This painting was inspired by one of my favourite quotes:

“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.”
~Albert Camus~

In other news, I have posted my first fan special on my KL Bailey Art Facebook Fan Page.  If you’re not already a Fan, become one today – I will be posting weekly specials on paintings!!

Tweet This Post

“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars”.

This painting was inspired by that quote:

If you would like to purchase this original watercolour, it is available at My Etsy Store.

I have recently launched a Facebook fan page – become a fan for exclusive specials!

Don’t forget that my calendars make lovely Christmas presents – just click the image below if you’d like to order one!

Tweet This Post

This week, let’s try something a little different. Let’s all download Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière and use her somehow in a piece of art. You can cut, collage, paint, decoupage, whatever your heart desires as long as you use some part of this image in your art.

The portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière is a painting by the French Neoclassical artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, now in the Louvre. [more information here]

My interpretation of this challenge was to create a watercolour painting/collage with one of my signature style backgrounds.  I also gave her a bit of a wardrobe update and a bit of extra lippy.  I’ve titled this one “Mademoiselle Caroline Riviere Dreams of Love on a Starry Night”.

If you’d like to buy this painting, it is available at my etsy store.

Tweet This Post

I have titled this work “Tipped with Silver”.  It doesn’t show up too well in this picture, but the edges of the tree branches have been given a very thin silver outline.

Tipped With Silver - Acrylic Painting by Kirsten Bailey

This Sunday was my first visit to the Springfield Lakes Art Group, and I had a great time!  This week Sally Harrison came along to teach us all some techniques, and our focus was colour mixing.  We were given a strip of paper from a famous painting, and our task was to try to make the strip “disappear” by matching the colours.  I found it very challenging!  My strip of paper was from a painting by Camille Pissarro, although I’m not sure which painting it was.  This is what I came up with:

Reflections on Pissarro - Acrylic Painting by Kirsten Bailey

I had a lovely time and learned a thing or two.  Many thanks to everyone at the Springfield Lakes Art Group, and especially to Sally Harrison – you can check out her beautiful artwork here.

Tweet This Post

Eventually I came up with this idea:

“Primordial Soup”

Primordial Soup - Watercolour on watercolour paper - 25cm x 35cm - $45 unframed

The original plan was to do a background and then paint over with black to make amoeba-looking shapes.  But I liked the background so much that I thought I would just keep it the way it is.  You can imagine the microscopic amoebas floating around in that water.

Tweet This Post

I deviated totally from what I was originally planning to do for this topic, but I guess that’s how it goes sometimes with art.  Here’s what I came up with – “Cold Fusion”:

"Cold Fusion" - Acrylic on canvas - 16" x 20" - $150

Tweet This Post

This week’s topic over at Inspire Me Thursday is Elephants.  I decided to make some little greeting cards for this theme:

Elephant handmade greeting cards - red polka dots

I wanted to do something a little different, so my elephants are red with white polka dots.

These cards are for sale on ebay.  Hope you’ll check it out!  If you’re interested in looking at any of my other greeting cards, please head on over to my gallery.

Tweet This Post

This week’s topic for Inspire Me Thursday is “Make a Gift”.  As I haven’t had time to do the personalised painting I’m planning (should be done in time for Christmas, just not for Inspire Me Thursday), I came up with this idea instead:

These little gift boxes were handmade, and each one is unique.  Inside is my homemade rocky road chocolate.  I hope they will make nice little Christmas gifts!

Speaking of Christmas gifts, my 2009 calendars make a lovely gift.  Sorry for all the self-promotion – I know, I’m shameless

Tweet This Post

This topic fits in perfectly with my ‘Science in Art’ series of works.  I decided to paint a space-inspired watercolour, and give it a title based on a quote by Albert Einstein.  This is what I came up with:

Beautiful Mysterious:

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed” – Albert Einstein

I had so much fun with this topic that I had to do a few more paintings with the same theme:

Persistent Illusion:

“People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion” – Albert Einstein

Imagination Encircling:

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” - Albert Einstein

If you would like to purchase one of these paintings, or see some of my other work, please check out my gallery.

Tweet This Post