747, A Magnificent Bear...

 I can finally reveal this painting as it has been delivered to its very surprised and delighted recipient!

This is bear 747 who lives in Katmai National Park, Alaska and is one of the biggest bears around.  He is fairly battered - you may notice that he has only one ear showing in the painting - his other ear was nearly torn off a few years ago, presumably in a fight with another bear, and is now just a loose furry nub.  It doesn't detract from his good looks however!  747 was one of the most dominant bears at Brooks Falls for many years, although he is aging now and not quite so aggressive - I wouldn't mess with him though!

I was asked to paint this bear, 747, by a photographer as a present for a mutual friend.  The photograph he supplied me with was in black and white and showed this amazing bear in all his glory.  I did not use black as such in my painting as I felt it would make the picture flat and a bit lifeless, so I used Payne's Grey for most of it which gives a slightly blue tinge, and black for the deeper shadows.

This is a fairly large painting, watercolour on paper.  I have left a large expanse of white paper at the top of the picture as I felt it added something to the over all effect.

I loved painting this, and was very sorry when it was finished - I did get myself a print made so that he wasn't completely gone!

Izzys...

Inbetween other work, I have been knitted these cute little dolls.  I'm quite capitivated by the simplicity of the basic pattern - no more than a tube of various colours, ending with a beanie hat type top.  The detail is made by gathering the tube at the neck, and then sewingt hrough the stuffing todelineate the arms and legs.  The skirts are knitted by picking up stitches all round before the doll is stuffed.

I have enjoyed choosing different colourways and 'outfits', adding little accessories at the end.

Not sure what to do with them - probably just give them away.  The fun for me is in the making, I don't need to keep them afterwards.

Curently on the easel - a Christmas commission double dog portrait - will I finish it in time? That's the burning question!
 

Tontu...

Here is the second toy for my granddaughter, Tontu, the other sidekick of Hilda.  It's not quite right colourwise & I would have preferred to use a fluffier fleece fabric for the head, but time was of the essence.  It is annoying buying fabric off the internet, you never quite get what you had hoped for, photos can be deceiving.

On the easel - still the rather large bear. I won't be able to show this one for a while as it is a gift for someone.
 

Twig The Deer Fox...

My granddaughter's current favourite books are the Hilda graphic novels.  Hilda has a couple of cute sidekicks, one of which is a deer fox called Twig.  There are very few toys available of this character, and what there are are hideously expensive (Etsy vendors...)

So I made one!  I used some soft fleece fabric, adapted a pattern I found for a deer, and used blak felt for the feet etc.   It took about 3 evenings to complete and will go away now until Christmas.  The other sidekick is a weird gnome sort of thing - hopefully it will be as easy to make as this one!

Currently on the easel - a very large bear!
 

Bear...

Here's what I have been working on over the past couple of weeks.  It's not a Katmai bear, but it is an Alaskan bear, based on a couple of photos taken by an American friend of mine while she was taking a trip to Alaska a few years ago.

This is watercolour on paper and will be winging it's way to Boston shortly.

Next on the easel is a commission I have been looking forward to with huge anticipation - a bear's head in monochrome.  It is to be a surprise gift for someone I know so I will say no more!
 

Knitting...

Working on the next Nudinits pattern book pretty much took over my knitting needles for the past year or so, especially as the items I had to design were human sized, not puppet sized.  So once they were over and done, it was good to take theopportunity to get on with something I have had in mind for a long time.  A while back I discovered a cotton jumper I had started but never got further than knitting the back before abandoning it - too much fiddly lace and cable work I think.  I wanted to unravel it and knit a short cardigan that I have made before and loved. It is from the Knitty.com website and the pattern is called 'Hey Teach'.

There is nothing wrong with the first cardigan I made, it's just a little too short - I am a taller lady and sometimes patterns need to be added to for proportion.  So with the second one, I added a couple of extra inches to the stocking stitch portion.  I was also given some rather lovely wooden buttons last Christmas that have bees etched on them - it was good to finally have a suitable project to use them on!

Of course now that I have finished a summer cardigan, the weather is going to turn very chilly...

I've also been seeing a lot of Izzy dolls all ove the internet lately - I thought they were rather cute so searched out a free pattern on Ravelry and gave it a go.  Not bad for a first attempt - there are things I might do slightly different if I made any more, but that's just me being picky.

Nomore knitting for thetime being - as soon as the fabric arrives, I need to make a couple of special soft toys for my granddaughter for Christmas.

On the easel, a bear.  Suddenly I have more commissions than I have time for, which is fantastic after such a dry year.
 

Wren...

It's been an eventful few weeks - about 10 days ago I was bitten in the stomach by a neighbour's dog...well, as the dog was very small, it was more a tear than a bite, but enough to cause a humungous bruise and a painful 3 cm wound.  I had to get a tetanus shot (and apparently I am now also vaccinated against diptheria and polio, which is nice...) and took antibiotics for 5 days.  Also reported it to the police as the whole situation was caused by one of the neighbour's other dogs being off lead and having a go at my dog whilst also running amok in the middle of the road.

So that put me out of action for a few days. Once I started to feel better I was able to get back to this lovely dog portrait, and once the sun finally came out and we got some decent daylight, finishing it off was much quicker.

This has been worked in Derwent Drawing & Coloursoft pencils on pastel paper, and is a private commission.  

After having once of the worst years ever for sales and commissions, I suddenly have more work that I can cope with in the run up to Christmas!  It feels very good to be back in business - it was starting to get very worrying.

Next on the easel - a bear!
 

Sparrow...

Here is the first painting I have done in quite a while - it took me days to decide what to paint in order to get back into the swing of things, and I am happy with my final choice.  This will be for sale in my Etsy shop soon.
 

Normal Service Will Be Resumed Shortly...

 It has been well over a month since I posted here - sorry about that, but I have been a tad busy!  I had to finish the final designs for the new Nudinits book (coming out next year!) which involved some intensive knitting followed by intensive typing.  I'm afraid I cannot show any of this.

We also had a short break and spent a few days down by the sea - the weather was not particularly great, but we still had fun searching for fossils, eating too much and generally pottering about.  It was good to get away after the pressure of the knitting work!

I've had a horrendous artist's block as far as painting is concerned - commissions have been almost non-existent this year for some reason, and I just haven't felt much like doing any of my own stuff.  I forced myself to find something to paint last week and am currently working on a small sparrow painting and feeling a bit more enthusiastic.

I'm finally getting around to painting the rest of the bathroom - I had a burst of enthusiasm when Mr.B made the wooden panelling for the side of the bath, but I didn't like the paint I had used for the wall next to the bath, it was the wrong shade of blue.  So I bought some different paint which looked to be the right colour on the side of the tin - turned out to be far too dark and (eugh!) shiny.  So this week I bit the bullet and paid a small fortune to have the colour I like mixed specially - so now I have no excuse not to get on with it!

So hopefully things will be getting back to normal and I will be posting some pictures of interest soon.

Painting...

This weekend I finally got to put brush to paper for a little postcard painting which will go to the Nature in Art charity auction next month.  Of course it had to be a bear!  This is from a snap I took on the Explore.org bear cams this year - I'm afraid I don't know which bear it is.

It's been a bit of a frustrating summer as far as painting pictures is concerned - there have been other things around the house that needed my attention.  I've painted part of the pergola after Mr.B replaced the uprights - a whole morning and I only managed to paint 2 uprights and 3 horizontals, as well as doing my ankle in from going up and down the stepladder so many times.  This is going to be a long project!  I've painted one wall in the bathroom - the colour I did it in a few months back has been bothering me big time, it just wasn't the right shade of blue.  Now I need to get the other 3 walls done - but they will also have to wait as I am in the middle of finishing off the patterns for thenext Nudinits book.

The garden has also been taking up a lot of my time - everything is growing fast with the warm weather and the rains.  The courgette plant is still getting bigger and bigger and producing endless courgettes - we've eaten them every way imaginable (I don't think I'll be making courgette cake any time soon though) and I have made several pounds of a delicious chutney.

Hopefully once the book patterns are complete I will have a little more spare time and will be able to get back to painting again - pictures and pergolas!

Otis...

 A few weeks ago I bought a black canvas - I thought it would be an interesting experiment to paint on rather than having to put on several layers of black paint in order to create the surface.  The subject was of course Otis - I have painted him on a black background on many trinket boxes, but this would be the first time on an actual canvas.

I had the same smallproblems with the canvas as I do on the trinket boxes - it takes several layers of lighter paint in order to get the colour to 'pop'.  However, shadows and darker colours were a lot easier.  All in all, I am pleased with the result and will invest in some more of these canvases.

The real Otis has not appeared on the Explore.org bear cams this year.  It is getting late in the season and my thoughts are turning to the possibility that last year was the last time we would have seen him. His final appearance on the cams last year was in a high speed chase after a couple of other bears - in all the years I have been watching the cams I have never seen him run so fast and for so long, so he was fit at the time!  There are other factors that should be taken into account - last year there were not so many salmon, so perhaps he has found a better fishing spot; there are a lot of testosterone filled big bears at the falls this year, a concern for an old bear; and the human visitors seem to be getting more and more each year.  I guess we have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that dear Otis makes an appearance in 20224.

I have someone interested in this painting, but if they choose not to purchase it, it will be in my Etsy shop soon.

That's a Whopper!

 I usually have minimum success with my courgette plants - very small garden and I tend to plant them in pots.  This year I took Monty Don's advice and planted a couple of them right next to the compost bin...this is what happened!  It has grown bigger even in the few days since I took this photo and we will be eating courgettes every day for weeks at this rate...

Chunk...

This has been a very poor year for commissions - I think I have only had three since Christmas, which is a first.  I don't know if it is the current cost of living crisis and people not spending money on fripperies, or whether I have become boring (!), but it sucks.

I have also not felt much like painting either, which has been a worry.  However, I got my mojo back a couple of weeks ago and painted Chunk the bear from Katmai National Park in Alaska.  It felt good to be painting something with enthusiasm again and I am very happy with how it turned out - the photo has bleached the colours a bit as always.  This is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Nothing on the easel at the moment - have spent the week assisting (or getting in the way) of Mr.B as he replaced the wooden uprights of our pergola before it falls on our heads.  Hopefully getting back to the paints in the next couple of days.

Knitting wise, I am currently working on the last few patterns for a new Nudinits book - complicated stuff this time round...watch this space!
 

June...

Apologies for yet more silence - I've not had much to write about really.  However, there has been a little painting - the above is a quick study while teaching one of my old students last week.

                                               

This is Trouble, my one and only commission in June.  Watercolour on paper.

We also went on a week's holiday - back to Middleton on Sea in the house that looks like a boat!  A very quiet week, just pottering on the beach, visiting Bognor, and eating plenty of fish and chips.

                                      

I found one of the best fossils, an almost perfect sea urchin that was also sparkly with crystal like facets.

 Last week we went fruit picking and yesterday I made a little jam....I think that might keep us going for a while!  We had run out completely as out local pick your own farm closed down last year.  We have found a new place, further away but just as good.

And on the needles - still working on patterns for a new Nudinits book.

Boring...

Apologies for being so quiet over the past month or so.  I seem to have spent most of my time in the garden trying to get all the jobs done that were left while it rained interminably.

I have finally planted all seedlings & young plants, which was a task and a half, especially finding spaces for various cabbage & cauliflower plants that were given to me.  It's all in now and I am impatiently waiting for everything to grow while fighting off the snails and slugs.

We have a pretty dire summer predicted - I hope that doesn't come to pass as I would really like to be harvesting homegrown veg this year!

We found a pick your own farm within easy distance recently, so I have been making strawberry and rhubarb jam as we had finally run out of all homemade jam.  Also made tomato & chilli jam and pickled some beetroot.

I was ill over the last couple of weeks - it was a bit concerning as I had a tight and painful chest with the feeling that I needed to cough but nothing was productive. Also kept getting a low grade fever off and on for a few days.  Went to the doctor and was told it was nothing serious, probably viral (isn't it always?) and sent home with some strong cough mixture and instructions to send in BP readings twice a day.  Thankfully, it all seems to be clearing up at last.

On the work front, I have been painting a sweet commission of a cat, plus designing and knitting more fun patterns for Nudinits.  Hopefully I will have more interesting things to blog about soon!
 

Radio Silence...

 Apologies for being MIA for the past month or so - I have been working on a knitting pattern for Nudinits which has taken up a fair bit of my time as it is very complicated to design.  Unfortunately I cannot show it, has to be kept under wraps for now!

Talking of Nudinits, we were all over the media last week after a pair of knitters in Shepton Mallet used our patterns to create a display of naked Morris dancers in a charity shop window.  Someone passing by objected to seeing woolly naughty bits and complained...and the rest is history!  Great publicity for Nudinits once they started to mention the book that the patterns came from rather than assuming the ladies came up with the designs themselves. Read all about it here

As for painting, I am suffering the worst case of artist's block, just totally uninspired.  Rather than sit and gaze out of the window miserably at the rain, I decided to paint another Otis trinket box - this one just needs lining with fabric then it will go into my Etsy shop.  Hopefully with the recent sunshine I will feel more like putting brush to paper.

Bear 610

 Here's what I have been working on over the past few weeks.  This is bear 610, who lives in Katmai National Park, Alaska.  She has quite the story - she was abandoned as a cub but managed to survive by keeping well out of the way of other bears down by the river mouth despite having a huge injury to her rear end which has left her with a large dent where it has healed.  How this little bear did not die is a mystery with so much against her.  But she did, and when she was a subadult she remained shy and aloof until other subadult bears attempted to play with her, whereupon she finally joined in and became one of the gang!  She is now an adult bear who manages just fine - I am waiting to see if she returns this year from hibernation with a cub or two of her own.

This was painted in watercolour on paper, with huge thanks to Olatz Azcona Munarriz for the use of her wonderful photo taken last year.

Moonlight...

I painted this last week - I have had it in mind for a long time, but commissions for dog portraits had to take priority.  This is Otis swimming in the moonlight, referencing a snap taken last year on the Explore.org bear cams.  Unfortunately, I just cannot photograph the painting successfully.  The above picture is slightly too dark...

...and this one is way too light.  I have tried 3 different cameras and they just do not like this painting!  The true colours are somewhere between the two photographs.  This was watercolour on paper,and will be in my Etsy shop shortly.

On the easel - another bear...
 

Sweet...

 Last week saw my granddaughter's 3rd birthday and she had a little party with all the 'oldies' - grandparents, family friends etc.  Mr.B took a sweet photo of her eating a slice of birthday cake and I just had to paint it!  I used a new set of watercolours, Rosa, made in Ukraine, that I bought with a gift voucher received on my birthday.  They are quite different to the watercolours I usually use (White Knights) but once I'd got the hang of them I really enjoyed using them for this delicate little painting.  It was really good to paint something different - I've had a year of painting dogs - and getting my brain working!

No commissions at the moment - please get in touch if you would like me to paint something for you!  In the meantime, we're giving thebathroom a little makeover so the next thing I shall be painting is a bath panel and a set of shelves!

More Small Things...

I've been working on a dog portrait over the past fortnight - here is Charlie, a little Yorkshire terrier done in Derwent Coloursoft & Drawing pencils on pastel paper.  This is for a surprise birthday present, so shhh!  I'm now free for commission.

My granddaughter turns 3 at the weekend - difficult to think what to get her for her birthday as she was spoilt rotten over Christmas whcih wasn't that long ago.  One thing that her mum asked if I could do was to make an Elsa dress to go with a doll she will be getting on her birthday.  I had to search the internet for measurements of this particular doll- thankfully I found them hidden away on a blog somewhere.  I bought some blue lining satin and some sparkly snowflake organza and went about drawing out a pattern.  I think it turned out well - it remains to be seen if it fits the doll!  If not, I am sure she will have some teddy or other that we can jam into it!
 

Small Things...

I've been playing around with yarn while I waited for a larger project to be confirmed.  I bought a book called Amigurumi Dolls a long time ago but never made anything from it until now.  These little babies are about 2 inches tall and cute as a button.  I love the teeny-weeny teddy!

This one is also the same size.  Not sure what I will do with these, it was just fun to crochet them.

I've also knitted a Katmai hat from the book Knit The National Parks - Ithink this one has a home already.

These two baby Katmai hats are already on their way to their new home - twins!

On the easel - a new dog portrait, a Yorkshire terrier this time.
 

Handsome Fellow...

I completed this yesterday - a very handsome German Shepherd dog that is sadly no longer with us - which is a private commission.  I have painted this in acrylics on Dalerboard - I have not painted in acrylics for quite a while and thoroughly enjoyed this one.  The subject was great, and the painting seemed to just flow right from the start - I love it when that happens!  In fact, I am quite sorry this one is over!

So now I am free to paint anything I want until the next commission rolls along.

I have also been knitting - this is a lace shawl/scarf knitted in a fine kid mohair mix yarn, pale cream coloured with a hint of sparkle.  It is light as air and very pretty - it will be in my Etsy shop in the next few days.

I am just finishing off another couple of baby hats, and after that I have no more work for the time being.  Perhaps I could get on with some Spring cleaning?

Happy New Year!

 Sorry I've been so quiet over the past weeks - it's been a busy time, organising and celebrating Christmas, which was the best Christmas since Covid struck.  I have been working away on various projects, none of which are finished and ready to post pictures of just yet.

On the easel - a wonderful dog portrait that I am having so much fun with.

On the needles - a lacy shawl, just needs a few more rows; a baby hat, part of a commission.

Hopefully I will have something to show inthe coming few days.