Tag: painting

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Heart Felt at :the mezzanine: @ Entangle – Living Art

The Heart Felt exhibition at :the mezzanine:, Entangle – Living Art, is happening in just under a week and I’m starting to get nervous excited!

Heart Felt Exhibition at the mezzanine, Entangle - Living Art, Dayboro

This is the first time I’ve been involved in an exhibition since before my daughter was born, and I think the theme fits perfectly with my painting style.  Many of my paintings, especially my ‘family tree portraits’, feature hearts and convey feelings of belonging, love and connectedness.  

Hope Within - Original watercolour painting by Kirsten Bailey
“Hope Within”

I really enjoy being involved in exhibitions.  Not only do they give me an opportunity to showcase my work, but they also allow me to see the work of others.  My husband is staying home with the kids on Friday night for the opening, so this exhibition will also an opportunity for a kid-free night out!

If you enjoy my work, I really hope you’ll take this opportunity to come and see it in person.  I do my best to scan or photograph artwork carefully, but seeing it in person really brings it to life.  There are also 6 other artists showcasing their work, and from what I’ve seen of their work so far, I’m extremely honoured (and maybe a little intimidated!) to be showing my work alongside theirs.

“Heart Felt” opens at 6pm on Friday 4th August at :the mezzanine: @ Entangle – Living Art, 38 Williams St, Dayboro.  The exhibition runs through until August 27.  

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Illustration Friday – Love

This week’s topic over at Illustration Friday is ‘love’.  I haven’t participated in one of these prompts in a really long time – I think the last one was back in January 2011 (and ironically, that post is all about how my new year’s resolution was to participate in prompts more often.  Whoops.)  I decided to participate this week because the topic is one that really suits my painting style.

One of my favourite things to do is represent people as trees, showing the relationships between the people using colour, size, spacing and other elements.

Night Romance - original watercolour painting of two heart trees by KL Bailey Art
“Night Romance”

In one of my most recent paintings, I used two trees to represent the love of a couple.  I represented the theme of ‘love’ in a variety of ways.  Firstly, the trees themselves are shaped like hearts.  You will also notice many hearts in the swirls of the leaves if you look closely.  I painted the trees very close together, overlapping.  I also deliberately allowed the paint to run and mix at the point where the trees touched – I wanted to convey the way that in a close relationship, people become part of one another.  I used the a mix of the red and blue in the colours of the sky to also show this connection.  

You can purchase this original painting from my Etsy Store or my Facebook page.  Prints and art products available at RedBubble and Society6.

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A family portrait with a difference!

Many people are looking for interesting art for their walls to represent their families.  I myself have grand plans for a family feature wall in our next house.

I can create a work of art for you that represents your family in a unique way.  In my family tree portraits, I represent the family using a number of my signature swirly trees.

Little Family - Original watercolour painting by Kirsten Bailey
“Little Family”

In the portrait, I represent each parent in a different primary colour.  I then represent the children as a secondary colour that is a blend of the two parents’ colours, to represent that the children are a blending of the two parents.  I also use hearts to represent the love the family shares.  I can do any variation on this theme you like, including creating a portrait for blended families with stepchildren.  It is a great way to have an artwork on your wall that uniquely represents your family.  These paintings can be created as anything from small watercolours on paper to large acrylic paintings on canvas.

Another way your family can be uniquely represented on your wall is in a painting like this:

Early Birds - Original watercolour painting by Kirsten Bailey

In this painting, only a couple are represented – however, smaller birds could be added to represent children.  Once again, a painting like this can be commissioned as anything from a small watercolour to a large canvas.  I have plans to create a painting like this for my own family – but I think I might make the background more like this one:

Under the Milky Way - original watercolour painting by Kirsten Bailey
Under the Milky Way

If you’d like to commission a painting that represents your family in a unique way, please contact me!

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How to title artwork

Night Colour - original watercolour painting of swirly rainbow trees by KL Bailey Art

How do you give a title to your artwork?  This is something I often have difficulty with. I recently finished a painting I’m struggling to find a title for.

I feel like the title should help the viewer to understand the meaning and inspiration behind the work.  But I want the title to be interesting and in some cases, a little mysterious – especially in my abstract work – I want the viewer to have the chance to make up their own mind.

Sometimes, a title comes to me immediately – often this is the case for the simple images – a group of colourful trees on a night sky background becomes ‘night colour’, or an image of a baby bird taking its first flight becomes ‘brave‘.

Night Colour - original watercolour painting of swirly rainbow trees by KL Bailey Art
“Night Colour”

 

"Brave" - original watercolor painting by Kirsten Bailey
“Brave”

For other paintings, I have more trouble thinking of a title.  Sometimes I’m inspired by quotes or poetry – My painting “Hope is the thing with feathers” is inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson.

Hope is the thing with feathers - original watercolour painting of a bird in a swirly tree by KL Bailey Art
“Hope is the thing with feathers”

The title of my painting ‘Beautiful Mysterious’, of a star filled galaxy, was inspired by a quote by Albert Einstein:

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

"Beautiful Mysterious" - original watercolour purple galaxy painting by KL Bailey Art
“Beautiful Mysterious” – original watercolour purple galaxy painting by KL Bailey Art

Fellow artists: How do you come up with titles for your work?  Is it something you struggle with, or does it come easily?

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Abstract watercolours

I love painting in watercolours – it’s definitely my favourite medium.  My watercolours are a bit unusual compared to many I’ve seen, as many of them are abstract or naive in style.  I love making abstract watercolours because it gives me a chance to let the paint have a ‘mind of its own’.

Many of my favourite abstract watercolours are inspired by science, like my ‘Moons of Jupiter’ series:

“Moons of Jupiter – Callisto”
“Moons of Jupiter – Europa”

Some more ‘space’ inspired works:

“Imagination Encircling”
“Persistent Illusion”
Red Planet - abstract watercolour painting of Mars by KL Bailey Art
“Red Planet”

From the very big to the very small – some of my other abstract watercolours are inspired by microscopic images:

"Filtered" red and blue abstract watercolour painting by kirsten bailey
“Filtered”
"Needle" - original abstract watercolour painting by kirsten bailey
“Needle”

But I think my favourite overall is this one – it’s only a tiny painting, but it has a lot of detail:

Subterranean - original abstract watercolour painting by Kirsten Bailey
“Subterranean”
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Little details

I’ve been enjoying doing some paintings with lots of little details lately.  The first is one I started a LONG time ago, but only finished recently, entitled ‘Growth’.  This painting includes lots of little details, including some embroidered elements, which is a first for me.

Growth by KL Bailey Art
‘Growth’ – original watercolour painting by KL Bailey Art

 

The next two paintings were both inspired by ocean waves.  One was done primarily with watercolours, with some ink drawing done afterwards.  The other was inspired by zentangles, and I did the patterened sections with a sharpie first before adding the colour with watercolours later.

Blue watercolour ocean painting by KL Bailey Art
‘Beneath the waves’ – original watercolour painting by KL Bailey Art
'In the Deep' - watercolour painting blue with black and white details
‘In the Deep’ – original watercolour painting by KL Bailey Art

 

I’m not sure which one I like best yet, but I’m leaning towards the last one – what are your thoughts?

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Don’t Forget to be Awesome

So I haven’t posted here in a while, for a lot of reasons – I haven’t had much time for creating since I had my kids, and I’ve had even less time for the more tedious aspect to having an art business: promotion.  I’ve completed a few paintings since I last posted, but just didn’t get around to putting them up here.  I’m also hoping for a long-overdue overhaul of this website, but I’ve decided not to wait until that’s done before I start getting organised again.

My latest painting is called DFTBA, and I think it’s very fitting that this is the beginning of my creative revival.  I hope you like it!

Don't forget to be awesome - space painting by KL Bailey Art
Don’t forget to be awesome
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Xander’s Nursery

I hung up my latest painting in my son’s room this evening.  Here’s how it looks:

Tree painting on baby's nursery wall Painting on baby's nursery wall

I’m really happy with how it turned out, although now that I see it on the wall I’m thinking a bigger painting would go well there – I’m considering doing something similar on canvas!

Remember, if you like this painting, I can make a custom one for you, in the colours you like!  I could also do a ‘family portrait’ in trees.

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Painting for Baby

Today I finished a painting for my son’s nursery.  I’m very happy with it!  Not least of all because he smiled when he saw it 🙂

IMG_1223

I haven’t had a chance to scan it yet, so this is just a picture from my phone and so not the best quality, but I don’t plan on making prints of this one anyway – it’s a special painting just for my little boy.  The blue and yellow trees represent my husband and myself, and the little green tree represents my baby boy.  I chose these colours specifically to show that he is a mix of the two of us.  Inside the blue and yellow trees are green hearts, to represent that he is always in our hearts.

While I won’t be selling this painting or making prints of it, if you like this idea for a baby nursery, I can create a custom artwork for you.  You can choose the colours of the trees, their positions, sizes, etc.

I think this would make a lovely gift for a new baby – my son’s painting has a personal inscription on the back of it from me.  I hope that when he grows up, it will be something he treasures.

 

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Hope Within

Last weekend, I finished this painting, which I’ve titled Hope Within.

Hope Within - Original watercolour painting by Kirsten Bailey

It’s been sitting unfinished for a long time, and to be honest I wasn’t sure if I would ever finish it.

I started this painting last year when I found out I was pregnant.  When I later miscarried, I put the painting away because looking at it made me sad.  They say that time heals all wounds, and while maybe they never heal completely they do hurt less.  Last weekend I finally picked up the brush to finish this work.

After all that time (it’s been nearly a year), the meaning of the painting has evolved.  When I started it, it was a symbol of the life growing inside me.  Now I see it as a symbol of the fact that I haven’t given up hope.

Sorry for the sad (and maybe too personal) post.  I debated with myself about sharing this with you, but ultimately I think I needed to explain the meaning behind the painting.