According to the seller they are from 1889 and 1899, so I was very excited to receive them in beautiful condition!

I finished my first artwork featuring one of these vintage pictures today.  The title “And Spring Arose” was inspired by the following poem:

And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Sensitive Plant”

And Spring Arose

I really enjoyed working on this piece, and I look forward to seeing what I can come up with for the other pictures.

Tweet This Post

Here’s the finished product – I’ve titled it “The Stargazers”:

Tweet This Post

I’ve combined this idea with a request I had for some owl paintings, and come up with this:

Satellite and Sage

The satellite is of course our moon, and the sage is my wise old owl.

I’m going to have a few more tries at some owl paintings, so stay tuned!

Tweet This Post

Here’s what I’ve been working on:

“Sunset Joy”

I’m hoping to donate this painting to the Cerebal Palsy League’s ‘Art for Arts Sake‘ charity auction next month (it has to be accepted first so fingers crossed!)

“Evening Song”

This one is going to be sent to someone special

I’ve also been working on some new canvas works – I’ll post details here soon.  I hope everyone had a lovely Easter long weekend!

Tweet This Post

In other news, my painting “Persistent Illusion” has been featured on the blog Pardalote Flits.  You may remember I was paired up with Michelle from Pardalote in our most recent DUST swap.  Her hand-beaded jewellery is gorgeous and I’m honoured to be featured on her blog!
I’d love to hear some feedback on my latest painting

Tweet This Post

Step 1 - OK I probably didn't need to show you this - the blank page. I've started using watercolour blocks instead of pads or loose sheets, and they're great! You dont' have to tape them down at all.

Step 2: Using masking fluid, I masked off the edge of the paper and created three separate panels.

Step 3 - Colour washes for the background. Here I've done the first two. I tried to give a feeling of the day passing - using the colours of sunrise, midday and twilight.

Step 4: As I wanted to convey the idea of the same tree and bird changing over time, I wanted my tree to look the same in each panel. I usually paint my trees freeform, without sketching them first. This time, I sketched a tree in pencil first, and transferred it to the 3 panels so each would be the same.

Tweet This Post

Last September I spent a lot of my holiday sitting outside in our patio, reading and drinking cups of tea.  It was so lovely and peaceful, that I often stopped reading and just sat and took in the scenery of my little garden.  In one of our trees, a baby bird was learning to fly.  It was amazing to just quietly sit and watch as he (or she?) spread his wings for the first time.

When I saw this week’s topic from Illustration Friday was “brave”, that little baby bird was the first thing I thought of, and was the inspiration for this painting:

I’ve posted a step-by-step about how I created this painting – check it out here.

Tweet This Post

I’ve done lot’s of work on my lastest commission, a painting for a friend:

There is a lot of detail in this one, and it is HUGE (I can only fit one panel at a time on my easel), so it’s taking me a really long time to finish, but I hope the result will be worth it in the end.

I completed another painting this weekend, and thought I’d show you the stages it went through:

Step One: Painting taped down and ready to go. I've also used tape to separate the four panels (as opposed to wrecking another brush with masking fluid).

Step Two: Spring colours - I decided on pinks, greens and yellows to represent spring.

Step Three: Summer is orange, yellow and green. You can see the paint was still wet when I took this photo.

Step Four: Browns, oranges and reds for Autumn

Step Five: Blues and whites for Winter

At this point, I left the painting to dry before removing the tape.  I painted a tree branch going across the top of the painting.  Here’s the result:

I also made some more art pendants this week, but that’s a post for another day!

Tweet This Post

Today I’m delivering a commissioned painting to its new owner.  I’m looking forward to seeing it on the wall!

I have been working on a large triptych for a friend, and doing a few watercolours.

“Summer Field”

“Bright December Day”

“Growing Family”

Hopefully in the next few days I’ll be posting up some new wearable art pendants too

Tweet This Post

If you would like to purchase this original watercolour, it is $40.  I accept paypal and bank deposit.  Contact me if you’re interested!

Oh, and don’t forget about my giveaway – there’s a $25 gift certificate for KL Bailey Art up for grabs!

Tweet This Post