Part of Sunpix Photography and Art
Leaving sunny Southern California was hard but I am settled back in Portugal, the sun is shining and my painting gear is scattered around.
I have just completed two paintings on Yupo paper, a media I love, although it makes me do some pretty weird stuff at times. Look closely at Blue Tree Hugs painting. What do you see? My Red Poppies are more conventional.
2017 my goodness! Happy new year to you all. What are your plans for the year? Mine are to continue to enjoy life, travel, explore and PAINT.
Now is a good time to look forward and get on with living.
Having said that I thought it was about time to update this blog. A number of my more recent works are now on the front page and if you feel like it, you can even buy my orginals as well as prints.
I am feeling excited, worried and humbled. This weekend I will be displaying my art at a public event. A first for me. I will be exhibiting at the Silver Coast Open Studios event in Portugal.
I hear from my UK friends it’s been raining a bit there. I am lucky enough to be in Southern Calfornia at the moment. It actually rained here the other day so I put on my wet weather gear and went for a walk. Mind you the locals thought I was crazy! They think they may dissolve if they get wet.
Golden sunsets and sandy beaches are calling out the be painted.
Don’t panic, this is not my christmas post, but since my last post I have added a temporary gallery to my website – Christmas Images. They were just a few silly christmassy paintings that could be ordered or used as free eCards. I ordered a batch of cards of the snowman and recieved them within a week!
I have been on Vancouver Island on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada for a few weeks. I created this series of paintings on the nautical chart of Howe Sound that reflects a few of the sights.
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Suddenly I felt the need to paint ladybirds, or ladybugs as they tend to be called in the USA. I really enjoyed painting them, but I started to wonder why ladybirds sometimes smell. A little googling was needed. The smell it appears is from the yellow stuff they excrete and it’s a warning device called “reflex blood” to try to put off predators. I also found out that most British ladybirds have seven spots. Don’t count the spots on my paintings!
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I am starting to think I should make a collection of my friend and family’s assortment of pets.
I was looking at some of my food and drink watercolours and they made me start to think about how I have to be inspired when painting …. or do I just need feeding and watering?
I have packed away my great temporary studio in California, returned the oil paints that had been lent to me and we are on the road again. I am back to the dining table as my studio. But it’s great being on the road.
So far we have crossed Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Presently in Louisiana.
I doodle most evenings creating a variety of mainly weird drawings. When we settle again the watercolours are coming out! The drawing on the left I did by lifting out from a rough charcoal background.