Coming back to life!

Good morning friends.    
Today's painting came about from an idea I had when I visited the beautiful city of Dundee. Once there, I was struck by how much public artwork is in place. It seemed to me that if you turned a corner, you would find another piece of sculpture. As an artist, I found the city a delight to visit.
the idea which germinated was that I would photograph the settings these artworks were in, but then paint the sculptures as if they were alive - hence the title - The Awakening. It's number II because this is the second such I've done.
The first is HERE 

As you know, we moved house recently - and I have to say that the Kingdom of Fife is a landscape painter's dream location. If you'd like to see some recent pictures, visit my other blog HERE 
We have been made so welcome, it has been like coming home to family who love you.

Now on to the painting..

The Awakening II

I hope you've enjoyed viewing it.

Unconditional love, good friends and a gift.

Painting is therapeutic to me. Whenever I feel stressed or impatient, painting grounds me. No subject more so than painting a dog. There is something about these most loyal companions that brings a smile to my face. That something is probably the unconditional love they have.

In alignment with this unconditional love, I painted a dog portrait as a gift, for someone who is trying their hardest to make things right in my world.

Thank you, my friend.

Here is Oscar

 Painted on Bockingford Extra rough, size 15" x 11"

Fun with Sun

After painting the last two intricate sunflowers, I decided to paint a fast and loose, fun sunflower.
This is on Bockingford Extra Rough and was created using watercolour, Graphik Line Painters and Ink.

Fun with Sun

I hope you enjoyed seeing it.  To see all my paintings on one place, go HERE

Sunkissed

On my last blog post, I explained how I'd painted the sunflower in stages; that those stages reminded me of life.

Painting in stages was quite relaxing, so I did it again - and yet again chose to paint a sunflower.

This one is painted on Bockingford Extra Rough paper - and is a quarter of a sheet in size. (15 x 11inches)

Sunkissed

I hope you haven't minded waiting!

Face the Sun

The last few Sundays, I've set aside a little time to do some painting. Not enough time to complete a whole painting, but the last three together have meant I have one finished painting to show you.

Little by little this painting has come together - and it's been really interesting to paint it that way, rather than painting and finishing all in one go.

It struck me that it's almost like life. Build up the achievements, little by little, until you've reached your goal. Then, you set yourself another goal, and little by little, you'll reach that too.
Hopefully, your life will be just like this painting, that if you turn your face to the sun, the darkness will be behind you.

Face the Sun

 I hope you've enjoyed seeing this picture... by and by, there'll be more to come. Until then, enjoy whatever you're doing.

Still Waiting

I couldn't wait to get stuck into my new DVDs and one of the books I bought at the All About Art event.
Watercolours Unleashed was the first book & Dvd combo that I devoured from cover to disk!

Then I had a little experiment, all of my own...

and this, Still Waiting ... is the result.

Painted on Bockingford High White, it's a quarter sheet in size, and it was created using watercolour, Winsor & Newton inks, FW acrylic ink and W&N Texture medium...

oh it was fun to do! I hope it's fun for you to view...

It's all about art

Thursday, a good friend, Sara - and I, went to the Art event "It's All About Art"

See HERE

We met at the train station, where my friend said I looked like a new woman, more relaxed and happier than ever. I'll let you in to a little secret... I had followed the Dr's advice re my husband - and sought legal advice. It has made all the difference  - and that's all I can say on that matter now.

So, onto the day... we had both checked out the list of events and we had our eyes on different areas, workshops and demonstrations we wished to watch.
We'd both set ourselves a limit as to how much we were prepared to spend. Having been previous years, we knew how easy it would be to get carried away!

We watched Sharon Hurst, Jeremy Ford, Geoff Kersey and Charles Evans paint; we wandered around The Artist of the Year Exhibition and The Sketchbook Challenge exhibition, we stopped at Trade Stands for Derwent, Pebeo and Sculpture Canvas & Blocks.

I bought quite a few instructional DVDs, which were on my shopping hit list, plus one book.

We laughed, we discussed the various paintings and techniques, we sat and had lunch, talking as friends do.
We travelled most of the way home together, only separating for the final leg of our journey. In that time we spoke about our upcoming art projects - and which of our goodies would be the first to be opened!

for me, it was the watercolours unleashed book - swiftly followed by the accompanying DVD... and I can't wait to get the two latest paintings finished and posted, so I can get on to experimentation.

It was a lovely day with a good friend, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!