Getting edgy.

Edge of the Bay   Oils on canvas board   4 x 4 inches   SOLD

Sheltered at the edge of the Bay and ideal for a walk.

  Soft and gentle colours for an end of day imaginative sketch.

Studio Musings...

Disasters and how to move on.

I have come to terms with the fact that if I insist on painting 

I shall experience frustration and failure.

Yesterday was such an occasion and three attempts to finish my 8 x 12 inch work ended in scraping paint off the canvas.  Each time the painting became overworked and messy.

Wiping the paint completely off the board I was left with a grey/blue base which will be an undercoat for another subject.  To finish on a positive feeling I took a small 4 x 4 inch canvas board with a one inch brush. It was time for sketching without pressure and this little piece came together quickly.  It gave me my confidence back when I thought I had lost it.

Uphill climbing.

High Country   Oils on board  8 x 8 inches   

Up hill and down dale.  An uphill climb to reach the sunlight.

Studio Musings...

Now and then I like to paint abstract landscapes with no fixed plan...just an adventure in paint.  As this little study progressed it was taking shape as a landscape.

The painting began as a larger piece of board around 8 x 12 inches.

  I decided to crop one side as I preferred the square format.

All is quiet.

Silent Snow   Oils on canvas board  8 x 12 inches   SOLD

It snowed today on the hills.

  The day is closing and the soft, muffled landscape shines with the sunset.

Studio Musings...

I love this piece...it very nearly ended on the bonfire but I rubbed the paint down, abstracted it a little more and now the atmosphere I was hoping for has appeared.

Rubbing paint off a failing painting can be a saviour and not to be feared.  Occasionally my work benefits from a drastic repair and the only way is to be firm.

  The work was created with a one inch brush yet I found myself tightening up. 

After rubbing down, a few flourishes with Titanium white tinted with 

pink and yellow set the scene.  Time to walk away and leave it alone. 

Grand finale.

Nightfall   Oils on canvas board   12 x 8 inches   SOLD

Night brings colour to end the day spreading its glow over the winter landscape.

Studio Musings...

I like this vertical format for impact as it draws my eye up the hills to the evening sky.

 The 12 x 8 size is also a pleasure to paint on giving me space to work on a

  detailed piece yet small enough to complete the painting in one session.  

The winter landscape becomes full of colour when the sunset reflects onto the snow.

It gives a jewelled appearance and ties the whole painting together.

I fell in love with the colour harmony in this painting.

In the mood.

Rain Shine   Oils on canvas board  12 x 10 inches   ON HOLD

All day rain and the grass shines wet.

Studio Musings...

I wanted to paint a moody, atmospheric picture about weather and I think I have pulled it off.  Quite a change from sunlit skies but it really got me in the mood.  

The vertical format shows off the textured rain-laden sky.

 In the foreground the two puddles lead my eye on a C curve across the field 

to the horizon with another C curve leading me up through the clouds.

I like the weight of the dark grey at the top acting as a stopper. 

It pushes my eye back down again to splash in the wet grass. 

Skylight.

Overhead Light   Oils on canvas board  4 x 4 inches  

Light over a winter landscape.

Studio Musings...

The second study about light and colour.

Without light there is no colour.

  Again, I painted with a one inch brush on this tiny canvas board.  

This board was next to yesterday's study on the easel

 and I painted them together using the same colours.

Both were imaginative and expressive studies giving an example of my remembered thoughts. I have taught myself to retain a mental image of this kind of scene.

All about Light.

Light near the Shore   Oils on canvas board   4 x 4 inches   

An abstracted, expressive study about light and colour.

Studio Musings...

As a change from larger pieces I am doing a series of tiny studies using a one inch brush.  

A larger brush helps to keep a painting loose and expressive.

  It is really impossible to get tight and detailed.

I painted quickly to give an impression of how I see nature using retained mental images.