I started a project last Christmas called: A Moment in Time. It was supposed to be one of those 365 projects, a photo a day. I am not disciplined enough for something like that and needless to say, the project got binned. You can see photos from that aborted project if you type A Moment in Time in the search feature on the sidebar of my blog. You can also see other photographs via the Photography tag.
Being a Gemini, I have a variety of interests. Photography is only one of them. Here is a photo I took at Norman’s Bay in March 2009. I entered this in a recent photo competition (my first) with The Eastbourne Photographic Society. It won top marks in the Beginner’s Category. It was taken with my old Fuji Finepix Z1. I used the Landscape feature.
All in a Row
I took up painting in February 2011 in order to mend a broken heart. Although I am very good at decorating and painting furniture, I didn’t think I would have any talent at drawing or painting people or things. It seems that I have some after all. It is amazing what good things can come out of a seemingly negative situation! 
I am a Developing Artist. I am learning to find my artistic voice. I am currently working on life drawings, fruit and fauna! So here is my art page. Follow my journey. I still have a long way to go, but I am having fun learning how different medium work on different types of canvas and paper. I hope that my artistic and creative efforts might inspire someone to try something new and see what happens. Recent pieces are at the top. Everything is for sale. Send me a comment for more information.
Acrylic on Canvas - A4 - 06.01.12
Acrylic on Canvas - 6x6 inches - 06.01.12
Winter Blues-Acrylic on Canvas-06.01.12 - A4
This is my first painting of the New Year! I am trying something different on smaller canvases based on what I did on a painting before Christmas.
23.10.11 - Pink Lilly - Chalk Pastel on Paper
It has been some time since I have made a painting. It has been a very busy summer and I have been working full-time. I have created a painting over a period of a few weeks, but it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. I was trying something new, but I wasn’t happy with it and made some changes. Although I wasn’t happy with the overall painting, I was happy with certain aspects of it which I will utilise for future work. This lilly painting is like going back into familiar territory and is a prelude to a piece that I want to paint in acrylics. I just need to find the time!
25.07.11 - Leftover Paint 1, 2, 3 - Acrylic on Canvas - 6" x 6"
25.07.11 - Yellow Flowers - Acrylic on Canvas - 16" x 19.5"
23.07.11 - Sunflowers after Nigel - Mixed Media on Paper - A3
21.07.11 - Sunshine on a Rainy Day - Acrylic on Paper - A3
20.07.11 - Sunflowers - Oil Pastel on Paper - A3
Some more sunshine on a rainy day. I had a lot of fun with this. I love using pastels!
20.07.11 - Sunflower - Chalk Pastels on Paper - A4
20.07.11 Painting sunshine on a rainy day.
10.07.11 - Lilly - Chalk Pastel on Paper - A4
10.07.11 – From a photograph I took. I still have masses of lillies in the garden. I haven’t done one in chalk pastels til now. My daughter calls this my Georgia O’Keefe stage. If I could paint like her, I would be over the moon. Painting white flowers is extremely challenging. I am really starting to get into painting flowers now.
07.07.11 - Iris - Mixed Media on Paper - A4
07.07.11 – This is done from a photo I took.
05.07.11 - Irises
05.07.11 – Irises – The one on the left is a quick 10 minute sketch with Chalk Pastels, Gesso and Acrylic on Paper, A4 and the one on the right is Chalk Pastels on Paper, A4, used wet and dry. I just got a new book on pastels and watched a couple of videos to try out a couple of techniques. I might go back and rework the sketch and give it more detail. These were from a photograph I took.
29.06.11 - Ratatouille - Mixed Media: Acrylic and Chalk pastels on paper. 9x12"
I did make Ratatouille for dinner!
- 29.06.11 – Ratatouille – Acrylic on Paper – 5×7″ (smallest I’ve done) Using only 3 colours: Crimson, Lemon Yellow and Ultramarine
22.07.11 - Still Life with Pears and Cheese - Re-worked
I re-worked this painting after talking to Nigel Greaves. What do you think? Better?
28.06.11 Still life with pears and cheese Mixed Media - Acrylic & Pen on paper 8x12"
22.07.11 - Still Life with Pears and Cheese - Reworked
I re-worked this painting after talking to Nigel Greaves. What do you think? Better?
28.06.11 Cheese and Wine with Pears, Still Life Mixed Media - Acrylic and pen on paper - 9x7"
27.06.11 - Lilly - Acrylic on paperboard - 9x12"
24.06.11 - Yellow Tulips in Blue Vase - Acrylic on Paperboard - 9x12"
23.06.11 - Tulips - Acrylic on Paper Board - 9x12"
23.06.11 – Working on less is more.
16.06.11 - Roses - Orange, Pink and Yellow - Chalk Pastels on Paper - A3
14.06.11 - Lillies - Oil Pastel on Paper - A3
14.06.11 – Back to painting Lillies as I have so many growing in my garden this year. This time I used oil pastels on an ochre coloured paper.
08.06.11 - Sunset - Acrylic on Canvas
08.06.11 – Moving away from fruit and flowers, I was inspired by a painting in one of my art books.
06.06.11 - Lillies - Watercolour pencils and pastels on paper A3
04.06.11 - Breakfast Melon - Coloured Pencils on Paper - A4
04.06.11 – I had purchased a fair amount of fruit and veg to draw and eat! Working with coloured pencils was quite challenging. Very different from wet work.
Asparagus Updated
I thought my Asparagus needed something, so I added a bit of blue to the background.
03.06.11 - Lillies from my Garden
03.06.11 – My lillies are blooming in the garden, one of the survivors of my garden makeover. I cut some for the house as I have plenty ready to bloom. Thought it would be nice to carry on painting these using the water-colour pencils and crayons.
03.06.11 - Study of Asparagus
03.06.11 – Continuing to work with watercolour pencils and crayons, I got tired of Melons and drew some Asparagus, because I had some. Here is the work in stages, outline in pencil, filling in with colour and finally using water. I left out the rubber band holding them together! Artistic licence!
02.06.11 - Melons
02.06.11 – Melons – I have been trying out my various watercolour pencils and crayons. Some are quite vibrant!
23.05.11 - Gerberas - Chalk Pastels on Paper
20.05.11 - Pre-roasted Peppers - Mixed Media on Paper
20.05.11 – Started this in Still Life Class today. Was testing out a new tool. It is my new favourite!! I started with water soluble sticks and crayons, then added chalk pastels.
19.05.11 - Still Life - Flowers - Chalk Pastels on Paper
19.05.11 – I had an interview today and was offered a place on the Art Foundation Course!!! So I bought some flowers and painted them in celebration!
- 18.05.11 – Still Life – Oil Pastel on Paper
18.05.11 – Filled up an A3 page and went large, but still in proportion, more or less. I took a few liberties! Done totally freehand with the pastels. This medium was a bit grainy. It might be the brand of pastel or paper. Will have to use these again on different paper. I am done with this still life for the time being.
18.05.11-Life Drawing Class-Woman - Mixed Media on Paper
18.05.11 – The drawing on upper left are exercises of drawing form on paper without looking at the paper. Upper right-Chalk Pastels on paper. Lower Left-Oil Pastels on Paper. Lower Right-Marker pen and Chalk Pastel on Paper. We focused on one section of the body trying different styles.
18.05.11 - Still Life - Watercolour Pencils and Crayons on Paper
18.05.11 – Still Life – This time I used water-colour pencils and crayons. My drawing was more free and I loved using the crayons. When wet, they were almost like markers. The paper is only 130gsm drawing paper. Will try this again on heavier paper.
Tiger - Chalk Pastels on Paper
09.05.11 – Tiger – Chalk Pastels on Paper – My cat passed away and I did this drawing of him from the photo above in his memory.
Life Drawing Class - Woman - 04.05.11
04.05.11 - After doing exercises that I couldn’t get my head or hand around for about an hour, I finally did this! It was our model’s first time posing for us. She had a lovely figure, short, bright red hair, and amazing tattoos on her right arm and on her back. The tattoo was too intricate to draw, so I left it out. I think I am finally getting to grips with drawing faces if I am given enough time to draw them. Medium: Watercolour pencil on paper.
Rainbows - 28.04.11
28.04.11 - For the first time in a couple of weeks, there were no rainbows being made by my lovely crystals as the day was grey and dull. So, I decided to make some of my own. I started the one on the upper right/lower left. I wanted to have some texture in my paintings and I played around with the thickness or wateryness of the paint. Then I added some skeletal leaves I found that just happened to be in the colours of the rainbow and stuck them on with thick paint. I really like how it came out. That painting is now in someone’s private collection! Medium: Acrylic on Canvas. The painting on the lower right was an exercise in trying out a new paintbrush and is one I will be hanging up in the guest room as I really like it. I recycled a heart painting that I wasn’t happy with and if one looks for it, you can see a bit of the old painting underneath. Same for the painting on the upper left, except that it is still a work in progress. I am thinking about sticking some leaves onto that one also but not sure if I want them to blend or contrast.
Life Drawing Class - Woman - 06.04.11
06.04.11 – I can draw naked women much better than naked men! Details of hand, foot, head and torso in chalk pastels on paper. Three views in chalk pastels on paper. I really loved drawing this woman and should have used stronger paper as I would have liked to have kept this sketch. The bottom two paintings were an exercise. I am not crazy about this exercise would have prefered to carry on as I started, but hey, we need to try to find out what works for us. This didn’t work for me, but the others in the class got on with it ok. I was really happy how my sketches turned out though.
- Tulips – 23.02.11
23.02.11 - Tulips are one of my favourite flowers and I buy them whenever I can. I thought I would give it a go and paint them. First ever for flowers. The painting on the upper right is acrylic on paper. The lower left is acrylic on canvas board and was done freehand. The lower right is done with chalk pastels on paper. I have done other tulip pictures. I figure if I do them often enough, I will get really good at drawing or painting them. Anyway, tulips are cheerful and I felt happier after I painted them.
Still working on mending my heart, the interlocking heart paintings are titled ‘Love will keep us Together’. They are acrylic and glitter glue on canvas. The pink painting is called, ‘Fill your heart with Love’ and is acrylic with glitter glue and glitter on canvas. I was trying out a technique used to make skies for the backgrounds, but I used bright colours. This is the last of the hearts as I was feeling a bit better after I had finished these.
- First Ever Life Drawing Class – 16.02.11
16.02.11 – Well, what can I tell ya! I drew a naked man for the first time! I am used to working with the body, and have seen more naked men than I care to think about, so this wasn’t really a problem for me. The artist who organised the class was very helpful with suggestions on how to go about drawing him and I worked out for me that less was more in this instance. I was getting too bogged down in the details. The sketches were done in charcoal and marker pen. The sketch in the upper right was done in water-colour pencils. The large sketch was done freehand with acrylics. I liked the last one the best.
- First Ever Painting: Acrylic on Canvas Board – 15.02.11 – Titled: Open Your Heart
15.02.11 - This is the first ever painting I did. I had my heart broken on the 8th of January 2011. I started this painting on the 15th of February (after spending 3 weeks painting the walls in my house) as a way of healing my heart. I found it quite therapeutic. This item has been sold!
