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This is today' s Painting a Day, Afternoon sun, Oil on Panel, 4x6".
When I was ill recently, and spent a few days languishing on the sofa. Fortunately, the light is amazing in the lounge, and I took the opportunity to watch the shafts of sunlight moving over all the objects in the room - in this case, the curtain, a fossil, a speaker, a Yoga manual and a Physics book. It's amazing how ordinary objects can become infused with a subtle magic when the searchlight of sun passes over it through the angular obstacles of architecture. I did several pencil sketches, and saved them for my daily painting when I was feeling better.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Afternoon Sun
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
China cup & Teapot
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I had a meeting with Billy McCullough of the very lovely Dragonfly Restaurant in Truckee, California yesterday, and he has offered me a couple of spots in their exhibition program! The first will be this August in the bar area, and then in about a year, the swanky Sushi Bar area which will take several very large canvases. Check them out at www.dragonflycuisine.com
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Teapot & Spoon
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Before we went climbing this morning I painted this little study. I'm really pleased with the cloth underneath the teapot - I've been thinking about using a Gustave Klimt-style decorative theme for the background of the large Tea Party painting. I happened upon the idea of using floral fabric when I was sketching a mock 'tea party' out on the deck a couple of days ago. By lucky chance I was drying our floral comforter on the washing line, and so it provided a natural backdrop for the compostion. I found this pink fabric in a cupboard whilst I was hunting for still life ideas - it was a curtain from my precious Matilda (the'76 Dodge Camper we travelled for 18 months or so in)
The spoon is deliberately large, and is a referance to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland. I'm going to play with the scale of things in the painting, partly out of the Wonderland influence, and partly because this painting will be about being young and everything seeming bigger than you. After all, little girl's tea parties are about pretending to be a grown up - mixing sloppy mud in a cup instead of tea, and wearing mum's big shoes and makeup.
Climbing at the Momma Cat Boulder
Taylor & I went out to the Momma Cat Boulder in Woodfords today, and as I'm still not well enough to climb, I sketched Taylor while he pulled down on familiar problems. It was bright and sunny, and a real pleasure to be outside.
What was also brilliant, was that a family was there, climbing, and we got chatting to them. Later, as I was sketching Taylor, the lady, Norah popped her head around the corner of the boulder, "were you on the radio the other day?" Yes! somebody heard it! Anyway, it turns out they'd been wanting to go climbing for ages and hearing me talking about climbing on the radio spurred them on to go out - and it was their son's first time climbing! I was so pleased that I had that effect on them, I'm still grinning! Nice to meet you Norah, Alexander and Houston (with the cool bob hat)
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Ellie Grace
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So the big painting is coming together...in my head at least. Since Ellie is in Wales and I am here in Tahoe, painting us together is going to be a challenge to say the least. I've done some preliminary sketches for the concept, which I have mentioned in previous posts. The imagery will be loosely based on the Mad Hatter's tea party/Gwen Stefani's video to 'What you waiting for?'(See below). This is partly a nosalgia piece, and will involve mud pies and all those imaginary elements little girls are so good at conjuring.
The composition is going to be tricky, but I've enlisted my sister-in-law, Emily to help, by dressing Ellie up and taking pictures of her based on my sketches. I'll then re-draw the ideas with the new photographs and take it from there. I've been taking pictures of the birds out here on our deck, and even set up a mock 'tea party' complete with soil-filled cups and peat-pellet 'fancy cakes'to sketch outside. I'm sure the neighbours think I'm off my head - but that's OK, artists aren't supposed to behave like accountants are they?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
L'Escalade - le emag de la grimpe
Wow, thankyou L'Escalade for writing an article about me! L'Escalade is a French Climbing Magazine - read the article at: http://www.escalademag.com/
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