Canterbury Art Exhibition

I received some good news yesterday to inform me that I've been invited to exhibit at the forthcoming Canterbury Art Exhibition from 4 - 6 May, 2007.
At the moment I planned to show a different version of Louise and a larger version of Philomena.
For my class on Monday night, my mini 'Forest' has morphed into 'Rose' - acrylic on canvas, 35.5 x 45cm. I've started working on the design, texture and rose. I'm planning to paint the background in 3 different tones of grey/charcoal but my tutor disagrees. He suggested cream. The reason for my colour choice was I was so inspired by Cate Blanchett's gown at the Oscars. It was charcoal cross platinum with small rich burgundy details at the lower part of her dress. I'm going to stick to my guns for now because I've tested the colour combination on a small watercolour for my market stall this weekend and it looked just fine.

Forest and Bottles - update

I started a small version of 'Forest' at my class last Monday but spent most of the time adding more texture to 'Forest' and 'Bottles'. With 'Forest', texture has been added to the two beige trees in the foreground and texture has been added to the lower section of 'Bottles' to gave a bit more life to the table. Both are now available for sale on my webstore.
Meantime, I've started a 30cm x 30cm canvas of floral and butterfly motifs for my market stall in about 10 days time. I will post up a photo of my work in progress sometime this weekend.

Philomena - completed!

Philomena was completed a few minutes ago and would love to hear some comments.
I've removed my 'Bouquets' series from my webstore due to my lack of enthusiasm for it. This is probably due to the less than perfect result of my first effort even though my sketches came up really good. Perhaps I have to render them in black and white and this may be the start of a 'Black and white' series. I will give it more thought during this week.
For my class tonight, I've decided to develop my 'Forest' idea by painting a small version of it in a different colour combination.

Philomena

Just an update on my latest addition to my 'Art Deco Ladies' series. She's called Philomena. So far, I've been working on her elaborate headpiece with vibrant mauves and splashes of deep green. I've yet to decide on the colour of her hair. It's going to be either 'blondish' or 'light brown' or even a mixture of the two.

Forest - completed

Finally, it's done!!
I'm pleased with how it all came together. I've used textured paint and patterns to individualised some of the trees.
Love to hear a few comments - good and bad are welcomed - before I embark on my next one. For my Monday's class, I'm tossing between a different version of 'Forest' and a new one titled 'Orchard'.
Meanwhile, over this weekend I'm going to start painting a new 'Kitty' for my Art Deco Ladies' series.

New work - Forest

I had a ball last night at my painting class. I think it was a good job having done some sketching beforehand. I needed my tutor's advice on colour placement and by limiting my colour palette it has created a challenge for me.
The work-in-progress (WIP) shown in the photo illustrates the colour palette I'm using. I'm contrasting the warm and cool tones by using browns and grays.
As for the design, I'm so pleased with it because it has spawned a few more ideas in a similar theme. Looks like I've got a series going. In the meantime, I'm going to 'file away' my 'Bouquets' series because I think I'm onto something better.
Guess what I'll be doing for the rest of today?

Merry Mauves

I've just completed 2 small watercolours with handstitching. I'm calling them Merry Mauve #1 and #2. They will be available at my next market at Hawthorn Town Hall on Sunday, 4th March unless sold prior.
I bought a few new colours to add to my acrylics collection earlier and I'm really looking forward to using them at my abstract class tonight.
I have been sketching over the weekend to create a design for tonight's class. I think I'm settling on an abstract forest but knowing me… the end product could be completely different. I hope to post a picture of it tomorrow regardless of the stage of painting I'll be at.

Bottles

I've finally put a 'full stop' on my 'Bottles' painting.
What have I changed?
Firstly the circle area, I decided to make it 'neater'. Then I added patches of off-white on the dark, dark blue areas to 'frame it' the whole picture.
Lots of textured paint were added to the dark area - hope it shows up in the picture - and the two light blue areas to give contrast to the different shapes.
I'm rather pleased with it as a first attempt but my next one for my class I'm going to do a bit more preparation over weekend with my sketching and working out my colour concept.
It's going to be a landscape-type abstract.

A trying day

Sigh! I've changed my 'Bottles' painting countless times today, so I've nothing to show. Thought I'll make a post to encourage myself to finish the painting so I'm giving myself a deadline - tomorrow pm.

Bouquets #1

Finally finished 'Bouquets' series #1 under a bit of duress. Possibly to do with my brain churning over ideas for my 'Blue Bottles' - a slight distraction.
I've cropped and framed it and might just post it up in my webstore to see if there's any interest.
My next task is 'Blue Bottles'.
Keep popping in to see the adjustments I'm going to make.

My Abstract Class

Last night I attended my first abstract class hoping to build up my skills and confidence in painting extra large artworks. I have to say it was most enjoyable and there are a lot to learn. I've posted my work-in-progress which I'd started last night. There are a few adjustments I'd like to make to my temporarily titled: Blue Bottles and hope to post up the final result later this week. I'm still working on my first 'Bouquets' series.

For this week's BMN Challenge #4, I have to mention something essential. For those who paint, especially in watercolour and acrylic, ever since I was introduced to 'The Masters®' Brush Cleaner and Preserver, I have not looked back. It's an excellent product - not cheap but lasts a long time. Wonder if the producer is reading this…

All new series - 'Bouquets'

Now that the market is out of the way, my creative juices have started running.
I have started my first 'Bouquets' series which does not have a title yet. I'm waiting to see how the flowers turn out and will name it accordingly. Unless someone else has an idea, if so , please don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Market Day

It was a hot market day and my sales was pretty good. My next market will be at Hawthorn Town Hall on the first Sunday of March.
For the next four weeks I shall be working on some new stock for both my stall and webstore. So, please keep a lookout.
As for ideas, I'm really keen to start a new series called 'Bouquets' using a similar style of design and painting as my Art Deco Ladies. I think they will compliment each other.
Also, I've just noticed that my art of all ages series are in alphabetical order:
Art Deco Ladies
Bouquets
C…
Hmm… food for thought.

Yarra Glen Market - Sunday, 4 Feb 2007

Thought I'll post this now in case I don't have time tomorrow.
I'll be at Yarra Glen Market from 8am - 2pm at the undercover tote area (near the coffee stalls - not that you'll need coffee on Sunday as the forecast is 38ºC). For more details you can check my website.
If you mention my blog or website when you see me, I'll give you a discount.

The photo illustrates a couple of my new designs I've been doing for my stall. I hope to create more of these patterns in the near future.