The Art of It

I loved painting this portrait.  It was taken from a photo shoot I did at the beginning of the year but inspiration I think, took it into a different realm.  Strangely the lady did not like it.  Her loss, my gain I think.

This painting was a commissioned artwork which thankfully the parents loved.  I thoroughly enjoyed painting it and am happy with the finished product.

This painting was done from a photograph with the kind permission of Diane, the photographer. Thanks you for the oppertunity! I thoroughly enjoyed painting her and hope I have done her justice! Maybe if you are still in contact with the parents you cen get them to have a look see.

Having bought soft pastels to use with water colour (a demo by Cherry Nichol) I had the urge to play, using a technique I had seen done by Heather Selby . I used soft pastels on water colour paper, later discovering that you should actually use hard pastels first then the soft on top! I also had problems with the lighter colours becoming muddy but later discovered that you should use fixative on the dark colours before going into the light! But this is how we learn! Next time I will know what to do! I don't normally copy out of magazines but as this was just an experiment, I did. I then used some grey home made paper, soaked it and covered the pastel portrait with the saturated hand made paper, pressing lightly to transfer a ghost image onto the wet paper. Well it didn't work. The grey was not right. I didn't even bother to photograph it. After fixing the original pastel portrait I then used a sheet of white watercolour paper and soaked that. I covered the pastel ...

An enormous emotional and physical experience! For details of this SASA event go to The Art of Intuitive Painting . Di McNaughton has posted a brilliant article on her Blog describing the procedure and the emotions that go with it. I just feel so desperately sad about the huge quantity of quality work that was turned down. Only about 300 out of 500 paintings could be selected due to the available exhibition space at Kirstenbosch. I was very happy to have one painting accepted. It’s a portrait called “Jessie” that I did with a life-painting group in Pinelands. It got a high enough score to be included in the approximately 300 works selected for the exhibition. One of our top Cape Town artists, who sells her work very successfully at high prices, didn’t score enough for any of her paintings to be accepted. I am proud of my achievement and consider myself very lucky. I was one of the helpers on the day and when I climbed into my car, sometime after five, I felt totally shattered; o...

SOLD To her Mum because she just had to have it! Oil on canvas board 36cm by 46cm. I know it will have a very happy home with a lovely family.

Back to another charcoal! This one is for you Cam (a little girl who lives in Durban)- I haven't met you but have heard all about just how cute you are and I only hope that you like this and that I have done you justice! Maybe one day we will meet.

Wow but European skin tones are difficult! I think I need to work on the closest arm as the colour is not right yet.

Africa is crying. Doesn't this little face tug at your heartstrings?

I truly prefer a more photorealistic style of painting where the artist expresses herself through composition, colour, expression, and the interplay of light and shadow. This latest painting is an example of what currently seems to be my "style".

Kalk Bay is a suburb of Cape Town, which started out as a fishing village on the False Bay coast. It has a protected harbour from which local fishermen launch their wooden boats. From around midday the boats start returning and offloading their catch – you can buy your supper straight from the boat. The narrow main street is full of quaint shops and galleries selling antiques artworks and bric-a brac. There are several good restaurants in and near to the harbour. Up on the mountainside above are walks and the well known Kalk Bay caves. A photograph taken in the harbour inspired this painting.

I have just had two pictures framed. Compare these with the unframed versions. Art Class and My smallest painting yet I am delighted with the results.

This is my first painting on block-mounted canvas and is the largest I have painted so far. I had the desire to produce something really bold and modern. I hope that this tightly cropped portrait of a striking young woman achieves that. I am contemplating adding earrings.

Once again we really battled to photograph this painting. The slight bloom is a reflection caused by the camera's flash and is not present on the original painting. I am posting it anyway and will take another photograph using natural light when the weather gets better.

People talk about artists having a particular style and some artists have a knack for painting saleable pictures. I have been experimenting with various mediums and styles, from photorealistic to more abstract work. I am realising that I have distinct preferences and my personal favourite works tend towards the more photorealistic style. I also prefer those pictures where colour is used sparingly or the picture is almost monochromatic. Now I ask myself, what do my readers and those people out there who might be potential customers want? Is it necessary to produce work that follows trends and fashions i n order for it to sell or should artists follow their own instincts? It is rewarding to produce paintings, which I personally like but even more exciting to find that there are others who derive pleasure from my work and may even wish to buy one or two pieces. My personal favourites are not always the pictures that appeal most to others who see my work. Their comments ...

While trying to sort piles of paintings I found this one that I never posted! I am definitely in my blue phase!

This was another art class where we all had to paint the same black and white picture. I must say that the only part of this picture I like are the hands and walking stick, maybe the glass and bottle as well. This was done last week. Lets move on!

This was done today at another art class. It is truly amazing how a roomful of people given the same black and white picture will produce totally different pictures