Tuesday 6 October 2015


Place of work.


My blog usually shows a finished painting and some chat about what and where it is. Today I am posting some photographs of my workplace which is only a few steps away from my house.  I am very fortunate to have a dedicated space in which to create my pictures.   I can leave everything out ready for my next session without having to clear it all away.



My side table with some brushes and tubes of oils...Blue Ridge and Winsor & Newton.



This is my favourite painting position...I have everything near me and usually stand at my easel so I can 'back up' and look at my progress from a distance.  



Here are some little 'Daily Paintings' on shelves and a few new pieces for my exhibitions propped about or flat on the floor so I can see how I am progressing in my project...40 new pieces for March 2016.   


Another view of my studio.  Some pieces are part finished. 
 Others placed in a frame to see if I like them. 



Other small daily paintings on shelves and a few larger abstract pieces on stretched canvas.


Having my work around me helps to create fresh ideas for other pieces.  It might be that I decide to paint a series or use one of these as a reference to paint a large canvas.

I can also see how I am growing as a painter; how my work is evolving and where I might go next.    At present I am experimenting with oils on gessoed watercolour paper.  I like the texture and feel of the paper and the gesso protects the paper from my often brisk brushwork.   I now have to decide whether to frame with a mount and glass or try a stiff support behind the paper and use an open frame.  

I hope you enjoyed your little visit...now you can see what I do every day.



3 comments:

  1. LOVE LOVE LOVE the gift of this post, Anne! Thank you! I'm jealous of your studio (and also grateful that I have a little room in my home where I can leave my stuff out). Remind me, what do you paint most of your daily paintings on? Where do you get the frames for those? Do you ever frame those daily paintings with matte board, too? Do you mostly use black or white (off-white?) frames? That's what I seem to be seeing in your photos. I've long wanted to pop by and watch you paint (peppering you with questions the whole time); now you've intensified that wish!

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  2. Dotty..thank you for your interest.

    For my 'daily paintings' I use gessoed hardboard cut to the sizes I like...eg.5 x 5, 6 x 6, 8 x 8. Others are canvas boards which I buy online. I usually give these another coat of gesso to create a good 'tooth'. I use small stretched canvas too for DPW and larger canvas for exhibitions.

    I buy the little black frames locally and remove the backing and glass as I don't need them to be glazed for my oil paintings. The glass from the 8 x 8 frames comes into use as an oil palette and the hardboard backing can be used for painting on if I cut off the hanging clip and gesso the surface.

    The cream/off white frames are made by my framer Graham Perkins at Forge Arts Gallery, Hackthorn. He also makes my black float frames.

    Currently I am experimenting with oils on gessoed watercolour paper and I might use a mount and glazed frame for these. The gesso on both sides of the paper has stiffened it up and a light re-touch varnish over the oils also means I could frame them without glass if I prefer. A backing board would protect the paper.

    My larger stretched canvas, abstract and landscapes in the studio are in black float frames. These were used for recent exhibitions. My new ones may well be in a different style of frame depending on the oil colours. A lighter painting might prefer a paler frame.

    My online shipping is restricted to unframed as the overseas cost would be too high. Also, I wonder if the buyer will like to choose a frame of their own.

    I hope I have answered a few questions for you Dotty, and if you are passing...please drop in for a coffee and a chat. I would love to see you. :)


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    Replies
    1. Anne, thanks for all the details! Very helpful. Seems to me in taking up painting I've guaranteed myself no end of delightful things to learn for the rest of my life! Hope to take you up on that coffee and chat some day—more likely, you'll be in MY neck of the woods some day when visiting your daughter. Please drop in for a coffee and a chat! : )

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