Garden Stuff...

 We have a wren's nest in the ivy on the pergola.  We didn't know what it was when we discovered it and nearly pulled it apart while investigating - very glad we didn't.  The wren has been seen entering it, so hopefully it is being used and we haven't scared it off - I heard it singing loudly out there this morning.  The nest is about 6ft away from our back door so perhaps we will be able to see what happens if there are chicks.

 I've been planting flowers...

 ...the currants are already dashing ahead...

 ... the apple tree is covered in blossom, having recovered from it's severe pruning in the winter.

Of course, now that there are flowers, seedlings and bedding plants out there, the weather has taken a turn for the worst - the garden is now swathed in expanses of fleece until the cold snap is over.

Trawling Through The Archives...

 This week I have finally done something I had in mind for months, since giving up the day job.  I've gone through my two portfolios and sorted our various paintings that have been hidden away for far too long and I am slowly loading them up into my Etsy shop.  Perhaps there they can find homes where they will be loved and looked at!  The above is an acrylic of a coastal walk in Alderney - my friends and I hiked miles and miles along these paths as teenagers.

 A little watercolour of the apple blossom on our tree - it's nearly that time of year again, so no doubt another blossom painting will ensue.

 I love painting horses and it shows in this one - surely someone would like this on their wall?

 A lot of my paintings are a travelog - this is a watercolour of Rome after we spent a day there during a trip to Italy.

 This is a watercolour of Victorian ruins on Pigeon Island, St. Lucia - another favourite thing to paint, old stonework!

 My one and only foray into oil painting - love the effect, hate the drying time.

 A watercolour of the rainforest in St. Lucia - I used a very limited palette for this if I remember, possible only two colours, no more than three.

 A coloured pencil sketch of a saluki - you will know my soft spot for these dogs, just so beautiful.

A watercolour painting of a pair of sparrows I saw on Boston Common a few years ago.  I love to paint sparrows too - they initially look drab but once you study them, they are such pretty birds.  I love their cheeky personalities too.

So if you look in my shop, these and a few more will be making an appearance and hopefully going off leaving some room in my portfolios for more work.

Apple Blossom in Watercolour

This is my second attempt at painting the blossom on my apple tree, this time in watercolour. While I had great fun painting it, I am not sure it has worked particularly well - perhaps I have been staring at it for far too long!

Enough of blossom for now - I'm off to Birdworld in Farnham tomorrow and hopefully will get lots of reference photos for some bird paintings. That's if I get the chance while herding small children round the aviaries! One of my best days ever was going to Birdworld with The Wildlife Art Society and a group of fellow artists. We were allowed free range to paint & sketch the birds that they let loose in the Heron Theatre for an hour or so, then we spent the rest of the day doing our own thing painting where we wanted to...well I did anyway, not too sure that the others did much other than take photos! I even managed to sell one of my little watercolours of a Turaco to a Danish tourist, which paid for the entrance fee quite nicely!

Never Again!

Here it is, the painting that has caused me so much grief over the past couple of weeks. In ordinary circumstances I should have been able to finish this in a few afternoons, but due to the horrible surface of the canvas, I have wasted so much time going over and over the same petals and leaves in order to get them to take the paint and have even a fraction of the detail I had in mind.

It is painted in acrylics and features a sparrow (I just love those little birds!) and sprigs of apple blossom from my tree....the painting has taken so long, the blossom is long gone!

I have cut off a good two thirds of the canvas - even that caused major problems as it is so well made I could barely get a scalpel through it. It took several goes at it, ending with me bending and snapping the final thickness. I am a bit wary of this kind of job - I once ended up in Casualty having the tip of my finger glued back on after a mount-cutting incident.

So, I would be interested to hear what you have to say - was it worth it? I do know that I shall never use this canvas again, it's just not right for me.

Also feeling veeery tired after getting up at 4.55 a.m. in order to watch the final episode of Lost. But it was so worth it - I now have closure!

After the Rain....

Finally finished this - it has taken weeks because I had the portrait in the middle plus this was fairly labour intensive. It is painted using Chinese watercolour paints on brown Ingres paper, with the leaves painted using Derwent Inktense pencils - the Chinese watercolours just weren't strong enough to get the colour of the leaves.

It is painted from a photo I took earlier this year of our apple tree just after a very heavy shower - just as well I took the photos when I did as two days later the blossom all fell off.