So a new departure for me. I have recently discovered painting ‘alla prima’ or direct painting in oils and have become obsessed with this style of painting. I set up a composition, always small, of fruit or vegetables and set myself a time limit of painting it in one session, hence direct painting. The size is 6 x 6”, 9 x 9” framed (23 x 23 cm). I set the compositions up in direct sunlight (not easy in this country) which is usually at around lunchtime, so as to get the deepest and more interesting shadows beneath the fruit/veg. Then I paint. I have always liked bright, vibrant Mediterranean colours and this works to great advantage with these paintings. I tend to buy fruit/veg in season from my wonderful local organic greengrocer Hugo’s Greengrocer (@hugosgreengrocer on Instagram) on North Street in Bristol where I live, so every painting is always fresh and new. If you would like me to match a composition to suit your wall decor, send me an image of your kitchen, etc., and I will be happy to do this for you. The paintings are framed in a simple white frame for £65, or…
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It’s always so good to see my artwork in a new home and I am grateful when clients take the time to photograph it and post it on social media. So thank you, as this was one of my favourites. I use streetart in my compositions as I am keen to promote and preserve this ephemeral art. This is one of the first street arts I incorporated into my work and it is by the amazing street artist @paulmonsters. He describes himself as a pattern maker on Instagram and I find his colourful geometric shapes fun and uplifting. The streetart was part of the Upfest festival on my street in Bristol, UK. As people who read my Blog will know, I place a woman somewhere in the foreground which changes the dynamic of the street art, the 3d woman bringing the 2d streetart to life and vice versa. In this piece I feel the woman on the wall is watching the woman in red walking past her and wondering why she didn’t notice her. I wanted to show the bright midday sunshine on the girl walking, described by her shadow on the pavement, as it seems harder/harsher. The…
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This is my first experiment with gold leaf and I have enjoyed the process. It adds colour and vibrancy to the monotone shades of the streetart and highlights the girl standing gazing up into the sun. I have not used real gold leaf as I can’t afford it (yet), but I am happy with the outcome. I painted a small piece first (18 x 24 cm) to test out a) the composition and b) the use of the goldleaf and it sold the day it went into the gallery North Gallery on North Street here in Bedminster, Bristol, UK (https://northgalleryworkspace.co.uk) so I felt I was doing something right. I saw the street artist @pietrodriguez painting this wonderful street art opposite where I live on North Street, home to the Urban Paint Festival known as Upfest and asked his permission to use it in my composition. He kindly agreed. I am indebted to Emily White as my muse for this piece (@ablemabeldesigns). I have titled this artwork ‘Sun Seekers’ as both girl and street art are looking upwards in search of the sun. Hopefully this piece will be available to buy from Great White Art gallery (https://greatwhiteart.com) in Bristol once…
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