Tangerine Still Life

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I love these colours! I have a Tibetan prayer flag in the same warm colours, and it has travelled with me for many years. I have it draped over a window now, and the effect is similar to a stained glass window - orangey morning light fills the room (our 'office') and it feels very peaceful. Helpful if the computer is being infuriating!

The Ring & The Chalice

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Ah..this feels like such an indulgent piece for me - romance, mythology, chivalry...they say a picture can speak a thousand words, and I think you should invent your own story for this one. That's my wedding ring in the painting; I got married just this year so I'm still on cloud nine most of the time. I've painted my husband Taylor many times, and am in the process of painting a huge abstract piece which is a kind of euphoric celebration of love and passion - so you could say this little painting is just part of what is in the air, creatively speaking.

Chalice & Tangerine - A Still Life

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This little oil study is inspired by the book I'm reading at the moment - 'Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follet. It's set in Medieval England, and is so visual in it's portrayal of life then, that it is influencing my ideas as I'm painting. It's a hefty book - all the better to draw you in on chilly days, and absorb you into another world!

I went to the local thrift store searching for props, and found this little silver 'Chalice' which I imagine was gracing somebody's mantlepiece for years. It was all dusty and scuffed, and I knew it would be perfect. I love the colour of the tangerines and red cloth reflected in the chalice - I'm a big fan of warm colours. I'm working on the next one already, I think they'll they'll make a beautiful series.

I suppose I'm aiming for something quite Baroque in tone, but modern in style. I'm trying to keep my brushwork looser, which is hard for me at this scale. I keep having the urge to overwork these pieces, to 'finish' them off. I don't want them to become laboured, and I think with practice I'll know better when they're done. My friend Melissa Gregory quoted recently that a good painting is one that's stopped in an interesting place. I like that, and it gives me a chance to tell a groanworthy art joke "....if it ain't Baroque, don't try and fix it!"

Tahoe & Mt.Tallac Watercolour

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So I had the somewhat rare desire to use watercolours today (yes, I know how to spell) It was quite liberating - no thinners, oils, rags and mess - just water and a little Cotman set which fits right in your hand like a mini palette. Oil painting seems to involve such an entourage of stuff. Maybe it's just the way I like working that doesn't lend itself to portability. It's OK, I like my studio. So I set myself up rather easily by the window today and produced this little painting.

Towards Mount Tallac

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You know how frustrating it is when you see the most amazing thing and reach for your camera and...damnit! I forgot it, again! Well I've been having a lot of those moments recently, especially because the light is so atmospheric right now. This little oil is part memory and part photograph because of just that. I don't really mind though, visualisation and memory are powerful tools, and I think some intuitive 'interpretation' of a landscape is a good thing - I think it enriches the painting with more character than a literal translation of 'reality' onto the canvas.

Three Foot Icicles

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This oil study is part of the view from our cabin in Tahoe - and in fact includes part of our cabin! The icicles are amazing - coming from the UK where the climate is much more mild, I've never really seen them. They're pretty commonplace here now, as the temperatures are getting as low as 7 degrees (-13 Celsius) Brr! The forest service has also been doing a lot of prescribed burns the past few days, so the air has been a little yellowy-brown in the distance.

Tahoe Trees & Rocks

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Well, painting in the window was a mixed success. Just like painting outside, you have to deal with changing light and sometimes blinding glare on the painting. The changing light is actually really cool - it makes me work quicker and keeps things fresh. The glare is something else - I have managed after much ado to arrange my studio lights so that they don't reflect on the oily paint surface too much, with diffusers, full spectrum bulbs and clamp lights. It's not too bad if the painting is small, but on larger pieces it's a real issue.

Working in the window today was almost impossible - the sun was reflecting against the snow and right into my painting, so I couldn't accurately read the colours. I found that taking it off the easel and working on it in my hand was easier - I think this might be the way forward for these little pieces.

The view is a small section of the hillside opposite us. There are loads of tempting looking granite boulders over there, which have on close inspection proven to be crumbly and unclimbable - bah! I tried to keep this painting quite loose, and look at the more abstract design of the landscape. The snow throws the rocks and trees into sharp relief, creating perpendicular movement with the added excitement of diagonals in the steep hillside. I'm going to try a bigger version of this piece - I think it's worth experimenting with and developing further.