All go!!!

Well it was such a quiet start to the year that I almost fell into a coma, then all of a sudden everything has gone mad! (typical) I had three outstanding portrait vouchers from 2009 and two have been claimed in the last couple of weeks co-inciding with my long overdue first commission of the year (phew)

Just to complicate things further I have been selected to exhibit four paintings at a very special art exhibition over Easter and at the moment I only have two wildlife paintings suitable for the task.............so its been a case of hunkering down in the studio ignoring the garden and the lovely spring sunshine :-( and painting until my eyes are out on stalks!

I have now completed the commission and one new work for the exhibition, and made the requested alterations to the Alaskan Malamute (fingers crossed the owner will accept it now).

So the next task is a large wildlife painting for the exhibition, I have made a start and will be working like fury all week to get it finished in time for framing and submission.

Pictured above are the finished Malamute portrait and the first of my new wildife paintings the second one has a long way to go before its done but here is a peek at my progress so far

My commissioned portrait will remain under wraps for a few more days until it is no longer a surprise for the recipient

Starting "Lily"

I have abandoned the website update for the time being as there have been so many gremlins in the works at the server end, I have also still got "Gunner" on a back burner waiting for his owner to enlighten me about the alterations she wants....................................so I have begun work on the calico cat "Lily," I decided it was time to get the oils out as I haven't used them for some months and am feeling a bit rusty.

Lily was the winner of the title "best in show" from a photo cat show held last year to raise funds for our local hospice (St Michael's).

I am donating her portrait as part of the prize, her owner has provided some lovely clear high res photos so I have lots of information to work from and I have chosen to paint her in a domestic setting, sitting on the windowsill, I must admit I am enjoying working with oils again but am frustrated that I have to leave it now for a few days to dry before I can add more layers and "bring her to life"..............this is the painting so far, I'm hoping her owner will like it..........

Alaskan Malamute

I have been struggling all week to finalise some major updates on my website, it all looks so good on paper and I turned a small corner in that I finally started to understand the coding that is html (need a small flag waving smiley here)

However as with the best of plans my hosting company decided to impliment some changes of their own and have well and truly thrown a spanner in the works! so for the time being I am having to accept that my website is in total disaray and am saving my updates till the gremlins have left the building.

Meanwhile on the easel I have been working on a pastel portrait of a red Alaskan Malamute he is almost complete now and I have e-mailed this to his owner to see if any changes are needed before I finish it.............this is "Gunner" so far .........................

Pennies from heaven

For those of you who know the saga of Royal mail and the damaged painting of Tess, I am happy to report that Royal mail have stood by their guarantee and have compensated me for all the costs incurred in repairing the damage.....................so those of you who also use "Special delivery" for sending out paintings can carry on safe in the knowledge that its still a good service to use :-)
Royal mail delivered another surprise this week in the shape of a parcel from Derwent containing samples of their new pastel and pastel pencil ranges, I had been feeling a bit uninspired so some new product to trial was just the thing to get me back into the swing of things.
Next up on the portrait front is a charity donation from last year which is to be a handsome red Alaskan Malamute, I will be working on "Gunner" and trialling the new pastels after I complete a couple of Setter portraits from my "need to finish" file.

Challenging times

It has been a very slow start to 2010 for me and commissions have once again dried up, so............... not being one to be defeated I am working on a complete overhaul of my website and pricing structure (no easy feat for me)

This week I am fully occupied designing my new web pages and updating the work I have on display in the hope that a more info rich content with fewer portraits to confuse folks will generate some interest.

Don't get me wrong I don't envisage having the changes ready to publish for some weeks yet but I thought I'd better make a start now while the ideas are entering my thick head.

I have begun with some new examples and needed a graphite cat ............................. luckily I have the perfect model with our "Maggie" still here and unclaimed by her owner :-)

Pet portrait competition winner

Here is the portrait I have produced for the winner of the photo competition, this is "Tess" a pretty 15 yr old Jack Russell Terrier who sadly passed away last year, her portrait was painted from a photograph of her in her younger days, it is painted in pastels and measures 30 x 30 cm.

Her owner loves it............... but................. it met with some rough handling from the post office and is currently winging its way back to me for running repairs, which I'm hoping won't need to be too drastic

Snow and yet more snow!

Well as almost everyone in the uk is well aware, we have been under a white blanket for a couple of weeks now and I have been busy walking about doing errands of one kind or another for family and neighbours!

I really haven't managed to get much done in the way of painting, I have no commissions in the offing and my prize portrait owner is still trying to select a favourite photograph leaving me with time on my hands........... so I spent an afternoon working on snow sculpture in honour of a little present bought to me by the snow :-)

Can you tell what it is yet?

Well here is my Jack Russell "Milo" inspecting the snow version and here is our new lodger/foster baby "Tabatha Snow" who I found freezing cold and lost in the snow exactly a week ago .........despite extensive searching I have been unable to track down her owner so it looks as if I may have been adopted!..................................isn't she cute x

2010!

I thought I had added to this blog this year but it seems not and it's already a week in!

It's been a busy week for me on a personal level as the deep snow has prevented me from getting the car out. Caring for my Mum and my elderly neighbour has had me walking miles and miles in the snow to get bits and bobs both needed but I must say I have enjoyed the fresh air and I've certainly made up for all my over indulgence at Christmas!

On the artistic front I was able to announce the winner of the pet photo competition I ran throughout 2009. "Tess" the JRT won with a fantastic 191 votes, unfortunately she passed away mid year so her portrait will be extra special to her owners, she died age 15 and had lived a full and active Jack Russell style existance, her owner is searching for suitable ref photos and I should be able to make a start on the painting soon

A one off

I almost forgot to post this one as it's been a total secret for so long...........this is a portrait of my three step grandkids Carter, Darcy and Fern I took the ref photos on a day out last summer and painted the portrait as a surprise Christmas pressie for their Mum

Christmas paintings

Well the Christmas deadline came and went and in spite of the odd Royal Mail strike delivery hiccup I managed to deliver all my commissions on time, and now at last I can reveal some of the portraits I have been working on that were surprise pressies................ I hope you like them
First are Tila and Dexter who I painted in watercolour on A3 paper for a returning client

then there is April louise, a difficult commission taken from some very poor quality prints from the 70's................she is painted in pastels slightly larger than A4

Then (unusually for me) a graphite drawing of "Angel" a recently departed SBT and "Joey" which is an A4 watercolour painting of a much loved budgerigar

Next up are Harry and Bobby two very handsome Jack Russell Terriers who's portraits are pastel on A3 paper

Another pastel portrait, this time an unusual full body request of a cute little Shih Tzu (another first for me) she is called Suki and her painting is slightly larger than A4

And finally is the second of my cat paintings, this one is "Silver" a very pretty silver tabby who sadly passed away just before Christmas, I painted her as a very last minute request using pastels, the portrait is square format and measures approx 30 x 30cm

Christmas visitor

This little chap has been keeping me company on my windowsill every day while I painted for the last few weeks, so in the end I just had to indulge his desire to be an artists muse.....................I know it's slightly cheesy but I think he earned his place on my Christmas cards this year, hope he stays around well into the new year as I've enjoyed his company

I have almost completed the Christmas commissions now and family preparations are getting underway at long last....................Merry Christmas everyone

I'm looking forward to posting some paintings again in the near future xx

Last minute!

As usual I have received a couple of last minute commissions for Christmas, my lack of work over the last couple of months means I can happily accommodate them while putting aside my own Christmas preparations, I'm sure my family will understand the lack of presents!
I'm not too far behind the tree is up and decorated so I'm sure everything else will fall into place by Christmas eve ;-)
Today presented a first for me as I worked on a commissioned watercolour of a budgerigar, I hope the client likes it...............alas it's another of those surprise christmas pressies so can't post until after the event.
Now to end this drivel and get on with the ironing as it's almost reaching the ceiling and can'tbe ignored for any longer whatever the excuse :-(

Milestone

Well it's been a while since I posted here , have been tackling a serious revamp/clearout of my workroom studio which I must admit has proved far more complicated and tedious than I imagined, I have tried to be ruthless thinning down unsold artwork and clearing out unused clutter but like the magic porridge pot it just seems to keep coming!
This week I have had to cope with a few family mini crises while trying to get organized for this weekends art exhibition so it 's been all go.

On Monday I was astonished to note that my website registered it's 10,000th visitor! (if only I could have charged £1 per visit :-))

To my surprise I also had a late Christmas commission, and another enquiry that dissolved into nothing, (I had almost forgotten that I do pet portraits) so will have to get back into practice after the exhibition.
Today I am reframing and mounting work to exhibit at the weekend and praying that I make some late sales to make up for the lack of commissions, wish me luck!

Ploughing

This is a small diversion for me, I recently attended a local farmers ploughing match and have been inspired to paint the work going on there, some of the ploughs were horsedrawn and these are the ones I had originally intended to paint but after a request from my husband I decided to give the tractor a spin, this was a challenge as I rarely paint such hard edged creatures :-)

Anyway the finished painting has met with hubby's approval so can't be too far off the mark....................now to search out those heavy horses

"Independence"

Just finished this pastel of two "teenage" cygnets venturing away from the parent birds for the first time, I have been watching this amazing family since my return from Australia in June.

There are eight cygnets altogether and I have been facsinated by the wonderfully protective parents raising all eight to maturity, they are in a local area populated by foxes and swim on a canal that is home to many large Pike so these cygnets have all survived against the odds.

This weekend I watched as the Cob bird chased off the young in batches towards their independence, leaving Mum with just one baby to watch over, I guess soon they will have the place back to themselves!

Anyway I have done so much autumnal foliage as background lately that I felt it was time to use some of the colours that get left in the bottom of my tray, this watery scene was a challenge to say the least!

Finished!

Have now finished the Sika Stag painting and am happy with the way it turned out, Now I need a title for it ............suggestions?

Progress

Here is todays progress on the Stag painting......... not too far to go now, I forgot to mention that this is my third painting on Pastelmat and after my initial assessment of this support I have completely changed my mind and would go as far as to say I'm loving it!

Just to re-affirm my feelings I decided to do a small Barn Owl study on Murano (my all time favourite) and I think the results speak for themselves!

The big bonus with Pastelmat for me is the fact that the pastel stays put............no need for the dreaded fixative :-)

Sika Stag

I have been busy completing my last three Christmas commissions so am unable to post those in case I spoil someone's surprise :-(

However I have had such wonderful luck spotting local wildlife just lately that I have plenty of inspiration for my own work.

About a week ago while out walking my dogs at the crack of dawn I saw a herd of Sika deer which was an amazing sight in itself but then the chief stag came over to see what was going on and stood staring straight at us over the low hedge, he was perfectly lit by the low autumn sunrise and I managed to get some stunning shots of him (never leave home without my camera) so today he has been committed to my easel.

I have been having such fun with all the glorious colours and getting filthy with pastel dust but have had to give up half way due to eyestrain and the dreaded double vision (roll on those new glasses)

Never mind, I have no commissions on the horizon so will continue with this one tomorrow.

Two more paintings completed

I have been working on the sheep in the meadow painting over the weekend as I have finished the kitten watercolour (Christmas commission) got a bit carried away and added a Barn owl as he's a regular hunter in the field that I've painted.

I'm quite happy with the result and intend to exhibit this alongside "Curiosity" at the big Autumn exhibition (if I can afford to get them both framed in time) they are quite large at 50 x 37 cm so could work out expensive.

As often happens I have now grown fond of the pastelmat paper having learned how to cope with its grip on the pastel so am now on the lookout for some more before I start the next one in this series.

Meanwhile I have just accepted a commission from a selection of very bad ref's so will save the "pleasure painting" as a reward for when the commission is in the bag!

There, that's just the incentive I needed................... off to start on the Yorkie

Sheep

Couldn't settle to my commission work today as the day was spent intermittently waiting for workmen and I didn't want to risk anything important, so I decided to use up the other half of a sheet of pastelmat that I bought and didn't like.

I chose to paint sheep this time.... in a similar manner to my other pastelmat painting "Curiosity" and again with the animals backlit I am hoping it will work out as popular as the cow.

Here is the basic underpainting so far............