The Bubble Jar

I was given a challenge to throw some paint at a page and incorporate it into a painting.
This is what I created:

The Bubble Jar

Flowers for Mary

Crocus and snowdrops, two beautiful flowers which herald the upcoming spring.
These, picked from a garden and put into a glass jug.

Flowers for Mary

Brotherly Love, Fife Art Exhibition, Elite Framing, Keiko Mukaide and Simon Ward .

A little over a month ago, I entered one of my paintings into the Fife Art Exhibition.
That painting was Brotherly Love

It was expertly framed by Elite Framing

I didn't win a prize in the judging - but because I'd entered, I had the opportunity to partake in some workshops, gratis. These were paid for by the sponsor, Shell.

The first workshop I attended was on with the renowned glass artist Keiko Mukaide.
Under her tuition, I produced these two pieces.

The first is a leaf shape, within which is contained the blueprint of the adult tree. The second shows a leaf shape changing with the seasons - to show us nature is not frightened of change - and nor should we be.

The second workshop was with the acclaimed ceramicist, Simon Ward.
In this workshop we learned how to create a design and transfer it to china.
I did this on a mug, using the words "Come Home" and showing one prodigal koi returning to his friends.

These works too are now in the exhibition, which has another week to run.
If you are visiting Fife within the next week, pop into the Lochgelly Centre - and you will see a stupendous exhibition with much talent on display.



My painting was created on St Cuthbert's Mill Saunders Waterford Paper, using W&N paint.

Painting a Wedding Couple, copyrights and completing a demo by Mollie Jones

I met a lovely lady in one of my Creative Writing Courses - and we became firm friends. Recently her daughter got married, and I wanted to paint a memento of the day for them.

So, the first thing I had to do was to speak to the wedding photographer. He owns the copyright to his photographs of the day, like I own the copyright to my images. Before I could paint this memento, I needed his permission to use the photo as a reference.
I spoke to Adam of ARJ Photography and he kindly agreed to my request. He takes fabulous photos - his website is HERE

Having the permission, I set about painting the picture. I decided to paint it relatively small, so that the framed painting would be able to find a place on a wall in my friend's home. You know sometimes, when paintings are very large, it's hard to find a space on the wall. So this one is 8x11" only.

The Wedding Couple

 My friend and her husband received the painting this weekend, and I'm pleased to report that they were delighted with it.

The demo by Mollie Jones was posted in Painting Friends - a friendly online forum of people who love to paint.
It is of a set-up of perfume bottles and a glass vase. Mollie is so generous with her time and expertise, she's the one who made painting crystal a favourite of mine. She didn't even mind when I changed some of the colours!
Here's my version of her demonstration:

Mollie's Dressing Table

I hope you've enjoyed viewing this week's offerings. Wish you a happy painting week.

Memory Lane

All of this week, I've been working on a painting, which is going to be a present for a friend. I can't show it to you yet, because it would spoil the surprise - and because I haven't painted anything else, I thought we'd take a trip down Memory Lane.

So here are some of my crystal and glass paintings.
That's because I'm sure I've shown you the dog ones before - and I thought you might like to see something different!

I hope you've enjoyed this little trip down memory lane and I look forward to having something new to show you soon!

Happy Endings

Here we go with the finished painting.
I hope you enjoyed the step by step and weren't hanging around too long to see the end :)

Happy Endings

15" x 11"

Arches 140 Rough

WN aq paints

The Edge of Heaven.

Its painting time again...

recently I came up with a little challenge for my Painting Friends.. I gave them a title and they had to paint a picture to fit it.
The title was " Edge of Heaven"

Here is what I came up with, because you know, heaven would not be heaven to me, if there was no chocolate and raspberry ice cream, topped with sauce, nuts and a cherry!

The Edge of Heaven