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Moonlit Tree – Original watercolour painting of a black swirly tree silhouette against a blue starry moonlit sky

Moonlit tree - original watercolour painting of a swirly black tree silhouette against a starry blue moonlit sky
Moonlit tree – original watercolour painting of a swirly black tree silhouette against a starry blue moonlit sky

 

This painting is available for purchase via my Etsy store.  Prints and products are available via Redbubble.

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Rainbow in soft light – watercolour painting of pastel rainbow trees by Kirsten Bailey

Rainbow in soft light - watercolour painting of swirly pastel rainbow trees by Kirsten Bailey
Rainbow in soft light – watercolour painting of swirly pastel rainbow trees by Kirsten Bailey

 

I love painting.  Scanning my paintings and then uploading them to Etsy, Redbubble and my website, is not quite as fun.  I have a bit of a backlog of paintings I need to scan and upload.  I painted this one last year and I’m just getting around to posting it here.  I love pastel colours although I don’t use them all that often.  I like how this one turned out!  

What are your thoughts.  Do you prefer bright rainbows or pastel rainbows?

This painting is A4 size so it’s easy to frame without having to get a custom frame made.  The original is available for purchase in my Etsy store.  Prints and products like the ones featured below are available at Redbubble.  

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Art as meditation

Taking Flight - Original abstract watercolour painting by KL Bailey Art

I’ve never been good at meditating.  Most of the time I have trouble switching my brain off to be able to sleep, let alone meditating.  But I do find that creating art is a form of meditation for me, especially when I’m creating more intricate pieces and lots of little swirls.  I get lost in the painting.

Two of my most recent painting are great examples of this.  

Taking Flight - Original abstract watercolour painting by KL Bailey Art
“Taking Flight” by KL Bailey Art
Dracontine - Original abstract watercolour painting by KL Bailey Art
Dracontine by KL Bailey Art

For these two paintings, I was initially inspired by Linda Melvin’s abstract watercolours.  I started working wet-on-wet and letting the paint flow and do its own thing.  I also used gauze as a textural element, as she does with some of her work.  But that’s where the similarities end.

As you can see, my work is very different to hers.  In her tutorials, Linda talks about the importance of coming back in and enhancing an image after it dries.  This is the stage at which I get carried away!  For both of these paintings, I began to see a shape emerging from the abstract patterns – in one I saw a humanoid figure, and the other, a dragon-like shape.  As I went in with my fine paintbrush to enhance the images, I accentuated the shapes I saw.  In both cases, I did not know what the shape would be until the initial layers of paint dried.  I used swirls and patterns to add details to the images.  

I really enjoyed creating both of these paintings – I loved the way I could switch off my brain and get lost in the small details, and the way that an image emerged from the painting seemingly on its own.  When I paint, I feel calm and peaceful, and it’s the closest thing I get to meditating. 

Original paintings ‘Taking Flight‘ and ‘Dracontine‘ are both available for purchase in my Etsy store.  Prints and accessories are available via Redbubble or Society6.