Seashell no.5

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I've been experimenting with glazing recently, and it's something I've ended up doing almost accidentally in the past, not really understanding the processes but liking the end results. I work intuitively, quickly and sponataneously, which is great for keeping a lot of energy in your work but sometimes good technique goes out of the window. Working on these tiny oils is giving me the chance to evaluate technique on a daily basis, and I'm reading more about materials and other people's ways of working. I can be really impatient with drying times, so glazing isn't always a practical consideration for me - you can't glaze over sopping wet paint, it just gets muddy. I've been building up texture, letting it dry (happens very quickly here in Tahoe) and then applying a thin colour over the top. It's cool the way it catches in the grooves of the underpainting, and you can warm up or cool down a section if it's not quite right. I'm working on some bigger oils of figures at the moment, and the light effects are crucial to the theme of the painting. I'm learning as I go about how to create luminosity, depth and form with glazes. Art is all about learning, you never stop learning....

Favourite Cup

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I bought this teacup whilst Taylor & I were traveling in 2005. I had whittled down all my possessions to the contents of a backpack, but as time went on I found that I missed certain fundamental comforts, and drinking tea out of a metal travel mug just didn't fit the bill. They say tea always tastes best out of china cups, which my coffee-swilling American husband thinks is nonsense. I know now what tea tastes worst out of...metal - yuk. So this cup was an indulgence for me. It's a miracle it never got smashed in the back of our rickety old camper van, but endure it did, and I love it. It sits perfectly in your cold clasped hands(always two hands when it's full) and it's big enough to make you feel like a child - remember when you'd sit on the sofa and your feet didn't touch the floor?

Earl Grey

Buy this painting on Ebay! Bids start at $50

Ah, Earl Grey. My favourite tea. Also known as 'foo-foo' tea to those who prefer a stronger, more masculine tea - aka'builder's tea' - at the bottom of which you'll probably find the forgotten remains of a soggy biscuit (or cookie to the Yanks)Yummy!

New Etsy Shop

Buy prints from my new Etsy Shop!

My username is Sugamonkey. I'm trying out this cool online store, which is a bit like Ebay for artists and craftspeople. Let me know what you think!

The Original Twisted Oak Paintings are now hanging at the Trio Wine Bar in Truckee, CA. The opening reception will be on Saturday, December 8th from 6.30pm - wine and nibbles!

Happiness comes from Contentment

Buy this painting on Ebay! Bidding starts at $50

I love Tea. Anyone who knows me will tell you that - I even have a T-shirt which states it loud and clear, and being a Brit in America, this probably reinforces the stereotype and is the crass equivalent of wearing a Union Jack on my chest.Oh well.

I also love ceramics, and dramatic lighting, so this was a very fun painting for me. I watched the film 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' a couple of nights ago, and was struck anew by the beauty of that portrait. I had actually already decided to paint the teacup on a black background to really make the white china 'pop', and I've been using a spotlight to create more dramatic shadows on all of these little studies. It was a beautiful moment of synchronicity to watch the film when I was thinking about chiarescuro. I saw an exhibition of Rembrandt's portaits a few years ago at the Tate Gallery in London, and those works stuck in my mind too. I was actually really surprised by the amount of texture in his paintings, and realised that the heavy impasto catches the light and casts a small shadow, boosting the illusion of luminosity.

I've got some bigger paintings in mind, of a different subject but using the same style. These little studies are proving to be useful starting points for the evolution of ideas. My ideas feel more connected and organic - instead of standing in front of a blank canvas thinking "what shall I paint?" I'm starting to know before I finish one what the next one will be, because they're the logical next step (to me!)

Seashell #4

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Good Morning! Well I'm very pleased to announce that I've got my first bids on Ebay for my little Seashell Paintings! Yippee! I'm totally new to all of this, I feel like an old lady trying to get her head round this 'new fangled technology'...I need a 10 year old around to explain it to me. Anyway, this is all a great learning experience - and that's so important to me. I forget where this nugget of wisdom came from but I was advised long ago to regard my art career as a lifelong apprenticeship, and I do. It's been a bumpy rollercoaster ride, very exciting and very depressing at times, but it's worth it.

It's dangerous to regard your sales patterns as a validation of what you do - as that should never be the motivating force behind your work if you want to paint with integrity. I now know after taking a couple of years out to travel - and I suspected this all along - that I would paint anyway, regardless of exhibitions or sales: it's part of who I am.

On the other hand, since I was about 12 I have been determined to make a career out of art (after a brief daliance in school with the idea of being a Radiographer) and shamelessly commanded money for my craft from an early age. I remember those days when some friend of the family would 'commission' art from me...some of them where completely offended that I asked for payment, no matter how small ("you should do it because you love it..") They obviously hadn't read Atlas Shrugged, otherwise they'd know that the world would fall apart without the notion of fair trade. My family has a strong work ethic, and the success of our old-school family business (a carpet and furniture shop in Llandudno) has been due to hard work, old fashioned values and the not inconsiderable charm of my grandad, Ted, who refuses to retire and still calls me his 'Dolly-bird' in front of the customers and his golf buddies.

So yes, I'm as pleased that someone is bidding $50 for my painting a day, as when I sold my first four figure sum canvas - it means I can carry on doing what I love, and get paid for it!

3rd Seashell

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Well here's day three and I'm still really excited about this concept. I actually did a lot of painting yesterday, and I feel a lot more motivated by this challenge! It was snowing and cold outside too, which helps with procrastination no end. I'm off to Sacramento today to pick up my work from the Doiron Gallery, where I was the Featured Artist for the month of November. Tomorrow I'll be hanging my work in the Trio Wine Bar in Truckee - mostly winery inspired paintings, and a few little landscapes I did as part of the 'Seasons of Martis Plein Air Event' earlier this year. I wrote an article about that for a British magazine last month - I'll link to it as soon as the online version is available. It snowed...it was cold and windy...my canvas fell into a bush...it was fun though! (Honest!)