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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.

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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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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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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.

 

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Getting My Groove Back

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve done more painting than I probably did during the whole of last year.

There were lots of reasons for it including work (my day job is teaching) as well as some difficult things I was going through. I just wasn’t in the mood to paint, and when I did give it a go I wasn’t happy with the results.

For one reason or another, I seem to have gotten my ‘groove’ back, and have lots of new ideas for paintings running around in my head.  I’ve decided to finish off any unfinished work before I get to the new stuff.

You might remember a while back that I started a commission for some friends of mine.  The challenge was to create a large acrylic on canvas version of my painting Colours of Nature.  Well, I finally finished it!  All those little swirls took quite a while but I’m very happy with the result.  I can’t wait to see it hanging up!

Rainbow Trees - Acrylic on Canvas painting by Kirsten Bailey

After finishing this painting I felt such a sense of accomplishment, I wanted to do more!

First I painted this one, which I’m calling “Rainbow on a Cloudy Day”.  It’s a LOT smaller than the one above – it’s only 4″ x 6″.  It can stand up on its own so can be put on a shelf instead of hung on the wall.

Rainbow on a Cloudy Day - Original acrylic on canvas painting by Kirsten Bailey

After completing this one I really wanted to have a go at some other new ideas in my head (and play with some new paints) but I thought I should finish off some unfinished work.  So…

Evening Bloom - mixed media on canvas painting by Kirsten Bailey

I finished this one, which has been sitting and waiting patiently for more than a year for some attention.  Well, it’s nearly finished anyway – all I have to do is spray on a coat of sealant and it’s done.  I have done many watercolour paintings in this style, but it was a challenge to create the same effect with a canvas!  I’m eager to try to do more like this.

Finally, I also finished this painting:

Golden Autumn - Watercolour painting by Kirsten Bailey

There was really no excuse for not getting this painting finished earlier, as all that was left to do was the tree trunks and branches – all of the detail work in the swirls was already finished.  I’m very happy with how it turned out in the end!

Hopefully I will be able to keep you up-to-date with lots of new work in the future!

 

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More Owls…

I recently had a request for a painting featuring owls – I’d never painted an owl before until a bit over a week ago when I painted Satellite and Sage.  Now I could be a little addicted!

Here’s my latest creation – I’ve titled it “Midnight Meeting”:

Midnight Meeting - Original watercolor painting by Kirsten Bailey
Midnight Meeting

I’m looking forward to this Saturday’s Handmade Expo, where I will have my original art, keepsake boxes, jewellery and cards for sale, including some owl-inspired pieces.  Brand new to the market will be my wearable art rings, featuring prints of some of my most popular paintings.

I’ve still got a week to make new pendants and rings – are there any designs you’d just love to see on one of my jewellery pieces?  Let me know and I’ll make sure I have them there.

Hope to see you there – stop by and say hello!

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Satellite and Sage

This week’s topic over at Illustration Friday is Satellite.

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

Satellite and Sage - Original watercolor painting by Kirsten Bailey
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!

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Inspire Me Thursday – Handmade Holidays

Christmas is sneaking up on us once again!

We put our Christmas tree up this weekend, and I’ve started thinking about Christmas cards.

Last year I painted a Christmas picture and used the image to make my cards:

I’ve finally gotten around to painting something for this year’s cards.  Its a bit different to last years, but I hope people will like it all the same.  I’m going to get the prints made up sometime tomorrow and I’ll post a picture of the cards when I’ve made them.

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway if you haven’t already done so!