Dog portraits - and Lottie's Wheelchair Fund.

I have a friend called Lottie Bennett, who is just 26 years old.

She suffers from Klippel Trenaunay Syndrome. 

Klippel Trenaunay Syndrome is a rare condition affecting 1 in every 20,000 to 40,000 people. It affects each sufferer differently. 

For Lottie, it causes chronic and acute pain, mobility difficulties, internal bleeding, thrombosis and chronic fatigue. 

Lottie has to use a wheelchair in everyday life, and she has recently discovered Wheelchair Dance. Being the positive person she is, she has taken part in her normal wheelchair, but will need a dance wheelchair to continue. 

It gives her such joy, that I wanted to help. 

I am offering anyone who wants a dog portrait, the chance to have one painted by me, for £100. 

This is a painting I made for Lottie a few years ago, but you can see more dog paintings on my gallery site.

There are other ways to help Lottie - and if you'd like to help, her wheelchair fund raising site is Lottie's Wheelchair Fund

To order a dog portrait, you need to do that through Lottie's site. 

Thank you for reading.

Here comes the Sun..

I so enjoyed posting once a week, that its going to be my new normal :)
Here's this week's efforts on the painting front - and all to do with sun!


Sun Worshipper

11x8 inches

Saunders Waterford 140 Rough

Sun Dance

15 x 11 inches

Saunders Waterford 140 Rough

The Great Scheme of Things and Artistic Ambitions

When I was 20, I decided to learn Ballroom and Latin American dance.
I remember clearly the first exam, taken at bronze level. Looking over at the seniors on the opposite side of the practice room and wondering if I'd ever be that good.

A few years later, I am taking another exam, first star, and I am at the far end of the practice room from the beginners. Practising before being called upstairs and joking around with one of the men, confident enough to play silly fools.  When I stopped practising and sat down, I saw a beginner on the other side look at me in a way I recognised. Would she ever be that good? That's when it struck me how far I'd come, but still there was lots to learn.


Art is a bit like that too.
I started off learning because I wanted to. Complimented recently on my art work, I look back and can see the improvement.

Art though, has so many varied facets, it would be difficult to be proficient at all of them in one lifetime.  I follow blogs when people paint in oils, use graphite, use photoshop, scratch board, and some who are very loose and some so photo realistic you'd think you could touch the subject.  In those arenas I would be a mere beginner - there is lots to learn.
In the great scheme of things, everything is relative - and it keeps your feet on the ground!  I would like to thank all my artist friends for that.

Like my dancers, we all have three things in common,
a love of art, a willingness to learn and we go at our art "affettuoso"  - with feeling!

Now, all the time I've been painting and learning, I've had one artistic ambition.
Not letters after my name, just a desire to paint one painting.
I've always wanted to paint a picture of the crucified Christ, but never thought I was good enough to do Him justice.
But , with the encouragement of my painting friends on my recent portraits ringing in my ears,  I've given it a go. Next week, I'm going to post all the stages and then the finished painting.

So how about you? Do you have an artistic ambition?