because it is not very loose.  I am hoping this will work.  I had trouble stretching this canvas because it is so big and I couldn't tell very well if I was pulling the canvas tight enough.  Also because I am not experienced at canvas stretching I always worry about damaging the fabric.  I did do a canvas stretching workshop many years ago so I have a basic knowledge of canvas stretching but I just need more practice.

The canvas I am using is Fredrix Cherokee Polyester Cotton Canvas, which feels very good quality and thickness compared to cheaper, readymade canvases.  It is much nicer to work on.  The stretcher bars are Art Spectrum stretcher bars which are very solid and good quality, I think they are the heavy duty ones.

So that was my canvas drama!  I will post with an update when I have finished or at least once I have stretched the canvas again to show you.

Goodbye for now and have a great day!

Summer Floral On Canvas

‘The Fluid Summer Blooms’

Acrylic, Pastel and Acrylograph Pens On Polyflax Canvas

30 x 24 Inches

Hello and Happy New Year, at least I hope it will be a good or better year for all of you😊.  We have had such hot weather this week, too hot to be outside but it was okay.  I haven’t taken my Christmas tree down yet because I just love the sparkling lights and that festive feeling that seems to be gone the day after Christmas. 

So I posted this painting last year because I thought it was finished but I would stare at it on my easel everyday and I knew it wasn’t right but I just had to wait for the solution to come and it did last week.  I added more to the outside with the acrylic pens and I am happy with it now.  So now onto the next one which I am looking forward to.  

Goodbye till next time😊 

Girl With Florals

 

15cm x 10cm

Gouache and Watercolour on Arches Hotpress.

Hi there😊.  I hope you are all okay today.  It’s a hectic time of year especially with the virus on top.  I just wanted to post this little painting.  I made her a few months ago but I couldn’t get her face right so I left her for a few weeks and then eventually finished her face and I think she turned out okay.  I haven’t made any portraits for a while, I think I just needed a break.  Thanks so much for looking🙏

Floral Canvas Painting

I have been practicing painting florals with acrylic paints on canvas for a couple of years now but have been reluctant to post them here because I wasn’t happy with my efforts.  I was finally happy with this one but part of me still isn’t sure about it.  I used acrylic paint, soft pastel, Acrylograph pens and Posca pens.  It was a lot of fun to make because it was a really intuitive process except for using my reference photos to help with accuracy.  

I went to the beach yesterday and I had to wear a windproof coat because the wind was so cold even though it is now summer.  We have a weather event called La Niña which means that we will have a wet, cool summer, which I don’t mind because I don’t feel in the mood for the scorching heat this summer for some reason.  I am just happy for the sun to be out now and then😊.  My health is slowly improving and I am grateful for the good hours in the day.  Thanks for reading and looking🙏   

Journaling

Hi there😊.  I have a hobby besides painting which is journaling and I have become a bit of a nerd about it.  I love art journals, junk journals, minimalist journals, just all journaling really.  I decided to paint a small portrait on this tag from Oeda Letterpress who make lovely stationery in Japan I think.  Unfortunately I did not paint the poppies but wish I did.  They are from a washi tape by Loi Design.  My mental energy levels are still low so painting small was a way of being able to still complete something even though I am not feeling great.  Also, when I paint in my everyday journal I don’t feel so much pressure.  Thanks for looking☺️