A birthday indulgence.

Today is my birthday, so I thought I'd indulge myself and show you some of my  favourite paintings from my recent painting journey.
You won't find any one particular style, because I do experiment !
Neither are they in any particular order of rank.


Come sit with me, have a slice of cake and a cuppa and enjoy the views.

Thanks to all of you, for accompanying me on this journey. You're the best!

Memories on Ice

Remember the Memories of Auntie painting? The one with the steel colander and how I changed it to have some shadows?

Both Judy and Prabal suggested I could have some looser, more reflective shadows and my comment was that wouldn't suit the painting.
So then, I thought, lets paint those looser, reflective shadows  - and make a painting they will suit.

So, for Judy and Prabal, here are those reflections you wanted to see - hope you enjoy them!

Memories on Ice

Missy and the Pink Piggy

Its piggy time here !
Not only did we have Oscar who I painted, but we had a surprise gift in the mail of a little pink piggy for Missy.

It came with a card from the lovely Nicola and a photo of the diamond Roxy, who we met recently at Discover Dogs. See HERE

Missy was intrigued by the smells in the padded envelope

She was a good girl as I asked her to "Wait" after I placed the pig on the floor.
Oh but those eyes! She can certainly plead with them :)

Then I told her "go on then" and she got stuck straight in!

After ten minutes or so, she decided to it might be more relaxing to lie down and chew on piggy :)

and when she was done, what a self satisfied look!

Missy really enjoyed playing with Piggy  -she has so far taken the label off, but left the stuffing intact! Which is quite something for a russell. Piggy could be the new favourite :)  Thanks, Nic! xx

The Alphabet Paintings: O

After all the emotion  invested in V: The Other Side of the River, I decided to do a painting that made me laugh.
Also, having neglected the Alphabet paintings,  decided it was time to start again and not lose them.

What on earth could make me laugh in a painting that began with O?
I have just the thing at home.
He's a lovely little animal, all shades of green and he's always cheerful.
When I first saw him many years ago, it was love at first sight.

Here he is, in watercolour, hope he makes you smile too :)

Oscar, the Ornamental Pig

V: The Other Side of the River

Its the Year of Painting (YOP) time over at Painting Friends.
This time instead of showing you all the thought processes and thumbnails, I'm just going to show you the final painting.
You can make your own story up for it this way. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed painting it.

V: The Other Side of the River

Shadows!

Shadows - they make or break a painting.
After I posted yesterday's Auntie painting, my good friends over at Painting Friends suggested I increase the shadow from the small amount under the carrot I had, to a more "anchoring" shadow as some felt the colander was floating.

So I have and here's the updated version.Would love to know what you think .

Memories of Auntie

Sunday dinner at my much loved auntie's house.
Irish stew.
The marvels of cooking to a youngster. 
Warmth and comfort.
Such seemingly simple things.
Such wonderful memories.

Memories of Auntie