I can not believe it has been so long since I have put anything up. I have been playing around with different ideas and had all sorts of things going on with my life, which may account for my lack of posting....sigh Anyway, here is some thing I have been working on.

A peek between the pages.

My little water colour set sits handy near the dash with much more personality than a camera.
I always remember the spot I sketched in much more than when my fingers click a button. I can go back and smell the smell or grab the heat that had me finding some shady spot.
Gazing at the drops of colour, I see the breeze that lifted those page of this thick white paper. These little sketches get finished, and stay tucked up between friendly pages. When I revisit this little book, I feel my self there, only me looking and enjoying.
They wait, my traveling companions to hear the rustle of the sleepy bag, warning them that their work is to begin.

A fun Challenge

This image was put up for a challenge in an Art page I frequent. It was black and white and I loved the style

The image and the idea that I could be creative with it was a nice incentive. It was a black and white photograph and the composition really appealed to me. I did it in acrylic paint without any retarder, you have to be fast with the skin tones and any blending. Using Oil paint may have been easier, but I do like the vibrance and sharpness of the colour using acrylic paint.

I decided to take some time off the large Alice painting I am doing. I have started something new, I find it is sometimes refreshing for the my mind and eyes to walk away from a painting. My Alice painting is getting to a cross road and I am not sure which way to take it....a perfect time to move on to something else less complicated, as I thought. We were in Tasmania recently and I took a picture of a very simple field, but of all the images I took on our two months away this one is the one that seemed to have stuck with me. I wanted to do something a little different with the coloured grasses that made up the field. Although not finished I think it is coming a long, except I am in quandary on what to do with the red in the middle. It was to be an under painting but it looks quite exciting ...do I leave it of fill it in. Thanks for listening who ever you are.

We just got back home after an over night stay at our daughters and son in-laws house where our three grandsons take up residence. Our youngest Mr four, Sam, invited me to his play group saying "Yes you should come"...my daughter runs the group after it looked like it was going to be culled a couple of years ago, she has created a great space for the young mums and children, making the group so successful that it has got too big...Well done Miss E... Now I am all fired up with the huge happy smiles and bright activity of play group...

I finished this commission a few weeks ago and it is now in the hands of the happy owner...I have had lots of great comments about this one, and I was very pleased with the result. I am not an animal painter but I sure love them so the few I do seem to put smiles on everyones face. This took awhile to paint as it is built up of transparent colours giving it a lovely glow.

Hello Alice.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol, has always been an intriguing book not only for me but many other Artists, it has been explored and produced in Art, movies, and games of all types for fifty years. I have been thinking about this painting for a couple of years and never quite got my mind around what I wanted to do with it. This is my first attempt, it is a large painting 3ft x4ft, and I am very happy with the look and mood it has created. Still unfinished in my opinion, I have left it to sit in the corner to gaze at...I find large paintings like this need to be left to ponder on, as sometimes they are finished long before I have realised it. I am enjoying this concept and will continue exploring the idea and enjoy the fun of it. I have posted two images, one of a close up of the Rabbit. Let me know what you think.